Tales Of The Unexpected Opening Titles and Closing Credits

[AvidPsychonaut]

Best tv opener ever ! Used to creep me out but what a series.

[sassie845]

this was another great tv soundtrack along with Juliet Bravo, used to do the dance at the end in my living room at the end of the programme!

[ashie259]

Great. Ron Grainer - what a talent

[eddief32]

I can't find it elsewhere in the comments, the piece is called Love is a Carousel, and as the description rightly says, it's by Ron Grainer. Still the best tv theme by far, ever, period.

[robster773]

I have this Full Episode on DVD it's from the 1st series that Anglia Television made in 1979

[bingefeller]

I used to dance like this when I was a child. 

[bingefeller]

@bingefeller Actually, sorry, I'm 31 and still do this dance!

[RaikenXion]

Ahhh no way!! I been looking for this, I remember as a kid my nan and grandad watched this. I always remember this strange music and the dancing women, it was always so surreal and strange to me bk then, all part of growing up these things lol. So glad I found it now thanx so much!!! :))

[karatebuff]

Does anyone remember the mark n lard sketch where they used this?

[yukkaboy1974]

thumbs up if ya got spooked by this when ya were little

[kenzdawg]

The titles were the best thing about this show. Sexy and mysterious they seemed to promise so much that the incredibly dull drama never delivered on.

[bluevan12]

The best thing about a show like this is was who they got to appear. More often than not they were well known faces from TV and film both in the UK and America as well as new faces who would be become established household names in their own right.

[gallafey]

this show shuold make a come back with new stories

[skunkhead2007]

was expecting "and now its the quiz of the week"

[GAREMPOTS]

loved this when i was young very creepy music

[Jeorney]

I always remember the episode "William and Mary" where the wife ends up keeping her dominating husband's brain alive in a jar with his heart and one single eye. Then she was able to wreak revenge. No escape. Must be a etreme feminist's dream husband :)

[Jozi832]

LOOOOOL I always waited for the lady silhouette :-))

[nufto]

sinister stuff!!!

[manfilth]

Still scares me!

[SoarFlyeR]

loved this wish they would rerun it

[bgibb101]

PS. Karen has her own faceBook page - but she's obviously an older women now.

[bgibb101]

The dancer was Karen Standley was a 27-year-old secretary and housewife from Berkshire. She took a day off to record the sequence. She got the job because her boyfriend at the time worked for Top of the Pops and was contracted to make the titles for Tales of the Unexpected.

She was seen only in silhouette on screen and for the recording had to wear a white body stocking and white tights, with white greasepaint on her arms and legs to achieve the necessary effect

[JOHNNYBYRNE]

still creeps me out omg

[leesyloo131]

Tales of the Unexpected and Sale of the Century both made by Anglia TV. Makes me proud to be an East Anglian!! (Or something...)

[oldskoolmacboy]

Holy shit. That made a shiver run down my back

[kainejoyes]

I loved the naked lady dance, she was my first naughty thought!!! (38 now) still a perv, blame Roald Dahl....

[djh29971]

'Tales of The Totally Predictable'. Quite why this got networked is one of the great mysteries of our time. Tedious, predictable stories, low budget show for jobbing actors from one of the most backward and insular of all the ITV franchises. They had so little money nearly all the shows were shot on videotape, when most shows were being made with 16mm film. An embarrassment.

[britandy1]

music scared me as kid

[TheDivineMissJayvee]

I was terrified of the opening credits when i was little

[joannedj1]

One of those programmes where the show itself wasn't my cup of tea, but I loved the theme music, so I'd watch it come on before I changed channels! At one time, wasn't it on tv on a Sunday night after Spitting Image?!

[Gregz0r1]

Friday nights on LWT.

As a 10 year old, these gave me nightmares, lol.

[deckhead33]

I find it creepy still and I'm almost 40!

[TheElementalmagick]

@deckhead33 Agreed. I used to run like mad when it came on!!

[Skaramoosh5]

Scared the shit out of me.!!!!! Loved it. :)

[Guybrush2304]

aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggg­ggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[pacaha]

opening of this used to fuckin freak me out as a kid....that an fuckin...armchair thriller

[JohnHarbinger]

@pacaha LOL same here. my older sister used to watch this, armchair thriller and hammer house of horrors, petrified me as a kid!!!

[pacaha]

@JohnHarbinger ahhh the good ol times of real spine chilling stuff huh lol ??

[JohnHarbinger]

@pacaha certainly was spine chilling when i was about 7 ! still can feel the fear of them now Yikes!

