Out of the Unknown is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971.
Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of science fiction short stories. Some were written directly for the series, but most were adaptations of published stories. The first three series were exclusively science fiction, but that genre was mostly abandoned in the final year in favour of horror-fantasy stories, with only one story based around science fiction.
Many videotapes of episodes were wiped in the early 1970s, as was standard procedure at the time. A large number of episodes are still missing, although some have resurfaced: for example, "Level Seven", an episode in series two originally broadcast on 27 October 1966, was returned to the BBC from the archives of a European broadcaster in January 2006.
Origins Irene Shubik had been a science fiction fan since she was at university. In 1961 she suggested to Sydney Newman, then head of the drama department of ABC Television, an ITV franchise contractor, that the company create a science fiction version of Armchair Theatre. This became Out of this World, a sixty-minute anthology series hosted by Boris Karloff that ran for thirteen episodes between June and September 1962. Many of the episodes were adaptations of published short stories by writers including John Wyndham, Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick.
Series one
Shubik began work and soon found that gathering science fiction stories suitable for adaptation was a difficult task. She later recalled: "I had to read hundreds of stories to pick a dozen. You have no idea how difficult some of these authors are to deal with, and it seems a special thing among SF writers to hedge themselves behind almost impossible copyright barriers, even when they have got a story that is possible to do on television. So many you can't. Either the conception is so way out you would need a fantastic budget to produce it, or the story is too short, too tight to be padded out to make an hour's television".Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 31. When she had been working on Out of this World Shubik had made a valuable contact in John Carnell, a key figure in British science fiction publishing. He was the founder of the science fiction magazine New Worlds and agent for many of Britain's science fiction writers. Carnell was able to suggest stories and authors for her to consider. Shubik also received copies of science fiction anthologies from British publishers and sought advice from many authors, including Frederik Pohl, Alfred Bester and Robert Silverberg. The latter two admitted to her that they had run into similar difficulties in finding suitable material for television adaptation. She considered asking Nigel Kneale if he would write a new Quatermass story for the series, and contacted Arthur C. Clarke regarding the possibility of adapting his novel The Deep Range.Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 25.
In March 1965 Shubik travelled to New York City to negotiate rights with authors whose works she was considering, to seek ideas from U.S. television, and to obtain more science fiction anthologies from U.S. publishers. During her visit she met science fiction editors and also Isaac Asimov, who granted permission for two of his stories to be adapted on the condition that they could be shown only in the UK: sales to foreign territories were not allowed. A visit to New York became an annual event for Shubik during her time on Out of the Unknown.Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 26.
On her return to London from her first visit Shubik learned that she had been appointed producer and story editor for the new anthology series. She obtained the services of George Spenton-Foster as her associate producer. Spenton-Foster was a science fiction fan and his wide experience of BBC television production proved invaluable to Shubik.
By this stage she had found the twelve scripts she needed for the first series: ten episodes were adaptations of stories by John Wyndham ("Time to Rest" and its sequel "No Place Like Earth", dramatised together as "No Place Like Earth"); Alan Nourse ("The Counterfeit Man"); Isaac Asimov ("The Dead Past" and Sucker Bait); William Tenn ("Time in Advance"); Ray Bradbury ("The Fox and the Forest"); Kate Wilhelm ("Andover and the Android"); John Brunner ("Some Lapse of Time"); J. G. Ballard ("Thirteen to Centaurus") and Frederik Pohl ("The Midas Plague"). Two original stories were also commissioned, "Stranger in the Family" by David Campton and "Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come...?" by Mike Watts. Among those commissioned to adapt the stories were a few notable names in television writing. Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks for Doctor Who and later of Survivors and Blake's 7, adapted Bradbury's "The Fox and the Forest", while Troy Kennedy Martin, co-creator of Z-Cars, adapted Pohl's "The Midas Plague".
A title for the series had not been decided when production began. Titles such as Dimension 4, The Edge of Tomorrow and From the Unknown were considered before Out of the Unknown was settled on. The title music was composed by Norman Kay and the title sequence was created by Bernard Lodge. It was intended from an early stage that, as with Boris Karloff on Out of this World, each story would be introduced by a regular host. Christopher Lee and Vincent Price were approached, but neither was available and the idea was dropped.
The opening title sequence was designed by Bernard Lodge, using stock shots and specially created optical illusion patterns filmed on a rostrum camera, combined with a face frozen in a scream and a mannequin falling repeatedly through space. The forty-second sequence won a Design & Art Direction Wood Pencil for Television Graphics in 1965. Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop created a theme for the sequence, but it was rejected.
The episode "Some Lapse of Time" is notable for having Ridley Scott, future director of such films as Alien and Blade Runner, as its designer.
