MovieChat Forums > Tales of the Unexpected (1979) Discussion > 'The Flypaper' (Spoilers)

'The Flypaper' (Spoilers)

posted 18 years ago by Schnorbitz
68 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone see this episode, on ITV3 last weekend? I found it really very disturbing. Based on a story by Elizabeth Taylor (no, the other one).

A young girl leaves her music lessons, becoming convinced that a very sinister-looking man ("Herbert") is planning on abducting her.

It was very spookily shot entirely on film, around Ely in Cambridgeshire (although I'm pretty sure that the first shot of Herbert's face has Norwich Cathedral in the background - there are no spires like that in Ely).

This is played against very-realistic footage of policemen searching for a previous missing girl (looking almost exactly like archive footage of real child murders at the time). Herbert's performance on the bus is tremendous- just the right amount of humour to get really under your skin, as he spots the girl's (Sylvia's) lies about who she is and where she's going.

I'm not sure why this film affected me quite so much. The utter hopelessness of the final few seconds, the "every parent's worst nightmare" nature of it, or the fact that it was revealed that Sylvia is an orphan, so has no one to protect her.

Anyone else see it?

[–] mikyway 18 years ago

That is indeed Norwich cathedral! ..and I do agree with you. I was also very much affected the first time I watched this episode of TOTU about (sigh) 15 years ago.. I actually think it's the most disturbing episode of the TOTU. I suggest you read the short-story by Elizabeth Taylor, a great writer (one of Roald Dahl's faves too!)for it's a masterpiece!

[–] tise_uk 18 years ago

Well said my friend,

This was the scariest of the lot as far as I am concerned,Alfred Burke played his part very well,as did the young girl & the older lady.
This portrayed the loneliness & remoteness of the "Fens" and was a perfect backdrop,it was particularly eerie where they got off the bus in the middle of nowhere.(Where was that bit filmed,does anyone know).?
I really look forward to Friday & the ITV 3 showings of the 2 TOTU which follow the hospital drama Bramwell.
We live about 1 hour away from Ely in Rushden,Northants so I am fairly well up on the locations used.
As a foot note "Anthony Higgins" lives in our town & he can be seen in the "Vorpal Blade" which is one the earlier episodes.
Enjoy the rest of the showings & I for one will be buying the boxset,it does not seem the same without the Anglia credit coming up at the end.(Granada Media does not have the same ring to it).!!

[–] Schnorbitz 18 years ago

Thanks for replying, both of you.

I am originally from the north west corner of Suffolk (nearest station is Thetford), so I have been through Ely and the Fens many times.

I do enjoy looking for the glamorous guest stars among the familiar East Anglian locations.

[–] kflhvc 18 years ago

I recently saw this episode for the first time on DVD here in the USA. And yes, the storyline and especially the ending was extremely appalling and disturbing. As a parent myself, I was shocked that this content was actually broadcasted in the UK back in 1980. Ironically, the only positive out of viewing this episode is the constant reminder for parents and children to always be 100% alert and proactive with respect to child safety.

On a related note, the only other TOTU episode that was equally disturbing was one titled "The landlady" from season one. If anyone has seen this episode, I am sure you will agree with my opinion.

[–] mikyway 18 years ago

I DO agree with you!!!!!!!!!!!! THE LANDLADY is, in my opinion, even more disturbing taht THE FLYPAPER! It's the most disturbing TOTU ever! (and probably the best). Have you read the short-story by Roald Dahl? It's brilliant!!!!!!

[–] kflhvc 18 years ago

Even till this day, whenever I think about "The Landlady" episode, I get goosebumps all over. As a matter of fact, I have seen the actual short-story in a Roald Dahl anthology book but I did not buy it. Maybe, I will put in on my Christmas shopping list this season!

[–] mikyway 18 years ago

Yes, please do! You won't regret it! Roald Dahl was a genius!.. And don't miss "The Flypaper" by Elizabeth Taylor. She was also a great writer although nobody seems to know her!

[–] ne211 18 years ago

if your intrested in reading "the flypaper" but you didnt want to pay to buy it or try and find it i found it avaible here to read
http://kidslink.bo.cnr.it/irrsaeer/fly/flytes.html

enjoy!!!!

[–] abijuv 18 years ago

the main reason is that it is so human - you hear the girl's thoughts and feelings on just ordinary things, rather than just seeing her as a face in a paper. Particularly in 1980 this was effective, as I think there was a lot of publicity about child abduction at the time.

[–] arthur-crichton 17 years ago

ITV3 is showing The Flypaper tonight at 11.20pm and repeated again at 2.20am.

I am looking forward to watching this has some people on here say its one of the most spooky episodes of Tales of the Unexpected.

Arthur

[–] rroach50 15 years ago

I just got through watching it and Alfred Burke's character, especially when he's on the bus, reminded me of real-life child murderer Arthur Goode who was executed in Florida in the '80's for child murders he committed in the '70's.

