(1977)
Dir - Simon Langton
Overall: MEH
Denholm Elliott and John Osborne join the stable of respectable English thespians to appear on Supernatural with "Lady Sybil", one of the program's most atmospheric offerings. Director Simon Langton would be behind the lens for half of the series' episodes and at least when the incidental music score shuts the hell up, he manages to convey some lurking dread to go along with the Gothic setting. As usual, it takes place at a spacious mansion, this one concerning Cathleen Nesbitt's title character who is convinced that an unidentified prowler is out to get her, something that both of her adult sons gaslight her into disbelieving. It it established early on that Elliot is the more conniving of the two siblings, and he is also the more professionally successful, taking clients in his spacious family home as a doctor while his emasculated brother Osborne is on the verge of a divorce and struggles with his musical muse. Despite its early promise, the final act plot reveal is underwhelming and debunks the previously established supernatural intrigue.
(1977)
Dir - Peter Sasdy
Overall: GOOD
The final three episodes of Supernatural were the best, (or arguably, the only decent), ones in the series, and "Viktoria" has the distinction of being the only entry that was not written by the program's creator Robert Muller. Instead, newcomer Sue Lake takes on such duties, utilizing an age old motif of a comically creepy doll coming to life and doing nefarious things. We have a scumbag husband who deliberately brings forth the death of his invalid wife, providing the ample opportunity for their Hungarian nanny to craft a companion doll as not just a means of comfort for the young title character/daughter of the recently deceased madame of the house, but also as a means for supernatural vengeance. Of course the doll looks unsettling and of course little Viktoria clings to her, and only viewers who are asleep will fail to catch on to the fact that it is "alive" in some unnatural sense before we are given such undeniable visual proof. Though the production is entirely shot on video and confined to sets, those sets are of the typically excellent and detailed variety that the BBC was consistently able to pull off, making a creepy and claustrophobic tale of European dark magic invading bougies society and specifically, conniving husbands.
(1977)
Dir - Alan Cooke
Overall: GOOD
If not the best episode of Supernatural, "Night of the Marionettes" can at least be seen as creator/teleplay writer Robert Muller's most inventive achievement for the series. It combines some desperate elements, hinging on the premise of an author who is obsessed by the overarching works of Mary Shelley and Lord Byron, finding himself and his family in a Swiss, snowbound inn with no crucifixes hanging anywhere, where the pale-faced owners greet them and disturbingly loud noises bombard the place at night. One would immediately assume that were are dealing with vampire shenanigans here, but once we witness a bizarre stage performance with life-sized marionettes that are clearly portrayed by actual actors, things go in a singular direction that leads to an appropriately ghastly finale. Gordan Jackson's performance is as overblown at times as various others from the show, plus Pauline Moran lays on the melodrama as his adult daughter, but they both make a fitting pair that are equally drawn to the otherworldly aspects of their surroundings and are determined to get to the bottom of things no matter how traumatized they become.
(1977)
Dir - Simon Langton
Overall: GOOD
The conclusion of the BBC's Supernatural inevitably gets around to vampires in "Dorabella". Probably the most fitting subject matter for the program which made Gothic horror its stock and trade, screenwriter/showrunner Robert Muller makes it crystal clear that we are dealing with the undead here long before the characters catch up. There are few if any surprises to be found plot wise, but Muller thankfully skews several of the familiar tropes instead of merely rehashing Hammer movies for the small screen. The vampiric title maiden bewitches one of two traveling friends, leaving a trail of blood-drained bodies behind in her wake as they make their way back to her family castle, at which point we see the fiends in all of their out in the open glory. Dorabella either travels with chests full of her maggot-covered native soil or turns into such a thing when the sun hits her, (different scenes allude to either possibility), appears as a ghostly vision when necessary, and instead of spouting fangs, these vampires grin menacingly with no pupils. There is plenty of foreboding imagery, and stagey BBC video productions always benefited from location shooting which this has more than any other episode in the series. Though Johnathan Hyde's performance as a poet is insufferably pretentious, it is at least a brief one, plus two actors from Schalcken the Painter are here which is always a good thing.
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