Don't Open Till Doomsday

"Don’t Open Till Doomsday"
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 17
Directed by	Gerd Oswald
Written by	Joseph Stefano
Cinematography by	Conrad Hall
Production code	22
Original air date	January 20, 1964
Guest stars
Miriam Hopkins John Hoyt Russell Collins Buck Taylor Nellie Burt
Episode chronology
← Previous "Controlled Experiment" Next → "ZZZZZ"
List of The Outer Limits episodes

"Don’t Open Till Doomsday" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 20 January 1964, during the first season.

Opening narration

"The greatness of evil lies in its awful accuracy. Without that deadly talent for being in the right place at the right time evil must suffer defeat. For unlike its opposite good, evil is allowed no human failings, no miscalculations. Evil must be perfect or depend upon the imperfections of others."

Plot

In the 1920s, a pair of newlyweds receive a mysterious gift. 40 years later an eloping couple arrive at the house. After the bride disappears, her dominating father arrives to discover that to free his daughter, he must help an alien who plans to destroy the entire universe.

Closing narration

"Without that deadly talent for being in the right place at the right time evil must suffer defeat, and with each defeat doomsday is postponed for at least one more day."

Cast

• Miriam Hopkins – as Mary Kry
• David Frankham – as Harvey Kry
• John Hoyt – as Emmett Balfour
• Buck Taylor – as Gard Hayden
• Melinda Plowman – as Vivia Hayden
• Russell Collins – as Justice of the Peace
• Nellie Burt – as Wife
• Anthony Jochim – as Mordecai Spazman
• Frank Delfino – as Creature (uncredited)
• Robert Johnson – as voice of Creature (uncredited)

External links

• "Don't Open Till Doomsday" appreciation by Mark Holcomb
• "Don't Open Till Doomsday" at TV.com