Doomsday

Set in 17th century Scotland, this episode begins with a distraught Earl Of Donamoor(played by Torin Thatcher) pleading with his court doctor to save the life of his dying eldest son, threatening his own life if his son dies. Instead, the son's lover is accused of witchcraft, and sentenced to death, proclaiming her innocence, though still issuing a curse upon the Earl that all his descendant's eldest sons will predecease their fathers - a prophecy that eight generations later has indeed held true, as the modern eldest son fears... Ironic tale of fate vs. self-fulfilling prophecy is morally ambiguous, though the final twist is most effective.

This witch tale would have been terrific in another series, but certainly not this one, I don't know exactly why. The plot is ok, but I expected something different to be totally in line of this series policy. Not a bad tale, very tense, but, I repeat, something is wrong, or is missing. That's annoying, because I would like to explain my feeling for this story. It is also difficult to feel any empathy for the characters who seem to be so far from us. The ending is good but too obvious or too "easy" for this series in which we are used to have twists.... But, you can watch it if you can. It is still riveting, no matter my own taste.

Like the rest of the stories on "One Step Beyond", this one claims that the supernatural stuff that occurs in the show is 100%. Yeah...sure. However, the story is reasonably interesting though a tad predictable.

The show starts hundreds of years ago. I rich Lord's son is dying and he vows to kill the Doctor if the young man dies. The Doc does what any responsible doctor would do after bleeding the guy repeatedly--claim he's not at fault and say that a local woman bewitched the son! So, they did what any responsible rich Lord would do--they have a quickie trial and then execute the lady! As she was about to be taken away to her death, she curses the family--saying that the eldest son will ALWAYS precede the father in death (what an oddly specific curse--I would have thought toads in their underwear or horns growing out of their heads would have sufficed).

Centuries have passed. And, like the woman's curse said, eight generations of first-born men have died before their fathers. Now, the soon to be number nine is about to jump out of his skin! Why? Because dad is dying--and that means he must die first...and quite soon. What's next? See the show.

The biggest problem I had with the show was having the same actor (Donald Harron) playing the original father AND the father in the present day. Genetics do NOT work that way---even if you marry successive generations of your own sisters! What a dumb cliché--and it tended to cheapen the show. Plus, the ending was pretty easy to predict.

The harsh Earl of Culdane has called a Doctor in to attend to his dying son Jamie, The Earl refuses to accept The Doctor's words that Jamie is dying. Jamie breaks from his delirium to call out a woman's name. A woman who was banished.

Definitely not my favourite, but better than some of the more critical reviews would suggest, comparing it to what went before, it's just a bit raw.

It's the first time the show has dabbled with a bit of witchcraft, and it works, it's quite a good storyline, and I did actually like the way that it jumped forward a couple of years, it was a nice twist.

What did detract for me, unusually was some of the acting, it wasn't as sharp as usual, at times some of the cat were guilty of overdoing it a bit, more than once we had a touch of the hysterics.

I am a big fan of Torin Thatcher, what a wonderful character actor, he's big and brash, a real presence, someone I always associate as a villain, he stood out here, for the right reasons.

6/10.

In medieval Scotland, "Earl of Culdane" Torin Thatcher blames the death of handsome son Donald Harron (as Jamie) on his affair with sexy Pat Michon (as Catherine). The villagers claim the shapely dancer is a witch, so Mr. Thatcher orders her to be burned at the stake. Before she is taken to the wood, Ms. Michon shouts out a curse on Thatcher's family, "Your the first born son died before his father, so will it be in every generation! I curse you! I curse you! I curse you!"

Flash-forwarding to the 1950s, Mr. Harron (now playing descendant William) frantically waits while his father lays in a death bed. Although he appears hale and hearty, Harron is convinced he will somehow die before his ailing father, extending the family curse to another generation. Wife Fintan Meyler (as Harriet) thinks otherwise... "Doomsday" could only be more predictable if you played it backwards. But the cast is entertaining, especially the dependable Thatcher.

**** Doomsday (10/13/59) John Newland ~ Donald Harron, Torin Thatcher, Edward Atienza, Fintan Meyler