[JohnHarbinger]

@pacaha think the scariest of all was rentaghost lol

[pacaha]

@JohnHarbinger no...hahaha it wasnt...mind you mr claypole was quite weird :)

[JohnHarbinger]

@pacaha Exactly! LOL

[Koppite29]

The lady dancing in this obviously failed the James Bond auditions

[pufferfishish]

'Tales Of The Much As We Expected'

[dipstickers]

The silver horse +knight ought to be auctioned. It'd fetch a tidy sum for ITV's flagging finances.

[pufferfishish]

The dancing woman in the credits said that she had to wear a body stocking and about three layers of greasepaint. She said that it wasn't really half as glamorous as it looked on screen

[oranbhoy67]

used to freak me out a bit when i was a kid :)

[InternalMind]

@oranbhoy67 lol it doesnt freak me out anymore, only turns me on now

[fudgecake4life]

god this brings back memories

[Johnbhoy15]

I loved the girl shape in the intro and the little dance she did. Reminded me of an old flame!

[kingstephen36]

Ah....mermories are made of this.Great show.

[cupcakefairy87]

That silver knight logo is more fitting for Anglia's other TV hit, Knightmare, if you ask me.

[cupcakefairy87]

Even though I'm too young to remember this, I didn't find this intro scary at all. It looks like the intro of a James Bond theme.

[SylviesBoudoir]

I use to be terrified of this theme song when I was little. Then i was only 7 and it felt so sinister and dark then.

[oliver69cork]

Beautiful elegant outline on that woman-hmmmm good music,great series

[target42100]

i used to live in bath and my dad was a builder and did some work on this house that this episode was made in and at one time i used to pass it every day on my way to work quite often with a shudder

[NorwichTeenwolf]

Long live the Silver Knight!

[wellohmeeeeeee]

Looking for the name of a TV programme or possibly a film where a wedding dress features.

I have tried to find out what this scene was for over 30 years. A wedding dress in a tall glass case in a corner of a Victorian

old ladies room, she is sitting on a sofa and warns a young girl who is admiring the wedding dress, not to open the case .

But the girl does behind the old lady, and when the air gets inside the dress falls to pieces..

It is NOT Miss Haversham in Great Expectations HELP!

[apk1215]

The intro scares me! O_o

**hides under bed**

[thegroove2000]

Creeped me out.

[telescopereplicator]

This music was a bad omen....sleepless nights, for little kids...

But I also remebered the dancing lady. It took me a while to find out, but her name is Karen Standley. She was a 27 year old secretary when these shots were made.

And believe me....she still looks great, today !

h*t*t*p://*y*o*u*tu.be/*vuohCz­2e9oM

(copy, paste and remove all stars)

[lewiscifer999]

It always sacred me as a kid, but I always ended up watching it

[psammiad]

It's the spinning cards that I distinctly remember as being creepy - probably because I'd just finished watching the show! Very Bond isn't it?

[SuperMattyb79]

i remeber this aswell when i was about 8 shit me up

[chinkysy]

@KinzeUK Yeah I'm in my thirties. Funny how things like an old TV or radio tune stirs up the memories! Things that I'd laugh about now were really serious back then. Like the Dalek that used to hide in my Nan's room . . . Ok, looking back it probably didn't really exist, but at the time I'd never go upstairs on my own in case it came flying - or wheeling - out shouting "WHAT ARE YOU UP TO IN THERE!" and, does anyone remember the strange machine like car that was out to get Steve Austin in the S

[acheface]

I remember one where the wife killed her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, defrosted it, cooked it and gave it to the investigating officers in sandwiches! Classy stuff!

[Urbanrunner79]

@acheface mmmh... that was an episode of the tv show "Alfred Hitchcock Present's", not this one

[MrSirMrSirMr]

@Urbanrunner79 I think they both did it - there were a few instances of them sharing source material.

[cetieel]

This series had British actors of the highest calibre probably the greatest number for a tv series

[juho6903]

My friends and I used to do impersonations of the Dancing Lady!

[yomammascan]

where can i download this opening sequence as a screen-saver?

[yomammascan]

where can i download this opening sequence as a screen-saver?

[cetieel]

John Gielgud as the rogue antique dealer masquerading as a pastor

Excellent

[BesonXL]

Thank you Ron Grainer for writing this charming tune! As everybody else I also do remember this serie, from the turning knight with the Anglia banner to the cards, dancing women and mysterious masks.

[robertojosedgzmoro]

Esto pasaba a fines de los años 70 en México en Canal 13; el programa se llamaba "Misterio en su Casa", y había algunos capítulos aterradores (Jalea Real, La Apuesta, etc.). De las mejores series que tenga memoria!

[themanmaschine]

@keith4291 Yes, TV in the UK was more or less totally colour by 1977, but the purpose of putting 'Colour Production' even in the 80's was because a lot of people still didn't have a Colour set, in the early 80's Colour TV's were expensive to buy, renting was also still popular and Colour Sets were fairly expensive to rent as well, and so it was to basically tell people that it was a Colour programme, if you had a Black and White set and had nothing else, then theres a chance you didn't know.

