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Tales of the Unexpected - A Time To Die (1988)

posted 13 years ago by gordonmckenna
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My wife and I have just watched this (penultimate)episode of the final series. Very good little story with the usual neat twist - sting in the tale ending. David Suchet very good and Nina Van Pallenburg (of Nina and Frederik fame) a credible performance. But, very surprised and delighted to see the beautiful and talented Miss Sarah-Jane Varley appearing as David Suchet's secretary, Lucie.

She must have recorded this between series 3and 4 of Howards' Way. Sadly, Miss Varley's role as 'Lucie' was no more than a few minutes out of a 30 min. episode. Her role was very similar to that of 'Sarah Foster' in Howards' Way - cool, intelligent and beautiful. But, why oh why she did not get more to do in this episode is still unclear. She lights up the screen with her presence and I, personally, am a big fan of this Lady. Quite simply, She is breath-takingly gorgeous and an accomplished actress. Unfortunately, She seems to have foresaken the world of acting and that, in itself, is a complete mystery !!

Miss Varley,if you are out there somewhere, please get your agent to get you back on our screens ( TV or Film) as you are sadly missed. There are many quality dramas currently on TV that would greatly benefit from your acting in them. Thank goodness for the TV archives and these 'old' shows.
My apologies for this eulogy but, Sarah-Jane, it is truly well deserved. ( What's wrong with a bit of fan admiration?
GMC

[–] sgodrich 13 years ago

Nothing wrong with a bit of fan admiration :) I guess the part didn't warrant much more. Maybe if the series went on a little longer, she may have come back in a future episode.

http://www.tv-time-machine.com/

Tales Of The Unexpected, UFO, Blake's 7, Sapphire & Steel

[–] gordonmckenna 13 years ago

Many thanks for your comments - they are greatly appreciated. Yes, you are right and very probably that was the case with this episode.

While there were then , and always will be, glamourous stars who captured the public's attention, in my view, Miss Varley has that rare combination of breath-taking - dare I say - smouldering beauty, a disarming screen presence and a relaxed confident acting style. She never looked better than in this particular episode of ' Tales of the Unexpected ' and her extended role in Howards' Way was the perfect showcase for her beauty and acting talent. I would strongly recommend you watch HW (Series 3 and 4) to see Miss Varley,and hopefully youu will agree.

Sadly, Miss Varley never seemed to receive the praise for her contribution to these productions which she so richly deserved. It is possible that she may simply have become disillusioned with the acting profession because of the lack of more demanding roles. However, that is pure speculation on my part. I simply believe that it is a great pity the acting profession has "lost " such a unique and luminescent actress. I'd like to think that perhaps, some day in the not-too- distant future we may see Miss Varley return to our screens. Meantime, we have to rely on the archives to remind us just how talented an actress she was ( I hate writing in the past tense ). Please feel free to provide feedback. Thanks. ( I wonder if Miss Varley is ever tempted to view these IMDB pages - perhaps she does! She is, quite simply, superb).