Journey To The Unknown (1968/1969)

I’m sure everyone reading this article has a mental list of favourite TV shows they can return to time and time again, and enjoy just as they did when they first saw them. The easy availability of whole TV series on DVD (a rarity on VHS tape, unless they were wildly successful) or on the many digital, cable or satellite channels means that we can see them all over again. But there are some that never seem to be given an airing by any of the TV channels, that have not appeared on any recorded medium and which we fear may have been victims of the Grim Wiper. I thought that Journey To The Unknown may have fallen prey to the latter, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it was already in the first two. I am delighted to report that I was wrong.

‘JTTU’ was a tense, mysterious show that had a different story to tell each episode, usually about ordinary people who stray into an extraordinary situation or meet a very unusual person. The ‘Unknown’ referred to in the title was the human mind, and its reactions to these strange experiences. Made by our friends at Hammer, and shot on film in the late 60’s, its British locations and actors, with the star role going to an American actor each time, ensure it will be of great interest to lovers of that delirious decade.

To digress a little, being shot on film probably helped its survival, and isn’t it curious how the most flimsy and risk-prone recording medium of all has managed to preserve so much, whereas its distant cousin, videotape, has had much of its contents wiped and replaced by lesser stuff?

Over the last few years, I have been feeding the title of this show into my search engine, usually to little response. Recently, a search turned up a few addresses offering the entire series on DVD for a bewildering range of prices. They all stressed that this show has gone Public Domain and so no-one’s copyright is being infringed by bringing out a DVD copy for those who have tried and failed to bit-stream directly from the databank. I sent off a very reasonable few pounds and duly received my disk. OK, the picture’s ropey. It’s like looking through lightly faceted glass, the colours are s little washed out and the sound is low. Just like many moving images off the internet, unless your pc has the latest drivers and a memory the size of the US Defence Dept. computer. Put all of those petty gripes aside, like I did, and just enjoy this fabulous show.

If you’re familiar with shows like The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, you’re thinking in the right area. The first story, ‘Eve’, concerns a young man working in a department store  (Dennis Waterman) who falls in love with a store manikin whom he believes is real. With this manikin being played by the gorgeous Carole Lynley, it’s easy to understand his preference for her over his uncouth, mouthy female workmates. Needless to say, the affair is doomed, but not before a lot of touching scenes, played with great subtlety, keep us interested in this outrageous conceit.

‘Jane Brown’s Body’ has everyone’s favourite UNCLE Girl, Stephanie Powers, waking up with no memory of her life so far. A psychologist takes on the task of re-educating her, in what I feel can only be a tribute to the classic German (true!) tale, ‘The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.’

Those of you with a taste for Victorian tack will be amused by ‘The Indian Spirit Guide’, a tale of fake mediums and table-turning to extract money from the gullible.

There is the truly disturbing ‘Miss Belle’, the story of a young boy who has been brought up by a relative to believe he is a girl. The arrival of an obligatory pool-cleaner at the palatial Southern Gothic home of the boy means trouble, as we see the sexually frustrated guardian realising she cannot keep her ward’s true gender a secret for much longer. 

‘Paper Dolls’ is another one to raise the hairs on the back of your neck, ‘Midwych Cuckoos’-style. Sets of adopted children begin to show a curious character trait-everything one learns, the others learn too, and they speak of brothers and sisters their adopted parents didn’t know they had. Cue the Bad Seed, a boy who can control his siblings and inspire them to acts of defiance. 

It is ‘The New People’, however, that really takes the prize for making you feel queasy as you watch. An American couple move to a beautiful English country village, determined that they fit in with the locals. They get invited to parties and generally enjoy the surprisingly lively and swinging set they have fallen upon. However, there is one man who stands out as a leader, and the costume parties and hunt balls our friendly US couple are initially pleased to attend take on a sinister edge. Masterly acting by Patrick Allen as the Aleister Crowley-like leader figure, and solid support from the sympathetic character played by Milo O’Shea, raises this episode, in my view, to a classic. Reminiscent of ‘Masque Of The Red Death’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, it has to be seen!

‘One Man On An Island’ is a little too like a hastily drawn Horror Comic cartoon to be of much interest, but all is made up for in the magnificent ‘Matakitas Is Coming’. Starring one of my favourite actresses of the period, Gay Hamilton, who plays a librarian in what must be the darkest, creepiest library in the country. A journalist is researching, when she comes across a tale of a murderer who stalked his victims only yards away from the very building she’s in! This lonely place gradually becomes ever more uncomfortable, and she also begins to notice that her surroundings appear to have changed; reverted to an earlier time period. Attempts to call her editor on the telephone meet with failure, as the number and district she is trying to call do not (yet) exist. The brooding atmosphere is cranked up to terrifying effect, at the approach of Matakitas, back with murderous intent. Your next trip to your local library may be a short one!

