I am currently reliving my childhood by watching the full series 1-9 of Tales Of The Unexpected on the wonderful new Sky Arts+ Channel on Freeview and I have to say this is one of the best of the series and one I must have missed when I wur a nipper.
As I have not seen the original 1952 short film on which it was based but it actually has the same director/writer, I am judging it on no pre-conceived notions of which is best other than to say the ending is most Unexpected, unlike i would say 70% of the series so far. Replete with a masterful performance by the wonderful Derek Jacobi aided and abetted my Hyacinth Buckets husband and quality actor Clive Swift, not only that but into the bargain we get a young performance by none other than Jennifer Connolly in a very, very early role.
Swirl all this together into an evocation of a past I remember as the "good old days" and it takes me back like a time machine to an era where foul language, gratuitous violence, over sex and puerile acting were not even a thought and it made my day and what a good and unexpected day it has been after watching this delightful reminder of a time when good script and ideas combined with quality actors were not in short supply as they are now!
