Tales of the Unexpected: Death in the Morning starts as Sir Ian Masterson (Moray Watson) arrives back at his stately manor home in rural England after marrying Karen (Cherie Lunghi) & she is suitably impressed by the huge house & acres of land. Karen is introduced to the servants & Ian's son Paul (Richard Austin) who all try to make her feel welcome, Karen also befriends a local woman named Linda (Carol Drinkwater). While out horse riding Karen faints, then she is almost killed in a car accident & she becomes very tired & weak. After learning about her stepson Paul's obsession with black magic & witchcraft Karen becomes convinced he has put a spell on her, has he or is it all just a coincidence & her imagination?
This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 12 from season 5 & originally aired here in the UK during July 1982, the eighth of eleven Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by John Gorrie one has to say Death in the Morning is a watchable enough tale that passes twenty five minutes harmlessly. The story by Zia Kruger was dramatised by director Gorrie & is one of those very rare Tales of the Unexpected episodes which actually has some horror &/or supernatural content, I think it's a general misconception with this series that most of the episodes are horror or supernatural based (not really helped by the IMDb listing 'Horror' as the genre for every episode) which if you have seen some you know just isn't the case at all. So in that regard it's nice to see a supernatural based story although one has to say at the end it's fairly ambiguous as all the supposed supernatural goings on aren't definitely attributed to black magic or witchcraft & the possibility of all the events being mere coincidence is there although I think it's clear what the makers wanted you to think. It's not a bad episode but then it's not a great one either, it's just a short 'people getting their comeuppance after the tables are turned' type episode which is watchable if rather forgettable.
This one is filmed on a mixture of videotape & 16mm film which can be quite jarring at times although I always like the contrast, there's nothing in the way of style though. The English stately home & grounds look nice enough for the location filming I suppose but otherwise there's not much here to get excited about. Again the cast is impressive with the likes of Cherie Lunghi, Moray Watson, Hilary Mason & Carol Drinkwater seemingly having 100's of TV credits between them.
Death in the Morning is a rare Tales of the Unexpected that actually revolves around the supernatural although that doesn't automatically make it any good, I thought it was OK if a little bit forgettable. Worth a watch if you have nothing else to do though.
This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 12 from season 5 & originally aired here in the UK during July 1982, the eighth of eleven Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by John Gorrie one has to say Death in the Morning is a watchable enough tale that passes twenty five minutes harmlessly. The story by Zia Kruger was dramatised by director Gorrie & is one of those very rare Tales of the Unexpected episodes which actually has some horror &/or supernatural content, I think it's a general misconception with this series that most of the episodes are horror or supernatural based (not really helped by the IMDb listing 'Horror' as the genre for every episode) which if you have seen some you know just isn't the case at all. So in that regard it's nice to see a supernatural based story although one has to say at the end it's fairly ambiguous as all the supposed supernatural goings on aren't definitely attributed to black magic or witchcraft & the possibility of all the events being mere coincidence is there although I think it's clear what the makers wanted you to think. It's not a bad episode but then it's not a great one either, it's just a short 'people getting their comeuppance after the tables are turned' type episode which is watchable if rather forgettable.
This one is filmed on a mixture of videotape & 16mm film which can be quite jarring at times although I always like the contrast, there's nothing in the way of style though. The English stately home & grounds look nice enough for the location filming I suppose but otherwise there's not much here to get excited about. Again the cast is impressive with the likes of Cherie Lunghi, Moray Watson, Hilary Mason & Carol Drinkwater seemingly having 100's of TV credits between them.
Death in the Morning is a rare Tales of the Unexpected that actually revolves around the supernatural although that doesn't automatically make it any good, I thought it was OK if a little bit forgettable. Worth a watch if you have nothing else to do though.
