List of Out of the Unknown episodes

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The following is a complete episode list of the anthology science fiction television series Out of the Unknown , which aired on BBC2 over four series between 4 October 1965 and 30 June 1971. The first two series were made and broadcast in black and white, and the latter two in colour.

Contents

Many Out of the Unknown episodes were adaptations of short stories and novels. In such cases, the list below credits the story to the original author and lists the adapter in the following column. Instances where an adaptation was broadcast under a title different from that of the original work are footnoted as appropriate. Where a script was an original commission, the screenwriter is credited as the author and the “Adapted by” column is marked “n/a”.

Only twenty episodes of the series survive in the archives today, with an additional episode only existing partially (missing approximately 20 minutes). The “Exists?” column indicates whether an episode has survived or not. In some cases, short clips and/or audio recordings of missing episodes have survived – these are indicated in the footnotes.

Series 1

Series 1 was broadcast on Monday nights at 8:00pm. It was produced by Irene Shubik. Two episodes are missing, while ten survive, making it the most complete season of the show.

EpisodeTitleStoryAdapted byDirectorAirdateExists?
101“No Place Like Earth” [1] John Wyndham Stanley MillerPeter Potter4 October 1965Yes
102The Counterfeit Man Alan Nourse Philip Broadley George Spenton-Foster 11 October 1965Yes
103“Stranger in the Family” David Campton n/a Alan Bridges 18 October 1965Yes [2]
104The Dead Past Isaac Asimov Jeremy Paul John Gorrie 25 October 1965Yes
105Time in Advance William Tenn Paul Erickson Peter Sasdy 1 November 1965Yes
106“Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come...?”Mike Wattsn/a Paddy Russell 8 November 1965Yes
107Sucker Bait Isaac Asimov Meade Roberts Naomi Capon 15 November 1965Yes
108“The Fox and the Forest” Ray Bradbury Terry Nation Robin Midgley 22 November 1965No [3]
109“Andover and the Android” Kate Wilhelm Bruce Stewart Alan Cooke29 November 1965No [3]
110“Some Lapse of Time” John Brunner Leon Griffiths Roger Jenkins 6 December 1965Yes
111“Thirteen to Centaurus” J. G. Ballard Stanley MillerPeter Potter13 December 1965Yes
112“The Midas Plague” Frederik Pohl Troy Kennedy Martin Peter Sasdy20 December 1965Yes

Series 2

Series 2 was broadcast on Thursday nights at 9:30pm, except "The Prophet", which was broadcast on Saturday only two days after "Satisfaction Guaranteed". It was produced by Irene Shubik and the script editor was Michael Imison. Nine of the thirteen episodes are missing, leaving only four surviving.

EpisodeTitleStoryAdapted byDirectorAirdateExists?
201The Machine Stops E. M. Forster Kenneth Cavender & Clive Donner Phillip Saville 6 October 1966Yes
202“Frankenstein Mark 2” Hugh Whitemore n/aPeter Duguid13 October 1966No
203“Lambda 1” Colin Kapp Bruce Stewart George Spenton-Foster 20 October 1966Yes
204Level Seven Mordecai Roshwald J. B. Priestley Rudolph Cartier 27 October 1966Yes
205“Second Childhood” Hugh Leonard n/a John Gorrie 10 November 1966No [4]
206“The World in Silence” John Rankine Robert Gould Naomi Capon 17 November 1966No
207“The Eye” Henry Kuttner Stanley Miller Peter Sasdy 24 November 1966No
208Tunnel Under the World Frederik Pohl David Campton Alan Cooke1 December 1966Yes
209“The Fastest Draw” Larry Eisenberg Julian Bond Herbert Wise 8 December 1966No
210“Too Many Cooks”Larry EisenbergHugh WhitemoreJohn Gibson15 December 1966No
211“Walk's End” William Trevor n/a Ian Curteis 22 December 1966No
212Satisfaction Guaranteed Isaac Asimov Hugh LeonardJohn Gorrie29 December 1966No [5]
213The Prophet [6] Isaac Asimov Robert Muller Naomi Capon1 January 1967No [4]

Series 3

Series 3 was broadcast on Wednesday nights at 9:00pm. It was produced by Alan Bromly and the script editor was Roger Parkes. However, all the scripts used in this series were commissioned by Irene Shubik. This was the first series to be made in colour. Only two episodes are known to exist (one partially), making it the most incomplete season of the show. This season also has the most surviving off-air soundtracks, with three in total used to reconstruct their respective episodes.

