Roald Dahl’s Tales Of
The Unexpected – Set Two:
Season Three, Four & (Most Of) Five
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B
Though his name was being put below the title at one
point, Roald Dahl stayed on for Tales Of The Unexpected a little while
longer than remembered and Acorn Media has issued another solid four-DVD set
that covers a few more shows hosted by Dahl himself. Sometimes dubbed Tales Of The Unexpected with Roald Dahl,
Seasons 3, 4 & most of 5 fill these next four DVDs as predicted.
Produced on PAL-format analog videotape, the show
continued (and continues) to be the most literate anthology series in the
Horror/Thriller genre since Rod Serling’s original Twilight Zone and
still at this point offered the writing, stars and crew to back it up. It is also one of the all-time classics of
British TV. Expanding on the episodes
as listed in their correct order over the four DVDs and their cases, the original
broadcast dates have been again added:
Season Three/DVD One
1)
The Flypaper (August 9, 1980/adapted
from Elizabeth Taylor’s story by Robin Chapman; Directed by Graham Evans) – Is
a young girl correct about a minister being a child killer, and if so, is this
why he keeps stalking her? This one is
entirely in the “filmed look” despite looking like it was shot on PAL tape.
2)
A Picture Of A Place (August
16, 1980/adapted from Doug Morgan’s story by Denis Cannan; Dir.: Giles Foster)
– A con artist finds the painting of a well-known artist and thinks he can fool
the older lady owner out of it, but getting the prize and selling it for a ton
of cash may not be so easy.
3)
Proof Of Guilt (August 23, 1980/adapted
from Bill Pronzini’s story by Johnny Byrne; Dir.: Chris Lovett) – One of the
best shows in this set has a detective (Roy Marsden of The Sandbaggers,
all reviewed elsewhere on this site) investigating how two men entered a room
and only one left alive. Where is the
murder weapon? Is the other man guilty?
4)
Vengeance Is Mine, Inc. (August
30, 1980/Dahl, whose name is above the title here; Dir.: Alan Gibson) – They
are not gangsters, just a couple of out of work actors who decide on a new side
business. How about 250 pounds for them
to punch someone in the nose for you?
They even have great disguises.
Unfortunately, in this kind of revenge game, it takes more than two to
play the game. Amusing and cheeky.
Season Four/DVD One
5)
A Girl Can’t Always Have Everything
(November 9, 1980/adapted from Tonita S. Gardner by Julian Bond; Dir.: Graham
Evans [Dahl’s name dropped from the credits altogether]; no opening narrator) –
Joan Collins and Pauline Collins are brought together in this tale of women
looking for an old sugar daddy, as the title plays a dark, ironic role in the
result. Not bad.
6)
Parson’s Pleasure (November 30, 1980/Dahl,
whose name appears above the title again; adapted by Ronald Harwood; Dir.: John
Bruce) – A gentleman con artist (Sir John Gielgud) plays a vicar to gain access
to homes that would never welcome him otherwise, so he can get valuables from
them without them knowing it. When his
target is a very rare piece of Victorian furniture, will his giddiness get the
better of him? Bernard Miles also
stars, and watch the credits to hear an amusing disclaimer.
Season Four/DVD Two
7)
The Stinker (December 7, 1980/adapted from
Julian Symons’ story by Julian Bond; Dir.: Alan Gibson in film-like show) – A
man (Denholm Elliot) who was tormented by bullies in childhood meets up with
one of them in adult life (Joss Ackland) who reopens old wounds. Will this lead to new ones? Not as good as it could have been.
8)
I’ll Be Seeing You
(December 14, 1980/adapted from Robert Quigley’s story by Julian Bond; Dir.:
Philip Dudley) – A married man (Anthony Valentine) falls for a woman going
blind (Amanda Redman of At Home With The Braithwaites and Sexy Beast)
and he wants to even spend the money to save her, but his wife (Hilary Tindall)
is angry and horrified. She will not
stand it, so the power struggle begins.
Not bad.
Season Five/DVD Two
NOTE: Starting
here, some of the shows do not follow broadcast order.
9)
The Party (November 28, 1981/adapted from
Doug Morgan’s story by Chaim Bermant; Dir.: Giles Foster) – Henry Knox (Robert
Morley) has been setting up the annual Holiday party for the toy company he
works for, but this has not been a good year for him or the company, and things
are about to take a turn for the worse.
Amanda Redman shows up here too.
10)
Would You
Believe It? (March 29, 1981/adapted from Robert Edmond Alter’s story
by Julian Bond; Dir.: Barry Davis) – Can two archeologists (Nigel Havers and
Richard Johnson) smuggle an ancient statue from The Middle East to the safety
of Israel?
11)
Vicious
Circle (April 5, 1981/adapted from Donald Honig’s story by Robin
Chapman; Dir.: Philip Dudley) – An elderly lady gives a young hoodlum, who
breaks into her house a chance to go straight, but he cannot and she has
alternative ideas for him.
12)
The Boy Who
Talked With Animals (April 19, 1981/Dahl, adapted by Robin Chapman;
Dir.: Alan Gibson in a film-like show) – Stuart Whitman stars in the story of a
boy (Paul Spurrier) who seems to have a unique knack, but when he saves a sea
turtle, both of them suddenly disappear.
