Beasts (TV series)
| Beasts | |
|---|---|
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing | |
| Genre | Horror Anthology |
| Created by | Nigel Kneale |
| Starring | Anthony Bate Martin Shaw Pauline Quirke Michael Kitchen Patrick Magee |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Nicholas Palmer |
| Running time | c. 50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 16 October – 20 November 1976 |
Beasts is a 1976 British television series. Written by Nigel Kneale, it is an anthology of six self-contained episodes that feature the recurring theme of bestial horror.[1][2] The series was made by ATV for the ITV Network.[3]
Format
[edit | edit source]Each episode was based around some form of bestial horror while avoiding typical monster horror clichès, more so focusing on psychological and supernatural themes. For example, "The Dummy" and "What Big Eyes" are psychological horrors focusing on men who think they are the creatures they obsess over, and "Buddy Boy", "Special Offer" and "Baby" have supernatural elements. "During Barty's Party" is the only episode to have actual 'beasts' as the main threat, them being large rats.
Episodes
[edit | edit source]| No. | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Special Offer"[4] | 16 October 1976 | |
|
Pauline Quirke stars as a shop assistant whose unrequited love for her manager prompts a paranormal revenge. | |||
| 2 | "During Barty's Party"[5] | 23 October 1976 | |
|
Starring Anthony Bate, a middle-class couple's life becomes overturned by rats. | |||
| 3 | "Buddyboy"[6] | 30 October 1976 | |
|
Featuring Martin Shaw and a disused aquarium haunted by the spirit of a dolphin. | |||
| 4 | "Baby"[7] | 6 November 1976 | |
|
Starring Simon MacCorkindale as a newlywed whose wife's pregnancy falls foul of ancient witchcraft. | |||
| 5 | "What Big Eyes"[8] | 13 November 1976 | |
|
Features Michael Kitchen as an RSPCA inspector investigating a man (Patrick Magee) who is trying to turn himself into a wolf. | |||
| 6 | "The Dummy"[9] | 20 November 1976 | |
|
Shows the psychological effect on an actor (Bernard Horsfall) who regularly plays a monster in horror films. | |||
DVD release
[edit | edit source]The series was released on DVD by Network in 2006.[10] This set also included a similarly themed TV play called Murrain that Kneale had written for ITV's Against the Crowd series in 1975.[11]
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Beasts at IMDbLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Beasts at the BFI's Screenonline
- 1970s British drama television series
- 1976 British television series debuts
- 1976 British television series endings
- ITV television dramas
- 1970s British anthology television series
- British supernatural television shows
- British horror fiction television series
- Television series by ITV Studios
- Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV)
- British English-language television shows
- Folk horror