Tales of the Unexpected: Difference between revisions

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The tone varied from story to story but on the whole it has been described as like ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'', but with a [[Black Comedy|darkly humorous]] slant, especially in the Roald Dahl stories. The show had a low budget but the writing lead to an amazing list of Guest Stars including: Anna Neagle, [[Brian Blessed]], Timothy West, John Gielgud, Elaine Stritch, John Mills, Julie Harris, Wendy Hiller, Joseph Cotten, [[Derek Jacobi]], Janet Leigh and Siobhan McKenna.

Examples of the more famous Dahl stories are ''William and Mary'', in which Mary learns that her husband has cheated death via a [[~~Brainina~~ Jar|brain transplant]]; ''The Landlady'', in which a seemingly charming old lady is really murdering and stuffing her tenants; ''The Way Up to Heaven'', in which an abusive husband is trapped in a lift, and his long-suffering wife deliberately leaves him there to die, and ''Lamb to the Slaughter'', in which a wronged wife batters her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb and then gets away with it by getting the detectives (including [[Brian Blessed]]) to [[Eat the Evidence]].

Examples of the more famous Dahl stories are ''William and Mary'', in which Mary learns that her husband has cheated death via a [[Brain In A Jar|brain transplant]]; ''The Landlady'', in which a seemingly charming old lady is really murdering and stuffing her tenants; ''The Way Up to Heaven'', in which an abusive husband is trapped in a lift, and his long-suffering wife deliberately leaves him there to die, and ''Lamb to the Slaughter'', in which a wronged wife batters her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb and then gets away with it by getting the detectives (including [[Brian Blessed]]) to [[Eat the Evidence]].

Several episodes are [[R Emake|remakes]] of stories that had already been adapted for other series, such as ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' ("Lamb to the Slaughter", "The Man from the South") and ''[[Way Out]]'' ("William and Mary").

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=== Tropes: ===

* [[~~Brainina~~ Jar]]: "William and Mary"

* [[Brain In A Jar]]: "William and Mary"

* [[Cruel Twist Ending]] and [[Karmic Twist Ending]]

* [[Cultural Translation]]: The opening narration was replaced in the American version.