Tales of the Unexpected S01E03 & 04 William and Mary, Lamb to the Slaughter

Well, welcome back to midnight viewing. I'm your host, Father Malone, and here we are engaged in a year's long struggle to tackle rold Dolls. Tales of the Unexpected. Who's wee? Why the projection moves?

Mike White? Of course? Series of angry beeps? Yeah, that's true. There, we are taking a look at Tales of the Unexpected, which ran from a for a whopping nine series, topping out at one hundred and twelve episodes spanning from March twenty fourth, nineteen seventy nine until May thirteenth, nineteen eighty eight.

We are looking at episodes at three and four of the series tonight. Those are William and Mary and I Am to the Slaughter. William and Mary aired originally on April seventh, nineteen seventy nine, written by Ronald Harwood from the short story by Roald Dahl and directed by Donald mcquinnie, starring Eleen Strich, Marius Garring, Frederick Farley, and Richard Hampton. This tells the tale of Mary who will never miss her husband William, whose name may or may not be doctor Hafar. Mike, what'd you think of this one?

As soon as I was getting ready to settle in and start to enjoy this story. The episode was over and I was like, wait, wait, no, no, no, this is just starting. This is the starting point of this episode. And then it just ended. So I don't know.

This one was very oddly paced for me. I liked the idea of it, and I liked the I love a good come upance, so I kind of like this guy being tortured after his death. But yeah, I was like, okay, I'm ready, now let's get go, and I want to see all the mayhem, and then it just kind of ended. What'd you take it this one? I thought as the episode began, or at least as the credits were rolling, that we have one hundred and twelve episodes to do, and that number got really daunting for me, and I got really upset as the episode started unspooling, thinking that the quality might slip immediately and then we were doomed.

And then I was in every way surprised at this episode because we've seen how many Brains and Jar episodes across all of them, they all do it, sometimes the devil's involved, sometimes people just trying to live forever. This was the first time I've seen a brain in a jar episode where it felt like a threat, It felt like a continuation of someone's control over their partner. I thought that was a really interesting angle to take, And anytime we get to watch a lane stretch do anything as kind of fascinating just watching her watch people as they're trying to respond to her. She is so laser focused. Man, it's unsettling how many years ago was this filmed, and watching her bore holes into whoever she happens to be having a casual conversation is still startling.

I agree with you, it did feel like and suddenly the episode is over. But I might argue that that's a positive because we watched twenty two minutes or twenty four minute episodes of varying other series where we wanted to kill ourselves from moment one. I didn't feel like that with this. I was just watching the story unfold, so wherever. I understand the pacing issue, but at least it was it held your interest and was entertaining until then.

Right, And yeah, it's a weird complaint to have because I could actually go for a lot more of this one. It's not like those ones where it's like, oh my god, twenty four minutes has never felt so long. It kind of felt too short for me. And I just like the way that it's put together as far as Okay, we're introduced to our character, we get some flashbacks of the husband, we get taken into see the doctor who's explaining the whole thing of the dog head. Oh my god.

And I've seen those that footage, like we did an episode for the projection booth on the brain that Wouldn't Die, So I was looking into a lot of those old educational videos and things. Oh my god. And yeah, I like how they keep building, building, building until we finally go into the room and we get the box. It's so different than anything that I've ever seen because usually, like you said, it's a brain in a box, brain and a jar kind of thing. Here's a brain in a box.

You don't see the brain, don't see anything other than kind of this eyeball that's sitting on top of it. And I just like that it's not even a human voice, that it is just those beeps, and that those beet are You can't understand anything that he's saying, but you get the intent from it, and just how upset he seems to be getting by watching his wife, and especially when she is, oh, well, my husband's here, let's take him home. That was a really nice twist that she just wanted him home to basically torture him, which I thought that was great, But I honestly I could have gone for another hour of this. Yeah, it does seem like the first chapter in a longer novel, definitely, and and Dell could have delivered that, I believe, or somebody should because this can be a fantastic springboard for it.

When she walks into the room and sees the box and sees the eyepiece that is staring straight up, I thought that is what you wanted. You wanted to transfer your consciousness so you would live forever. And this doctor has you staring at the ceiling and he's totally cool with it. He doesn't see any harm in it at all. That you wouldn't be going comp completely mad my just staring at one ceiling tile forever.

However, that was gonna be torture enough. But when she turned it around to well, I'm taking him home because you just told me he's alive. You don't have dominion over him yet, you can have the brain when it's dead. I thought that was great, and yet just that his rules were so fucking draconian. I get maybe not smoking in the house, but no television and keep my rose garden well trimmed.

