Special Offer (16 Oct. 1976)

A misfit teenage checkout operator has an unrequited crush on her supermarket manager. At the same shop's cuddly cartoon mascot seems to have come alive and is causing havoc.

Director:

Richard Bramall

Writer:

Nigel Kneale

Stars:

Geoffrey Bateman, Shirley Cheriton, Ysanne Churchman

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Mr. Grimley
Shirley Cheriton	...	Linda
Ysanne Churchman	...	Joyce
Ruth Goring	...	June King
Jean Hardwicke	...	Customer
Lynda La Plante	...	Young Woman (as Lynda Marchal)
Herbert Norville	...	Mickey
Wensley Pithey	...	Mr. Liversedge
Pauline Quirke	...	Noreen Beale
Madoline Thomas	...	Mrs. Ogden
Jane Williams	...	Customer

Storyline

A misfit teenage checkout operator has an unrequited crush on her supermarket manager. At the same shop's cuddly cartoon mascot seems to have come alive and is causing havoc.

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Plot Keywords:

misfit | supermarket | workplace bullying | disturbed individual | paranormal phenomena | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Release Date:

16 October 1976 (UK)

Company Credits

User Reviews

BEASTS – Episode 4: SPECIAL OFFER (TV) (Richard Bramall, 1976) ***

This is a good entry in the series, marking perhaps the most enjoyable episode thus far – though ending on a tragic note and being somewhat repetitive in the long run. It involves a poltergeist at a supermarket, whose 'source' is narrowed down to the sexual frustration of a young, frumpy cashier with an inferiority complex!

The special effects are very well done for a TV show: incidentally, the phenomenon is mostly treated in a light vein (at first, it's taken to be a stray animal and, with the supermarket itself having a squirrel for its mascot, is even referred to by that brand-name!). Even so, coming the same year as CARRIE, the implications of it all are undeniably chilling – considering also that it increases in fury with each subsequent manifestation.

As ever, the performances – especially those of the neurotic protagonist and the object of her unrequited affection, the patronizing albeit long-suffering manager (shamelessly involved with an attractive colleague and later seen flirting with a prospective mature employee) who actually hates her guts and constantly tries to have the girl sacked – lend much-needed persuasion to the unfolding supernatural events.