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In
a future state where religion and books have been banned,
a librarian is judged obsolete by the Chancellor and sentenced
to the execution of his choice...
The
Obsolete Man
is a frightening look at the way society really does have
a habit of chewing up and spitting out skills within our society.
If you take the UK as an example, we used to have a strong
steel industry, that dried up. There was a large shipbuilding
industry here too, and that also dried up. What would happen
if these citizens, with obsolete jobs had their lives terminated
once their usefulness to society had ceased?
One
man, whose job as a librarian has been deemed obsolete, decides
that he wants to show the world that this ruthless murdering
of innocents is wrong. But how can he do such a thing when
all 'murders' are broadcast on TV and any outpourings by the
victim are denounced as the babblings of nutters by those
in charge of society.
A
great script and a fantastic audio production come together
to provide a truly nail biting episode - one that keeps you
guessing until the final minutes.
An
untalented would-be TV writer whose career takes off when
the ghost of William Shakespeare writes his scripts for him...
The
Bard stars John Ratzenberger, of Cheers fame, as
the hopeless writer who gives his career a kick-start with
the help of Black Magic. Stacey Keach's English accent (he
plays the part of William Shakespeare) is hysterically funny.
However, as this production continues, Keach's accent is pretty
believable.
Ratzenberger
turns in a fantastic performance, but even that is not enough
to rescue what is really only a 10 minute story. It's not
that there is anything specifically poor about this production,
just that the material is stretched to breaking point.
A
man travels back in time to the date of President Lincoln's
assassination in the hope of saving him. Will his presence
have any impact at all and can he actually change history...
Back
There examines
the age old question: If you had a time machine, would you
go back into the past and change a pivotal moment in history?
The usual question is: Would you kill Hitler before he managed
to come to power? This time around the listener is transported
back to the morning before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The main problem I had with this story was that the sceptical
lead character suddenly shook off all his doubts about time
travel and set about attempting to save Lincoln immediately.
The conclusion is also a little rushed. This is still an interesting
story, I just felt that a good opportunity was slightly wasted.
An
ageing man, desperate to keep his much younger wife from leaving
him, tries a highly experimental youth serum... but does it
work too well?...
A
Short Drink From a Certain Fountain stars Adam West as
Harman, an ageing, insecure man who is desperate to keep up
with his young wife. His brother is experimenting on animals
with a cellular serum and Harman convinces him to inject him
with a dose. But, not only does Harman revert to a more youthful
form, what he becomes is something much more unexpected.
West
is fantastic as Harman, although to be honest he probably
has the least lines of any of the guest stars to have appeared
so far. Also Stacey Keach's final speech is one of the funniest
lines of dialogue in the whole series.
Ordered
to commit a murder, a small-time hood nervously looks in the
mirror and sees the man he could have been - confident, strong
and determined to get out...
Nervous
Man in Four Dollar Room
stars Adam Baldwin as... well that's a good question. It's
not actually obvious which character Baldwin is playing. I'm
assuming that he played the gutless hood, Jackie. But he could
also have been playing George - the guy who makes Jackie do
the dirty.
While
this is an entertaining story, it drags on a bit too long
- the build-up is a tad too slow.
The
residents of a quiet street suspect an alien invasion is imminent
and that one of their own is a monster leading the attack...
The
Monsters are Due on Maple Street
is the best recording in this collection. Just what would
happen in a small town once fear and uncertainty is unleashed?
The answer, pure and simple, is anarchy. Citizens taking things
into their own hands and believing that one amongst them is
a monster from another planet. And why? Because the electrical
power in the street is down - as are all the engines to their
cars. Nothing mechanical seems to work - apart for one man's
car. Surely he is not human! Sounds crazy, but mass hysteria
as represented here is not a million light years away from
the sort of frenzy the British press is capable of whipping
up (remember the pedophile outings where a paediatrician was
attacked because the British public were too stupid to realise
that a paediatrician and a pedophile where not the same thing?)
Jared Garrity makes a living as a resurrecter of the dead
in the Old West. He doesn't make money from those who want
people brought back to life - but from those who want the
dead to stay just where they are... six feet under...
Mr.
Garrity and the Graves
is
an interesting addition to this series. Almost everyone has
had someone close to them die and would give anything for
the chance to have one last conversation with them. Mr. Garrity
provides just such a chance... However, given the real opportunity,
how many of us would really want to bring the dead back to
life?
Not
so much a spooky Twilight Zone episode, as a cleverly
unravelled work of bizarre fiction - although the second twist
in the tale attempts to bring the whole production into the
Twilight Zone. Very entertaining.
Hypochondriac Walter Bedeker sells his soul for immortality
and indestructibility, only to find out that life might not
be worth living if the thrill is gone...
Escape
Clause
represents one of the best audio productions included in this
volume. Just what would you do if offered the chance to live
forever? Would you sell your soul? And if so how would you
go about ensuring you didn't get bored? Guest star Mike Starr
is great in his role in this chilling story. While the conclusion
can be seen coming a mile away it is still entertaining.
Political fanatic Oliver Crangle has determined that at 4:00pm
he'll rid the world of all evil people by shrinking them to
2 ft tall. But his plan may prove a little short-sighted...
Four
O'clock
is a great episode, but one that could quite easily have fallen
flat on its face. The guest star carries this episode (with
barely a look in from any other voice-over artists. Thankfully
Stan Freberg is perfect in the role of the barking mad fanatic
who sees evil in everyone. If you don't work out the ending
by the time you are half way through the episode then you
have obviously not being paying attention to the other stories
in this collection. A well scripted and acted episode that
doesn't come up short.
Barbara Polk has taken care of her detested Uncle Simon for
25 years, waiting impatiently to inherit his wealth. But his
will stipulates that she must take care of his latest invention,
a robot that has an unnervingly familiar personality...
Uncle
Simon
is the only production in this series to include two guest
stars (Peter Mark Richman and Beverly Garland). The two characters
are equally as nasty to each other - uncle Simon expecting
his niece to wait on him hand and foot, while Barbara is waiting
for uncle Simon to die so that she can take over the running
of his old house and laboratory. The twist in the tale is
slightly spoilt by the synopsis, which gives away a little
too much. But otherwise, this is a gripping, and rather chilling
tale.
All
the episodes contained here are from original scripts by Rod
Serling and these new recordings go to show how timeless these
stories really are. As
well as a fantastic supporting cast these tales are brought
up to date with some impressive sound effects and beautiful
scores, that help to set the mood.
Three
of these episodes have previously been released on the company's
four story collections. But this 10 CD collection is worth
buying - even if you already own the other collections - mainly
due to the fact that all of the annoying house ads that peppered
the previous releases have been removed. The only ad now is
for the Twilight Zone website, but that is placed after
the story has been told, and will come in useful for those
who want to be kept up to date on all future audio releases.
Yet
another fantastic collection - I really can't recommend it
enough.
Pete
Boomer
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