User Reviews

Hardy is a Sailor down on his luck, kicked off his ship for clashing with an Officer he is desperate for money. Full of pride he sees his only means of getting money as to mug someone, seemingly out of character. He arms with a blade, picks his victim and sets about mugging him, he takes it too far and ends up killing his victim. Not just a mugger, he's now guilty of a killing too, his only support, Diane, a local Prostitute. He's in search of a man called 'Sam Madrid, The Man at the Top' believing him to be the key to his escaping murder, he sets off.

Two very enjoyable performances, Peter Firth is very good, Rachel Davies is excellent too.

The first time in an episode I've found the music to be invasive, it's hugely eighties, loud, over the top, it's rather irritating.

It's a bleak, grim episode, it's very typical of the Eighties, they captured the feel of that Decade very well. It's clever, kind of in the same way that a dog chases its own tail.

6/10

Sometimes the 'unexpected' is rather expected, as in this case of a down on his luck deck hand (Peter Firth) trying to snag a job after his own ship leaves port. Resorting to mugging and inadvertently killing a man in an alley who looks like he could have a few bucks, Hardy now finds himself needing help to high tail it out of town before the law closes in. Having consulted with some unreliable acquaintances, Hardy is directed to a man called Sam Madrid, 'The Man at the Top' referred to in the title of the story, as someone who can help him with the connections he needs to make it back to the sea and safety. The look on Hardy's face when he finds out who his victim in the alley was is rather priceless, seeing as now he's not hit rock bottom.

Tales of the Unexpected: The Man at the Top is set in London where a down on his luck deck hand named Hardy (Peter Firth) has been stranded after his ship sailed without him, totally broke & unable to find any work he decides to rob a man (Dallas Cavell) but things don't go as he'd hoped & the man fights back & in a struggle Hardy stabs & kills him. Seeking help from his prostitute friend Diane (Rachel Davies) she suggests he talk to a gangland boss named Sam Madrid who may give him a job & a way out of the country, after eventually discovering where Madrid lives Hardy is shocked to discover who he is or rather was...

Episode 16 from season 2 this Tales of the Unexpected story was originally aired here in the UK during June 1980 & was the final episode from the show's second season, the third of three Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Claude Whatham I have to say I didn't think The Man at the Top was particularly good. The story by Edward D. Hoch was dramatised by Denis Cannan & the main problem I have with The Man at the Top is that it's so predictable, as soon as Hardy starts to look for the man who might be able to get him out of the country I just knew that it was going to turn out to be the man he killed, it was just so obvious all the way through & I sat there expecting it to happen rather than wondering if it would & when it did I was throughly unsurprised. The entire thing is basically build up to the ending but since it's so predictable the build up means nothing & becomes rather tedious, maybe it was just me I don't know but I honestly can't see many people not guessing how this will turn out it's that obvious.

During his filmed introduction Roald Dahl doesn't say anything specific about this story & one would imagine he wasn't that impressed with it. I will say it looks quite cinematic as it's shot entirely on grainy 16mm film & on location so it has a gritty realistic look to it. Most Tales of the Unexpected have a well known guest star & in this case it's the Oscar nominated Peter Firth.

The Man at the Top (a title which doesn't make a whole lot of sense) is a poor Tales of the Unexpected, it looks nice enough but it's just so god damned obvious & predictable, embarrassingly so in fact.