Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
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| Tales of the Unexpected | |
|---|---|
 First series DVD cover |
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| Genre | Anthology |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Roald Dahl |
| Starring | Various |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 24 March 1979–13 May 1988 |
| No. of episodes | 112 |
Tales Of The Unexpected is a British television series that originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV.
The series was an anthology of different tales, initially based on short stories by author Roald Dahl, that were sometimes sinister, sometimes wryly humorous and usually had a twist ending.
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[edit] Format
The series originally adapted various stories from Dahl's anthologies such as Kiss Kiss and Someone Like You. Despite the low budget and poor production values, the series attracted guest stars of the highest calibre, such as Timothy West, John Gielgud, Elaine Stritch, John Mills, Derek Jacobi, Janet Leigh and Siobhan McKenna.
Memorable episodes include William and Mary in which Elaine Stritch learns that her husband has cheated death via a brain transplant, The Landlady in which a seemingly charming old lady is really murdering and stuffing her tenants, and The Way Up To Heaven, in which an abusive husband is trapped in a lift, and his long suffering wife deliberately leaves him there to die.
Dahl introduced all of his own stories himself. These were short, but fascinating monologues, in which Dahl explains what inspired him to write the story; when he introduced the story Lamb To The Slaughter, in which a wronged wife batters her husband to death with a leg of lamb, Dahl explained he got the idea from Ian Fleming (who he refers to in the introduction as "the James Bond Man.") Having been served a tough and under cooked leg of lamb, Fleming said the cook should be shot - Dahl replied that he had a better idea...
[edit] Later Series
Once Dahl's (small) output of short stories had been adapted, the series started to adapt other author's stories, and the title reflected this when it became Tales of the Unexpected - Introduced by Roald Dahl. However, Dahl rapidly tired of this; he would receive endless fan mail congratulating him on his latest story, despite the fact that he had nothing to do with it; a victim of his own success, he was to be constantly linked to the title Tales of the Unexpected.
In later years, there was a notable dropping off in quality; the series was quietly axed in 1989 to little media attention.
[edit] Analysis
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The early episodes, based on Dahl's original stories, follow very much Alfred Hitchcock's premise that the audience should be made to laugh, no matter how frightening the concept. Dahl's cruel, black humour is preserved well in these adaptations, and though valiant attempts were made to do the same to other author's works later in the series history, these episodes were far inferior, despite being adapted from other well-known short story writers, such as Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth Archer. The series is fondly remembered as being macabre - a memorable theme tune, composed by Ron Grainer, which sounded like sinister fairground music, and an eerie title sequence with the James Bond film-like imagery of a silhouetted naked woman (Actress/Dancer Karen Standley) dancing helped the atmosphere.
