- Mystery and Imagination
-
Mystery and Imagination Genre Horror anthology Starring David Buck Country of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English No. of series 5 No. of episodes 24 Production Producer(s) ABC Television
(Series 1—3)
Thames Television
(Series 4—5)Broadcast Original channel ITV Original run 29 January 1966 –
23 February 1970Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by ITV (ABC - Thames) and featured 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. Each episode of the ABC series was introduced by David Buck.
Contents
Episodes
Series 1
# Title Story Original airdate 1 "The Lost Stradivarius" J. Meade Falkner January 29, 1966 2 "The Body Snatcher" Robert Louis Stevenson February 5, 1966 3 "The Fall of the House of Usher" Edgar Allan Poe February 12, 1966 4 "The Open Door" Margaret Oliphant February 19, 1966 5 "The Tractate Middoth" M. R. James February 26, 1966 6 "Lost Hearts" M. R. James March 5, 1966 7 "The Canterville Ghost" Oscar Wilde March 12, 1966 Series 2
# Title Story Original airdate 8 "Room 13" M. R. James October 22, 1966 9 "The Beckoning Shadow" Charlotte Riddell October 29, 1966 10 "The Flying Dragon" Sheridan Le Fanu November 5, 1966 11 "Carmilla" Sheridan Le Fanu November 12, 1966 12 "The Phantom Lover" Vernon Lee November 19, 1966 Series 3
# Title Story Original airdate 13 "Casting the Runes" M. R. James March 22, 1968 14 "The Listener" Algernon Blackwood March 30, 1968 15 "A Place of One's Own" Osbert Sitwell April 6, 1968 16 "The Devil's Piper" Walter Scott April 13, 1968 17 "The Tell-Tale Heart" Edgar Allan Poe June 22, 1968 18 "Feet Foremost" L. P. Hartley June 29, 1968 Series 4
# Title Story Original airdate 19 "Uncle Silas" Sheridan Le Fanu November 4, 1968 20 "Frankenstein" Mary Shelley November 11, 1968 21 "Dracula" Bram Stoker November 18, 1968 Series 5
# Title Story Original airdate 22 "The Suicide Club" Robert Louis Stevenson February 9, 1970 23 "Sweeney Todd" George Dibdin-Pitt February 16, 1970 24 "The Curse of the Mummy" Bram Stoker February 23, 1970 Archive status
Only the teleplays 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Open Door', from the ABC series (series 1 to 3) exist in the archives. Both these episodes appear in the first series. All the teleplays of the second and the third series are not known to exist. All of the Thames episodes (series 4 and 5) also survive in the archives. A brief clip from the teleplay 'Casting the Runes' (from series 3) also exists.
DVD release
Network DVD has released all eight remaining episodes on a four disc set along with the surviving clips of 'Casting the Runes'.[1]
References
- ^ "Mystery and Imagination". Network DVD. http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=866. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
- Wheatley, Helen. Gothic Television (Manchester University Press 2006) p36 ff.
- Thumim, Janet; Helen Wheatley. "Mystery and Imagination: Anatomy of a Gothic Anthology Series". Small Screens, Big Ideas: Television in the 1950s. I.B.Tauris. pp. 165–179. ISBN 1860646832. http://books.google.com/books?id=RxBJC2U5oRoC&pg=PA165.
External links
Categories:- British supernatural television programmes
- 1966 television series debuts
- 1970 television series endings
- 1960s British television series
- 1970s British television series
- ITV television programmes
- Anthology television series
- Horror fiction television series
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
