Tales of the Unexpected

1979

Seasons & Episodes

  • 9
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7.6| NA| en| More Info
Released: 24 March 1979 Ended
Producted By: ITV
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Genre

Drama

Watch Online

Tales of the Unexpected (1979) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Cast

Director

Production Companies

ITV

Tales of the Unexpected Videos and Images
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Tales of the Unexpected Audience Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Paul Evans One of those Series that is very difficult to review as a whole, largely due to the vast degree in quality between the episodes, on the whole though I'd say I love Tales of the Unexpected, it's a unique series, one millions remember very fondly, for good reason.I always preferred the introductions when Roald Dahl was sat in his chair, he added to the sense of Theatre in his own inimitable style.Fair to say the earlier Series were a better standard then the later ones, at the end they became a little sad and repetitive. The 'twist' was always the best bit, and in the first few series, the twists were big.Highlights include Lamb to the Slaughter, Fat Chance, The way up to Heaven and Royal Jelly, but it's fair to say that the out and out best episode of the entire Series, is the opener to the third run, The Flypaper, truly one of the nastiest, most horrifying pieces of television ever made, even to this day it's intensely disturbing.Is that possibly the most iconic set of opening credits and music ever put together, instantly recognisable, impossible to forget, I wonder the mix of emotions that tune creates for people.No wonder Tales ran for nine years, a great series. 8/10
sgodrich Tales of the Unexpected is an iconic series which lasted around 10 years starting in the late 1970s to the late 1980s. As you'd expect with any TV series, there are fantastic, classic episodes and some that aren't so great. Thankfully the great episodes outnumber the not so great quite significantly.Originally, the series was meant to showcase the stories from Roald Dahl's books "Tales of the Unexpected" and "More Tales of the Unexpected". Each of these episodes were introduced by Dahl himself in a mock sitting room in front of a roaring fireplace. A short description of where the idea came from regarding the upcoming story then led to 25 minutes of television magic. Each story was meant to end with a twist. Although many did, some had a twist of not actually having a twist but a natural conclusion which you think could never go all the way but it does.After Dahl's stories ran out, other similarly themed stories were used by well known authors such as Henry Slesar, Bert Salzman, Jeffrey Archer and many others. They didn't have the Dahl introduction and the name "Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected" was thus shortened to the familiar "Tales of the Unexpected".Many big names have appeared in the show from Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Cole, Toyah Wilcox, John Mills, Telly Savalas and many, many more. Some early in their careers, others in their prime and some in the twilight.So if you like a story with a twist ending, you can do far worse than check out this gem. When you hear Ron Grainer's fantastic theme tune starting up and the silhouetted lady dancing in the flames, you'll be gripped for 25 minutes. After that you'll hunger for your next fix of 'The Tales'. My top 10?1. The Eavesdropper 2. Would you Believe it? 3. Taste 4. The Tribute 5. The Flypaper 6. Shatterproof 7. The Way To Do It 8. Kindly Dig Your Grave 9. Never Speak Ill of the Dead 10. Down Among the Sheltering Palms
TheJiveMaster Tales of the Unexpected took the short stories created by Roald Dahl from the book of the same name and others and put them on the small screen. Later on, other writers would be used and Dahl would provide an introduction to each story. This introduction was eventually dropped in favour of a voice over.The key to each story was in the ending which originally was usually totally unexpected. The content and the background to each storyline often involved murder, often without holding back some visualisation and this lead to it being broadcast late on Sunday evenings.The series suffered from poor production quality. It is likely that the series was shot on video tape which is evident nowadays. The appearance of studio sets is apparent as there is a definite transition between the quality of lighting indoors and for shooting on location. Some of the stories were quite laboured as the introduction of the characters and initial plot creation were quick. This left a large gap of time until the unexpected outcome. The acting was sometimes slow with long pauses in an attempt to spin out time.Despite it's faults, Tales of the Unexpected managed to attract well known names in asting for episodes and sustained an audience following for 8 years. The stories were varied in their creation and the eventual outcome but eventually the ending could be predicted. In 1988 the series was quitely axed and reruns can now be seen on digital channels in the UK.If you can ignore the poor production, it is well worth seeing, even after all these years.
rajkowski Although there are a lot of the original Roald Dahl stories in here, there are also quite a few from other writers, which are successful to varying degrees. What is apparent from the series though is it's age - I have never witnessed acting, filming, sets, hairstyles, music, and costumes to look so dated (and just plain bad!) so quickly. Indeed the series is the quintessential "Its so bad its good" - I certainly laughed at things when no humor was implied, this may explain it's cult status in some circles. When the stories work, they're very good, and the poor acting etc doesn't seem to matter too much, but all too often either nothing interesting happens or you can see the punch line coming a mile off. The most remembered parts of the series are of course the opening credits and music (mention Tales of the Unexpected to anyone in the UK and that's what they'll comment on).