User Reviews

A trio of formerly well to do women, when informed of the passing of a lady who served as a nanny for them all, decide to honor her in a manner that's fitting. Only trouble is, they fret over virtually everything connected with their decision, like the price of placing an honorarium in the newspaper, or what a luncheon at a fine restaurant might run them. One of the trio, Miss Eleanor 'Nelly' Benson, (Sheila Burrell) even goes so far as to make fun of the others' misfortune, and denigrate their deceased friend 'Denchy', even while she herself is reduced to wearing sandals for their repast at the Regency. Imagine their surprise when a well appointed young woman joins their luncheon bringing gifts from the former nanny. However that's not the only surprise Polly Knox (Eleanor Bron) has in store for the trio. While Polly wasn't the niece of their friend Denchy they were expecting, she WAS now the adult version of a child captured in a photograph of the women from many years ago. The occasion of the photo was a reminder that when they all gathered so many years ago under financial stress, they only had six hard boiled eggs among the seven of them. It was Polly, who's action of offering Denchy half her egg, was in turn rewarded with half of Denchy's 'egg' upon her death. Just a delicious ending to a story that put three old biddies firmly in their place.

Tales of the Unexpected: The Tribute starts as an elderly lady named Mabel Ince (Phyllis Calvert) phones her friend Lady Eleanor Benson (Sheila Burrell) to inform her that their friend Dench has died & that they should consider posting a tribute in a newspaper, however both ladies along with a third friend Fanny Soane (Anna Neagle) receive a letter from Dench's niece inviting them to lunch so she can give them what Dench left them in her will. The three elderly ladies turn up & eventually a young woman turns up who has some unexpected news...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 11 from season 6 that originally aired here in the UK during June 1983, the tenth out of twelve Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Graham Evans this is a pretty dull none event of a story. The story by Jane Gardam & was dramatised by Alan Seymour is incredibly slow going at even less than 30 minutes, it's utterly boring, it has a weak forgettable twist at the end which has no impact & isn't even explained properly. Then there's the poor characterisation, these three elderly ladies are meant to be friends but they don't act like it & give the impression of being anything but, I simply don't get who the woman was at the end either, OK I know her name was Polly Knox but what significance she had to anything I mean. Did I miss something? Is this episode in fact totally brilliant & makes 100% sense & I just didn't understand it? I tried to 'get' it but I just couldn't other than the fact Dench wanted to rub the three elderly ladies faces in her success. I don't know, maybe I'm thinking about it too much.

Low budget abound, this is pretty ropey looking. It's well made enough I suppose but it's utterly forgettable & bland from start to finish & there's some horrible & irrelevant shots of this old woman's feet & hideous shoes. This one also has dated badly with the politically incorrect stereotype of having the the elderly ladies hassled & intimidated by black teenage roller skating hoodlums!

The Tribute is crap, I'm sorry but even as a 30 minute time waster this didn't do a thing for me, there are much better Tales of the Unexpected out there.

This is a comic gem in my opinion, though I do agree with the reviewer who warned that it is easy to miss a key detail on which this whole episode turns.

This episode plays out like a social comedy as three aristocratic elderly ladies pay tribute to a former nanny to their children, more out of a sense of duty (propriety) than out of genuine care for her. She was a servant after all.

I loved the relationship between the three ladies and the interplay between them, each of them trying to mask their reduced circumstances but not fooling anyone or each other. They are three vestiges of a by-gone era (Empire) trying desperately to cling on to whatever little decorum - a la Hyacinth Bucket - they still possess in the face of a modern world they don't understand. I loved the social comedy of one of them living in a multicultural area.

The three ladies gather to celebrate Dench's life at Fortnum's & Masons, awaiting the arrival of Dench's niece who they believe will be joining them. Mabel is slightly domineering, Fanny sweet if a little dim whilst I liked the sharp-tongued eccentric played by Sheila Burrell, who appears at Fortnum's in her slippers, but turns out to be as big a snob as the others.

As the ladies wait for the niece, Mabel regales them with an anecdote about war-time rationing and the shortage of eggs. Dench had to make do without until a child who was a friend of Mabel's children offered the nanny half of her egg.

Into this social gathering breezes in a suitably glamorous Eleanor Bron, and without wishing to spoil things too much for anyone who may not have seen this episode, there is a misunderstanding and all is revealed. It transpires that dear old Dench actually possessed a much more colourful private life than anyone could have guessed with a rich admirer and a portfolio of shares. Let's just say that it is the three elderly women who are left with egg on their faces.

Mabel and Fanny are sat enjoying a nice lunch, aristocratic ladies of a bygone era. Mabel rings friend Nelly to inform her that mutual friend Denchy had died, and that they wanted to organise a tribute, Nelly is a little vacant, almost disinterested. Denchy's niece invites the Ladies to an expensive lunch out, to pay their tribute, Polly Knox is a huge character, armed with presents from Dench for the ladies. Polly tells of some stories of Denchy and shares a big surprise with the ladies.

I'm a big fan of The Tribute, the performances are just wonderful, Sheila Burrell is fantastic, reminds me a lot of Edna the Inebriate. Anna Neagle puts in a lovely performance too, of course the magical Phylis Calvert. The three make an exquisite trio. Eleanor Bron is wonderful too, such a versatile and charismatic performer.

It's a wonderfully clever episode, it's a snapshot of the passing of an era, and the beginning of an entirely new one. The refined, mature, hat wearing older generation became somewhat unfashionable during this time, and I think this episode shows it, they seem like dinosaurs.