Tales Of The Unexpected Episode Guide

1. Man From the South

On shore-leave in Jamaica, a young American accepts an odd wager with Carlos, an old man. Carlos bets the the young man that he will not be able to start his cigarette lighter ten times without fail. If he can, he will win a new Cadillac. Then he tells him what he will have to stake - his little finger!

Main Cast: Jose Ferrer, Pamela Stephenson, Michael Ontkean, Cyril Luckham

2. Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat

Mrs Bixby's lover gives her a mink coat. To explain its existence to her husband, dentist Cyril Bixby, she devises a complicated scheme. She plans to pawn the mink coat and then tell her husband that she has found a pawn ticket. Her plan succeeds until she sends her husband to collect on the ticket.

Main Cast: Julie Harris, Michael Hordern, Richard Greene, Frederick Farley, Sandra Payne

3. William and Mary

After the death of her husband, William Pearl, a philosophy teacher, Mary receives a letter from him. It tells her that his brain is being kept alive by his colleague, Dr John Landy. William also advises Mary on how she should lead her new life without him. Mary visits William's brain, but she has her own ideas about how her life should unfold.

Main Cast: Elaine Stritch, Marius Goring, Frederick Farley

4. Lamb to the Slaughter

Mary Maloney kills her detective huband by smashing him over the head with a blunt object. When the police arrive, they fail to find the murder weapon even though it is right under their noses.

Main Cast: Susan George, Brian Blessed, Mark Jones, Michael Byrne

5. The Landlady

A Londoner arrives at a guesthouse in Bath where he is due to start a new job. The landlady is very friendly, if somewhat strange. When he sees the landlady's guestbook, he notices that he is the first person to stay there for quite a time, and he is sure that he recognises some of the names.

Main Cast: Siobhan McKenna, Leonard Preston, Anthony Dawes, John Bryant, Jess Davies

6. Neck

Sir Basil Turton's wife flaunts her lovers in front of him. While romancing in the garden with Major Haddock, she gets her head stuck in one of her husband's valuable sculptures. Now, how to get her head free?

Main Cast: Joan Collins, Michael Aldridge, Peter Bowles, Paul Herberg, Carmen Silvera, John Gielgud

7. Edward the Conqueror

Louisa and her husband, Edward, adopt a stray cat. The cat responds in such a way to Louisa's piano rendition of Liszt that she comes to believe that the cat is a reincarnation of the composer. Edward is not convinced and develops a real dislike to their feline companion.

Main Cast: Wendy Hiller, Joseph Cottotn, Phil Brown

8. A Dip in the Pool

William Botibol enters a sweepstake to guess how far the cruise ship he is on will travel in twenty four hours. He calculates that he will win if the ship has to turn back to pick up a man fallen overboard. He is determined to bag the prize at any cost.

Main Cast: Jack Weston, Gladys Spencer, Don Fellows, Davyd Harries

9. The Way up to Heaven

Mrs Foster has a pathological fear of being late; she panics, and her right eye begins to twitch. Her husband, Eugene, constantly torments her by causing delays. Will he come to regret his cruelty?

Main Cast: Julie Harris, Roland Culver

10. Royal Jelly

Bee-keeper Albert Taylor is concerned about his daughter, who is ill and losing weight. Albert decides to feed his daughter Royal Jelly, and it has some curious effects.

Main Cast: Timothy West, Susan George

11. Skin

In post-war Paris, Drioli, a penniless beggar, spots a painting for sale by his old friend Soutine. He realises that the tattoo on his back, which was put there by Soutine, is now extremely valuable. How can he sell it to a buyer?

Main Cast: Derek Jacobi, Lucy Gutteridge, Boris Isarov, Donald Pickering, Teris Hebrew

12. Galloping Foxley

William Perkins commutes every day, catching the 8:12 train and sitting in the same seat in the carriage. One day his routine is shattered when a newcomer takes his seat. He becomes convinced that the man is the same man who bullied him at school sixty years ago, Foxley.

Main Cast: John Mills, Anthony Steel