As the two prolific reviewers of individual episodes have mentioned, these tales are hugely variable. Some are excellent, the majority so-so, a few quite abysmal. I also counted ten, mostly early ones, which are re-makes of stories that appeared a couple of decades earlier in Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
It's a minority view but I don't think the most highly rated episode The Flypaper is all that brilliant. It has a shocking twist, but a middle aged man, either sinister or merely foolish, trying to chat up a barely teenaged girl hardly makes for scintillating dialogue. For my money the best one is the currently rated number 2, A Harmless Vanity. It starts slowly but the tension builds steadily towards the shattering denouement. Another attraction is that, with all due respect to Joan Collins, I'd give an award for most glamorous turn to Sheila Gish as a wronged wife.
One other I'd rate a 10 is The Stinker, great performances from Denholm Elliott and Joss Ackland. Then, a good 9, Clerical Error, with two very unlikely looking criminals. Others which I'd rate 8: Neck, Fat Chance, Taste, Vengeance is Mine, I'll be Seeing You, The Eavesdropper, Death Can Add, and Accidental Death. Two episodes, Stranger in Town and The Facts of Life, I liked because they are set in my favourite, beautiful city of Norwich.
There is also keen competition for worst episode. Sometimes something appears to be poorly rated partly because the main character is obnoxious, outrageous or absurd, although well delineated and the dialogue has some merit. I feel Have a Nice Death, with Simon Cadell as an outspoken misogynist author, comes into this category. It's not great but doesn't deserve to be, at the time of writing, the second worst rated. Currently more highly rated but considerably worse are A Glowing Future, Run Rabbit Run, Sauce for the Goose, The Open Window, and Scrimshaw. In my view the pre-eminent abysmal episode is The Best Policy, about a put upon bank clerk, physically unappealing and with the most horrible high pitched whining voice. Half an hour of housework would be more rewarding.
It's a minority view but I don't think the most highly rated episode The Flypaper is all that brilliant. It has a shocking twist, but a middle aged man, either sinister or merely foolish, trying to chat up a barely teenaged girl hardly makes for scintillating dialogue. For my money the best one is the currently rated number 2, A Harmless Vanity. It starts slowly but the tension builds steadily towards the shattering denouement. Another attraction is that, with all due respect to Joan Collins, I'd give an award for most glamorous turn to Sheila Gish as a wronged wife.
One other I'd rate a 10 is The Stinker, great performances from Denholm Elliott and Joss Ackland. Then, a good 9, Clerical Error, with two very unlikely looking criminals. Others which I'd rate 8: Neck, Fat Chance, Taste, Vengeance is Mine, I'll be Seeing You, The Eavesdropper, Death Can Add, and Accidental Death. Two episodes, Stranger in Town and The Facts of Life, I liked because they are set in my favourite, beautiful city of Norwich.
There is also keen competition for worst episode. Sometimes something appears to be poorly rated partly because the main character is obnoxious, outrageous or absurd, although well delineated and the dialogue has some merit. I feel Have a Nice Death, with Simon Cadell as an outspoken misogynist author, comes into this category. It's not great but doesn't deserve to be, at the time of writing, the second worst rated. Currently more highly rated but considerably worse are A Glowing Future, Run Rabbit Run, Sauce for the Goose, The Open Window, and Scrimshaw. In my view the pre-eminent abysmal episode is The Best Policy, about a put upon bank clerk, physically unappealing and with the most horrible high pitched whining voice. Half an hour of housework would be more rewarding.