[Amandamoo73]

trying to mimic the dance now ha ha!

[chinkysy]

Nothing takes me back to my childhood quite like this tune. I remember my Nan - God rest her soul - saying how this music used to remind her of her Nephew Ian, who used to live with us. The opening part to this program scared me too, especially when the hands on the chair used to open! The Incredible Hulk frightened my sister and I aswell, like when he was changing into the Hulk! Daleks? I won't go there!

[kinzeUK]

@chinkysy SEE, YOU KNOW THIS!! if like me your of a certain age group (in your 30's) I always remember being completely freaked out and scared of both this music and the brilliant opening credits. And don't even start me on the hulk! Under the blanket time covering my ears! lol :P

[still8sole]

Memories

[cutemo28]

was it just me or did everyone fantasise about the dancing lady. She looks fit even now!

[DaveyC95]

@cutemo28 Just you, she scared me. The whole title sequence scared the hell out of me as a young child in the late 1980's lol.

[OnAnnesLaptop]

Great, haven't heard this in years. Now almost 32 and I won't be sleeping tonight. Scared out of my wits. This used to scare the f*ck outta me.

[themanmaschine]

@OnAnnesLaptop I'm the same age as you and I remember this very well, didn't scare me, I found it intreaguing, both my mum and my gran used to watch this, in fact when we were moving house, we did it during christmas in 1982, and we all stayed at my grans for the fortnight and this is one of the strongest memories I have of that time was this being on TV and my mum and my gran watching it. Warm cosy memory!

[kinzeUK]

@OnAnnesLaptop AMEN BROTHER!!!

[DaveyC95]

The Man From The South was the first episode with Pamela Stephenson and Michael Ontken,where he bets he can flick is zippo lighter on ten times in a row with the flame lighting and he wins a car and if he loses his finger is chopped off. Gorgeous couple.

[digiman14]

We had it here in Norway too. Man that brings back the memories!! Being norwegian, we had our own sauna, and after that it was Roald Dahl-time. (His mother was norwegian you know.. :-)

[88jscol]

Reminds me of a Bond Intro kinda, except the music needs to be more Brassy

[daytonalee]

oh! long time no see!!!!!

[rofflemows]

ya just gotta know anything starring SIOBHAN MCKENNA is gonna kick ass!! >.>

[sattski]

one of the creepiest episodes. great to see the anglia knight on it as well.

[Rikku2250]

I have read the book version of "The Man from the South" (I even wrote my own story based on it) and "Lamb to the Slaughter". I am trying to find these television versions

[Noodles37UK]

@Rikku2250 If I'm right Steve McQueen's supposed to be in a version, but maybe I got my wires crossed?

[Rikku2250]

@Noodles37UK

Sorry, but I do not know. You clould look it up, this is the internet :).

[Noodles37UK]

@Rikku2250 Yeah, I know, sometimes I can't be bothered reaching over lol!

[Rikku2250]

My mum told me of how she would stay past her bedtime as a child to watch these. Her favourite is the oe with that doll that cannot be destoryed. You know, the one where the house goes on fire at the end. My favourite is the one with the lady who stuffed men while they were still alive.

[bntypp]

This was a dark and funny at times program back in the day, always used to laugh at the end. being a kid at the time i never got how people could be so greedy and gullible. now living in the modern times i see times havent changed. great show by the way, saw a rerun on sky arts 1 not to far back, the one were hitler was born. now that was not funny...

[hitachiwowo]

i,ll try not to forget this tune. brilliant.

[britandy1]

I always remembered this music as a kid x

[airmax1973]

scary theme, was always a sunday night just before the bath ahead of school on monday!!

[cheviotwanderer]

wonderful - right down to the anglia horse!

[Fingalful]

Karen Standley, the dancer to the theme tune in the graphics, was one of the most famous people on TV then. But no-one knows very much about her or what she really looked like.

It would be interesting if we could get clear picture of her dancing. Her silhouette was the best thing about "Tales of the Unexpected."

[gallafey]

@Fingalful well chek out I love The 80s BBC documentry she was interviewed on I love 1980 or 1981

[OurManInMarrakessh]

Loved this theme and programme as a kid, still do.

[Kelendria4Life]

One of the best tv themes ever!

[huvander]

Mr dahl is a genious !!!!!!!!!!

[Davewise1965]

I was 14 years old in 1979 when Tales Of The Unexpected started. It was a great series with great theme music.

[Dollypocket1978]

i watched it as a kid and when i was 19 i became friends with the woman who dances at the start, her name was sally and she was really cool i know this is true because she showed me photos of her when she was younger and you can tell its her .