Out of the Unknown made its debut on BBC2 at 8 p.m. on Monday 4 October 1965 with "No Place Like Earth". Science fiction and fantasy were popular on television, and Doctor Who, The Avengers, Thunderbirds, The Man from UNCLE and Lost in Space were all notable hits at the time. Out of the Unknown, however, was intended to offer more cerebral fare. Initial audience and critical reaction was mixed, but improved as the series went on. "Andover and the Android" ("It's not until intelligence, humour and gaiety break into television that you notice what tasteless pap we've been living on"Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 120. – Daily Mail) and "Some Lapse of Time" ("It was not surprising to hear from Late Night Line Up that there had been many complimentary telephone calls after the play [...] it left the viewer with the disconcerting feeling that there was more than a grain of truth in its fantasy"Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 131. – Birmingham Evening Mail and Dispatch) proved particularly popular with audiences and critics alike. BBC2 Controller David Attenborough praised the "overall professionalism that has become a hallmark of the series".Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 33. By the end of its first run Out of the Unknown was the second-most popular drama on BBC2, after the imported Western The Virginian.Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 32.
Series one holds the distinction of being the only series to have its first and final broadcast episodes still in existence. Series three and four are missing both, while series two is missing its final episode.
Series two
In parallel with preparing for the second series of Out of the Unknown Shubik was producing another anthology series, Thirteen Against Fate, comprising adaptations of short stories by Georges Simenon. To assist her she was assigned a script editor, initially Rodney Gedye and then, after Gedye left following clashes with Shubik,Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 153. Michael Imison. As with series one, finding suitable stories for adaptation remained a problem. On her annual visit to New York Shubik placed an advertisement looking for stories in the Science Fiction Writers Association Bulletin. One author who answered the advertisement was Larry Eisenberg, whose stories The Fastest Draw and Too Many Cooks were commissioned. Two further adaptations, of E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" and Mordecai Roshwald's Level 7 (dramatised as "Level Seven"), were scripts that had been offered to film studios for some years without success. Another script, adapting Colin Kapp's Lambda 1, had been commissioned for series one but shelved, owing to the technical problems it involved. When the special effects designer Jack Kine indicated that he had a solution to the technical challenges, the script was brought back into production for series two. Five further adaptations were commissioned: John Rankine's The World in Silence, Henry Kuttner's The Eye, Frederik Pohl's Tunnel Under the World and Isaac Asimov's "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Reason" (dramatised as "The Prophet"). Three original stories were also commissioned: "Frankenstein Mark II" by Hugh Whitemore, "Second Childhood" by Hugh Leonard and "Walk's End" by William Trevor.
In response to Kenneth Tynan's use of the word "fuck" on the satirical programme BBC-3 Sydney Newman issued directives to his producers regarding language and content. In the case of Out of the Unknown this led to particular attention being paid to the scripts for "Second Childhood" (about reawakening of sexual desire when an elderly man undergoes a rejuvenation process) and "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (about a woman taking a robot as a lover). The theme music was given a faster pace.
Series two was broadcast on Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m., beginning with the episode "The Machine Stops" on 6 October 1966. The new series was promoted by the Radio Times, then owned by the BBC, with a front cover photograph of Yvonne Mitchell, star of "The Machine Stops", and an article previewing the upcoming episodes written by Michael Imison. The two most notable productions of the series were "The Machine Stops" and "Level Seven". "The Machine Stops", directed by Philip Saville, was a particularly challenging production, later described by Shubik as "the most complex and technically demanding script I have ever had in my hand"Shubik, Play for Today, p. 126.—requiring large and complex sets, including construction of one with a working monorail. The adaptation was met with good reviews ("A haunting film – and a deeply disturbing one"Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 172. – The Times) and was awarded first prize at the Fifth Festival Internazionale del Film di Fantascienza (International Science Fiction Film Festival) in Trieste on 17 July 1967.Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 276. Due to the expected complexities of editing, the episode was recorded onto 35mm film instead of videotape, and still exists as this original film negative. It is the only episode produced during the show's black and white era that exists in its original broadcast format.
"Level Seven" was adapted by J. B. Priestley and directed by Rudolph Cartier. Priestley's script had begun life as a potential screenplay for a feature film and condensing it down to Out of the Unknown'''s standard running time of 50 minutes proved impossible. In the end Shubik convinced the management of the BBC to allow "Level Seven" to run to 60 minutes as a one-off. Reviewing "Level Seven" in The Listener (also then owned by the BBC), J. C. Trewin wrote that "the tension was inescapable, the excitement incontestable, more so, undoubtedly, than other thrusts into the future".Ward, Out of the Unknown, p. 198. The robot costumes created for "The Prophet" were later reused in the Doctor Who serial "The Mind Robber".
Despite its positive reception, only four of the thirteen episodes are known to survive.
Series three