User Reviews

Tales of the Unexpected: The Colonel's Lady starts as retired Colonel George Peregrine (Joss Ackland) learns that his wife Eve (Pauline Collins) has written a book entitled When Pyramids Decay which has been published. The book has become a huge success & has sold out everywhere so he cannot get hold of a copy to read, however he hears all sorts of things about it like the steamy sex scenes & that it's probably autobiographical which gets his imagination going. After reading the book George is convinced Eve has had an affair but is he reading too much into it? Or maybe on the other hand maybe he isn't reading enough into it at all?

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 2 from season 9 & originally aired here in the UK during January 1988, the second of two Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Barry Davis (no, not the football commentator) this is yet more average fare which tells a story I suppose but is totally forgettable & bland. The story by W. Somerset Maugham had already been adapted for an anthology TV series the Somerset Maugham Hour back in 1962 before it was dramatised by Denis Cannan for this series, I suppose this is trying to say something about cheating on your partner & the fact it's OK for a bloke to do it but when a woman dares to do it it's a different story although I think attitudes have changed since the story was originally written so it's maybe a little irrelevant these days. At only 25 minutes long it won't waste too much of your time & as I said it tells it's story well enough even if it's not a particularly good one & the ending is also a disappointment as there's not much of a twist here.

This one looks pretty cheap actually, the low TV budget & the tight shooting schedules probably didn't help but this does look quite drab & has no style at all. The casts for this show always impresses me & The Colonel's Lady is no different with a fine selection of British actors here.

The Colonel's Lady is an OK time waster I suppose but it's nothing special & not as bad as some Tales of the Unexpected stories from season 9.

Eve Peregrine receives a delivery of books at the breakfast table, it is in fact 'When Pyramids decay,' her own work, her stuffy husband Colonel George Peregrine is rather surprised as she hadn't confided her work in him. George is more interested in the sound of his own voice and his own stories, rather then his wife's recent success story. George, sets of for a landowner's meeting, but in truth he's playing about with Daphne, she tells George that the book his wife's written is causing a massive stir, it's taken off, he denies all knowledge, even his peers are are in on it too, it's selling out all over London, George must find out more about the personal characters in her book.

Some magnificent British stalwarts on show here, Joss Ackland and Pauline Collins, both wonderful, both appeared previously in earlier equally impressive episodes. Gareth Thomas is great too, they really started to pull the stops out with the casting in these later episodes. The casting here was intelligent, Ackland's powerful character is beautifully at odds with the subtle Pauline Collins.

I disagree with my fellow reviewer who says this looks visually drab, I think it's quite classy looking, it's well filmed, it looks and flows very well. I find it interesting and very engaging, I enjoyed it very much.

8/10