The BEST episodes of Tales of the Unexpected season 4

Every episode of Tales of the Unexpected season 4, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Tales of the Unexpected season 4!

Tales Of The Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. The series was an anthology of different tales. Initially episodes were based on the short stories collected in the books Tales of the Unexpected, Kiss Kiss and Someone Like You by Roald Dahl. The stories were sometimes sinister, sometimes wryly comedic, and usually had a twist ending. The upbeat theme music for the series was written by the prolific film and television composer Ron Grainer.

Last Updated: 9/29/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
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The Best of Everything
star
7.50
20 votes

#1 - The Best of Everything

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/26/1981

Arthur is a junior clerk in a city metal broker's office and he's desperately in love with the boss's daughter, Ann Horton. Arthur can't see how he's going to catch Ann's eye, but his smarter friend Charlie knows how to manage these things, and (in return for sharing Arthur's flat and borrowing his money) Charlie helps Arthur out. But then Charlie doesn't want to pay back what he owes...

Writer: Denis Cannan
Watch Now:Amazon
Hijack
star
7.47
17 votes

#2 - Hijack

Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/26/1981

Captain Waterhouse has to deal with a man on board his airliner who seizes Milly, a stewardess, takes her and a bottle of nitroglycerine into a tiny lavatory, and demands one million dollars in ransom money, plus a parachute for himself. The hijacker believes both have been delivered to him, and he jumps out... However, the story is not over yet...

Writer: Denis Cannan
Watch Now:Amazon
The Way to Do It
star
7.43
14 votes

#3 - The Way to Do It

Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/26/1981

Young Roger Carson has a dreary life and suffers from the domineering ways of his rich Aunt May. By way of escape, he takes up gambling - and swiftly falls for Suzie, a beautiful casino hostess. The boss of the casino sees Roger as a chicken ripe for plucking, and gets Suzie to encourage him. Soon, Roger is losing more than his income...

Writer: Denis Cannan
Watch Now:Amazon
Never Speak Ill of the Dead
star
7.41
17 votes

#4 - Never Speak Ill of the Dead

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/24/1981

David Rankin is a country doctor with a flighty young wife. Irene's affairs with other men were the talk of the town before she was married - and they still are. No one knows for sure if the gossip has reached the doctor. And then no one knows where Irene has gone... Sim and Bob accuse Dr Rankin of killing his wife and burying her in the cellar - but they have made a big mistake.

Watch Now:Amazon
There's One Born Every Minute
star
7.41
17 votes

#5 - There's One Born Every Minute

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 6/5/1981

Arthur and Margaret Pearson are a quiet middle-aged couple. Arthur is dull, but double-dealing, and when his wife Margaret inherits £50,000 he reluctantly agrees to gamble the money on a dubious and highly speculative property deal.As a result, the Pearsons' lives (and their relationship) begin to change significantly.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Last Bottle in the World
star
7.33
15 votes

#6 - The Last Bottle in the World

Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/7/1981

Kyros buys the last bottle of a superb 1864 claret - an anniverary present for his beautiful but unfaithful wife. He pays a tremendous price, and plans a dinner party - but Kyros is planning to use the wine for more than just drinking...

Writer: Denis Cannan
Watch Now:Amazon
The Best Policy
star
7.18
17 votes

#7 - The Best Policy

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/31/1981

Harry Flock has had a temporary promotion as acting manager of a branch bank. Harry is honest and meticulous to a fault, but he is in danger of losing his job when head office gets anonymous complaints about alleged embezzlements. Harry's accounts are immaculate. In fact, they seem too good to be true...

Watch Now:Amazon
Bosom Friends
star
7.18
17 votes

#8 - Bosom Friends

Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 6/12/1981

Nell and Emma were best friends at school, but after a reunion weekend they find things more difficult. Emma, who is retired and poor, asks Nell to rent her a spare room in her house. Nell agrees and Emma moves in, but she quickly proves to be completely penniless and seems willing to drag Nell down to poverty, too...

Watch Now:Amazon
Completely Foolproof
star
7.13
15 votes

#9 - Completely Foolproof

Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/21/1981

The very rich Joe Brisson is a self-made man with a number of enemies - including Lisa, his elegant but dangerously dissatisfied wife.

Watch Now:Amazon
Would You Believe It?
star
7.12
17 votes

#10 - Would You Believe It?

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/5/1981

Two archeologists working in Jordan, Tanner and Miller, find in the desert sand a statue of a woman in a strange posture. Driving through a rainstorm, and using an open truck, they try to smuggle their find over the border into Israel, only to discover on arrival that it has completely disappeared. They could have been in a lot of trouble...

Writer: Julian Bond
Watch Now:Amazon
A Woman's Help
star
7.12
17 votes

#11 - A Woman's Help

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/3/1981

Arthur is an elegant playboy, but he is dependent on his very rich, ailing, and demanding wife, Elizabeth. The day comes when the hen-pecked Arthur's lover wants a promise of marriage, and Arthur decides he wants his wife dead, so long as he gets her money. But there is something Arthur doesn't know about Elizabeth...

Writer: Bert Salzman
Watch Now:Amazon
The Sound Machine
star
7.12
17 votes

#12 - The Sound Machine

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/17/1981

A botanist called Klausner invents a machine which can translate the conversations of trees and plants... and what he hears gives him a nasty shock.

Writer: Roald Dahl
Watch Now:Amazon
Shatterproof
star
7.06
18 votes

#13 - Shatterproof

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/10/1981

Property tycoon Gerry Williams is married to the beautiful but unhappy Ellen, and somewhere the marriage has gone terribly wrong. Then an assassin is hired to kill Gerry, and he makes the mistake of getting too friendly with his target...

Watch Now:Amazon
Vicious Circle
star
7.05
19 votes

#14 - Vicious Circle

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/12/1981

An old lady catches Rex Tobin, a young burglar who was planning to rob her, and makes friends with him... but what is she really up to?

Watch Now:Amazon
Kindly Dig Your Grave
star
6.88
17 votes

#15 - Kindly Dig Your Grave

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/14/1981

Madame Lagrue runs a smart but commercial art gallery in Montmartre, Paris, getting rich at the expense of struggling artists. Then one of her victims falls in love with Fatima, an artist's model, and Madame Lagrue is up against someone even more cunning than she is.

Watch Now:Amazon
A Glowing Future
star
6.33
15 votes

#16 - A Glowing Future

Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 7/19/1981

Betsy's long term live-in lover, Jack, is planning to get married - but not to her. He has a new girlfriend half-way across the world, in Australia.Betsy is even more enraged when Jack starts to pack up their shared belongings for shipping to his new home. As the paintings come off the walls, Betsy decides to give the bride a present - she has just the thing in mind.

Writer: Ross Thomas
Watch Now:Amazon
The Boy Who Talked with Animals
star
6.00
13 votes

#17 - The Boy Who Talked with Animals

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/19/1981

David, a nine-year-old boy, talks his father into getting him a giant turtle. And there is more to David's desire for this unusual pet than meets the eye. Then Sam Jenner, a rugged American, gets drawn into David's holiday adventure in Jamaica.