The compelling ‘Somewhere In A Crowd’ is another high spot of the series, and once again stars a favourite of mine, the lovely Jane Asher. A TV news journalist, initially pleased to be on the scene of a series of newsworthy accidents, starts to notice that a certain set of people always appear to be present, close to the action. Trawling through the day’s film rushes confirms him in his belief that there is some sort of conspiracy going on, but no-one seems to share his view or concerns. Not even meeting a beautiful young woman fails to take his mind off these mysterious heralds of doom, and I could not be so cruel as to tell you how it ends.

For title alone, ‘The Beckoning Fair One’ deserves some sort of medal, and in a story that may owe a little to the classic ‘Rebecca’, we find that the influence of a late wife lingers on long after her death, in a painting of the lady.

‘Poor Butterfly’ is an unmemorable ‘ghosts at a sophisticated party’ story, but ‘Stranger In The Family’ more than makes up for it, with its claustrophobic tale of a young man who can command others to do his bidding. The South Bank setting, the well-meant but misguided attempts by his parents to keep him away from normal society, and his exploitation by a theatrical promoter and his female accomplice make this a must-see. The boy’s lack of experience with girls make him an easy target, and it is with very mixed emotions that you see the promoter getting his unwilling accomplice to play along with the boy’s adolescent crush on her. The disk I bought also contains three episodes of a series called ‘Out Of The Unknown’ one of which is another version of this story, brilliantly done. Sadly, this is probably all there is of ‘OOTU’; read the full sad story in Dick Fiddy’s excellent’ Missing Believed Wiped’.

The obsessive ‘technofear’ that was such a strong feature of cinema in the 1970’s gets an early outing in ‘The Madison Equation’, where a computer is used as both murder weapon and alibi provider.

‘The Killing Bottle’ is a classic tale of those who set themselves up as judges of their fellow man, and the abuse of power that often follows.

A good black comedy was obviously called for at this point., and ‘Do Me A Favour, Kill Me’ doesn’t disappoint. Few of us would arrange our own murder to get away from worldly problems, but that’s just what our flawed hero does, and then changes his mind. Not allowed.

‘Girl Of My Dreams’ has Zena Skinner playing a frumpy middle-aged waitress who dreams the future. Enter another scheming entrepreneur, determined to capitalise on her talent, promising her love and companionship in return. The sensitive playing of this gifted but lonely woman will have you wishing a very painful demise on her despicable exploiter. The episode is also notable for having a short role for Justine Lord, a frequent guest on ITC shows and one who needs no introduction at all to fans of ‘The Prisoner’    

‘The Last Visitor’ will keep you away from boarding houses in general, particularly out of season, and is that a Brighton location we see?

All of which is a very longhand way of saying that after forty years, I have finally got to see my favourite off-kilter sci-fi/paranormal TV series again, and I can report that its power to keep me glued to my set is undiminished. Difficult it is to imagine a present day production company making anything as subversive as ‘Miss Belle’ (or being allowed to). This show, and many like it, were made in a time when there was, to be fair, much more money available to produce a quality product. However, ‘JTTU’ is not a multi-million dollar production; set work was limited, location shooting was the norm, and the ‘stars’ were usually stars later on, not at the time. The writing was usually superb, and the acting on the button; the time capsule that these episodes represent make them a gold mine to 60’s nuts like me; the everyday clothes worn by the characters are research material, to say nothing of the beautiful colour schemes in people’s homes and the cool, popular cars they drive. 

The series was also remarkable for having each episode directed by Joan Harrison, who was, I’m told, the only female director working at this time.  

I’ll admit that I would have preferred to see a good, clear picture transfer onto DVD, or better still, an airing on, say, ITV2 or BBC4, but let’s face it, it probably won’t happen. At least they can’t argue ‘there’s no market for old black and white TV shows’, because this one’s in full colour. Its Public Domain status will probably keep it off our screens for ever, except perhaps the National Film Theatre (can you hear me, friends?). 

If this has whetted your appetite, then do track it down, but don’t pay some of the extortionate prices being asked by some denizens of the internet, who have sourced it from exactly the same place as my vendor, and with similar picture quality. I paid just £7, and I count it as the bargain of the century. 

Lastly, if anyone reading this article recalls seeing it available on VHS/BETA/NTSC or whatever, or saw a repeat on TV, wherever in the world, please would you write and tell us all about it? Thanks in advance. 

The Scenester

Comments

[Steve]

JTTU used to be on Grampian TV of a Wednesday afternoon around 3pm back circa 1978...I know cos I used to skive off school to nip back home and watch it! Just found the episodes again on YouTube and they're even better than I recalled. Amazed at how many familiar faces there are within each episode. Great stuff.