And what's hilarious is, yes, she is getting the house and three thousand pounds, but who gives a fuck. It's not like some grand fortune. But this wasn't like a night gallery sort of thing where it's like, you'll get ten million dollars in the entirety of my estate if you can last the night, which which could be the threat. Even if even if she didn't get to take the brain home to torture him, she could have just said, well, fuck all this, and Conan still lived a pretty good life. Yeah, exactly.

I do the little touch of we fitted the eyepiece with the same lens of his glasses so he can see perfectly. I thought that was a nice little touch there, And yeah, just that whole thing of I want to control everything even though I'm dead, technically, I want to tell you how you're going to live your life. And I just really like that. She's m Yeah, I don't think so. I really don't think that's going to be the case.

Anymore. So, Yeah, this one almost got some applause for my wife when she was watching it, just like, oh yeah, she made sure that he got what was coming to him. But yeah, I mean I could do. If it were me, I'd probably be turning that volume knob way the hell down. But otherwise, yeah, I just love the fact of her there smoking right in front of it, and yeah, I'm going to go out and have a good time, probably get laid.

I was just like, great, you go, girl. I wish she had constructed some sort of like Pepper's ghost like box with me errors so that he could see around the room better instead of just like leaning in and smoking, or at least turn him on his side so he can watch television ad nauseum endlessly. Just put on Benny Hill twenty four hours a day. Oh lord, all right, still winners here so far, which brings us the lamb to the slaughter now. This one aired originally on April the fourteenth, nineteen seventy nine.

Written by Robin Chapman from a story by Roald Dall. This one was directed by John Davies, starring Michael Byrne, Brian Blessed, and Susan George and this is one of the most famous lockdoor mysteries of the twentieth century, and it's getting another film treatment here, having previously been adapted on Alfred Hitchcock Presents back in nineteen fifty eight. That adaptation written by Roald Dahll. Mike, what do you think of this one? What's kind of funny?

I mentioned in the last episode that there's this relatively recent podcast called The Secret World of Roald Dall and I was talking with Aaron Tracy, the host of it, and I'm just like, yeah, I love that the doll wrote one of the critical stories, this story that has taken on a life of its own and has moved past him and other people have adapted it. And I was talking about Man from the South, and he's just, oh, yeah, Lamb to the slaughter. It's such a great story. I was like, yeah, I guess there is that one too. It was great to see this, and I was so excited when I saw Brian Bless's name come up on screen.

And I think Susan George does a wonderful job, especially that she has to act the way that she acts, and I think that she does a really good job of it. And I just, yeah, I really had a lot of fun with this one. It is a classic story, and I do love the twist at the end, and yeah, it just makes me happy because I love a good story where somebody gets away with it when just that seems like this is kind of the way that we're going with some of these stories on this show. Is it's not necessarily some sort of supernatural come upance. It's much more the scales are balanced because they should be.

It's more of a karmic retribution. This feels more and more like the series, the series that Rod Serling wanted Night Gallery to be. Yeah, you want shades of the darkness, but not on something clambering out of the crypt each week. More like this type of mind bender and could not agree more to you. More about Susan George.

Her character, the entire performance is predicated in not believing that she did this thing, and as she's given every time she's given a piece of information, she looks like her world is ending, like she's hearing it for the first time and she can't believe what she's hearing, and then she has to come back to herself. It's actually a remarkable performance. Oh yeah, even that like, for the first part of the episode, she's blubbering so hard and Brian Blessed is being so Brian Blessed that I was like, I can't understand anything anyone's here. But but once they settled in, I really enjoyed it. The other thing I'm really enjoying, and I forgot to mention in the last episode, is Roll Doll his introductions here.

In this particular one, he nearly breaks his own back trying to pick up the fucking name he dropped. Oh, I just happened to be having a good friend Ian Fleming, the James Bond guy. Yeah, they were in M I five or whatever together. So yeah, can you imagine those conversations I can only imagine. In the previous one, William and Mary Doll came on and said basically that he his stories aren't sort of trivial horror because he banishes the horror with laughter.

He banishes the bitterness of horror with laughter. I think it makes it so much worse, right, I think it makes it so much meaner. Oh yeah, this story is no exception. I think I first heard about this story before I'd even even seen it. I might have write about in Stephen King's nonfiction book Dance, macabs some sort of example of like how you do a locked to door mystery correctly, and I think no pun intended, but it still has bite this story, and I'm shocked it's one of those we haven't seen more of.

