Journey to the Unknown

...searched for the name of this tv series that haunted me as a child, I can't even tell you. Many times, I have Googled a description of the opening (the carnival setting, the lights coming on as a man with an unseen face whistles a most eerie tune). Google searches yielded no results till now. I am so grateful for user reviews to clue me in, till I realized "THIS! This is IT!" I was a kid so I really only recall the opening and the episode where a young man fell in love with a shop window mannequin who spoke (only) to him. He dreamed she was to "die" in a fire.

Now, I just need the dvd(s). I get those and I'll go nuts.

This series has 3 very important things going for it:

1. It has 17 episodes. "So what" I here you cry. Well, 17 must be magic numeral because The Prisoner is the only other classic 60s show to have that number of episodes and just like McGoohan's masterpiece, once bitten you'll not escape the charms of "Journey to the Unknown". These are 17 slices of classic telly folks...

2. IT HAS THE BEST TITLE SEQUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION. PERIOD.

3 "The New People" episode is the "Rosemary's Baby" of TV (only much better) It is, along with The Prisoner's "Girl Who Was Death", the single best televisual segment of the 1960s. You probably don't believe me. Seek it out, prepare to be amazed...

It may have sprung from the Hammer horror stable, but this feels more like The (original)"Outer Limits" meets "UFO" meets, well, "The Prisoner"!. There's no silly costumes and Kensington gore here- this stunning batch of mystery thrillers, ghost stories and frighteners was a U.S. co-production produced by Hitchcock's close associate Joan Harrison (who produced Alfred Hitchcock Presents). Consequently, and uniquely, this TV production is of a markedly higher cinematic quality than any of the big screen outings Hammer produced. Indeed, many episodes were cut together for cinema distribution in the early 70s with linking narration from the likes of Joan Crawford and...Patrick McGoohan (umm..). Oh sure, the reliance on obligatory American guest stars in the (very) British settings is somewhat quaint, and the acting is often, ahem, variable. But the sheer force of imagination on display here commands your attention. A rare treat indeed.

When you see some of the dross that is available on DVD/Blu-ray you have to ask why this brilliant series isn't.

a excellent TV series from hammer in the late sixties,which had a different story to it every episode,the show was based on people who found themselves in bizarre situations.the opening segment to the show still sends shivers down my spine, a deserted fairground somebody entering it you don't see the person at all,also a haunting theme to add spice to the matter?and the opening titles are then just put into the viewers face?powerful stories, like faces in the crowd, which stars Jane asher, David Henson,which one the scariest have seen,Stephanie powers in Jane browns body,which is cult viewing,plus chad Everett, in a story called poor butterfly, another a good ghost story. why the show has not made it to DVD, is beyond me. this excellent series,still holds good today.

This series barely lasted one season, yet I still remember several episodes after nearly 40 years. It was intelligent, thought provoking and yes...a bit on the creepy side. The episode with Stefanie Powers is still my favorite of the series. It was well written and a bit on the sappy love story side, but again it lingers in my memory. Like the Twilight Zone, this series took ordinary people and put them in extraordinary situations. Also, like the Twilight Zone, The opening theme is very catchy and I still can "hum" it after all of these years.I hope it is available on DVD someday, as I would like to add it to my collection.