THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

22 Jan 1961 / ITV (Armchair Theatre).

Director: Charles Jarrott.

Oscar Wilde's classic tale of a young man who never seems to age and the portrait which grows old in his stead.

Starring: JEREMY BRETT as Dorian Gray.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (jeremybrett.info)

ONE STEP BEYOND

1961 / ITV.

Series Creator: Merwin Gerard Collier.

American made Supernatural anthology. Some episodes were filmed in the UK with British actors.

Hosted by John Newland.

One Step Beyond (WIKI)

TALES OF MYSTERY

ITV (Associated-Rediffusion).

Season 1: 29 Mar - 17 May 1961.
Season 2: 4 July - 12 September 1962.
Season 3: 10 Jan - 14 Mar 1963. 

Producer: Peter Graham-Scott.

Supernatural drama series adapted from the short stories of Algernon Blackwood.

Introduced by John Laurie (as Algernon Blackwood).

Tales of Mystery (eofftv).

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST

24th Dec 1962 / BBC.

Writer: Elaine Morgan (Story by Oscar Wilde) / Producer: Stuart Burge.

Period comedy-drama. An American family move into a stately home which is haunted by the ghost of one of its aristocratic former owners - Sir Simon de Canterville.

With: Bernard Cribbins, Ruth Denning, Oliver Fox, Samantha Eggar.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

24th Dec 1962 / BBC.

Producer: Hal Burton.

Musical version of the Dickens favourite - starring Stephen Danton as Scrooge and Derick Davies as Bob Cratchit.

THE ROAD

29 Sep 1963 / BBC ("First night").

Writer: Nigel Kneale / Director: Christopher Morahan.

Country squire and natural philosopher, Sir Timothy Hassell investigates reports of a haunted wood. His research leads to an unexpected and disturbing conclusion.

With: James Maxwell, Ann Bell, John Phillips, Rodney Bewes..

The Road - British Telefantasy 1955 to 1963 (text and photo near bottom of page).

HAMLET

19 Apr 1964 (170 mins) / BBC.

Writer: William Shakespeare / Director: Phillip Saville.

A special production of the Shakespeare play, filmed on location at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is spurred to revenge by the ghost of his murdered father.

Starring: Christopher Plummer (as Hamlet), Robert Shaw (as Claudius), Michael Caine (as Horatio).

Hamlet (BFI screenonline).

BLITHE SPIRIT

1964 / ITV (Granada).

Writer: Gerald Savoury (Adapted from the play by Noel Coward) / Director: Joan Kemp-Welch.

Comedy. A dead wife returns as a ghost to the irritation of her husband.

With: Helen Cherry, Joanna Dunham, Hattie Jacques, Griffith Jones. Presented by Noel Coward.

Note: This play is included in a DVD set entitled "A Choice Of Coward - The Complete Series".

WITCH WOOD

18 July 1964 (4 eps) / BBC.

Writer: Donald Wilson (based on the novel by John Buchan).

Historical series set in 17th century Scotland. A conflict between witchcraft and the church set against a background of the Scottish wars of the Covenant.

With: Donald Douglas, Fulton MacKay.

More details at EOFFTV.

THE CLOSE PRISONER

1964 / ITV (ATV).

Writer: Clive Exton / Dirctor: Ted Kotcheff.

The story of a man who appears to be immortal.

Starring: Bernard Cribbins.

OUT OF THE UNKNOWN

1965 - 66 and 1969 - 71 / BBC2.

Producers: Irene Shubik, Alan Bromly.

Drama anthology that included a few supernatural episodes. See The Chopper, To Lay a Ghost, The Uninvited (all 1971).

625 Org - Out of The Unknown.

625 Org - Out of the Unknown episode guide.

THE LIARS

1966 (9 eps) / ITV (Granada).

Writers: Philip Mackie, Hugh Leonard (based on stories by by Oscar Wilde, Saki, Guy de Maupassant, etc) / Producer: Philip Mackie.

4 storytellers compete to tell the tallest tale. Some of the stories had a supernatural theme - e.g: precognition.

With: Ian Ogilvy, William Mervyn, Nyree Dawn-Porter, Isla Blair.

(TALES OF) MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

1966 - 70 / ITV (ABC - Thames).

Series Creators: Jonathan Alwyn, Terence Feely.

Major TV anthology of supernatural and horror dramas from authors such as R L Stevenson, M R James, Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Sheridan Lefanu etc. The supernatural episodes were:

(1)  The Lost Stradivarius (1966).
(4)  The Open Door (1966).
(5)  The Tractate Middoth (1966).
(6)   Lost Hearts (1966).
(7)  The Canterville Ghost (1966).
(8)   Room 13 (1966).
(9)  The Beckoning Shadow(1966).
(10) The Flying Dragon (1966).
(11) Carmilla (1966).
(12) The Phantom Lover (1966).
(13) Casting the Runes (1968).
(14) The Listener (1968).
(15) A Place of one's own (1968).
(16) The Devil's Piper (1968).
(17) The Tell-tale Heart (1968).
(18) Feet Foremost (1968).
(21) Dracula (1968).
(24) Curse of the Mummy (1970).

