Mystery and Imagination
Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 on ITV and produced by ABC and Thames Television.
Seasons
1. The Lost Stradivarius
Air Date: 1966-01-29
A certain tune, played on a particular violin, invokes an evil 18th-century occultist.
2. The Body Snatcher
Air Date: 1966-02-05
In the early 19th-century, an eminent professor seeks (illegally) to obtain dead bodies for his anatomical research.
3. The Fall of the House of Usher
Air Date: 1966-02-12
Convinced that his family is tainted by generations of evil, Roderick Usher is hellbent on stopping his sister Madeline’s wedding to prevent the cursed Usher bloodline from expanding. When her fiancé Finn arrives at the crumbling estate to claim his bride, Roderick goes to ruthless—even deadly—lengths to keep them apart.
4. The Open Door
Air Date: 1966-02-19
Colonel Mortimer returns to his family after a long spell in India to find his young son in bed ill, and tormented by a wailing voice... but is it in fact the boy's imagination or is it real?
5. The Tractate Middoth
Air Date: 1966-02-26
A young librarian is hired by the impatient John Eldred to find an old tractate — so that Eldred can cheat the real heirs out of their estate... but the book is haunted by the ghost of its previous owner.
6. Lost Hearts
Air Date: 1966-03-05
An orphan taken in by an elderly cousin is haunted by the ghosts of two children and learns that the house holds a terrible secret.
7. The Canterville Ghost
Air Date: 1966-03-12
An American family moves in to the Canterville Chase, a London mansion that has been haunted by ghost Sir Simon De Canterville for 300 years.
1. Room 13
Air Date: 1966-10-22
Academic researcher Mr Anderson of Viborg studies Reformation history, and stays at an inn where Room 13 mysteriously appears at night, despite the landlord claiming it doesn't exist, leading to escalating supernatural disturbances—noises, vanishing furniture, and ominous figures—as Anderson uncovers a witchcraft scandal connected to the phantom room, culminating in an attack and a chilling glimpse into the room's dark occupant before the supernatural presence fades, leaving behind unsettling remnants.
2. The Beckoning Shadow
Air Date: 1966-10-29
A malevolent spirit is hard at work in frightening all-comers to its house of occupation.
3. The Flying Dragon
Air Date: 1966-11-05
A young Englishman follows a mysterious countess to the Dragon Volant Inn that has been the site of mysterious disappearances.
4. Carmilla
Air Date: 1966-11-12
In 19th-century Styria, isolated Laura's quiet life is upended by the arrival of mysterious, beautiful Carmilla, a female vampire with whom she develops an intense, homoerotic bond. As Laura's life slowly drains, themes of forbidden desire, identity, and the supernatural are explored, culminating in Laura's discovery of Carmilla's vampiric nature and a confrontation with her ancient lineage.
5. The Phantom Lover
Air Date: 1966-11-19
A painter is commissioned for portraits of a wealthy couple, the Okes, at their estate, where he becomes entangled in the wife's obsession with a 17th-century ancestor, leading to supernatural events and a blurring of reality and madness.
1. Casting the Runes
Air Date: 1968-03-25
Volatile and short-tempered Mr Karswell never forgets a slight. As he is also a man capable of summoning demons from Hell to do his bidding, his quarrel with Dunning may have unfortunate consequences.
2. The Listener
Air Date: 1968-03-30
Reeve is a studious man hyper-sensitive to noise. Lodgings in a quiet cul-de-sac initially seem to be the answer, but he soon begins to suspect he is not alone.
3. A Place of One's Own
Air Date: 1968-04-06
The elderly Smedhursts buy the old Bellingham House, rumoured to be haunted by a maiden believed to have been murdered by her guardians.
4. The Devil's Piper
Air Date: 1968-04-13
A bagpipe player pays his rent but doesn't get a receipt before his landlord dies. The Devil then persuades him to go to Hell and get his recently deceased landlord to sign the receipt.
5. The Telltale Heart
Air Date: 1968-04-20
A man's sanity is a point of contention as he confesses to murdering an elderly man, driven by the victim's pale blue 'vulture eye', culminating in guilt-induced auditory hallucinations of the victim's beating heart.
6. Feet Foremost
Air Date: 1968-06-29
Anthony Fairfield goes to stay with a friend, only to encounter a ghostly woman seeking vengeance for a past injustice.
1. Uncle Silas
Air Date: 1968-11-04
Following her father's death, young heiress Maud is sent to live with her mysterious Uncle Silas. She finds her new guardian living in a gothic nightmare of a mansion, and soon realises that he plots to murder her and claim her inheritance.
2. Frankenstein
Air Date: 1968-11-11
A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
3. Dracula
Air Date: 1968-11-18
A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves the agent and drives him to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.
1. The Suicide Club
Air Date: 1970-02-09
Prince Florizel of Bohemia discovers a secret club where desperate men gamble with their lives, and vows to bring it to an end.
2. Sweeney Todd
Air Date: 1970-02-16
In 19th-century London, the mysterious Sweeney Todd, a once-naive barber whose life and marriage was uprooted by a corrupt justice system, returns and confides in the owner of a local meat pie shop. The two become partners, as Todd swears revenge on those that have wronged him and decides to take up his old profession.
3. Curse of the Mummy
Air Date: 1970-02-23
An archaeologist unearths the mummy of an Egyptian queen. He doesn't realise that his daughter has a strong resemblance to the dead queen, and soon the mummy awakens.
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Rating
5.5/10
Release Date
1966-01-29
Episodes
24 (5 seasons)
Status
Ended
Cast
Production Companies
ABC Weekend Television
Thames Television