The Signalman/A Warning To The Curious

[mark meakin]

On The BEASTS set I rate them in this order:-
BABY Creepy stuff with a memorable ending
MURRAIN (Ironically an extra but better than virtually all the actual episodes.)
DURING BARTY'S PARTY Generally regarded as the best it did not live up to expectations.
WHAT BIG EYES For Patrick Magee alone if nothing else
SPECIAL OFFER Pretty mediocre but watchable
THE DUMMY I thought this was quite poor for Kneale though perhaps a better monster suit would've helped
BUDDYBOY The Dolphin one.If I was Martin Shaw I'd be more embarassed about this than The Professionals.Surprised it passed the script stage.One of Kneale's few Turkeys in my opinion.
Well worth a look for Kneale fans but expect to be disappointed.I was only about 8 when it came out & so I missed the first (Only ?) screenings in 1976.The Stone Tape was well worth waiting for though & kudos to BBC 4 & BFI for bring it out of the vaults.Hopefully SUPERNATURAL (1977) will appear in the future on BBC 4 at least.Do you also have the 1977 BBC adaption of Count Dracula too Cloud ?.I have the r2 version though it's also out on r1.

[cloud]

I've never seen any Supernatural though it does sound interesting. Do Network only have access to the ITV archives? Because they seem to be the only company who releases series like that.

Baby was the most effective of the lot, the ending was excellent. I enjoyed Buddy Boy the most, I thought it was the best paced with the most cutting edge characters. During Barty's Party tried but failed miserably, likewise with What Big Eyes which was especially dull I thought. The Dummy was OK, nowt special and Special Offer was decent-ish.

I have Count Dracula though it's still sat in the pile, I plan on watching it soon.

[Mojo]

I really enjoyed The Exorcism - creepy stuff. I'd love BBC4 to screen the remaining existing Dead Of Night episodes.

Late Night Horror is another 70s BBC anthology series apparently 'lost' ( ie - junked )

Beasts was a huge disappointment for me. Compare that to BBC's adaptation of Kneale's The Stone Tape, which is brilliant. ITV really can't do 'scary' can they? Same with their adaptation of Casting The Runes. As someone else ( mark? ) has mentioned, it was awful.

I do remember BBC's Supernatural as being pretty weak, mind.

Personally, I'd love to see a boxset of the Beeb's Out Of The Unknown ( a good number of episodes still exist ) and the US 1970's anthology series Ghost Story.

[cloud]

Another worth a mention is Ghost Story (aka Madhouse Mansion) which I have on DVD-R, it's not a TV series though, it's feature length and was made for TV I think. That one is okay but nothing special.

I've never seen any Supernatural, Out Of The Unknown or Ghost Story. Does anyone have any they could burn onto disc for me? I'd be willing to trade anything else that's rare in exchange.

Regarding Casting The Runes, I think we both agreed that was lame. I thought the extras blew the film out of the water.

[mark meakin]

I want Hammers JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN to hit dvd.I've only ever seen one episode (twice !)

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

I saw GHOSTWATCH in HMV just before Xmas at £9.99.I lifted it and put it back.Should've nabbed it.....

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by reaper72

I saw GHOSTWATCH in HMV just before Xmas at £9.99.I lifted it and put it back.Should've nabbed it.....

Bad decision Reaps !

[cloud]

Very bad move especially as £10 is cheap for a BFI DVD, mine cost a bit more than that back in the day.

Check here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_...rds=ghostwatch - they have a few used for £15. Don't pass up the opportunity, it's classic TV!

I rewatched Crooked House the other day and despite thinking that it wasn't bad on its original transmission it didn't really pass the test second time round. Compared to the '70s ones it's quite lacking. Still, better than nothing I say. Thanks Mark for sending me a copy.

[mark meakin]

I agree Crooked House was disappointing Cloud but it's nice to see BBC 4 making such programmes.Hopefully it was successful enough with viewers for further new shows though I'd like to see the Beeb dip into their archives more.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Yeah there was NO sign of GW in HMV yesterday.Perhaps someone had returned the one I seen.