One of the only Dahl stories he did not do an introduction to. Look closely at the guests on the beach for
John Wyman, who was appearing the same year as KGB assassin Eric Kriegler in
the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
Season Five/DVD Three
13)
The Best Of
Everything (April 26, 1981/adapted from Stanley Ellin’s story by Denis
Cannan/Dir.: John Bruce) – Can Arthur (Michael Kitchen of Caught On A Train
and Foyle’s War, reviewed elsewhere on this site) win over a rich young
lady while not having their money? Will
his class-aware roommate be able to help him out?
14)
Shatterproof (May 10, 1981/adapted from Jack Ritchie’s story by
Pat Hoddinott; Dir.: John Jacobs) – Roald Dahl does a brief voice-over
introduction. Eli Wallach stars as a
tycoon who faces a hitman who has been set to kill him. Is he dead, or can he turn the tables like
one of his big business bluffs? One of
the best shows in this set, especially in its electronic score.
15)
The Sound
Machine (May 17, 1981/Dahl, adapted by Ronald Harwood; Dir.: John
Gorrie) – One of the more memorable shows in this set, by Dahl of course,
involves a man (Harry Andrews) who loves plants and has created a machine
referred to by the title. Is it really
revealing a hidden truth, or is he just mad?
Despite some illicit appeal to pity, this is a smart show and another
winner in this set.
16)
Never Speak
Ill Of The Dead (May 24, 1981/adapted from John Collier’s story by
Robin Chapman; Dir.: John Gorrie) – Colin Blakely stars as a doctor who has
been married for years, and despite her sleeping around, has ignored
things. However, what is that work in
the basement about?
17)
The Last
Bottle in The World (June 7, 1981/adapted from Stanley Ellin‘s story
by Denis Cannan; Dir.: John Gorrie) - Nigel Hawthorne and Anthony Quayle
co-star in this tale of very wealthy man (Quayle) willing to pay insane amounts
of money for a certain bottle of wine.
The story relies on knowledge of the subject of wine, but its twists
also involve lost love and possible revenge.
Not bad.
18)
Kindly Dig
Your Grave (June 14, 1981/adapted from Stanley Ellin’s story by
Robin Chapman; Dir.: Alan Gibson) – A talented-but-insecure artist lands up in
a power triangle between the woman who has been buying his work for peanuts and
his beautiful new (and pregnant) girlfriend, who has a big surprise for both of
them.
Season Five/DVD Four
19)
Completely
Foolproof (December 5, 1981/adapted from Robert Arthur’s story by Robin
Chapman; Dir.: John Jacobs) – Set in the late 1930s in New York, a man (Telly
Savalas) plans to kill off his wife if necessary when they fall out of
love. However, she just might want his
money enough to fight back.
20)
There’s One
Born Every Minute (July 5, 1981/adapted from Bill Prozini’s story by
Chaim Bermant; Dir.: Alan Gibson) – A man (Frank Findlay) wins a fortune, but a
goofy land deal threatens to put him quickly back in the poor house instead of
on easy street. He’s a nice guy, but
even they have their breaking points.
21)
Bosom
Friends (July 12, 1981/adapted from Dana Lyon’s story by Robin
Chapman; Dir.: Graham Evans) – Two old female friends have not seen each other
in years, but when one is down and out, the other takes her in. Too bad poverty seems to spread like a
disease.
22)
The Way To
Do It (July 26, 1981/adapted from Jack Ritchie’s story by Denis
Cannan; Dir.: Alan Gibson) – A young man repressed by his aunt becomes a pawn
at a Casino when he meets a young woman there he likes (Elaine Paige), and her
boss wants to destroy him. The
connection? Revenge on his family.
23)
Hijack
(December 26, 1981/adapted from Robert Fish’s story by Denis Cannan; Dir.:
Herbert Wise) – Denis Quilley heads the cast as a plane of surgeons is being
diverted for a ton of money, but something more bizarre is at work. Every anthology has its airplane show and
here is the one this series came up with.
This is a good, solid set, if not as incredibly strong as
the first one, reviewed elsewhere on this site. So, they ran out of Dahl stories, though there are a few good
ones left here. The problem the show
runs into at times at this point comes from writers who lack the pacing to not
give too much of the twist away at the end.
Other times, they simply are not the master storytellers Dahl was. The big names kept signing on, and after the
initial shows, how could they resist?
John Houseman introductions are missing from these British prints, meaning
1) they were never on them, 2) Houseman’s estate declined their use for this
set or 3) worse, they have been lost.
The full frame color PAL image on these NTSC discs are
usually fine for its age, though some later shows have some minor resolution
problems, particularly noticed in Dahl’s opening presentations. Otherwise, these look good and certainly
better than when originally broadcast.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is also clear for the most part, reminding one of
the kind of high quality such sound we usually get from Acorn or even A&E/New
Video in matters of British TV. The original
monophonic sound has again been nicely boosted into a simple, but effective
stereo mix throughout, also benefiting Ron Grainer’s great theme song and these
scores. Here again, some of the audio
has a slight warping to it, but these moments are still rare and do not last
long. Extras again include
paragraph-long descriptions on each episode before you decide to play them,
biographies of many of the actors on each DVD their episode appears on. This time, text on Dahl and Grainer that is
very welcome, all on DVD 1. For Acorn’s
next Tales Of The Unexpected set, the rest of Season Five, plus all of
Six & Seven, so we hope to see that as the next box offering. We would also again like to suggest a bonus
of the original carousel opening credits, maybe even minus text if possible,
and more on the great music for the show.
Maybe someone like Acorn could even license the 1961 series Way Out!,
which Dahl also hosted.
- Nicholas Sheffo
