Network, which released the DVD Orson Welles Great Mysteries Volume 1 in the United Kingdom last year, will release the second and final volume on October 26. The only real criticism I have is the condition of some of the episodes – occasionally the picture strobes, rolls and there’s some picture interference – but that’s no doubt due to the condition of the master recordings. All in all, with the nights drawing in, Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a great way to spend half an hour curled up on the sofa enjoying some razor-sharp storytelling and top notch 1970s TV acting. It’s also a chance to see where Anglia Television’s other anthology series Tales of the Unexpected (1979-1988) developed from. The Leather Funnel (based on a story by Conan Doyle) is one of the better episodes. The funnel in question is very old, a kind of bizarre family heirloom. It has an interesting if terrible history, as young Stephen Barrow is about to find out. Stephen n is about to marry the beautiful Veronique d’Aubray (Jane Seymour) but before that happens her uncle (plated by Christopher Lee) is determined that the young man should know the secret of the funnel. This episode has both a contemporary and an historical setting and it has a nicely ambiguous plot. Good stuff. Orson Welles was fronting a series for Anglia called The Great Mysteries - a forerunner to Anglia's Tales of the Unexpected. After the wife of a famous artist is stabbed to death, the police investigate four people connected to the case and present in the building when the murder happened - the artist himself, his gallery manager, his old friend and fellow artist, and the latter's wife. From their recollection emerges the image of a shrewd and manipulative woman, who ingrained herself into the artist's life, destroyed his previous marriage and drove the wife to suicide, and then completely took over his life and financial situation, alienating him from his friends. It seems everyone had a reason to kill her, but perhaps, it wasn't any of them who held the knife...

The Inspiration of Mr. Budd starring Hugh Griffith; story by Dorothy L. Sayers; directed by Peter Sasdy The series received critical acclaim both on American TV, where it debuted and at home in Britain when it was eventually aired there. Episodes We thought it was like Christ entering the gates of Jerusalem. But Orson didn't like the idea of working for a regional TV company because he was such a great man." Steve Peart, Retired Anglia Television film editorA british millionaire's spoiled little girl loses her ragdoll, and buying her new dolls does not make her happy, so the parents put out an ad for a 25Ł return award money for the doll. Having been buried by the family dog, the doll is found by a drunken tramp, who takes it with him to a pub, pretending it is a high class lady, to the amusement of the audience. Two lowlifes frequenting the pub realize the doll is worth money, and force the tramp at knifepoint to return it, planning to take the money from him later. But, his uncanny knowledge of the paintings in the house impresses the lady of the house enough that she has him driven home by car, so he avoids the robbers.

An Affair of Honour starring Harry Andrews, Michael Gambon and Jeremy Clyde; script by Carey Harrison; story by F. Britten Austin; directed by Alan Bromly This was time when British television was starting to up the ante as far as violence was concerned, and to a lesser extent becoming a bit more daring in regard to sexual content. Orson Welles Great Mysteries is however very subdued in its treatment of such matters. The violence is mostly offscreen. The general approach is low-key. Compared to Brian Clemens’ Thriller anthology series, which began to air at around the same time, it seems rather genteel. This is however part of its charm. It’s content to be subtle and to rely on suggestion.

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However, the show didn’t really need Welles at all. The episodes – which, once his segments are taken out last maybe 20 minutes each – stand up in their own right. A Spanish officer, captured by the French during the Peninsular War, is imprisoned near the country house of an elderly aristocrat with a bored young wife - whose lover he becomes, with deadly consequences. (Based on a story by Honoré de Balzac The Leather Funnel starring Christopher Lee, Simon Ward and Jane Seymour; story by Arthur Conan Doyle Anglia TV’s Great Mysteries series, which ran from 1973 to 1974, was ideal for him. Its makers wanted to use his name to bring in viewers, while he could give it minimal attention – he probably shot all his introductions and epilogues in a day. It also appears he didn’t bother to learn them off by heart either – he’s obviously reading from cue cards. At the end of the semester, college professor Richard Lumsden is getting ready for vacation - and retirement. However he is interrupted by an angry parent of a student, blaming him for his son's suicide after he was expelled for stealing. The man makes it clear he wants to murder Lumsden and frame his death as a suicide, and the professor engages his to-be-murderer in a battle of wits to convince him he cannot make it look believable for the police... (Based on a story by Maisie Sharman

Like the previously issued 10-episode German DVD set from Pidax Film Media,, the UK release is encoded in the PAL, Region 2 format, which means it is not compatible with most North American players. (There has been no word of a U.S. release.)

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The Ingenious Reporter starring Geoffrey Bayldon, Ronald Radd and David Birney; script by Carey Harrison The Power of Fear starring Shirley Knight and Don Murray; script by N.J. Crisp; story by Lawrence Treat

There’s quite an array of acting talent on view in this series including quite a few who were already major stars (such as Susannah York and Bond girl Jane Seymour). And there are plenty of cult movie stars, like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. And some good directors, like Peter Sasdy.His visit to Norwich was very, very brief. The show was all footage that had been filmed elsewhere which we bought and just filmed Orson’s parts to introduce them.