I love this show, despite it all but having disappeared from the world. As a 10 year old i was freaked by this, especially in Australia where it was filmed. Bits of the shows come to mind when i try hard to remember. I am looking for copies of the scripts if anyone has them. It's time someone (maybe me) had a go at bringing it back in a modern style.) If anyone has any info they want to share, then you can get in contact with me via this site. As with others, it was Anthony Quayle, and his "Goodnight....Pleasant Dreams!" and the smoke and music that got to me. The shows weren't great by todays standards, but they were good. A lot of them wouldn't get past the censors or the "do-gooder" brigade, in some cases i guess rightly so, but mores the pity. I like this show and would love to see it again.
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rvcrvc8 October 2006
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Dandeleo12 January 2023I grew up as a kid watching this show (and Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Outer Limits... Deadly Earnest). There was always something very creepy, even understated, about the episodes that haunted me much more than those other more professional shows. Yes, there was the foreign actor main star along with the sinister Anthony Quayle, but it was Australian without it being overt and had a hardness from the filming in our light that gave it a different vibe.
The stories varied from weird to downright shocking - my favourite was The Trial with Ray Walston's final comeuppance the highlight, but many other episodes remain in my memory even after all these years. The repeats were on television late at night even into the eighties and early nineties, and the time slot even added to the vibe.
I would love to see this again, dvd or Foxtel or internet - whatever. It would be not just a retro blast from the past but also worth watching for that old atmosphere and the stories, as well as the cameos from long-gone actors.
Watch it if you get a chance. -
kirsrick14 August 2006I am proud to say my father was a sound mixer on some or all of the Evil Touch series. I have always thought it to be an Aussie production as his studio was in Sydney. Being only 9 at the time, I was ecstatic to be allowed to sit up and watch every episode with my siblings, 'because Daddy made it'. We practically thought he made the whole show single-handedly!! I have so wanted to see it again. I can ask my father about production etc if anyone is still interested. I will never forget the colored smoke coming up over Anthony Quails "Vincent Price' type face and one line from an episode 'By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea, you're going to die, die, die, die'! Scary for a 9 year old!!! Loved the heart one though. Mmmmm, maybe that's why I am now a nurse! I do remember my father also being involved in an Australia production of a Columbo episode, shot in Sydney. Well, we moved out to the country at 13 so my father's sound mixing days ended then!
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mcmacs12 April 2004I too have fond memories of this show though I recall its budgetary limitations being obvious even by then-contemporary standards.
The lake monster in DEAR BELOVED MONSTER looked like a briefly-glimpsed head of cabbage. But then so did the 'revelatory' 1970s photos from the underwater camera at Loch Ness.
One interesting episode was A GAME OF HEARTS. Darren McGavin plays a heart surgeon who takes a heart from a not-quite-dead donor. He then starts getting chilling phone calls from the dead man. The final scenes have him fleeing through a deserted house with his undead tormentor in pursuit. It was shot in very NIGHT STALKERish style.... substitute the donor, with a black and bloody hole in his chest, with Barry Atwater and you're pretty much there. And the character's name? Gabor Skorzeny. The vampire's name in the NIGHT STALKER TV movie? Janos Skorzeny! Hmmmm..... well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I guess.
I would certainly endorse another look at THE EVIL TOUCH. -
TeenVamp7 April 2023I would just like fans of the obscure show to know that 22 of the episodes are on youtube right now! So watch them while you still have the chance. Yes the quality is rough but that's the only way to see them.
I would just like fans of the obscure show to know that 22 of the episodes are on youtube right now! So watch them while you still have the chance. Yes the quality is rough but that's the only way to see them.
I would just like fans of the obscure show to know that 22 of the episodes are on youtube right now! So watch them while you still have the chance. Yes the quality is rough but that's the only way to see them. -
chris-32110 June 2004How I wish to see this show again. On DVD preferably. It has been years and years but I can still remember the theme, and Anthony Quayles haunting "there is a touch of evil in all of us". And didnt he always wish us pleasant dreams?
The only complaint I had was that they were repeated over and over, but now my only complaint is that they are NOT repeated! IT'S TIME GUYS - DUST OFF THE TINS AND SHOW IT AGAIN.
I can't get that music out of my head..........
ps. then there was that parrot screaming "Murderer Murderer Murderer" It was like TwighlightZone+TalesOfTheUnexpected+NightGallery all rolled into one.
*Sigh* If only I'd had a video..... -
BruceCorneil19 July 2003As with the other contributors, I have happy memories of watching this excellent TV drama which regularly included elements of sci fi, horror and supernatural goings-on.
It was stylish entertainment and having recently seen a couple of episodes again for the first time since the 70s, I'm pleased to say that it's lost nothing over the years which speaks volumes about its original quality.