[–] martinu-2 17 years ago

if your intrested in reading "the flypaper" but you didnt want to pay to buy it or try and find it i found it avaible here to read
http://kidslink.bo.cnr.it/irrsaeer/fly/flytes.html

Interesting that the original story doesn't mention the other girls who have gone missing and who have been found dead. In the TV version, it is likely that Sylvia would have been aware of this and would have realised her fate as Herbert walked through the door. Also, the bleak desolate Fens landscape and Herbert and Mabel's poky caravan have been replaced by a suburban street (although one with derelict land on one side) in the original story.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] TrafalgarSquare 17 years ago

I found the exact location where Silvia gets of the bus to make the phone call on Google Earth. This is the address: ( 52 31 05.38"N 0 08'58.07 E ).

[–] the_crow_always 17 years ago

we read "the land lady" many years ago in school in English and had to write what happened to billy After the cliff hanger ending.. i had him escaping.. diving through a window and running up the street...

the rest of the story is him running and what goes through his head.. weather to escape, to tell the police, to kill the land lady, or would Billy Die himself.. i built the story up and had him tell the poice.. who sent a young male officer round and the land lady offered him "tea" just like she did Billy... the story ended at that point.. (so the whole tale could begin again or the copper could be her next victim).. i got an A for it :)

jas :)

[–] LeX100 18 years ago

The place where the bus stopped is Stonea, on the B1098 about 3 miles SE of March, grid ref TL456933. The combined level crossing/bridge/canal is quite distinctive. Aparrently it used to have a station as well, though I doubt it saw much custom!

[–] combatreview 18 years ago

I didn't personally recognise any of the locations but they were definitely a huge part of this episode's atmosphere - the whole tone of the thing is very disturbing.

The only thing is... I would have thought Herbert drew a bit too much attention to himself to avoid suspicion and arrest. I mean, when the girl is reported missing, how long will it be before the Bus Conductor notices and gives a description of the people on the bus to the police?

[–] martinu-2 12 years ago

The place where the bus stopped is Stonea, on the B1098 about 3 miles SE of March, grid ref TL456933.

I've just seen your posting so I've just added this location to IMDB. It should appear in a few weeks when they get round to processing locations.

[–] cudabluez 18 years ago

I saw this as a kid and I was devastated as a child. It still disturbs me to this day

[–] domoreilly 17 years ago

Me,too. I remember that when the girl is sitting with her grandmother watching the news about the dead child, the man from the bus appears in the garden and looks through the window.
When they're back at the not so good Samaritan's flat she calls the police but says, 'I'll ring the local station, not 999.' She then says that the line is busy. Clever, because an emergency line would not be busy.
Gives me shivers even now.

[–] R-W-Watkins 17 years ago

I see a lot of similarities between this episode and one of Foster's better early films.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0074806/board/edit/95054855

myspace.com/rw_watkins_ghazals_haiku

[–] tom-899-728160 12 years ago

As far as I remember she dials the wrong number does she not? well doesn't dial at all obv but it wasn't engaged.

[–] domoreilly 14 years ago

Me, too. I had nightmares about it for years.

When it came out, I was 11 and lived in London and around that time a boy my age was abducted from a Tube train on the route I took to see my best friend so it had particular resonance.

It's a brilliant piece of drama but truly chilling.

[–] farawaytree 17 years ago

This episode was on last night, and I recorded it as I was at work. Not for the first time I botched the timer and missed the end. It was well cast, but, having read the comments, I don't think I would have liked the ending.
Best regards.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] sgodrich 17 years ago

Having read the original story, I can heartily agree. The episode closely follows it and the length of it could easily make it a Comprehensive school composition for a class assignment. Brilliant in its simplicity and effective in its delivery. High praise coming from Dahl and rightly so.

[–] minifie-1 15 years ago

To the guy asking what was the point the point was the horrible and fatalistic inevitability of it since Sylvia did everything right and still copped it. Well, that's what I reckon. And to scare in a subtle way, unlike umpteen monster films. To judge by the messages on this thread it succeeded.

[–] PACman66 17 years ago

I don't have all the shows, but I got quite a few of them on the 50 Horror Classics box set... Great show! This episode (Flypaper) was in it and it was fantastic!

