Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) I'll Be Seeing You (1980) User Reviews

The eyes are very definitely the window to the Soul.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 13 February 2016]

Anna is a very beautiful young woman, but tragically is losing her sight. Roland Trent is in love with her and having an affair, but he's in a loveless marriage with wife Vivienne, a wealthy, brash, drunken woman, who loves to live fast, drink, driving recklessly etc. Roland has plans of marrying Anna, but with her failing sight she can't, her only option, a potential operation in an exclusive Clinic, to save her sight at a cost of thousands. Roland confronts Vivienne with the news, that he's leaving her, she refuses the divorce

Fine performances all round, Anthony Valentine is great as the beaten down husband. Hilary Tindall plays his hellish wife brilliantly with such vigour. Amanda Redman is fantastic too as Anna, still attractive, but back then she was gorgeous, she plays the part with such tenderness.

Great line from Vivienne, 'Whatever happens I'll always have the last laugh on you too.' How right she was.

A cracking story of love and hate, you get the sense that Roland very definitely loves Anna, and loathes Vivienne. The characters are all believable, well written and particularly well developed. Great twist too, 8/10

The eyes have it!

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 24 September 2021]

To say that this story had an ironic ending would be a bit of an understatement. The title itself has a dual meaning if you consider the fact that Anna Warrack (Amanda Redman) was the recipient of the eyes donated by Vivienne Trent's (Hilary Tindall) family after the car crash death engineered by her husband Roland (Anthony Valentine). The look on Roland's face when he learned the bitter truth about Anna's operation almost made it seem like he would once again be married to someone with his former wife's personality. We know better of course, but it wouldn't have been any consolation for him to know that every time he looked in Anna's eyes, he would see those of his murdered wife looking back at him. It brings to mind the words of that old Eagles song which goes 'There ain't no way to hide your lying eyes'.

Average tale of the unexpected.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 10 July 2007]

Tales of the Unexpected: I'll Be Seeing You concerns a man called Roland Trent (Anthony Valentine) who is stuck in a loveless marriage to Vivienne (Hilary Tindall), they have both had other lovers but this time Roland has fallen in love with a young lady called Anna Warrack (Amanda Redman) who is going blind. Anna knows of a Professor Coburn (Murray Ewan) who needs human guinea pigs to try out his human eye transplant technique on, the only catch is the patient has to pay for it. All of Roland's money is tied up in his business & the spiteful Vivienne isn't keen on giving thousands of pounds to prevent his lover going blind. Roland decides on a more dishonest way to get the money & get rid off Vivienne all in one go...

Episode 8 from season 3 this Tales of the Unexpected story was the first of two episodes to be directed by Philip Dudley & isn't a particularly brilliant story but isn't as bad as some. The story by Robert Quigley was dramatised by Julian Bond & for it's majority is a simplistic love triangle that wouldn't look out of place in a low rent soap opera, eventually it gets more sinister & ends with an OK if somewhat predictable twist. The character's are alright, the dialogue is forgettable, the slim 25 minute duration prevents any real development of the story & to be perfectly honest it's neither that special or memorable. It moves along at a nice enough pace I suppose & it passes the time harmlessly enough but when all said & done it's all rather average.

This series has dated pretty badly & I'll Be Seeing You is no exception, just check out the fashions, the cars & the decor! This is as much a drama with a sinister twist as it is anything else, there's no horror or scares here, there's no tension or atmosphere & it has all the style of a soap opera. That opening shot of the camera closing in on Roland is one of the jerkiest camera movements I've ever seen! The cast on these things always impress me, Anthony Valentine is making the first of his two appearances in Tales of the Unexpected while popular British actress Amanda Redman makes an early screen appearance also in her first of two Tales of the Unexpected episodes.

I'll Be Seeing You is an alright tale, it's a bit predictable & the final twist isn't even that original or spectacular but it's watchable enough in it's own right & is far from the worst episode this series ever produced.