[thenintendofanboy64]

@Dollypocket1978 really cool

[elsariguella]

genial.,

[elsariguella]

wuau despues de 30 años vuelvo a ver esto, me trae muchos recuerdos, lo estube buscando por muchos años, muchas gracias.

[TheLSK]

Way different than the creepy carosel show here. I did get a big kick out of the revolver scene. A Smith & Wesson Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman .357 Magnum to be exact. For some reason, I didn't think they had them (or was allowed to) in Britain.

[westring1959]

great

[MrArnold1972]

omg the anglia opening scene !!! i cannot believe i saw that again.what memories this program brings back.

[35HARROW]

@paul79z Me too.

[skulyb]

Classic takes u right back to the 80's Bath once a week what's all that about lmao. Every other day as a kid

[DundeeStreetPoet]

Total class mate - funny to think thatz how it was! I'm writing a book at the moment about my memories of growing up in the housing schemes of Dundee (where I still live) and all the nonsense we got up to. The funny thing was, when I looked at the Tales clip I thought the erotic lady was on for much longer - or maybe thatz what I was hoping haha!

[DundeeStreetPoet]

Absolute class!!!! Remember watching this as a inquisitive 12-year-old after my one-weekly bath on a Sunday! All the boys in the class watched it as well, only because you got a flash of an erotic dancing lady haha! Great stuff

[dragonfitter]

my girlfriend dosent belive that back then boys only had a bath once a week on a sunday sometimes we might of had a bath mid week but certainly not with a hair wash that was strictly a sunday thing !

[DetroitSoulboy]

@dragonfitter Bath once a week on a Sunday night, midweek was strictly a hands and face. Perhaps washed while standing up in the kitchen sink when younger.

[chasxyz1234]

@dragonfitter Are you guys English or something? I had to shower every morning before school in The Bronx.

[dragonfitter]

@chasxyz1234 yes i am english it sounds weird now but when iwas a kid we were very poor and it was expensive to put the water heater on to have enought hot water for a bath so you only had one a week .We didnt have a shower in our house untill i was 17 years old !

[chasxyz1234]

@dragonfitter Funny thing and maybe it's different for other parts of the U.S.A. but in New York City, especially if you live in an apartment building, it's almost like a god-given right (well, maybe it's actually a law) to have 24 hour hot and cold running water (and a chicken in every pot). So, how's that universal health care working for you blokes? I met an ex-pat Scotsman who told me "God help you if you ever get it here in the U.S." but he had to leave before I could get more information.

[rightwingpob]

@chasxyz1234

what the fuck are you talking about mate? sto trying to rationalise being a horrible greedy cunt and stop trying to make Britain out to be a nation of lunatic Marxists just for looking out for one and other.

idiot.

[chasxyz1234]

@dragonfitter Conversely (or perversely), there was a comedian on the show "Last Comic Standing" who commented about America's water ride amusement parks, basically saying other countries don't have enough clean water to drink or cook with and we (Americans) play in it!!!

[Tomimedve]

nice music



[Mascro1977]

even thinking about that episode creeps me out

[northkorea]

that sure brings back memories

[Uraby210]

dear god, it's like the worst bond opening ever...

[darkmarkrammstein]

@Uraby210 hahhahahahhahahaha

[willowmoon222]

ha ha ...funny to hear i wasnt the only on as a a kid who was scared by this intro!!..looking at it now i wonder why??!!

[gallafey]

Royel jelly & Flypapar were some of the episodes i recall, there was even one were there was a bomb in a brief case

[djgazza1992]

u need 2 get a life.

[djgazza1992]

u need 2 get a life.

[f40phanatic]

heh the UK got pr0nz in the credits and the Americans didn't!

[f40phanatic]

I'd like to hear a death metal version.

[darkmarkrammstein]

@f40phanatic yeah by rammstein

[kelvmeister4]

this used to scare the shit out of me when i was a kid. i can always remember it being on a sunday night at 10pm

[creeball]

@kelvmeister4: scare u? u mean the show or just the intro? cos truthfully, i never got past the intro as a kid. still cant now!

[chrisduffyart]

@kelvmeister4 Saturday night....After Match of The Day

[bmaj7]

@kelvmeister4 same here,as far away as the west indies,this was a staple of local programming

[matthewakian2]

@kelvmeister4 Yeah, but was it as scary as Armchair Thriller?

[jonboyefc]

@kelvmeister4 me to mate a could not agree with you more i remember being terrefied on a sunday night waiting for parents to come home as they went out every sunday in them days ha

[justforthebox]

Amazing and thank you so much for uploading this to youtube. This has to be the BEST quality of the show intro and outro in the world....thus far.