Of potential interest to fans

[Gothick]

Fans,

A few evenings ago I stumbled upon this amazing playlist on Youtube.  It includes (from number 93 onwards) the seven episodes of a short lived 1976 British anthology series, SUPERNATURAL.  The episodes I've watched thus far are very reminiscent of DS--lots of character moments, emphasis on mood and atmosphere, and psychological twists.  Please note that episodes 2 and 3 constitute a two part story (which could accurately be given the title of the first of the two parts, COUNTESS ILONA).  These scripts were written by actress Billie Whitelaw's husband Robert Muller and seem to be intended as a kind of homage to the themes of Victorian horror, but again, with a twist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmRu2axUu2LF_oPPxDUZhzXt4t4fLRlwq

I am enjoying this a lot--perhaps other fans will, as well.

The framing story involves a very exclusive gentlemen's club in London.  The rules of the club are that each prospective new member must tell a horror yarn to the assembled members.  If for whatever reason they don't care for his story, they will kill him.  And so it begins...

cheers, G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I watched the first 3 eps and enjoyed them quite a bit. Thanks so much for the link, Gothick! 

[Gothick]

Golly, MB--knowing how tight your schedule usually is, I'm impressed!

I started "Mr. Nightingale" earlier this evening but despite a very strong beginning (featuring Jeremy Brett in fabulously fantastical old age makeup), had to give it up.  I'm now watching "Night of the Marionettes" with Gordon Jackson (from UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS) and Vladek Sheybal (from UFO) and it's a much stronger, more effective story.

Glad you enjoyed the shows!  There is no arc so I do not think one should bother to watch in order...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I do have to confess that one of the reasons I couldn't stop watching once I began the 2nd ep is because I've always been a fan of Billie Whitelaw and her Countess Ilona continues into the 3rd ep.

I also have to say that was quite the blouse Amanda Boxer's Magda sported in the 3rd ep! Wardrobe like that would have never passed the US censors in 1977!! 

It was also interesting seeing Sinéad Cusack, Charles Keating, and Edward Hardwicke in roles done long before I even knew of them...

[Gothick]

Another good one from this series is "Viktoria," with a sympathetic role for Catherine Schell and a complex one for Judy Cornwell (who was a regular, or semi-regular, on KEEPING UP APPEARANCES in the 1990s).  This one involves retribution via doll magic and a twisted gay subtext, among other themes.

I don't think this series ever aired on the MYSTERY show on PBS and I can think of a number of reasons why not, at least back in the time of the late 1970s...

H.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

PBS might have surprised in the '70s because they were far more liberal with their programming back then than they are today. But then back then there weren't all the supposed "moral majority" protest groups that cropped up in the '90s and still exist to this day, and if even the slightest bit of PBS programming offends them, they're soon to be running to the FCC complaining that their tax dollars are being used to fund smut or whatever foolishness they want to complain about! 

For example, I remember back in the '70s I was quite surprised that PBS ran Glenda Jackson's Elizabeth R uncut because it contained quite a bit of nudity. And who can forget the production of Caligula. Both shows would require that PBS heavily edit them today.

Even some of the '80s P. D. James adaptations for Mystery would probably require editing.

Sad, really...

[Gothick]

Oh yes MB you're right about PBS in the 70s.  Point taken!  The first time I ever saw two men kiss was on a UK production of Marlowe's play Edward II, starring Ian McKellen, which was shown on PBS sometime around 1974 or 1975, I believe.  There was no reaction in the press at all because nobody in Washington bothered to watch PBS--and the church groups paid no attention, either.  Times have certainly changed.

I think when you wrote Caligula, you meant I, Claudius.  It's certainly amusing to contemplate what public reaction, if any, there might have been had the Malcolm McDowell Caligula aired on PBS, circa 1978...  I remember being surprised at how nonchalantly the actress playing Messalina sat up in bed bare-breasted in one scene.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I think when you wrote Caligula, you meant I, Claudius.

Yes - oops!   

One of the last things that I remember being shown on PBS without an uproar was probably Longtime Companion. I shudder to think what the reaction would be today if PBS even tried to show an edited version...

In some ways PBS might actually be better off if Washington really did defund it. Then they could go back to airing what they want without having to supposedly be beholden to any fringe group simply because they think their tax dollars dictate anything and everything PBS can show...

But now we're going way off topic, so I'll leave it there...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

"Caligula" on PBS, wow!  Can you imagine the reaction of the customers at The Blue Whale if THAT film came on the television set?  Bob Rooney's cigar might have exploded in his mouth when the convivial bartender caught a glimpse of the "action" in that flick!

[Uncle Roger]

  Considering the uproar when Valerie Perrine flashed the audience during Steambath back in the day, Caligula would have filled every coronary care unit in America!