Just one small point ...I think you'll find that it was, in fact, an American production possibly made for (or by) the NBC Network (I may be wrong and I'd be more than happy to stand corrected). Certainly, it was shot in Sydney and featured local actors in support roles. As other contributors have correctly noted, however, virtually every episode starred an imported Hollywood lead actor and the largely Australian production crew worked under the supervision of American director Mende Brown. It could, and perhaps SHOULD, be more accurately described as an American /Australian co-production.
Anyway, the final product was a highly watchable example of 70s television. Unfortunately, and sadly, it sank like a stone and disappeared quickly from the small screen. Perhaps the show's sheer sophistication may have priced it out of the mass market? Perhaps it arrived on the scene a fraction of a moment too late at a time when other quality series such as "Columbo" and "The Nightstalker" had already been given a head start ?
"The Evil Touch" deserved to succeed but fate intervened. -
carpenters314 January 2003The evil touch was a good tv show,corny,but good. I was once an extra in one of the episodes with Carol Lynley and Sandy Harbutt.It would be great to see it back on tv again.foxtell would be a way to see it.is there anybody else who would like to see it.Email foxtell and request it.
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uds315 December 2002Galls me to agree with my expatriot Aussie-Stud cohort on Rhode Island but he is spot on here...THE EVIL TOUCH was classic retro-70's. With weekly US imports such as NIGHT STALKER's Darren Mcgavin, and POSEIDON ADVENTURE/FORBIDDEN PLANET'S Leslie Nielsen (a generation ahead of THE NAKED GUN series) the show offered the late late viewer tales of mystery and imagination to compare with the best of US spook TV at the time.
Hosted by tewwibly bwitish Anthony Quayle this series rocked..albeit for scarcely a season till unimpressive ratings condemned it to a fate worse than re-runs!
If you have the opportunity to catch any of these shows I suggest you take it! -
derek_ellsworth5 September 2006Man, this show gave me the creeps when I was a kid but it's been over 30 years since seeing it and it's hard to remember now.
I was a huge fan of 'Night Stalker', 'Night Gallery', 'Dark Shadows' and 'Ghost Story' as well a made for TV movie at that time called 'Don't Be Afriad of the Dark'. 'Night Stalker' is getting on DVD now and I even got a DVD copy of the made for TV movie. Don't know if 'Ghost Story' is on DVD anywhere.
I seem to remember an episode where there were this guy driving on a lonely highway that kept seeing these three zombies that would appear out of nowhere, on the road, or if he stopped for gas. Does anyone remember this episode and more of what it was about? The premise to the story?
Also, anyone hear anything about getting the episodes on even VHS? I'll take what I can get!
D-rock Austin, TX -
This series debuted in the USA on channel 4 NBC in 1973 on Sunday nights. It was an odd programming choice indeed; an imported "thriller" series in prime time--and a half hour one at that. The episode that remains the most horrifying the the Ray Walston "freaks" episode! I was a huge fan of "Night Gallery" at the time so this series eluded me for decades up until last month when I purchased a "bootleg" DVDR set of what seems to be the entire series. Not too many of the episodes were as scary as I remembered, however the low budget and overall "tone" of the series is creepy. The best episode that I did NOT remember is the one with Mildred Dunnock as a rich old lady who's nephew was trying to do her in to get her riches. The plot was incredibly far fetched --however there was a DOUBLE shock ending to the story and it was pretty original ( a psycho-killer was lurking about and it seemed like the nephew was trying to put her in harm's way and have the killer take care of her). Most of the episodes seem rushed and sloppy, but they did always try to give a shock ending when they could. The other episode that was above average was one with Darren McGavin as a heart specialist who's dead patient was out for revenge. Overall, it was one of those series that time has not been kind to, but, I treasure it for scaring me as a 10 year old in 1973!!
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Aussie Stud17 August 2001Not too many people remember this show. It was obviously canceled after one season for reasons unknown. Perhaps no one was watching the show, or perhaps all of America preferred to watch redundant Top-10-Ratings pap such as "ADAM'S RIB", "THE HELEN REDDY SHOW" or "KOJAK".
Whatever the case may be, this show definitely set the format for half hour shows that present stories with "the evil touch". This was an Australian production with British actor Anthony Quayle hosting the show. The opening titles are timeless in their own right. Smoke wafts over the white letters that read "THE EVIL TOUCH" against a dark green background while the sound track provides a soft melody of bongos and pan flutes. This show is SO 70's, it's awesome!
Some of the episodes would feature guest actors. I remember one episode featuring Carol Lynley and Leslie Nielson. Another episode featured Darren McGavin. The premise was very similar to shows of today's standards such as NIGHT VISIONS and TALES FROM THE CRYPT. It used the format of a story told in 30 minutes that had some unusual twist to it, usually resulting in either death or supernatural circumstances.
Surprisingly, not too many television shows from the land Down Under have made it successfully abroad in the U.S. A few shows that have received cult following would be "PRISONER" and "SKIPPY". It's too bad that retro TV stations like TV-Land don't re-run this for old time's sake instead of repeating the same HOGAN'S HEROES episodes over and over.
If anyone sees this show on their TV Guide - please let me know!