I totally agree with you. If you were to say to me, what's the role doll short story that has had the most impact, It's definitely Man from the South. It's so fucking odd ball. But this is just as well known, and this has the The other one at least was adapted two or three times, so every generation got a chance to see it. So that this one is stuck around in people's minds is kind of interesting to me.

Yeah. Yeah, And I think that the performances sell this so well. I like the filmmaking. I think that they bring in the flashbacks at the right time, just to kind of keep this story moving and start to reveal more about these characters at the exact right time. And yeah, just this whole idea of the cops sitting around basically eating the evidence.

It could go farther and have cannibalism angles some do that. I'm glad that it's just that leg of lamb that and yeah, like I said, I was just so happy to see Brian Blessed and just the sonorous tone of his voice is always so pleasant. And yeah, it was funny because I was just like, oh, Brian Blessed is in this, and my wife's who is that? I was just like the leader of the Hawkman and I just started doing all the lines. She's oh, okay, yeah, I know you like that guy a lot.

Yeah, I'm finding that Voltan is much like the Three Stooges when it comes to the gender divide. Okay, we get it. You'd like that big bombastard guy. The other aftering this is her husband who the murder victim Michael Byrne, who was vocal in Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade. He was the one who was the tank commander, Oh yeah, chasing him through the North African desert.

And what was the other thing. Oh, he's in Braveheart as well. He plays a fucking stuck up English lord in that as well. I think he's still working actually, so good for him and good for us. Yeah, and Susan George am I right in thinking because I know for sure she was in straw Dogs.

Was she also in dirty Merried crazy or crazy Dirty? Yeah? She was dirty merry right, okay, yeah, which, like. Only things I can think of are the things you just named. Oh, in no accent in that at all.

I never caught that she was British. Yeah, And the fact that they used so many Americans here just makes me think that she might have been American. But no, but mayah. Yeah, I'm wondering if maybe she was pregnant or something during this, because she's a little heavier than I'm used to seeing her. Not saying anything bad about her is just Also I noticed that the clothes that she's wearing are really overflowing, So I was like, oh, I wonder if she was her body was changing at this point.

I would tend to agree with that because I hadn't had the thought. But I did notice that she was in a lot of sack clothing, and that's unusual for this type of series to do. I could understand it. When the body is found, it actually gives credence to her story. But flashbacks and stuff, it was the same sort of thing, so she may have.

Been Yeah, yeah, and I mean more power to her. I think that's great. But I also kind of liked the whole idea of like, she's not even though she as a person, even like looking at a picture of her from twenty twenty five, very very attractive lady. But this character really shouldn't be some sort of sex pot. So even if she wasn't pregnant, putting her in more dowdy clothes is definitely the right way to go, because he is seeing this other woman and it's you're stepping out on Susan George, Are you fucking crazy?

But as well, you're stepping out on Susan George, who's wearing the big shapeless outfit. I'm like, I still can't see it. But okay, Susan George, who's given up on life, let's say yes, yeah, yeah. It's one thing to see her for twenty four minutes in a thing. It would be another to live with somebody who had given up, I guess.

Nevertheless, I do think the episode is extremely well directed John Davies. Even though we do spend a little time switching between the dreaded videotape and the film stock, I think he at least accomplishes some interesting transitions and stuff. And I thought overall, just a really solid fucking episode, man, and the fact that we knew what it was. I mean, it's it starts and like, here we go, We're just going to have twenty four minutes of this. Not that there's any surprises here.

No, And again I talked in the last one where I was like, oh, I really wish this would have gone on. This one is so perfect that it just comes in, tells us little story, takes us through the flashbacks, the present, and then into the dinner scene and off we go. I just thought that this was such an economical storytelling. That's exactly what we're looking for. That's an economy of storytelling with a good fucking bite that resonates beyond the initial shock.

I guess that's gonna do it all right. On the next episode of Midnight Viewing, we're taking it the next we're taking a look at the next two episodes of Tales of the Unexpected. Those are episodes four. No, those are episodes five and six, The Landlady and the Neck. Until then, where can people find you when they're looking for you?

Mister Mike White? Well, pretty much everything I do is available over at Weirdingwaymedia Dot com which includes the Projection Booth for The Shabby Detective and a few other shows that I work on. How about yourself? Check me out here on Midnight Viewing. We do it twice twice a week.

We do it every Monday that we're doing it here talking about Tales of the Unexpected, or HP and I are talking about Von Doomfest as we count down to Doomsday in the MCU. Or every Friday we have Father Bloon's Weekly round Up where I look at the more contemporary things that are happening and such and such until next time. Everyone, try to enjoy the daylight.