Tunnel Under the World

Episode aired Dec 1, 1966
50m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

YOUR RATING

Timothy Bateson and Ronald Hines in Out of the Unknown (1965)

Drama Horror Sci-Fi

Déja vu: as Guy Birkett goes through the day he has a nagging feeling that he's been here before, experienced this already; except the details are always different. Is it conceivable that he... Read allDéja vu: as Guy Birkett goes through the day he has a nagging feeling that he's been here before, experienced this already; except the details are always different. Is it conceivable that he is merely a simulacrum, the ultimate in consumer market surveying? He finds there is a re... Read allDéja vu: as Guy Birkett goes through the day he has a nagging feeling that he's been here before, experienced this already; except the details are always different. Is it conceivable that he is merely a simulacrum, the ultimate in consumer market surveying? He finds there is a reality behind the reality he knows; but for a pawn to question the reality of the chessboar... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

YOUR RATING

3User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The episode is based on the short story "The Tunnel under the World" by American writer Frederik Pohl.

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

8/10

Clever satire of advertising and marketing research

Guy Birkett (Ronald Hines) and his wife (Petra Davies) awaken every morning from a terrible dream only to live another near identical day surrounded by invasive and obnoxious advertising; meanwhile, a strange man (Timothy Bateson) desperately tries to contact Guy only to be told to come back tomorrow, an option he maintains is impossible. Based on a story by Frederick Pohl, this amusing episode of the old anthology is quite well done considering the series' limited recourses. Hines is quite good in the classic sci-fi role of a character who is slowly discovering the unreality of his world and the 'twist' ending is clever and satisfying. Definitely one of the better episodes to survive the BBC's regrettable short-sightedness in deciding to dispose of much of the high-quality science fiction it produced in the 1960s, presumably to save a few quid by recycling the tapes.