Review of Tales of the Unexpected: The Complete Third Series

Introduction

`Tales of the Unexpected` comes from a long line of self-contained thriller shows with twists in their tales, though this particular format seemed more successful than most.

In the UK it ran for an astounding nine series, almost without a break. Who from that era can forget the striking music (Ron Grainer) and graphics (naked silhouettes against a fire backdrop) that made this such a distinctive series.

What is curious about the show is that it exudes cheap production value (from Series 3 onwards shot principally on Hi-Band or 1" video that gave it a cheesy crossroads look) and yet attracted some of the finest actors of the era. Series Three alone boasts episodes featuring Joan Collins, Bill Maynard Pauline Collins, Sir John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott , Joss Ackland and Robert Morley.

For the most part, you can see the `unexpected endings` a mile off, though the shows are no less entertaining for that. Despite running at a measly twenty-five minutes a piece, they are often slow-moving and ponderous by today`s standards, occasionally eking out a 5 minute idea into a whole episode.

Several of the episodes here are introduced by a spooky looking Roald Dahl himself, sitting in an armchair besides a crackling fire. He`s certainly more sinister than Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling ever managed to be and you get the impression that he wasn`t trying too hard either!

Obviously a popular programme, it was produced by Anglia and, as a consequence, the locations seem to be primarily the flatlands - with glimpses of Cambridge and Lincoln along the way.

Some of the Direction and acting is first class, though it`s an inconsistent series with some poor episodes too. Perhaps the single most memorable episode from the season is `The Stinker` on Disc 2 (with Denholm Elliott and Joss Ackland) which seemed to get more than it`s fair share of the film budget (as opposed to video) which may have helped.

There`s a horrible temptation here, when giving an overview of content, to take the idea of `Spoilers` to a whole new level and reveal the twists in these nine episodes. But I won`t do that so no need to look away.

Originally airing in the UK in 1980, the episodes included here (six on disc one, and three on disc 2) are as follows:

THE FLYPAPER
A genuinely disturbing and unpleasant start to the series where a schoolgirl stalked by a strange man. Not a nice ending here.

A PICTURE OF A PLACE
The first of two `greedy antique dealer` themed episodes on these discs. This episode features Peter Sallis and Bill Maynard as the opportunistic dealer.

PROOF OF GUILT
Two men are in a locked room and one is shot dead. There is no sign of the gun. Quite a fun twist to this one though difficult to eke out to 25 minutes!

VENGEANCE IS MINE INC.
Perhaps the most surreal and darkly humorous of all episodes, two flat-mates (who seem to sleep in the same room with more than a hint of camp charm) conjure up an idea for offering a service that will make them rich. Think again!

A GIRL CAN`T ALWAYS HAVE EVERYTHING
This one seems to have a little more production value (nice sets, more stuff shot on film) than many. It also stars Joan Collins and Pauline Collins as Suzi and Pat, performers with a touring theatre. A moralistic tale of greedy gold-digging…

PARSON`S PLEASURE
Another `greedy antique dealer` tale where a cheating dealer poses as a man of the cloth. A crooked antiques dealer (Sir John Gielgud in one of his least convincing roles) poses as a man of the cloth to hunt for bargains.

THE STINKER
The best of the lot here where Harold Tinker (Denholm Elliott) meets childhood bully Jack Cutler.(Joss Ackland) after years apart. Top stuff!


I`LL BE SEEING YOU
How can I mention `Gary Gilmore`s Eyes` by The Adverts without giving the game away here? Roland Trent (Anthony Valentine) is desperate to leave his bitchy but wealthy wife for his near-blind and near pauper mistress.


THE PARTY
Robert Morley turns in a fine and pompous performance as a long serving employee of a toy company.

Video

This probably looked pretty cheesy from the outset with poor quality video recording rendering the show almost entirely devoid of the atmosphere it deserved. But it looks no better here and possibly worse. On Disc one there are visible signs of compression blocking. Why squeeze 6 episodes onto one disc and just three on the next if you don`t have access to sophisticated compression. Very poor indeed.

Audio

Mono and merely adequate.

Features

None.

Conclusion

This series should have been so much better than it appears here. By Series Three, this popular series was attracting some major talent, including Joan Collins, Bill Maynard Pauline Collins, Sir John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott , Joss Ackland and Robert Morley.

But the early eighties was a curious time in television and film where too many people were excited by the progress of colour video recording and editing with its infinite flexibility and economy. Many shows, like `Tales`, abandoned the use of film (with the exception of some exterior stuff) making them look dated, cheap and devoid of atmosphere as a result. Which is a shame.

It`s also a truth that by Series Three most of Roald Dahl`s filmable short tales were all used up which meant that the quality for storytelling was getting increasingly inconsistent. In other words, despite Roald Dahl appearing as a grisly apparition at the start of most of these tales (like Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling before him), Series Three was no great shakes.

At the time though this didn`t prevent millions of viewers tuning in every week, which encouraged the production of a further six series.

There are a couple of very fine tales here, well rendered and thoroughly captivating (`The Stinker` for example), though these are the exception.

The show probably looked pretty grim on original airing though they look especially so now on this edition, with horrible transfers and visible blocking throughout Disc One.

All in all, not quite what I was expecting.