Hosted by DAVID BUCK (as Richard Bennett).

Mystery and Imagination (WIKI).

The Lost Stradivarius (jeremybrett.info)

WITCH HUNT

29 April - 27 May 1967 (5 x 25 min eps) / BBC2 .

Writer: Jon Manchip White / Director: Peter Duguid.

Supernatural drama series. Rex Fordham thinks to have found his ideal house in the country when he move to Brookthorne farm. But his life is in danger when he investigates the activities of a local pagan cult.

With: Patrick Kavanagh, Anna Palk.

Witch Hunt (Action TV).

THE MAGICIANS

15 - 29 Oct 1967 (x3) / BBC2 (Theatre 625).

Writer: Ken Taylor / Director: James MacTaggart / Producer: Michael Bakewell.

A three part drama anthology about historical figures and their involvement with the occult:

1. DR. DEE, KELLY AND THE SPIRITS: The story of how Dr. John Dee, the brilliant Elizabethan scholar and occultist, was hoodwinked by a man who claimed to possess the secret of how to turn base metals into gold. Starring Alan Dobie, Frank Finlay.

2. THE INCANTATION OF CASANOVA: The infamous Venetian author, adventurer and lover also claimed to have magical powers which he used to seduce women. Starring Jeremy Brett.

3. EDMUND GURNEY AND THE BRIGHTON MESMERIST: A Victorian psychologist turns his hand to investigating the paranormal.

The Magicians (jeremybrett.info)

HAUNTED

18 Nov 1967- 13 Jan 68 (10 parts) / ITV (Granada) .

Producer: Derek Granger.

Michael West is a Professor of Philosophy and a university lecturer. He also travels around Britain investigating reports of supernatural phenomena.

With: Patrick Mower, Sarah-Jane Gwillim.

Haunted (Action TV Guide).

WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU

7 May 1968 / BBC ("Omnibus").

Producer/Director/ Writer: Jonathan Miller ( based on a story by MR James).

The eccentric Professor Parkins is a rationalist and sceptic. But terrifying, and apparently supernatural, events ensue when he discovers a bone, which has been fashioned into a whistle, at a local graveyard.

Starring Michael Hordern.

Review - Whistle and I'll come to you.

THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH

10 May 1968 / BBC2 ("Late Night Horror").

Writer: David Campton (based on a story by H R Wakefield) / Director: Rudolph Cartier.

Period drama. A sensitive young woman, Amelia, is engaged as an assistant to Mrs. Pendleham, the mistress of Carthwaite house. She discovers that the old mansion is haunted by the spirits of children who were subjected to appalling abuses in the past.

With: Claire Bloom, Nora Nicholson, Robert James, Jean Anderson.

EOFFTV Late Night Horror guide.

THE TEMPEST

12 May 1968 / BBC1 ("Play of the Month")

Writer: William Shakespeare / Director: Basil Coleman.

Shakespeare's famous tale of magic and power.

With: Jonathan Dennis, Keith Michell, Ronald Pickup, Michael Redgrave, Tessa Wyatt.

SAINT JOAN

1 Sep 1968 / BBC1 ("Play of the Month")

Writer: George Bernard Shaw / Director: Waris Hussein / Producer: Cedric Messina.

With: Janet Suzman, Keith Baxter, Michael Craig, Murray Melvin, Ronald Pickup, John Gielgud, Colin Blakely, Maurice Denham.

JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN

14 April 1969 - May 1970 (17 eps) / ITV.

Producer: Anthony Hinds.

Drama anthology featuring several supernatural episodes, namely:

(3) The Indian Spirit Guide.
(5) Paper Dolls.
(7) One on a Desert Island.
(8) Matakitias is coming.
(9) Girl of my dreams.
(10) Somewhere in a crowd.
(11) Do me a favour and kill me.
(12) The beckoning fair one.
(13) The last visitor.
(14) Poor Butterfly.
(15) Stranger in the family.

Journey to the Unknown.

RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED)

1969 (26 eps) / ITV.

Series creator: Dennis Spooner.

Comedy crime drama series with a twist. Private Investigator Jeff Randall has an unusual assistant in the form of a ghost - his former business partner Marty Hopkirk!

With: Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope, Annette Andre.

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) - WIKI.

THE CHAMPIONS

1969 (30 eps) / ITV.

Series Creators: Monty Berman, Dennis Spooner.

Three people are endowed with supernatural abilities after a plane crash. Subsequently they become agents for a global crime-fighting organisation.

With:- Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo, William Gaunt, Anthony Nicholls.

The Champions (Fan site).

THE OWL SERVICE

21 Dec 1969 - 7 Feb 1970 (8 eps) / ITV ( Granada).

Writer: Alan Garner / Producer & Director: Peter Plummer.

Children's fantasy drama series. Alison discovers some old dinner plates in the attic of the Welsh Holiday home in which she is staying. But her discovery unwittingly releases an ancient magical power.

With: Michael Holden,Gillian Hills, Francis Wallis, Edwin Richfield, Dorothy Edwards, Raymond Llewellyn.

Screenonline review - The OWL SERVICE.