Old-School TV: One Step Beyond- 'Doomsday'

After a short break from these, I'm back.  Technical issues with the Discs are a problem, but I found a good one nonetheless...

This is one of the few I've seen with a Title Card, so I'm adding it...

Our Host explains to us that this Castle is tied to two things- beauty and a curse.  Are either real?

A rich man's eldest son dies and it is blamed on a Romani Girl.  She is sentenced to death for her 'crime' and curses the man's family.

On the plus side, she doesn't come back as a brain-eating monster!

In the present (of 1951), an ancestor (played by the same guy) is dying in the Castle.  How can this get worse?

Well, his eldest Son is freaking out- since the curse says that the eldest Son will die before the father.

He keeps freaking out so much that his Wife and Doctor trick him by saying that his Dad died.  They go to prepare his sedative (which isn't just a pill?)...

...but don't realize that he wants to say his good-byes.  He says his peace and walks away, only for the not-dead Father to stir.

He takes this well.

...and falls out the window to his death.

The moral: curses are real and don't lie to people!

A simple tale with a twist that even Helen Keller saw coming.  The set-up here is pretty good: rich guy plays Romani Girl (I won't say what they actually call her) for death and curse is made.  We skip past generations of deaths, some of which can be blamed on a curse, while some must be a coincidence.  Yes, he calls out what the odds of this being a coincidence are- touché.  The Acting here is actually quite good, with the main guy- the Son fearing his death- playing his part with the right amount of gravitas and fear.  He 'knows' that his death is coming shortly.  To be fair, he's proven right, but only through an elaborate bit of circumstances.  Why not watch him the whole time until you knock him out?  Why not at least lock the door to the Dad's Room?  It's a classic example of 'create the situation by trying to avoid it.'  Unlike other ones, he doesn't try to tell us that this really happened- which is odd.  He's usually more overt, even trying to back it up with Books and such.  While the twist is obvious, the whole thing is played out well, making this one of the less cheesy and/or melodramatic Episodes (mostly).  My copy also ends with a general pitch for the Show, rather than an Episode Teaser.  Odd.

Next time, more old-school suspense and morality.  Will I ever believe in any of this?  See you then...