The movie
Roald Dahl wasn't just the author of
children's books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: he
was also a writer of macabre short stories for adult readers. Roald
Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected is a television anthology that
features exactly that kind of story, from Dahl and many others. While
the series had a long run in Britain, with a total of nine seasons,
it was shown less consistently in the US, and for many viewers these
may be brand-new episodes.
Rather oddly, Set 4 does not follow
in the pattern of Set
1, Set
2, and Set
3 in presenting the episodes in their original order. Instead,
Set 4 includes a selection of 20 episodes from Season 6 through
Season 9. Although I don't know for certain, it looks to me that this
is a "best of" compilation to wrap things up... which is
not such a bad idea. Many of the episodes are clever, but in the
earlier sets there were plenty of weaker episodes mixed in. For
everyone except the most die-hard fans, it's probably a better idea
to provide a solid and watchable selection that omits the duds.
I found these 26-minute episodes to
be mostly quite on the mark. They're odd and quite different from
each other, so that the "unexpected" part of the title
actually rings true. While some of the stories tend toward the dark
or the macabre, others have their twist in different ways, so that
it's more difficult to guess what's going to happen. Some of the
episodes don't even need a twist to be worthwhile. "The
Luncheon," for instance, will strike a nerve for anybody who's
ever had to watch expenses, as a struggling young writer is put in
the position of having to pay for an expensive lunch; the episode
just keeps turning the screw on the poor fellow (and on us, as a
sympathetic audience). The episodes are generally fairly well
produced and acted, so that even though they have a slightly dated
feel to them, it's easy to overlook.
Set 4 contains the following
episodes:
The Wrong 'Un
The Luncheon
The Tribute
Hit and Run
The Best Chess Player in the World
Have a Nice Death
The Last of the Midnight Gardeners
Accidental Death
The Reconciliation
The Mugger
Skeleton in the Cupboard
The Colonel's Lady
The Surgeon
The Verger
The Facts of Life
Wink Three Times
The Dead Don't Steal
The Finger of Suspicion
A Time to Die
Mr. Know-All
The DVD
Tales of the Unexpected: Set 4
is a three-DVD set. Each disc is in an ultra-slim plastic case,
inside a glossy paperboard slipcover.
Video
The episodes appear in their
original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and look fine, considering their 1980s
date. The image is rather soft and lacking in detail, and low-light
scenes tend to look too dark. Overall, it's watchable, though.
Audio
The mono soundtrack gets the job
done, for the most part. The dialogue is sometimes a bit flat, but
otherwise it's OK.
Extras
Disc 1 has a section on "Authors
of the Unexpected," providing text blurbs about each of the
writers of the episodes here. Each disc also includes cast
filmographies for the main actors in the episodes on that disc.
Final thoughts
If you've enjoyed any of the other
Tales of the Unexpected sets, this one will also fit the bill
nicely. I found the assortment of episodes to be nicely varied and
generally fairly well done, providing a reasonably entertaining
experience. The short running time of each episode helps to keep
things moving along: there's no time for much padding. I'll give the
set a mild "recommended" rating.
Buy: