Series One
Nine episodes. First broadcast: Saturdays on ITV - 24 March to 19 May 1979
| Title | Episode | First aired | Writer(s) | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man from the South | 1 | 24 March 1979 | Roald Dahl Kevin Goldstein-Jackson |
Michael Touchner |
| An American sailor and his girlfriend, Cathy, are on holiday in Jamaica. They become involved in a bizarre bet with Carlos, who loves to gamble. When the young man boasts about his cigarette lighter, Carlos offers a him his Jaguar if the boy can strike his lighter successfully ten times in a row. But if it fails even once, if the boy does not strike it precisely, Carlos will cut off his finger. | ||||
| Cast: Angela Malcolm (Maid), Pamela Stephenson (Cathy), José Ferrer (Carlos), Michael Ontkean (Tommy), Cyril Luckham (Rawlsden), Katy Jurado (Mysterious Woman) | ||||
| Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat | 2 | 31 March 1979 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Simon Langton |
| Mrs Bixby is having an affair behind her husband's back. Her lover gives her a mink coat. She devises a devious plan to explain its presence to her husband. | ||||
| Cast: Will Leighton (Seamus), Richard Hampton (The Patient), Richard Greene (The Colonel), Michael Hordern (Cyril Bixby), Julie Harris (Mrs Bixby), Alan Chuntz (Taxi Driver), Sandra Payne (Miss Pulteney), Frederick Farley (Pawnbroker), Vass Anderson (Master of Hounds) | ||||
| William and Mary | 3 | 7 April 1979 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Donald McWhinnie |
| A widow is informed by her Doctor that her husband's brain has been kept alive. The husband had always imposed a strict regime on his wife and she now seeks revenge. | ||||
| Cast: Marius Goring (Dr Landy), Elaine Stritch (Mary Pearl), Frederick Farley (Baxter), Richard Hampton (Vicar), Jimmy Mac (Dr William Pearl), Jane Paton (Nurse) | ||||
| Lamb to the Slaughter | 4 | 14 April 1979 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
John Davies |
| Mary Marney, a devoted and pregnant housewife, is preparing dinner when her husband Patrick returns home from his job as a police detective. He tells her that he is leaving her. Moving almost on autopilot, Mary fetches a leg of lamb from the deep-freezer in the cellar to cook for their dinner. Patrick tells he doesn't want dinner, as he is going out. In a trance-like panic, she hits him on the head and kills him. The police conclude that Patrick was killed with a large blunt object, but are baffled when the murder weapon cannot be found. As they were all friends of Patrick, Mary begs them to stay and eat the lamb which she has been roasting, while they discuss the case. | ||||
| Cast: Michael Byrne (Patrick Marney), Brian Blessed (Detective Sergeant Jack Nolan), Susan George (Mary Marney), Mark Jones (Detective Sergeant Jameson), Michael Byrne (Patrick Marney), Andrew Fell (Uniformed Policeman), David English (Plain Clothes Policeman), George Little (Samuel), Hugh Cross (Police Doctor) | ||||
| The Landlady | 5 | 21 April 1979 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Herbert Wise |
| Billy Weaver, a young man from London, arrives at a guesthouse. He is greeted by the Landlady, but his curiosity is aroused when he reads the Guest Book. He sees the names of young men whom, he remembers, had gone missing. The Landlady tells him that she is a taxidermist. | ||||
| Cast: Siobhán McKenna (The Landlady), Leonard Preston (Billy Weaver), Anthony Dawes (The Clergyman), John Bryant (Mulholland), Jess Davies (Temple) | ||||
| Neck | 6 | 28 April 1979 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Christopher Miles |
| Lady Turton, an art collector's wife, is conducting a series of affairs, much to the disapproval of her resentful husband and their butler, Jelks. They have an estate filled with art; even the outdoor gardens have fantastical pieces of topiary and abstract sculpture. One night while cavorting with Major Jack Haddock, making fun of her husband's beloved artworks, she finds her head trapped in a priceless piece of art. Sir Basil Turton asks Jelks to fetch him a tool with which he can free her head. Jelks brings him both an axe and a saw. After considering the problem, Sir Basil decides upon the axe. | ||||
| Cast: Michael Aldridge (Sir Basil Turton), Joan Collins (Lady Turton), John Gielgud (Jelks), Peter Bowles (Major Jack Haddock), Paul Herzberg (John Bannister), Carmen Silvera (Carmen La Rosa) | ||||
| Edward the Conqueror | 7 | 5 May 1979 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Rodney Bennett |
| A husband and wife adopt a stray cat. The cat responds to the woman's piano playing to the degree that she becomes convinced that it is the reincarnation of composer Franz Liszt. The woman bonds with the cat, much to her husband's jealousy. |
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| Cast: Joseph Cotten (Edward), Wendy Hiller (Louisa), Phil Brown (F. Milton Willis) | ||||
| A Dip in the Pool | 8 | 12 May 1979 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Michael Touchner |
| William Botibol, a man on a cruise ship, takes part in a bet to predict how far the ship will travel in 24 hours. He calculates that he will win if the ship is delayed a little - if, for instance, it has to turn back to collect a man overboard. In order to win by cheating, he waits until he and a pair of women are alone at the deck, and then pretends to fall over. Unfortunately for him, one of the women is not what he thinks she is. | ||||
| Cast: Jack Weston (William Botibol), Gladys Spencer (Sylvia), Bill Reimbold (Bill Wilson), Elaine Ives-Cameron (Sarah Grant), Davyd Harries (Purser), Michael Troughton (Steward), Jana Sheldon (Mrs Renshaw), Don Fellows (Renshaw), Paula Tilbrook (Maggie), David Healy (Auctioneer), Ken Buckle (Sailor) | ||||
| The Way Up to Heaven | 9 | 19 May 1979 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Simon Langton |
| Mrs Foster has a fear of being late. On the day of her holiday to New York, her husband, an inveterate and somewhat sadistic dawdler, torments her by making her late. As a result, she misses one plane but can catch the next flight in the morning. Mr. Foster attempts to delay her again: when they are about to leave, he pretends to remember something she needs and says he will run into the house to get it. Frantic, she follows him in, and sees that he is taking their in-house elevator to go upstairs. When she hears a certain noise, she returns to the car and tells the driver to take her to the airport. She gets her revenge on his cruelty when she returns from holiday, weeks later, and finds that the lift has been stuck between two floors all that time, during which her husband died of starvation and thirst. | ||||
| Cast: Julie Harris (Mrs Foster), Angus MacKay (Walker), Julia Watson (Maid), Dulcie Huston (Hostess), Jeremy Longhurst (Driver), Brian Capron (Airport Official), Anthony Bailey (Arthur), Roland Culver (Eugene Foster) | ||||
Read more about this topic: List Of Tales Of The Unexpected Episodes
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