EpisodeTitleStoryAdapted byDirectorAirdateExists?
301Immortality, Inc. Robert Sheckley Jack Pulman Terence Dudley 7 January 1969No [5]
302Liar! Isaac Asimov David Campton Gerald Blake 14 January 1969No [5]
303“The Last Lonely Man” John Brunner Jeremy Paul Douglas Camfield 21 January 1969Yes
304“Beach Head” Clifford D. Simak Robert Muller James Cellan Jones 28 January 1969No [7] (reconstruction exists)
305“Something in the Cellar”Donald Bulln/a Roger Jenkins 4 February 1969No [4]
306Random Quest John Wyndham Owen Holder Christopher Barry 11 February 1969No [5]
307The Naked SunIsaac AsimovRobert Muller Rudolph Cartier 18 February 1969No [4] (reconstruction exists)
308The Little Black Bag C. M. Kornbluth Julian BondEric Hills25 February 1969Partially [8]
309“1+1=1.5” Brian Hayles n/a Michael Ferguson 4 March 1969No [4]
310“The Fosters”Michael Ashen/aPhilip Dudley11 March 1969No [4]
311“Target Generation”Clifford D. Simak Clive Exton [9] Roger Jenkins18 March 1969No [4]
312“The Yellow Pill” Rog Phillips Leon Griffiths [9] Michael Ferguson25 March 1969No [7] (reconstruction exists)
313“Get Off My Cloud” Peter Phillips David Climie Peter Cregeen 1 April 1969No [4]

Series 4

Series 4 was broadcast on Wednesday nights at 9:20pm. It was produced by Alan Bromly and the script editor was Roger Parkes. Unlike previous series, only one episode was an adaptation. Six of the eleven episodes are missing, leaving five episodes surviving. A reconstruction using surviving audio exists for one episode.

EpisodeTitleStoryAdapted byDirectorAirdateExists?
401“Taste of Evil” John Wiles n/a Michael Ferguson 21 April 1971No
402“To Lay a Ghost” Michael J. Bird n/a Ken Hannam 28 April 1971Yes
403“This Body Is Mine”John Tullyn/aEric Hills5 May 1971Yes
404“Deathday” Angus Hall Brian Hayles Raymond Menmuir 12 May 1971Yes
405“The Sons and Daughters of Tomorrow” Edward Boyd n/a Gerald Blake 19 May 1971No
406“Welcome Home” Moris Farhi n/aEric Hills26 May 1971Yes
407“The Last Witness” [10] Martin Worthn/aMichael Ferguson2 June 1971No [3]
408“The Man in My Head”John Wilesn/a Peter Cregeen 9 June 1971Yes
409“The Chopper” Nigel Kneale n/aPeter Cregeen16 June 1971No
410“The Uninvited” [11] Michael J. Birdn/aEric Hills23 June 1971No [7] (reconstruction exists)
411“The Shattered Eye”David T. Chantlern/a Peter Hammond 30 June 1971No

Notes

  1. This was an adaptation of two stories by Wyndham: "Time to Rest" and its sequel "No Place on Earth".
  2. Later remade as an episode of Journey to the Unknown .
  3. 1 2 3 Some short video clips survive from this episode.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Some short audio clips survive of this episode.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Some short video and audio clips survive from this episode.
  6. This was an adaptation of Asimov's short story Reason .
  7. 1 2 3 A complete audio recording of this episode exists.
  8. Approximately 30 minutes of this episode has survived. Additionally, some audio clips of missing scenes also survive.
  9. 1 2 Originally adapted by this writer for Out of this World (1962).
  10. Remade as an episode of Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense under the title “A Distant Scream”.
  11. Remade as an episode of Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense under the title “In Possession”.

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