Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) Poison (1980) User Reviews

Poison

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 28 June 2023]

Harry Pope (Andrew Ray) is a teacher in India, he also has a drink problem but has been on the wagon for a few weeks.

With his friend Timber Woods (Anthony Steel) away at a party. Harry discovers that a deadly snake has slithered into his bed and rested on his stomach.

When Timber arrives with his bit on the side, Sandra (Judy Geeson) a married woman. Timber needs to get help quick as a heavily sweating and nervous Harry eventually spells out that has happened to him some hours ago.

Timber phones for the local doctor but eventually they discover that the snake has gone. Maybe Harry had a drink or two and imagined it.

Well acted by Andrew Ray, with some barbed remarks about people with superior colonial attitudes. Despite some red herrings, it was all a bit ordinary and a cynical message about falling for the temptation of drink.

Decent Tales of the Unexpected episode.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 30 April 2007]

Tales of the Unexpected: Poison is set in India which teacher Harry Pope (Andrew Ray) hates, he has had some good news though in that the company he works for is replacing him with a local teacher & it's only a matter of time before Harry goes back to England. However one night while reading a book a highly poisonous snake called a Kriate slithers into his bed & parks itself on his stomach, Harry is petrified & cannot move a muscle for fear of the snake biting him which would undoubtedly be fatal. Then luckily his friend Timber Woods (Anthony Steel) arrives & together they have to figure a way out of the precarious situation...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 5 from season 2 that originally aired here in the UK during March 1980, the first of 12 Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Graham Evans this is a decent enough time waster but as usual nothing special. The story by Roald Dahl was dramatised by Robin Chapman & in his filmed introduction Dahl recalls that while he was working in East Africa when he was 20 years old he witnessed a gardener bitten by a Black Mamba & despite his best efforts died later that day & that's where the inspiration for this story came from I suppose. Anyway this is the second time Dahl's story Poison has been adapted into a TV anthology series after an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) & the main thing about this story is it's unique hook, setting & plotting. Unfortunately it doesn't do much with the premise & it actually starts to wear thin before the end which is supposed to have a twist but as is common for Tales of the Unexpected it's pretty predictable. This is passable stuff & worth 25 minutes of your life but it's hardly spectacular or particularly memorable.

This one looks a lot better than most Tales of the Unexpected episodes being shot on film & having some nice cinematography which actually has the camera moving rather than the usual low budget 'point-and-shoot' blandness. The acting is alright from another strong British cast including Judy Geeson.

Poison is a watchable enough 25 minutes of British TV drama that is worth a watch but isn't outstanding & a tad forgettable.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 25 August 2021]

I thought the suspense this episode was building was wasted on the venomous krait eventually biting Harry Pope (Andrew Ray). He would have been the expected victim before the ancillary players were introduced, and I felt the story was building for the extremely horny but very unsympathetic Sandra (Judy Geeson) to be on the receiving end of that fatal bite. On the other hand, Pope wasn't very appreciative of the Indian doctor's (Saeed Jaffrey) assistance in seeing that he come out of the terrifying situation alive, so maybe there was some poetic justice there after all. In any case, the story will keep you on the edge of your seat, or bed, as the case may be. It's these kinds of stories that make you want to check your furniture at least two or three times before settling in.

The deadly venom of another kind

[nqure · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

This story by Roald Dahl perhaps has more in common with the work of Somerset Maugham (exotic setting, a human truth) than his more macabre, darker stories. I came to it after listening to a BBC Radio 4 extra adaptation featuring Charles Dance as the narrator. It's perhaps the only story that I was familiar with at firsthand before seeing dramatized on 'TOTU'. The radio adaptation was much more stripped down (15 minutes) - there's no subplot about Timber's (farcical) assignation with a married woman, and the story's real powerful lesson comes at us from the side, with the observation that there is nothing more venomous, in fact, than human spite.

The setting of India (post colonial?) is key. Harry Pope discovers a krait, the world's most dangerous snake, is nesting beneath his bedsheets. In this tv version, there's an element of farce as Timber's tryst with a married woman gets spoiled by Harry's desperate cries for help. Timber is played by Anthony Steel, much more sympathetic here than his ambiguous portrayal of the adult, who may or may not be John Mill's childhood tormentor (Galloping Foxley).

Into the situation arrives Dr Kunzru, played by Saeed Jaffrey. First, he administers a serum, which may not be effective, before he and Timber attempt to asphyxiate the krait using chloroform. Without wishing to spoil things too much, the good doctor receives little thanks for his help except a barrage of racial slurs and insults. This is the poison of racism which can be just as hurtful.

This television adaptation takes the story a stage further though I'm not sure it is an improvement on the audio version. The radio adaptation felt more truthful with the Doctor's observation conveying an emotional truth. Andrew Ray tries very hard to makes the ending plausible but it had the touch of a B-movie, directed by Ed Wood, about it.

Beware the bite of a Krait.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 10 February 2016]

Harry Pope is working out in India as a teacher, a drinker who's been off it for three weeks, he's set to return home, not being a fan of India, a new life beckons. One night Harry is laying in bed, a Krait climbs into his bed, to sleep on his warm stomach, one false move and the Krait would strike, a deadly bite. Soon after the Krait has made itself comfortable, his friend Timber returns home from an evening out, but time is very short for Harry.

Andrew Ray is very very good as Harry, an actor that would make quite a few appearances in Tales, I would argue this was his best performance of the six.

A truly top notch episode, so clever and twisted, which of us doesn't have a justifiable fear of deadly and poisonous snakes, the Krait being one of the most feared. They managed to create a massive amount of tension, and a primal fear. You also get a moment of calm, and just when you think everything is alright, Roald Dahl strikes in his own typical way.

A cracker, especially if you have a fear of serpents!! 8/10