Series Two
16 episodes. First broadcast: ITV - Saturdays 1 March to 14 June 1980
| Title | Episode | First aired | Writer(s) | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Jelly | 10 | 1 March 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Herbert Wise |
| A Bee-keeper becomes concerned when his wife tells him that their baby daughter is ill and losing weight. To help the baby gain strength, he begins feeding her Royal Jelly. | ||||
| Cast: Andrew Ray (Percy Hayward), Susan George (Mabel Taylor), Timothy West (Albert Taylor) | ||||
| Skin | 11 | 8 March 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Herbert Wise |
| An old street-beggar, a former tattooist, was a friend of the famous artist, Soutine. On his back, he has a tattoo by the artist, which is now priceless. | ||||
| Cast: Lucy Gutteridge (Josie), Boris Isarov (Chaim Soutine), Donald Pickering (Gallery Owner), Peggy Ashby (Rich Woman), Sabina Franklyn (Young Girl), David Webb (Chef), Derek Jacobi (Drioli) | ||||
| Galloping Foxley | 12 | 15 March 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Claude Whatham |
| William Perkins is haunted by the bullying he received while at Boarding school 60 years ago. While on a train, he is convinced that the man sitting opposite him is the bully. | ||||
| Cast: Adrian Breeze (Boy), Guy Humphries (Stamford), Wayne Brooks (Boy), Timothy Breeze (Boy), Clifford Abrahams (Boy), Paul Spurrier (Young William Perkins), John Mills (William Perkins), Anthony Steel (Man on the Train), Anthony Woodruff (Housemaster), Jonathan Scott-Taylor (Young Bruce Foxley), Colin Thomas (City Gent) | ||||
| The Hitch-hiker | 13 | 22 March 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Alistair Reid |
| Flashy American Paul Duveen stops to give elderly Irish vagrant Michael Fish a lift in his new BMW. Michael is a pickpocket, which comes in very handy after his encouragement to Paul to break the speed limit has attracted the attention of a traffic cop on a motor-bike, who waves them over. After the cop has gone, Michael shows a happy Paul that he stole the cop's notebook and evidence, but before long Paul will be anything but happy. | ||||
| Cast: Cyril Cusack (Michael Fish), Rod Taylor (Paul Duveen), John Forgeham (Policeman) | ||||
| Poison | 14 | 29 March 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Graham Evans |
| This story is set in India during the time of British colonialism. Narrator Timber Woods goes to visit his friend Harry Pope. Harry is in bed, motionless, sweating, and in a panic. He whispers that a krait, one of the deadliest snakes, is on his stomach, underneath the covers. He asks Timber to go get a doctor; Timber calls Dr. Ganderbai, a local Indian doctor. Timber and Ganderbai frantically try to get the snake off of Harry to save his life. But they find no snake on Harry; perhaps it has gone, perhaps Harry imagined the snake. When he realizes this, Harry is so relieved that he attacks Ganderbai with racial slurs. The real poison in the room is not the snake's; it is the racist's. Ganderbai walks out of the room and tells Timber that Harry needs a vacation. | ||||
| Cast: Andrew Ray (Harry Pope), Judy Geeson (Sandra), Saeed Jaffrey (Dr Kunzru Ganderbai), Anthony Steel (Timber Woods) | ||||
| Fat Chance | 15 | 5 April 1980 | Denis Cannan Robert Bloch |
John Gorrie |
| John Burge, a pharmacist, is carrying on an affair behind his overweight wife's back. His lover, Frances, tells him that he must get rid of his wife. Mary, however, will not divorce him and Frances is issuing an ultimatum. He decides to put his pharmaceutical skills into play and poison his wife's chocolates. However, not everything will go to plan. | ||||
| Cast: Katie Flower (Amateur actress), Peter Van Dissel (Amateur actor), Nigel Caliburn (Stage Manager), Carol Thornton (Woman in Audience), Geoffrey Bayldon (Dr Applegate), John Castle (John Burge), Sheila Gish (Frances), Miriam Margolyes (Mary Burge), Anthony Royle (Director of Amateur Production), Mike Quinto (Man in Audience), Jean Kitson (Chemist's Assistant) | ||||
| Taste | 16 | 12 April 1980 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Alistair Reid |
| Mike Schofield has a wager against his wine connoisseur friend, Richard Pratt, that Pratt will not be able to deduce the vineyard from which the wine he is serving at dinner originates. The stakes become increasingly high: Pratt wants to bet for the hand of Schofield's daughter in marriage; if he loses, he will give Schofield both of his houses. | ||||
| Cast: Ron Moody (Richard Pratt), William Hootkins (Peter Bligh), Mercia Glossop (Sybil Schofield), Antony Carrick (Mike Schofield), Debbie Farrington (Louise Schofield), Beth Porter (Joanna Bligh), Gabrielle Blunt (Mrs Adams) | ||||
| My Lady Love, My Dove | 17 | 19 April 1980 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
John Rosenberg Herbert Wise |
