Susan (Pinkie Johnstone) and John Partridge (Terence Rigby) decide to dump their clapped out old Hillman rather than pay the scandalous ten quid scrapping fee only to discover that unlike their pigeons it has an unerring and uncanny homing ability as it's repeatedly spotted making it's way ever closer back to their house.
Coming across like the unintended consequence of a post pub, back alley fumble between 'Christine' and 'Herbie' it's not particularly played for laughs but it isn't entirely serious either. Worth watching, once, just to see where the car ends up, the cheeky little Minx.
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Roy Dotrice plays 'Kayo Hathaway', egomaniacal author of a hugely successful comic strip called 'Bad Bad Jo Jo' - about a giant, murderous white supremacist and his manipulative mother - who, on the eve of going into tax exile decides to accomodate two fans.
We've featured several episodes from 'Tales of Unease' here before, a series that attempted to unsettle rather than terrify and in this instance it certainly succeeds. Dotrice is fantastically vile and the two fans - Richard Pendrey & Ian Trigger - are wonderfully crazed as the episode grows ever darker and Hathaway gets what he gave. Be warned though, you will feel sorry for the poor little dog.
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One of only two stories - the other being 'Superstitious Ignorance' - featured in both the book, 'Tales of Unease', and subsequent TV series, Jack Griffiths' tale is the story of a group of Welsh miners trapped deep underground after a pit collapse, one of whom has been having premonitions of disaster and visions of the dark spirit of the mine.
Featuring Ronald Lewis, David Lloyd Meredith and Talfryn Thomas (who would later play the loathsome Tom Price in 'Survivors') it tells a gentle story about a brutal topic which retains the original's deliciously ambiguous core.
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The ITV (LWT) series 'Tales of Unease' ran for one series in 1970 taking it's stories from the books of the same name edited by John Burke. Only seven episodes were made, the first two of which - 'Ride, Ride' & 'Calculated Nightmare' - we've featured here before, this, the fifth episode, continues the series' remit of tales that unsettle but don't necessarily horrify.
Yellow beach buggy owning hipster couple 'Teddy' (Jeremy Clyde - 'Schalcken the Painter') and 'Penny' (Tessa Wyatt - 'Robin's Nest') visit a dilapidated house with vague plans to buy and renovate it but encounter the sitting tenant, 'Mrs Laristo' (Eve Pearce) who warns them not to stay.
Following it's sitcom like beginning there's a well-paced build up of tension as the pompous pair run roughshod over the increasingly panicked tenant and parade around the house planning their remodelling. Is there something evil in the house or is Mrs Laristo simply trying to scare them away from her home or, is it something, else?
For the most part it's a quick and effective little creeeper but unfortunately the pay-off, whilst unexpected, is rather silly and much of the hard work of the previous 30 minutes comes crashing down.
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Anthology series Tales of Unease was broadcast during 1970 and was adapted from the series of books edited by John Burke who also wrote this particular story. Much of the show seems to have gone the way of all things with only this (the 2nd episode) and the 1st (Ride, Ride) apparently having survived. - EDIT: The rest of the series has been found.
Unlike the other episode there's nothing supernatural here and instead we have a science fiction ish piece tapping into fears about the advances of technology, the callous nature of capitalism and that good old staple of the TV play, class.
Michael Culver (a Wyrd Britain TV regular but most famous as the unlucky Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back) and John Stratton (Quatermass and the Pit, Doctor Who) play 'Johnson' and 'Harker' two executives trapped in their office by a disgruntled employee (Peter Madden - who also featured in a host of Wyrd Britain TV faves but is probably most recognisable as the undertaker from the opening credits of The Prisoner) who has discovered himself on a list of soon to be ex-employees and so manipulates proceedings to his own ends.
At less than 30 minutes it's a quick, easy and enjoyably mindless watch that uses both the limitations of it's idea and it's run time well with a fast and snappy script that paints it's characters with the broadest of strokes and doesn't waste a second in escalating the threat level up to it's inevitable conclusion.
If
you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us
continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the
blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
'Tales of Unease' was a short lived series of supernatural tales based on stories from the horror anthologies of the same(ish) name compiled by John Burke (the second of which is probably best known for it's supremely creepy cover photo) screened in 1970.
Myles Reithermann stars as 'Arth' an art student who meets a mysterious young woman (Susan George) at a party who begs him to give her a lift home before suddenly disappearing along the way.
Story wise it's a bit on the slight side with Reithermann seeming a tad out of his depth as the lead and George has little to do except look ethereal but there's some strong support from Janet Lees Price and 'The Omega Factor's' James Hazeldine however the half hour run time means they're both underused. It is though an interesting little take on a fairly well used ghost story trope that does what it does well enough without overstaying it's welcome.
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Affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.
