Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) The Way Up to Heaven (1979) User Reviews

"What's wrong with combs may I ask?" Decent tale of the unexpected.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 7 July 2007]

Tales of the Unexpected: The Way Up to Heaven starts as Alice Foster (Julie Harris) is due to catch a plane at Heathrow, a plane to New York so she can see her grandchild for the first time. Her husband (Roland Culver) is deliberately taking his time, stretching out every last thing he has to do because he knows his wife has an irrational fear of being late so much to the extent she becomes nervous & has muscle twitches. They get to Heathrow but the plane is cancelled because of fog but Alice is told she can catch the next flight the following morning, she goes back home to spend the night with her husband. The next morning & he's at it again, delaying & taking his time but when bad luck befalls him Alice decides to take her time...

Episode 9 from season 1 this Tales of the Unexpected story originally aired here in the UK during May 1979 & was the last story from the first season, the first of two Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Simon Langton this is quite a neat little tale that isn't the best from season 1 but is watchable in it's own right. The story by Roald Dahl had already been adapted for another anthology series Suspicion: The Way Up to Heaven (1958) before Ronald Harwood dramatised it for this show, the thing that stands out with these Tales of the Unexpected episodes based on stories by Dahl is the quaint, dark & fun situations & character's in them along with the obligatory twist at the end. In this one during his introduction Dahl speaks about how he always seems to have one person doing something horrible to another & that basic concept is what The Way Up to Heaven is about I suppose, at only 25 minutes it moves along at a nice pace has good character's, a neat story & a cool twist ending.

This one hasn't dated too badly & looks alright although that set which is meant to be the inside of Heathrow airport doesn't convince. This isn't scary, it's not exciting & it doesn't really have any tension either but as a stand alone story with a twist it's an entertaining way to pass 25 minutes.

The Way Up to heaven is a decent Tales of the Unexpected episode when the show knew how to make a tale with an unexpected twist, a must if you like the show & I'm sure many casual viewers would enjoy this too.

The Way Up to Heaven

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 14 May 2020]

I can get worked up when I have to travel to the airport for a holiday.

The bags are packed, you have checked that you have the passports again, make sure everything is locked and you are still waiting for others to get ready.

Mrs Foster has had a lifelong aversion for being late, it gives her a nervous twitch. Her husband seems to relish taking his time in moments like these.

They are a wealthy couple living in a mansion with a lift and staff who are all due to have an extended break, as Mrs Foster is due to go to America for a vacation to see her family. Unfortunately her husband seems to be even more tardy for the trip to the airport. When the flight is cancelled due to bad weather, Mr Foster insists his wife returns home and not spend a night at the airport hotel.

The next morning her husband is up to his old tricks again as Mrs Foster frets. However an opportunity arises for her to leave him waiting.

It is simple tale with a deliriously evil twist. I was left wondering if Mr Foster did not meant to travel with his wife to America. Why did he need to go to the airport with her?

Blackly comic episode

[gee-15 · 7/10 · 3 December 2022]

Julie Harris plays Mrs. Foster, a woman terrified of being late, married to a man who subtly but sadistically exploits this fear. It is uncomfortably comical to watch Mr. Foster(played grimly by Roland Culver) twist the psychological knife in his wife. Julie Harris' frenzied reactions regarding an airplane trip to New York are also funny in a black sort of way. Of course, Mr Foster will receive his comeuppance eventually. And how Mrs. Foster finally avenges herself for years of passive aggressive torment is ironic and satisfying. This is a highly enjoyable episode that stands up to repeat viewing.

Season 1 classic

[safenoe · 7/10 · 7 November 2016]

Roald Dahl's introductions to Tales of the Unexpected are worth the price of admission alone, seeing him resting in his armchair by his fireplace. I'm not sure if it was filmed in a studio, but the setting was very convincing.

It's a shame the Dahl introductions didn't continue for every episode.

The way up to heaven is from season 1 of Tales of the Unexpected, and pretty much ushered in the election of Thatcher as PM in 1979. And you can see from this episode that the couple are incredibly wealthy, living in a large mansion, servants at their beck and call, chauffeur, first class air travel to New York. Core blimey - Downtown Abbey and Upstairs and Downstairs! It's definitely the London set, not folk from the CA postcode in Carlisle.

Here the husband sadistically keeps his wife waiting for important appointments, and we get a glimpse of Heathrow Airport. Air travel then was quite expensive as this was pre-budget air travel with cute logos if you know what I mean.

There's a lift in the mansion and it forms the focus of the story and the tragic end. Anyway, when I saw the lift I immediately thought of the lift scene in Total Recall (the original) where Michael Ironside's character's arms get ripped off and Arnie says deadpan, "I'll see you at the party!"

"Do sit back dear, you make me nervous."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 17 August 2021]

Well now, that ending WAS a bit unexpected, wasn't it? I have to tell you, that Mr. Foster (Roland Culver) was an infuriating old devil, wasn't he? Could the guy move any slower to agitate his wife (Julie Harris), deathly afraid of being late for anything since childhood, much less an airplane flight to New York to see their daughter's family? If I were Mrs. Foster, I would have left the old bird behind too, but I had to wonder about something. While back in the mansion looking for that gift that was left behind in the limousine the whole time, Mrs. Foster at the door heard him calling out for Alice. Mrs. Foster's name was never mentioned in the story earlier, so was that her name, or the name of some woman the old geezer was inadvertently calling out to, to set him free of the lift. Doesn't matter actually, and I don't think Mrs. Foster harbored any malice toward her husband when she dashed off with the driver to the airport. Only thing is, the odor of a six week old corpse should have been more than evident upon entering the house.

Arguably the finest entry of Series one.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 9 February 2016]

Mrs Foster is of a nervous disposition, a woman that has a fear of being late, a phobia of missing a train or bus. She's set to travel to the States to visit her daughter, but her heartless husband holds her up, her first flight is delayed, so she returns home, with a flight the next day. He once again holds her up, this time she gets in the car and leaves him behind, to his fate.

If ever there was a piece of television that got me worked up, got the blood pressure going, it's this one, I am one of life's worriers when it comes to being late, and I share poor Mrs Foster's predicament. One person doing something nasty to another, and in return the other doing something even more cruel.

Ronald Culver is so well cast, he's just great, so cruel and mean, Julie Harris is brilliant too, she plays the nervous and stressed Mrs Foster so well.

I love The way up to Heaven, it's a brilliant episode, 10/10