Trust me,
Swan

[–] CalvinJarrett 16 years ago

I thought the episode was pretty good in terms of the plot intricacies, but i was put off by the overall point of it all. What was it trying to say? That despite all of Sylvia's best efforts, despite her automatic distrust of Herbert, nothing was going to prevent the inevitable from happening. I mean she cries to her grandmother (and sole guardian) who pretty much dismisses her. She lies to Herbert about her identity on the bus and intelligently refuses to converse with him. If it wasn't for the fact that herbert cornered her in the phone booth she would never have thought to accompany the 'ggod samaritan' back to her home/trailer. I guess I kind of thought, "Well, yeah, if an extremely strange man in a black trench coat is allowed to roam around the English countryside unsuspected (amidst the disappearnace and murder of a young girl), if he's able to harass another young girl on a public bus with nobody but his accomplice accosting him, and furthermore if he's able to get off at the same stop as the girl even though he paid for the stop that comes thereafter and corner her in a public phone booth with no one but his accomplice to force him to leave, then sure, this girl has no hope." But it wasn't really due to Herbert or his accomplice's cleverness. So I'm left with thinking what was the point? Vigilance and intuition will do a young girl no good - if adults want to rape, murder or mutilate her, they will prevail? I mean, the only thing this girl did wrong was accompany the accomplice to her private home/trailer. But with no ther adults or police officers about, who can blame her? i don't think she accompanied that woman to the house becsuse she was "sweet" like the honey on the flypaper - I think she did so because she realized that herbert would not stop harassing and following her, and that this was her surest bet of getting the police involved. if she didn't accompany the woman back to that house, wouldn't Herbert have followed her home or done her in along the way? I mean what's the point if the poor girl never had a fighting chance?

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] keith-149 15 years ago

Here's a picture of the girl as she looks now.

http://www.lornayabsley.com/about/

Grown into a very beautiful woman

[–] stimpi96 15 years ago

very creepy when the woman gave sylvia a 3rd cup to put on the table but sylvia didn't twigg as to wtf was going on.

in todays news paris hilton has now made it illegal to weigh no more than 108 pounds.

[–] LiteracyLabyrinth 14 years ago

Just saw the episode on YOUTUBE!
brilliant and shocking ending!

watch it here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-M3G2aITbs

Interceptors, Immediate launch!Have UFO on positive track

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] naseby 15 years ago

It could well be the best one, schnorbitz, and let's face it, most of TotU were crap!

[–] Vidson 14 years ago

Saw this last week on Sky Arts 2 of all places. It's totally disturbing and really grim. Surely based on Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's activities.

You go inside the cage?
Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water

[–] salemslot 14 years ago

I'm slowly getting through watching all the episodes of TOTU on DVD and just came across this episode last night. I knew it was considered a classic and was really anticipating it. I have to say the episode prior to the end was incredible but I'm just curious to see if anyone else felt the same as me, I felt that the end of this episode kind of crossed the line and didn't need to be made. I'm a seasoned horror fan and have seen it all but when it comes to stuff rooted in reality involving children I think there's a line that shouldn't be crossed. I've read where the ending is open to interpretation but to me there's nothing open about it, they show the flys being lured and unable to escape which means the girl suffers the same fate.

The girl is obviously murdered and possibly even raped by the couple. A better ending would have shown her escaping the caravan and have the couple pursuing her. This way we can think that the girl is able to outrun the older couple...or maybe not, but at least we have that option to think something good happens. The fact she has a terribly sad life just compounds the misery more, I found it just a bit unacceptable. I'm surprised there wan't a bit more of an uproar involving this episode at the time. Anyway, just curious to see if anyone had the same feelings I do.

[–] Vidson 14 years ago

Absolutely have the same feelings. Although nothing was shown, the suggestion of what might happen to her is horrific, and as you say, made even worse by the sad life she has. The only thing I can think of, is that the author was trying to make a point about something. I think the author was female, if memory serves.

You go inside the cage?
Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water

[–] UGLYINTHAMORNING 14 years ago

That why the series is called the tales of the UNEXPECTED.

It has become a real sad shame when people start to complain about suggestions of what might of happen or not happen in films. instead of taking it for what it is a brillant Mystery thriller.

[–] Brooksie130470 (1) 2 years ago

It is hard hitting, but i would have liked the girl to have been a set up by the police or even better the daughter of a London underworld gangster who really loves his daughter but doesn't see a lot of her because the mother's parents have taken her in. She calls him and informs him that she feels uncomfortable about a man lurking especially with the murders of other girls in the area where she's living. As she's sitting on the bus and the perv (alfred sits opposite her talking, two men board the bus hired by her father and sit either side of Herbert to stop him escaping. His daughter gets off of the bus with the old woman and one of the gangsters follow them from a distance. Herbert is frog marched off of the bus by the other man with a knife behind his back. When the caravan door is knocked Sylvia thinks it's Herbert. Well it is Herbert but he's been stabbed and propped up by the hitmen and when she opens the door. She say's Herbert only to her horror to find he's a dead Herbert and falls onto her in the caravan. The two me walk in and say come to me Sylvia, Tony will look after you while i deal with Vera... Vera tries to scream but a cord is wrapped around her neck and the scene finishes with both Herbert and Sylvia's body being thrown in the lake with a note wrapped around the necks explaining that they have messed with a fathers daughter from the London underworld. Basically there luck ran out to who they chose as their next victim.