mike robson I caught a couple of episodes of this short Gothic horror TV series on the BBC when it was first broadcast in 1977. Now it's available as a box set, I decided to take the opportunity to have a look at them all. Having watched all 8 episodes, it turns out the 2 I'd seen back then were among the better ones - those being "Night of the marionettes" and "Dorabella". The premise -At a club in the late nineteenth century, a group of Victorian gentlemen are told "true" tales of terror by people involved in the events recounted. The tale teller's object is to become members of this exclusive club. If the members listening are impressed, the teller can join, if not, he will die - for this is "The club of the damned"...(da! daaaaaa!)Episodes -1. Ghosts of Venice - The series gets off to a shaky start. Robert Hardy as an unbalanced retired actor, returns after many years, to Venice, where he meets a ghost from his past... and becomes one himself! With obvious studio sets substituting for Venetian locations, obscurely plotted and hammy, I really didn't understand this one - I think it might have been trying to say something about impotence.2/3. Countess Ilona/Werewolf reunion - Things pick up with this 2 parter. A countess invites her 4 despicable former lovers to her isolated Hungarian castle where they are killed one by one by a mysterious creature. Being a 2 parter, there's more time here to develop the characters of the guests and the enigmatic Countess herself. The episodes are strongly cast and acted, though the werewolf is hardly seen (probably for the best!). Featuring the splendid Ian Hendry (he makes his cynical and callous arms dealer seem rather likable) - also with Charles Kay, John Fraser, Edward Hardwicke (later Dr Watson to Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes) and Billie Whitelaw as the countess.4. Mr Nightingale - Jeremy Brett, years before he became Sherlock Holmes, as a shy bachelor taken over by his lustful, crude, rude, vicious, doppelganger. A Jekyll and Hyde story which differs from Stevenson in that the transformation of Mr Nightingale is supernatural rather than scientifically based - though it might just be his disturbed mind at work. Notable for the then thirty something Mr Brett's cackling performance as the old, ugly, and crazy Nightingale, and as a showcase for Lesley-Anne Down's extraordinary beauty.5. Lady Sybil - A clunky psychological study of insanity rather than a horror yarn. The actual supernatural bit seems more or less an irrelevant add on here ("We need something ghostly in this guys..."). Is a man's ghost returning, intent on killing his elderly wife? Are her middle aged sons the real culprits? Interesting to see "Look back in anger" playwright John Osborne in a rare TV acting role, and Denholm Elliott is always worth watching.6. Viktoria - The familiar "murderous doll " trope, as a little girl seeks revenge on the wastrel dad who has killed her mother. Only of some interest for its gay subplot.7. Night of the marionettes - Gordon Jackson as an author writing a book on Shelley discovers the origins of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" in a strange Swiss hotel. Okay, but not great. I enjoyed the always creepy Vladek Sheybal as the hotel owner.8. Dorabella - Best of the lot; the series bows out on a high note with this genuinely chilly vampire entry. Starring former pop singer Jeremy Clyde (of sixties duo "Chad and Jeremy") as a rich young man obsessed with a mysterious, aristocratic young woman, who seems to be a supernatural being. With a companion he travels across the countryside, staying in lonely inns, lured on by the beckoning Dorabella - until they arrive at an isolated castle. The episode includes a memorable turn by movie veteran John Justin as Dorabella's father. Like a more low key Hammer horror movie. The premise of the series, that guests who fail to impress the listeners by their tale will be killed, seems inconsistent with the conventional, urbane, very normal seeming club members presented here. I can't recall actually seeing who gets accepted into the club and who doesn't in any of the episodes; none of them are seen physically being "knocked off" having failed. And it seems a pretty silly chance to take - risking being murdered just to get into a club! One of the other problems with the series is that, apart from some of the exteriors, it's shot on tape, not film, and tape is simply not the right medium for this sort of material. If it had been all done on film, for example, "Dorabella" would have been a great episode rather than just a good one - all of them would have been significantly improved by using film instead of tape.

