Out of This World (TV Series) Pictures Don't Lie (1962) User Reviews

Great adventure remembered by a 9 year old

[rileyph · 9/10 · 6 January 2019]

The TV episode starts with a radio signal from outer space. It is clear that it is alien but at the start cannot be deciphered. Eventually, the main scientist realises that if he slows down the signal, it makes more sense. After a while, he manages to decode the language so he can talk to the space craft captain. Initially, the captain is very sceptical about the friendliness of earth people, thinking they are violent and will kill the aliens.

Finally, the two become friends and the alien agrees to land nearby. the decent is traumatic, and it is raining. After the craft lands the scientist goes outside to look for it but cannot see it.

The aliens see monsters outside the window and think they have been deceived.

The monsters are worms, the aliens miniature. I found it very plausible because of the build up and believable science; small aliens would speak with high frequencies.

I wish I could see it again to see if as an adult it is as gripping as I remember all those years ago. Certainly, it had a bid effect on me as I searched to find whether it was still available.

Doors in the imagination...

[iduerden-977-530082 · 10/10 · 14 February 2011]

Like Keith I remember the ending vividly, exactly as described. It has also stayed with me over the incredible fifty years since it was transmitted, a tribute to the intelligent build up and execution of the final visualization.

I disagree with the first viewer's reference to "extremely low budget" as if money is the only artistic merit of a production. As can be seen from the only remaining episode, "Little Lost Robot" the design, acting and script contribute to an hour of imaginative entertainment, often based on a famous science fiction author.

I understand that the premise "isn't plausible" but then the majority of popular sci-fi isn't plausible either, but hugely entertaining.

This series opened doors in my imagination and I am glad to say they never closed.

Recollections of this episode

[keithwwjd · 9/10 · 13 August 2010]

I watched this series as an impressionable 14 year old and this particular episode is indelibly etched in my memory. I was utterly shocked by the sudden ending, not only for how it happened, but also for the fact that I thought we were only near the middle of the episode. The synopsis as given by F G McIntyre is generally as I recall but the ending is a little different. My recollections are that:- · The setting was a small airfield on a misty evening. · Proper conversational contact between those at the airfield and the people on the spacecraft only occurred after it was realised that the alien speech was significantly faster than human speech. (So ours was speeded up and transmitted, their transmission was slowed down) · The aliens were coaxed to land their craft on Earth, on a promise that there were no scary animals around. · They were guided down by an airfield beam or beacon. · Upon landing they opened their windows and accused us of lying, saying there were monstrous animals outside their craft.

Spoiler COMING UP. The last (indelibly etched) short scene was shot as if by someone a few inches tall. It showed a path leading to the airfield building, with what looked like a golf ball nestled at the edge of the path. A man rushed from the building to look for this craft, but he crushed it underfoot. The people at the airfield had not realised that the aliens were very small (though certainly not microscopic) and, of course, I hadn't expected that either. The size factor could have been deduced through the need to retard the alien speech. The scary monsters were actually worms! Boris Karloff at his best.

Enjoyable but implausible.

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 19 September 2006]

I fondly recall 'Out of This World'. This was an extremely low-budget science-fiction series which at least had the merit of basing its scripts on short stories by established authors. The series is sometimes listed incorrectly as horror-themed, due to the presence of Boris Karloff as host. Karloff, collecting a well-deserved easy payday, merely delivered brief preambles from a neutral set, not interacting with the actors even to the minimal extent that Rod Serling did on 'The Twilight Zone'. Karloff's absent manner often implied he hadn't even seen the episodes he was commenting upon. The story lines placed some slight emphasis on twist endings, but there was more interest in thoughtful ideas than in thrills or surprises.

The episode "Pictures Don't Lie", adapted from a magazine story by Maine-based author Katherine Maclean, might have benefited from a larger budget. In the near future, Britain's government (the U.S. government in the original story) have been contacted by aliens from a distant planet. They've intercepted our television transmissions, and have learnt to speak our language. Better yet, they know what we look like (from our t.v. signals), and the aliens look very much like humans. An alien spaceship is now speeding towards Earth, and they've sent us transmissions of their own: sure enough, the aliens look very similar to Earth people. Surely we'll all get along just fine, then.

The aliens have notified us that they intend to land in a particular field at a particular time. Naturally, the military have arranged a reception ... but it's all quite friendly. A television transceiver has been set up, so that we can maintain audio-visual contact with the aliens as they approach. Pictures don't lie, surely.

SPOILER COMING. Something's wrong! The aliens claim to have reached our planet ... yet they don't see anyone waiting for them, and the waiting humans don't see the alien ship. Now the aliens claim to have landed in an ocean of noxious chemicals, and they're being attacked by bizarre monsters. Angrily, they accuse us of lying to them. The transmission fades as the 'monsters' (from Earth, apparently) destroy the aliens.

Eventually, the Earth people suss out what went wrong. Although the aliens look like humans, they are in fact much smaller than we are: microscopic, in fact. Their tiny spaceship landed in a rain puddle, where it was devoured by protozoa. Oo-er! In the mid-50s, EC Comics did very nearly an identical story, in which the tiny spaceship (not quite microscopic) lands in a vat of sauerkraut, and gets chomped by an army officer devouring a hot dog.

There is a scientific principle called the square-cube law which states basically that any life-form which is human-shaped would also have to be approximately human-sized. "Pictures Don't Lie", while enjoyable, simply isn't plausible. Which pretty much sums up this well-thought, poorly-financed series.

At last someone remembers this intriguing story.

[azlynch · 10/10 · 13 October 2014]

I concur with Keith's recollection of events as this episode unfolded, being two years younger (12) my recollections were more vague. The twist at the end has always fascinated me, at the time it was a dreadful realization that the aliens were so small and that our first contact should end in such tragedy. Even seeing the monsters (worm like) through the porthole of the alien spaceship didn't prepare you for what happened next when the scientist went outside to find the ship..... and trod on it.....the end.

The story line is worthy of a remake especially as the original tape was wiped after it was televised, how sad.

Footnote: As there is no surviving recording of this episode all anyone can have is memories for those who remember therefore by definition I trust that IMDb accept that there are no intended "spoilers" in this post.

Pity It Was Wiped

[TondaCoolwal · 8/10 · 16 August 2020]

Came across this whilst browsing. Have to agree with others that it is a criminal shame that the majority of this excellent series was wiped. My Mom, probably unwisely, used to let me sit up late to watch Out Of This World and, at age 11, I was alternatively fascinated or terrified by particular episodes. This one left me feeling great concern and sadness for the aliens. The build up was paced just right, with the gradual realisation that an extra-terrestrial race intended to land a spaceship on Earth. Their transmitted language was deciphered simply by slowing down the recorded messages. A welcome was prepared at an airfield. They landed but, were nowhere to be seen. They report frantically that their ship is surrounded by serpentine monsters. A scientist rushes out onto the field searching in vain - and squelches the miniature craft underfoot! I just did not see that coming at all! Great episode, and the look of it had little to do with limited budgets, more the technical constraints of the time. But, like Quatermass, a T.V. classic