Vicious Circle (12 Apr. 1981)

Whom would you consider to be the more dangerous? Rex Tobin, the young thief who breaks into Mrs. Grady's flat to rob her? Or dear little old Mrs. Grady herself, who, when Tobin falls and ... See full summary »

Director:

Philip Dudley

Writers:

Robin Chapman (dramatisation), Donald Honig (story)

Stars:

Siobhan McKenna, Patrick Field, Forbes Collins

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Siobhan McKenna	...	Mrs. Grady (as Siobhán McKenna)
Patrick Field	...	Rex Tobin
Forbes Collins	...	Police Sergeant
Graham Weston	...	Police Superintendent
Kenneth Hadley	...	Plain-Clothes Detective
Lesley Goldie	...	Mrs. Jackson

Storyline

Whom would you consider to be the more dangerous? Rex Tobin, the young thief who breaks into Mrs. Grady's flat to rob her? Or dear little old Mrs. Grady herself, who, when Tobin falls and hurts himself, bandages his ankle, makes him tea, and promises to let him go if he will behave himself in future? He might be making all the right noises but she has all the right moves. . .

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1981 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglia Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Horrible Tales of the Unexpected episode.

Tales of the Unexpected: Vicious Circle starts as a dear old lady named Mrs. Grady (Siobhan McKenna) arrives home to discover a teenage thug named Rex Tobin (Patrick Field) trying to break into her flat, he tries to run away but falls down & sprains his ankle. Rather charitably Mrs. Grady offers the hand of friendship & compassion & invites Rex into her home, she bandages his foot & makes him some tea & promises not to call the police if he promises to go straight. Rex agrees but for how long can he resist the temptation to return to crime & just why is Mrs. Grady being so friendly...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 2 from season 4 & originally aired here in the UK during April 1981, the second of two Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Philip Dudley I really didn't like this one at all. The story by Donald Honig was dramatised by Robin Chapman & one has to say that Vicious Circle is horrible, at it's heart there's a slushy dull moralistic message That I could well do without. Like usual there is a twist at the end which you may or may not see coming, it's not the most obvious twist but at the same time it's not the most surprising. The majority of Vicious Circle is awful banter between Rex & Mrs. Grady as he says whatever she wants to hear to stop her calling the police, dull, dull, dull. The first twenty odd minutes of this feels like it goes on for hours it's that bland, dull & boring. There are much better, better episodes than this so don't waste your time unless your a die hard fan of the series & have to see absolutely every episode.

This one is filmed in a rather bland way, it has the old studio set up where three or four cameras are placed where the 'fourth' wall should be & the actors perform the whole scene straight through as opposed to the single camera shooting that is commonly used today. It looks & feels dated in a very unflattering way. The acting isn't anything great, Siobhan McKenna returns to the series after making an appearance as the sinister Landlord in the season one episode The Landlord (1979) only this time the story is crap.

Vicious Circle is rubbish, I really didn't like it at all & I can't really see many modern audiences getting much out of it. One to avoid as there are much better episodes out there.