Leofwine_draca BBC4 have been showing a handful of episodes of this long-lost supernatural anthology series from 1977, so here are my thoughts on individual episodes: VIKTORIA - the weakest story thus far, but not without a certain atmosphere. This is a family-based tale focused around a creepy life-sized doll and the strange girl who owns it. The story is worthy of note in featuring both Judy Cornwell (KEEPING UP APPEARANCES) and Lewis Fiander (DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE) in strong roles as housekeeper and husband respectively, and an intricate little, character-focused storyline filled with twists and turns. It's not particularly frightening or stand out-ish, but it is creepy so that counts for somethingNIGHT OF THE MARIONETTES - TV favourite Gordon Jackson stars as a scholar hot on the trail of Mary Shelley who falls foul of the strange proprietor of a roadside inn and his lifesize creations. The actress who plays the possessed daughter went on to become THE WOMAN IN BLACK in the long-lost '80s adaptation of that novel. This one is weird rather than scary, although it has some memorably weird highlights.DORABELLA - the last of the series is also my favourite, thus far. It's a vampire story in which a couple of youthful men are the victims for a change; the gender reversal brings back fond memories of the likes of VAMPYRES and DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS. This episode is quite remarkable for the way in which it builds a rich Gothic atmosphere and a sense of dread which go hand-in-hand throughout. It's visually beautiful, full of stunning imagery like jet-black carriages, desolate beaches and of course the expected creepy castles. All in all a great twist on the vampire legend.

a-dobbs I too vaguely remembered this from my childhood (even though none of my mates of the same age do) - specifically, images of a man with white eyes laughing creepily and a coffin full of maggots, both of which caused me a few sleepless nights as a 9 year old. I knew it was screened once in 1977 and never again, but all other information (especially in the pre-internet days) was scant to say the least. After a long, long search, I recently tracked down a copy of the complete series and, with the organ music and images of gargoyles on the titles just as I remembered them, I settled down to a nostalgia fuelled extravaganza.So is this series some lost masterpiece? Sadly no. The few remembered images I mentioned above all come from the last episode 'Dorabella' which is the best of the lot by a country mile and is an offbeat vampire story with a genuinely creepy atmosphere. The rest are rather hit and miss, and at 50 minutes each, some of the extremely flimsy stories stretch well past breaking point. This is especially noticeable in the two part 'Countess Ilona/Werewolf Reunion' which could easily have been done and dusted in 30 minutes flat. At virtually 2 hours, it's almost unbearable.Although it features a veritable who's who of British TV stars of the 70's (Billie Whitelaw, Ian Hendry, Robert Hardy, Gordon Jackson, Leslie Ann Down et al), production values on the series are noticeably low, with all the action happening in one or two sets per episodes and with the camera virtually fixed in one place. There isn't much in the way of a suspenseful soundtrack, and any sudden close ups or panned shots are invariably accompanied by an over the top blast of organ music. The stilted dialogue is rather wooden and pretentious too; the writer (Robert Muller) seems to have aspirations toward the MR James end of the horror market but sadly, his talent seems to suggest more of a Clive James, but without the wit.Ultimately, the series is worth sitting through on it's own merits, and these just about drag it above the curiosity/novelty value of watching a long forgotten series, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit through them all again.

Theo Robertson When I first found this website about four years ago I remember trying to get information on THE SUPERNATURAL but there was none and it's only very recently someone has gone to the time and trouble of registering it . Hopefully someone can contribute more info at a later date .As for myself I can remember bits of it . The title credits start with a blast of organ music with the camera panning across Gothic images of gargoyles . I remember it seemed very effective at the time when I was aged ten or eleven years old . Each episode was self contained with someone being invited to an English Victorian club where they had to relate a true supernatural event in their life to be allowed membership and as with all these type of anthology stories they'd be a twist at the end . One of the stories was spread over two episodes and featured several gentlemen staying at a remote mansion in central Europe where a werewolf stalks them , another featured a doll that comes to life while another episode stars Gordon Jackson in a tale that reworks Frankenstien . It's interesting to note that this episode is unique in that the club members think this tale has no basis in fact , it's a made up storyThe production values were typical of the BBC of the time , ie it was made rather cheaply with very obvious studio exteriors . I also recall letters to the Radio Times were very mixed with some viewers thinking THE SUPERNATURAL was a load of rubbish while some thought it was a fairly good drama . I personally liked watching it on a Saturday night but there again I was still only a child and it should also be pointed out that the BBC dropped the series after one season while the IMDb hasn't exactly been deludged with either info or reviews for this show which unfortunately may say something about its qualityUpdate Nov 2014 . After seeing the BBC 4 repeats it's as I suspected . Painfully slow , stagey acting and static directing and twists you can probably see a coming a mile away