The Pink Panther Strikes Again Clouseau prompts a relapse which cancels Dreyfus's planned discharge, but he soon escapes anyway and organizes an elaborate plot to threaten the countries of the world with annihilation by a large laser if they do not assassinate Clouseau for him. Unused footage from the film was later included in "Trail of the Pink Panther" (1982), after Sellers' death. At a psychiatric hospital, former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) is largely recovered from his obsession to kill the new Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) and is about to be released when Clouseau, arriving to speak on Dreyfus' behalf, within
Inspector Clouseau pre-production of another Clouseau film, "The Romance of the Pink Panther", at the time of his death. Blake Edwards attempted to continue telling Clouseau's story despite losing his lead actor. The 1982 film "Trail of the Pink Panther" utilized outtakes and alternative footage of Sellers as Clouseau in a new storyline in which a reporter (played by Joanna Lumley) investigates Clouseau's disappearance. In the process, she interviews characters from past Clouseau films (including the Lyttons, played by the returning David Niven and Capucine), and also meets Clouseau's equally inept father (played by Richard Mulligan). The immediate sequel to "Trail", "Curse