| Pamela Beauchamp has invited friends to stay for the weekend for fun, she has installed a hidden microphone in their room. After a high stakes game of Bridge, she listens in to discover that they had been cheating. |
||||
| Cast: Elaine Stritch (Pamela Beauchamp), Lisa Eichorn (Sally Snape), Douglas Lambert (Henry Snape), Shane Rimmer (Arthur Beauchamp) | ||||
| Georgy Porgy | 18 | 26 April 1980 | Roald Dahl Robin Chapman |
Graham Evans |
| A Vicar with an overactive imagination sees naked women as he delivers his sermons. One day, he finds that women are suddenly attracted to him and a beautiful woman offers herself to his desires. | ||||
| Cast: Ann Beach (Miss Unwin), Lally Bowers (Miss Elphinstone), Grant Bardsley (George Duckworth as a child), Jacob Witkin (Boris Duckworth), Joan Collins (Clare Duckworth & Mrs Roach), John Alderton (Reverend George Duckworth), Peter Godfrey (Doctor), John Biggerstaff (Pollard), Margaretta Scott (Lady Birdwell) | ||||
| Depart in Peace | 19 | 3 May 1980 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Alan Gibson |
| An art collector becomes involved in a struggle between two beautiful women. (Based on the short story Nunc Dimittis.) | ||||
| Cast: Joseph Cotten (Lionel), Gloria Grahame (Gladys Ponsonby), Maureen O'Brien (Janet de Pelagia), John Bennett (Royden), Peter Cellier (Wilkins) | ||||
| The Umbrella Man | 20 | 10 May 1980 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Claude Whatham |
| On a wet afternoon, an elderly con-man strikes up a conversation with a passer-by. The old man sells him a silk umbrella, which he has stolen, claiming he needs money for a taxi. A mix-up with stolen umbrellas means that he exposes a couple who are cheating on the woman's husband. | ||||
| Cast: Michael Gambon (Andrew), John Mills (The Umbrella Man), Michael Sheard (Inspector), John Rees (Clerk), Jennifer Hilary (Wendy), John Carson (Arthur) | ||||
| Genesis and Catastrophe | 21 | 17 May 1980 | Roald Dahl Ronald Harwood |
Herbert Wise |
| In 1889, after having lost three children, an Austrian woman is concerned that her newborn baby boy is ill. The doctor helps and urges the woman's husband to be positive. They decide to name the boy Adolphus. | ||||
| Cast: Helmut Griem (Alois), Hana Maria Pravda (Frau Lemner), Zhivila Roche (Klara), Alastair Llewellyn (Doctor), Graham Seed (Josef), Toby Waldock (Young Alois) | ||||
| Mr Botibol's First Love | 22 | 24 May 1980 | Roald Dahl Kevin Goldstein-Jackson |
John Gorrie |
| Mr Botibol is obsessed with Classical music and builds a concert hall in his house. To his records, he pretends to conduct an orchestra and play a silent piano. A woman he meets shares his love of music and together they "perform" in the imaginary hall. | ||||
| Cast: Paul Greenhalgh (Simpson), Anna Massey (Irene Wrzaszcyzk), Jack Weston (William Botibol), Alan Rowe (Clements), Allan Corduner (Store Assistant), Paul Bacon (Mason), John Flint (Workman) | ||||
| Back for Christmas | 23 | 31 May 1980 | John Collier Dennis Cannan |
Giles Foster |
| A man plots a foolproof way to murder his wife, but the murder is exposed because of an unexpected gift she left for him to find. | ||||
| Cast: Laurence Payne (Party Guest), Richard Johnson (Dr James Carpenter), Siân Phillips (Hermione Carpenter), Artro Morris (Pathologist), Avril Elgar (Pathologist's Wife), Cyril Luckham (Consultant), Lynne Ross (Samantha), Andrew Lebas (Waiter) | ||||
| The Orderly World of Mr Appleby | 24 | 7 June 1980 | Stanley Ellin Robin Chapman |
John Gorrie |
| Mr Appleby loves his antiques shop, even though everyone tells him the "antiques" are just junk. To maintain the shop, he repeatedly marries wealthy women. Now he has married for the fourth time. His new wife discovers that he murdered the previous three, but she is more than a match for him. | ||||
| Cast: Robert Lang (Arthur Appleby), Cyril Luckham (Gainsborough), Elizabeth Spriggs (Martha Appleby), Christopher Bramwell (Dominic), Nigel Caliburn (Signwriter) | ||||
| The Man at the Top | 25 | 14 June 1980 | Edward D. Hoch Dennis Cannan |
Claude Whatham |
| A young seaman becomes embroiled in a fight with another man and kills him. Eager to escape, he turns to his friend, Diane. She sets him up with someone who can help. | ||||
| Cast: Terry Gurry (Bodyguard with dog), Michael Ripper (Taxi Driver), Rex Taylor (Doorman), John Rees (Barman), Johnny Shannon (Barman), Meredith Saxon (Bodyguard), Peter Firth (Hardy), Rachel Davies (Diane), Norman Clive-Fisher (Darts Player), Betty Hardy (Motherly Woman), Dallas Cavell (Sam Madrid), Cassie McFarlane (Estelle), Paul McDowell (Shaefer), Brian Dooley (Lawyer), Mimi de Braie (Maria) | ||||
Read more about this topic: List Of Tales Of The Unexpected Episodes
Famous quotes containing the word series:
“The theory of truth is a series of truisms.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)