Growing Pains (4 Oct. 1980)

After the death of their son William Morton, the diplomat Laurie Morton and her husband, the scientist Terence Morton adopt a boy, James. From the moment James moves to Morton's house in the country on, weird things happen with the family.

Director:

Francis Megahy

Writer:

Nicholas Palmer (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbara Kellerman, Gary Bond, Norman Beaton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Barbara Kellerman	...	Laurie Morton
Gary Bond	...	Terence Morton
Norman Beaton	...	Mr. Ngenko
Tariq Yunus	...	Charles Austin
Matthew Blakstad	...	James
Christopher Reilly	...	William Morton
Daphne Anderson	...	Matron
Michael Hughes	...	Mechanic, Thornton
Anna Simone Scott	...	Nurse Foster (as Karin Scott)
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Gravedigger

Storyline

After the death of their son William Morton, the diplomat Laurie Morton and her husband, the scientist Terence Morton adopt a boy, James. From the moment James moves to Morton's house in the country on, weird things happen with the family.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1980 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A Weak 'Omen''-type Story

"Terrence and Laurie Morton" lose their son when the latter accidentally takes poison in his father's lab. Barbara Kellerman plays Laurie, a diplomat, while Gary Bond plays her scientist husband. The grieving couple wind up adopting another boy, and he is an evil one, like the kid in the movie "The Omen." Crazy things happen soon after the adopted boy reaches his new home.

Overall, I was disappointed with this episode, expecting a more tense and edgy story than what was delivered. It was a bit flat, and the ending was nothing to rave about. Some of the acting was weak. The son who died was almost laughable when he staggered around in the backyard. It looked so hokey I thought I was watching a young Curly Howard of Three Stooges doing a parody of someone slowing dying. This was early on in the episode and was kind of a omen of the cheesy story that was to follow.

The evil boy who replaced the son was too nerdy looking to be convincing. This sort of storyline has been done numerous times, and far better than this. Yes, it had a few creepy moments but they were few and far between and the 51 minutes of this program seemed more like 151.