Tales of the Unexpected and Other Anthology Series Discussion Thread
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
I searched and there was no thread discussing anthology series on TV so I thought that it was high time that I created one:
Any fans of Tales of the Unexpected here?
Either the TV stories or the adult short stories by Roald Dahl?
For the uninitiated this was an Anglia TV series that ran on ITV between 1979 and 1988 and it adapted short stories by Roald Dahl and other famous writers with cautionary tales, tales with a twist and new moral fables.
I've been a big fan since first seeing them repeated on ITV3 in 2007 and I've since bought the entire series on DVD boxset.
I think 'Parson's Pleasure' is probably my favourite one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdvos5z-Bn8
This is the thread to discuss all of the different TV anthology series over the years. I highly recommend it and Dahl's collected adult short stories too of course! -{
Any fans of Tales of the Unexpected here?
Either the TV stories or the adult short stories by Roald Dahl?
For the uninitiated this was an Anglia TV series that ran on ITV between 1979 and 1988 and it adapted short stories by Roald Dahl and other famous writers with cautionary tales, tales with a twist and new moral fables.
I've been a big fan since first seeing them repeated on ITV3 in 2007 and I've since bought the entire series on DVD boxset.
I think 'Parson's Pleasure' is probably my favourite one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdvos5z-Bn8
This is the thread to discuss all of the different TV anthology series over the years. I highly recommend it and Dahl's collected adult short stories too of course! -{
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
Although I do love those type of shows like " The twilight zone" etc that do
Stories with a twist at the end. {[]
I remember one with Ned Beatty, as a sales man accused in a small town of killing
A local girl. He gets chased etc and is about to be hung from a tree by locals. Only
To have the girl turn up ( or something) so he's let go. As he leaves he checks the boot
Of his car. When we see for the first time another girls body tied up !
A great twist, as all through we think of him as an innocent man in the run.
Was that a Twilight Zone episode, TP?
The Tales of the Unexpected boxset is a very good investment! -{
Yes, that's another favourite episode of mine starring Derek Jacobi who also won an award for his brilliant performance in the episode 'Skin'.
All great shows. {[]
I remember one tale, in which a rich man bet a poor hotel worker
His brand new car against the worker's little finger!
No, but I'd love to see that series. I wonder if it is available on DVD?
It doesn't appear to be on DVD on Amazon and I think Thriller is a different programme.
I was also quite fond of Tales of the Unexpected, though watching some of them on repeats now you can see the "twist" ending a mile off! Still enjoy Lamb to the Slaughter though, one of Dahl's best! Was another episode on a cruise liner too where the guy was betting on the daily rate of knots achieved that I remember liking too.
Yes, "Lamb to the Slaughter" was actually Ian Fleming's idea which Dahl appropriated for his 1953 short story.
The one you are thinking of is called "A Dip in the Pool":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gUqqlQd2sc
That tale is the first one in the series "Man From the South" from 1979:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f_RqPeMYBk
It reminds me of Mr Big in the LALD novel having Tee Hee break Bond's little finger of his left hand.
Two more chilling favourites:
"Skin":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXyFHIDZK8
"The Flypaper" (Warning: very realistic and disturbing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tylvUviFYpQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747SKishQPg
Thanks for posting that, AOS. Has a kind of The Blair Witch Project feel to it although it obviously came after this! I see that there are some full episode of Armchair Thriller on You Tube.
I hope so and I really need to invest in more of these British anthology series! -{
See more about the Armchair Thriller series here on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armchair_Theatre
Yes, it is on Amazon - both Armchair Thrillerand Thriller. Don't know how I missed 'em! 8-)
Of the former, apart from Lamb to the Slaughter, there was a great one about a guy who bet the tip of his little finger that he could get his Zippo to light ten times in a row.
In the latter, there was an episode that terrified me as a child about someone being bricked up in their bedroom. Still gives me goosebumps.
Btw re the Ned Beatty episode, it was from Alfred Hitchcock presents:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088692/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
Btw if you get the chance, Dahl's short stories from Tales of the Unexpected is a good read, if I recall rightly. -{
James Bond- Licence To Kill
James Bond- Licence To Kill
Really? What is your source for that information as I've not heard that before?
as at night they have played some great old series of creepy tales. One is hosted by
Vincent Price and tells stories of people he's met on his travels but every story has a
grizzly twist. Also there's "The man in Black" a remake of an old series with Mart Gatiss
very similar to Tales of the unexpected. Some of the ghost stories are very creepy indeed.
I have very occasionally in the past but now you mention it I really must look more into its programmes. I love old radio and I understand they repeat a lot of stuff from the archives which I'm all for so thanks for the tip, TP! -{