Beasts

The only reason I don't give "Beasts" a top 10 is that there aren't many episodes. There should have been a second series - I reckon they would have been just as good.

Each episode from this series has a self- contained plot and they range from witchcraft to possession.

The production values are a bit modest but the beauty lays in the acting and the writing. For sheer storytelling, this kind of television is sorely missed.

My abiding memory is of some chap incarcerated in his living room, ringing into some radio show and having something nasty getting nearer and nearer...and nearer. You never saw anything, but then again you never had to.

Even the word 'beasts' takes us all back there doesn't it? I try and be objective. I saw this in late 1976, and never since. I was 9 years old, hardly capable of critical reasoning. Yet, across the gulf of time, images and thought processes immeasurably superior to adulthood come back to you.

I'd like to watch it now, provided it don't ruin it.

I saw this at the age of 12 when it was broadcast for the first (and only) time. Two stories stick in my mind, Buddyboy, about a haunted Pool/Ghost Dolphin (memorable to me for a very well-endowed young lady removing her Bra!! ) But the story i remember most, the title of which i cant remember but concerned a plague of Rats, stealthily attacking people trapped in a country cottage.In the entire episode you never actually See a Rat! But it was done superbly. Always looked forward to seeing this show repeated, but never has been. It was a gem from Nigel Kneale, an Ace writer.

I vaguely remember the "Baby" episode of Beasts, which someone describes really above. But it is the opening "Special Offer" episode that stuck in my mind more, mostly because the setting was so mundane.

Like most throwaway 70s telly, I only saw it once, but I vividly remember Pauline Quirke playing a checkout girl in a supermarket who became obsessed with the store's cartoon mascot (a rabbit, I think) called Brightway Billy. She started hallucinating about seeing the rabbit in the shop. I was 12 when it was shown and it totally creeped me out, and created an atmosphere of insanity and hysteria in a very bland setting. At school the next day, every was imitating Pauline Quirke's moon face calling out for "Billy!".

There have been many moments on television considered the scariest but i remember vividly an episode from this series entitled BABY. Like many other reviewers here it scared me half to death as a boy, so it was with much trepidation that and interest i began watching a copy of the series ....believe me that episode has lost non of its power. Obvious;y some of the effects have dated but its such a frightening story and so well told that it still sends a shiver down the spine. I never watched any other episodes so cannot comment on how they came across at the time but having watched them now they stand up very well indeed.

They are a little on the 'wordy' side and are very studio bound, the lack of budget allows the stories to breath (sometimes a bit too much on BUDDY BOY), relying more on actors than flashy MTV editing styles. Stand outs be During Barty's Party (relying on 2 actors and a sound effect) and Baby (that thing!!!).