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Mystery and Imagination

British television horror anthology series, 1966-1970

Summary

British television horror anthology series, 1966-1970

FieldValue
imageMystery and Imagination.jpg
genreHorror anthology
starringDavid Buck
countryUnited Kingdom
languageEnglish
num_series5
num_episodes24 (16 missing)
company{{plainlist
networkITV
first_aired
last_aired
  • ABC Weekend TV (Series 1–3)
  • Thames Television (Series 4–5) Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by the ITV network and produced by ABC and (later) Thames Television.

Outline

The series featured television plays based on the works of well-known authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, M. R. James, and Edgar Allan Poe. All Bar one of the first two ABC series starred David Buck as Richard Beckett, originally a character from Sheridan Le Fanu's story "The Flying Dragon", as narrator. Beckett was made the central character of the series, taking the roles of various characters from some of the original stories. The first two series, although transmitted as two separate runs, were recorded in a single production block. The episode without Buck as the lead ("The Open Door") features Jack Hawkins. Unlike BBC dramas from the period, location exterior shots were also recorded onto video tape rather than 16mm film, giving a more consistent look to the production. Only series 5 was videotaped in colour.

Episodes

Series 1

#TitleStoryOriginal airdate
EpisodeNumber=1Title=The Lost StradivariusAux1=J. Meade Falknerdf=yes19660129}}

Series 2

#TitleStoryOriginal airdate
EpisodeNumber=8Room 13]]Aux1=M. R. Jamesdf=yes19661022}}

Series 3

#TitleStoryOriginal airdate
EpisodeNumber=13Casting the Runes]]Aux1=M. R. Jamesdf=yes19680322}}

Series 4

#TitleStoryOriginal airdate
EpisodeNumber=19Title=Uncle SilasAux1=Sheridan Le Fanudf=yes19681104}}

Series 5

#TitleStoryOriginal airdate
EpisodeNumber=22The Suicide Club]]Aux1=Robert Louis Stevensondf=yes19700209}}

Archive status and availability

Of the episodes from the ABC era, only the versions of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Open Door" (series 1) have survived. All the other episodes from the first three series are not known to exist, although the Thames episodes (series 4 and 5) survive. A brief clip from "Casting the Runes" (from series 3) also exists. Domestic audio recordings of the otherwise missing episodes "The Lost Stradivarius", "The Body Snatcher", "The Tractate Middoth", "Lost Hearts", "The Canterville Ghost" and "Room 13" also exist. These recordings have been uploaded to YouTube.

On 5 July 2010, Network released all eight remaining episodes on a four disc DVD set along with the surviving clip of "Casting the Runes". Kaleidoscope/TV Brain have released some of the off air audio recordings from the missing episodes on DVD alongside some audio recordings from some of the missing episodes of the tv series Public Eye.

References

References

  1. The change from ABC to Thames occurred because of the [[History of ITV#1964–1968. July 1968 franchise changes]].
  2. IMDb claims Buck appears in eleven episodes from the first two series. According to Helen Wheatley "Mystery and Imagination" in Janet Thurmin ''Small Screens, Big Ideas: Television in the 1950s'' [sic], London: IB Tauris, 2002, p.169-70, Buck also appears in the third.
  3. [http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=95e8f849-a1ce-418e-9ed8-7437b350a48c ''Mystery and Imagination''], lostshows.com
  4. "Mystery & Imagination - YouTube".
  5. "Mystery And Imagination - The Complete Series (All the remaining episodes) [DVD] [1966]".
  6. "PUBLIC EYE - THE MISSING EPISODES (AUDIO)".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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