"Tales of the Unexpected" The Finger of Suspicion (1988)

Director:

Rodney Bennett

Writers:

Robin Chapman (dramatisation)
Tony Wilmot (story)

TV Series:

"Tales of the Unexpected" (1979)

Original Air Date:

29 April 1988 (Season 9, Episode 8)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

American Stephen Baker has cracked open many a safe in his time but he now lives a peaceful existence with his Arab wife Soroya in her native country...

Plot Keywords:

Anthology | Supernatural Power | Famous Opening Theme | Cult TV

Cast

Michael Brandon	...	Stephen Baker
Lucy Gutteridge	...	Soroya
Nadim Sawalha	...	Zayid Halim
Stefan Kalipha	...	Chief Inspector Aziz
Michael O'Hagan	...	Det. Superintendent Burke
Rob Spendlove	...	Det. Inspector Hook
Tony Alleff	...	Police Sergeant (as Tony Allef)
Eddy Lemare	...	Police Constable
Christopher Simon	...	Hussein

One of the better Tales of the Unexpected from season nine...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Tales of the Unexpected: The Finger of Suspicion is set in a Middle Eastern country which has just agreed an extradition treaty with the UK, living there is Stephen Baker (Michael Brandon) & his Arab wife Soroya (Lucy Gutteridge). They get a knock on the front door & Stephen is taken to the local police station by Inspector Aziz (Stefan Kalipha) where two cops from Scotland Yard, Burke (Michael O'Hagan) & Hook (Rob Spendlove), are waiting to question him about an armed robbery. Back home & Soyora is worrying & decides to use drastic measures to try & help her husband...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 8 from season 9 that originally aired here in the UK during April 1988, the third of three Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Rodney Bennett one has to say that in keeping with the majority of season nine The Finger of Suspicion is pretty rubbish. The story by Tony Wilmot was dramatised by Robin Chapman & one has to say it's a pretty slow moving poor tale with two distinct stories which are supposed to give two twist endings but it's all really dull, predictable & uninspiring stuff. I only saw it a few hours ago & I barely remember anything about it, the story doesn't really build up in any satisfying or interesting way & the when the twist endings come they have little impact & I was just glad it was finished. In fact they aren't really twists, they are more like silly plot developments.

Entirely studio-bound the sets are terrible, we are meant to believe The Finger of Suspicion is taking place in a Middle Eastern country but the it's so obviously a badly constructed set in a studio in the UK it's hard to take it seriously. There's slightly more bad language than usual for a Tales of the Unexpected episode but otherwise this is totally forgettable. Again there's a decent guest cast including Michael Brandon.

The Finger of Suspicion (there's definitely a 'The' in the title) is another rubbishy Tales of the Unexpected episode from the generally dire season nine, no wonder it was put out of it's misery (along with us the audience) & was canned. It's sort of sad to see a once great series that used some classic stories from some of the world's best short story writers churn crap like The Finger of Suspicion out.