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An
unknown creature hidden in the shadows - apparently monstrously
large and immensely powerful - terrorises a young woman and
a state trooper. But is this gargantuan invader really what
it seems to be?...
The
Fear
is a well paced episode that builds the tension to a nail-biting
conclusion. Guest stars Jane Seymour and James Keach are perfect
as the snobby city woman and the local state trooper who are
trapped in the middle of nowhere while an apparent giant goes
on the rampage. The conclusion is well conceived, if a little
silly. But this is still a great audio production.
After
a botched flight, Astronaut Robert Gains finds himself back
on Earth in a world very similar to, but not quite his own.
Even his wife and daughter seem to be strangers to him...
The
Parallel stars Lou Diamond Phillips as an astronaut who
returns to an Earth that is slightly different from the one
he left. Is he going mad, or has he returned to a parallel
version of his home planet. At first it is only small things
that seem out of place - like a small picket fence that is
outside his house, a fence he doesn't remember. But other
things are totally out of place - no one has heard of the
current president, John F Kennedy.
This
is a well acted episode, and well paced, with an interesting
conclusion.
The year is 1847. A wagon train has made the cross-country
trek from Ohio to the deserts of Arizona and beyond - all
the way into another century...
A
Hundred Yards Over the Rim
gets off to a very slow start, which is a shame. This is by
far the weakest of the stories in this collection. At around
40 minutes this story feels very stretched and would have
worked better as a 10 minute script.
A
street corner salesman cleverly eludes Death. But if he lives,
a little girl must die in his place. Only the salesman's greatest
pitch can save her...
One
For the Angels is
a touching story. It's a spin on the much told tale of a man
who attempts to trick Death out of his latest prize. But how
far will a good man go in order to stay on this planet? As
it happens, not very far. Being a good man, he can't stand
the thought of one close to him being sacrificed in his place
- and that's just what Death has in mind.
This
audio drama is well produced and Ed Begley Jr is well cast
as the salesman who is desperate to make that one big pitch
before he is called to judgement.
The Earth's orbit has suddenly changed, drawing ever closer
to the Sun, promising eminent destruction... or has it?...
The
Midnight Sun
is an interesting story - the conclusion of which is unexpected
and ingenious. Kim Fields turns in a fantastic performance,
but sadly this is a little over long. If ten minutes had been
shaved off, this would have been a lot more riveting. It's
still an interesting tale.
Four master thieves put themselves into suspended animation
for 100 years after hiding a fortune in gold bars. But even
in the future, wealth is still beyond their reach...
The
Rip Van Winkle Caper
is a great little story which is extremely engaging. It includes
all your usual clichés when suspended animation pods are used.
It seems to be a sci-fi law that at least one of the pods
will malfunction leaving behind a skeleton. The relationship
between the four crooks is amusing (paying homage to the Ealing
Comedy's The Ladykillers) and the whole production
seems to be over before you know it. The only slight complaint
is that one of the villains is supposed to be British and
never, since Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, have I
heard such a ridiculous accent.
Apart
from that, this recording is very entertaining.
Two
thieves discover a camera they have stolen takes pictures
of the future. But not every photo develops as might be expected...
A
Most Unusual Camera is a great story. However, I could
work out whether Mike Starr was the small time crook, or the
relative who had escaped from prison.
It
doesn't take long for the three twisted low lifes to start
using the camera in order to benefit from the future. But,
this being the Twilight Zone, it's not long before things
start to go wrong. Another cracking episode.
Liz
Powell is terrified by a recurring nightmare involving the
number 22. Her doctor assures her that this is just a bad
dream... but is it?...
Twenty
Two is
probably the best story in this collection. Andrea Evans turns
in a great performance as Liz Powell, a woman who thinks she
is loosing her mind. Why does she keep dreaming that she wakes
up in the night and gets in a lift which takes her to a floor
with a mysterious door?
The
mystery deepens as Powell is admitted to hospital and the
dreams seem to reveal that maybe she is being drugged at night
and that the dreams are actually very real events. The tension
builds well over the duration and the final scene is worth
the wait - it caught me off guard.
Well
acted, scripted and paced - certainly my favourite episode
in this collection.
 
A
frazzled ad executive learns you can't go home again after
he steps back in time and meets his mother, father and youthful
self...
Walking
Distance
illustrates beautifully why we should never wish to revisit
our past. Back to the Future fans will warm to this
story immediately. Chelcie Ross is perfect in the role of
the man who visits his home town and finds everything exactly
as he remembers it from his childhood. It soon becomes apparent
that he has travelled back in time.
It
is interesting that he didn't notice the fact that everyone
was wearing clothes that were years out of date - this is
an episode that only really works as an audio production.
This is another first rate production.
On
the road home from the Civil War, a confederate soldier meets
a widow and together they learn that the road they are travelling
might not lead home at all...
The
Passersby is very predictable and if you haven't worked
out the ending in the first 15 minutes then you are a little
slow on the uptake. However, that is the intention - you are
supposed to unearth what is happening fairly early on so that
you can appreciate the widow's predicament. The question of
what has happened to her is supposed to be the twist in the
tail, but it doesn't quite work as such.
The
acting is impeccable, the stock music is great and the overall
story is engaging but for some reason it doesn't gel as it
should.
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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