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Tales of the Unexpected: Royal Jelly is set on beekeeper Albert Taylor's (Timothy West) farm where he has 84 bee hives, he lives there with his wife Mable (Susan George) & their baby daughter Victoria. However all is not well as baby Victoria is seriously underweight & refuses to either drink or eat properly, Mable is beside herself with worry. Albert the bee loving cabbage realises that he may have the answer right under his nose & when bees want to fatten their larvae up they feed them royal jelly & what's good enough for the common bee & their young is good enough for Albert & his...

This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 1 from season 2 that aired here in the UK during March 1980, directed by Herbert Wise this is quite a twisted little tale with a sting (sorry) at the end! The script by Robin Chapman was based on a story by Roald Dahl who explains it's origins in the stories introduction, he says he came up with the idea for a story about royal jelly after seeing a jar of the stuff in a New York shop window in 1959 & that after he had written the story Dick Van Dyke sent him some of it! Fact is indeed sometimes stranger than fiction... Anyway this one has a good central idea & I particularly liked the twist ending although since it was made for British TV it's done in the least graphic way possible, but the cop-out freeze frame works quite well. This only has two character's in it & to be honest the writing isn't the best as they never convinced as a couple & the dialogue is stiff & unnatural but the script serves it's purpose with a focused build up to a slightly perverse ending, oh & it's good fast paced fun too at only 25 minutes in length.

A lot of British TV is pretty low budget & this was on before my time really so I don't know how popular it was although having said that it ran for 9 seasons. The budget was probably still low & it sort of shows with creaky sets & basic production values, they have dated quite badly too with some horrendous fashions & decor I mean just check that TV set out! The acting wasn't great here, George is all hysterics although the buzzing sound Albert kept making seemed annoying & insignificant at first it actually turns out to be pretty creepy when the twist is revealed.

Royal Jelly as a one off horror themed TV episode is pretty damned good & well worth a watch if you can find yourself a copy, which probably isn't easy but life is full of challenges isn't it?

Here's one where you can pretty much figure out the ending, given the premise of royal jelly as a significant nutrient for a queen bee. When apiculturist Albert Taylor (Timothy West) reacts to his wife's (Susan George) concern that their infant daughter isn't gaining weight, the idea strikes him that maybe royal jelly is the answer. There is a continuity issue in the story though, in as much as Albert states he was inspired by seeing himself on TV making that observation, but later in the story tells wife Mabel that he converted dozens of his hives to producing royal jelly 'last summer'.

Notwithstanding that little glitch, the story takes on a humorous tone, one might say buzz, when Albert admits his own consumption of 'gallons of the stuff' while spiking little Vicky's baby bottle with the unusual growth hormone. He develops fuzzies on his chest and arms, and even though we don't get a glimpse of the growing baby, the buzzing sound effects and odd flashing image of a bee hovering over the baby blanket suggests a little queen in the making. That at least seemed more credible than imagining how Albert and Mabel hooked up together as a married couple.

This tale was all too easy to write and became another 'Tales of the 'Expected'' as far as I'm concerned, and for me, it's especially spoilt by the fact that Roald Dahl's intro infers it happened to him - crap!

A somewhat 'famous' bee-keeper, 'Albert' played by Timothy West (He's appeared on TV for bee-keeping, apparently for some time - can't think who'd be able to spin the subject out, like gardening, say!) and his wife, 'Mabel' played by the welcome presence of Susan George, have a young baby girl, Victoria, who cries a lot. Mabel is beside herself with worry, especially also as Victoria doesn't seem to put on any weight. Albert reminds her doctors have said she's okay and for her not to worry, but Mabel really can't take it in. Albert, whilst rolling in his latest TV appearance, hears himself explaining to a bee-keeping 'presenter' - type (Andrew Ray) that 'Royal Jelly' is fed to bee-larvae, which happens to include all the goodness of putting weight on. Naturally - weight - underweight child - BINGO! He's suddenly talked himself into how to improve his OWN baby's predicament. He looks after Victoria for Mabel, leaving her to rest. Mabel's suitably happy and impressed with Victoria's new healthy look, and not crying anymore until Albert spills the beans it's all down to the royal jelly he's fed the tot. Mabel freaks out and thinks he's a weirdo and insists he's not to do it again and to keep away from Victoria. At this point, Albert goes to console her and starts strangely making 'buzzing' noises himself and we're shown some (stick on) fur added under his shirt sleeves to deduce not only does he dose Victoria's milk but has been adding some to his own batch of Pot Noodle, in order to be like 'The Fly' - sorry - 'The Bee'.

It ends here, where we see the baby's eyes horrifyingly light up. I watched this on Sky Arts on UK Satellite TV (Yes, really, Sky 'Arts'!) yet I think they may have cut it - not sure - but I do remember when I'd seen it before, I think, that Timothy West's eyes light up like this also.

This was pretty awful to be honest. As I've said, alarmingly, Roald Dahl states that he won't tell us what happened to 'him' when he took some royal jelly, as it would give the story away (What story?) which gives us the naff impression it happened to him (You've seen my comment above - IMDb might only allow me just one 'crap' per comment!)

Roald jelly - sorry, royal jelly sales may have been boosted further by this, but I doubt it. (And NOT because anyone bee-lieves they would turn into a bee!) Another awful piece of irony, is that the best way for Dahl to interpret Albert's become a bee, is for him to make buzzing noises through his mouth - it would've been better if he HAD become a 'bee' like 'The Fly' because then it may have been somewhat a credible 'story' - the last time I saw a bee, it made buzzing noises because of its wings beating, not through force of habit, through its mouth!

Albert and Mabel Taylor are an honest hard working couple, they have a young daughter, but fear for her health as she's small and underweight, Mabel is very stressed, and even fears for her daughter's life. The family are living on a farm, where they keep bees, indeed Albert is famed for his beekeeping skills. Albert gets the idea to feed his baby Royal Jelly, the prized honey fit for a Queen bee, she starts picking up, getting healthier, gaining weight.

I am a lifelong Timothy West fan, an awesome actor, so good so see him give such a crazed performance. How good was he handling those bees. A really welcome return for Susan George too.

An unusual story it's fair to say, but it's one of the most memorable in the show's history. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it's all a fair bit tongue in cheek.

A definite goody 8/10

So what did happen to Roald Dahl when he took Royal Jelly? Turned him into an antisemite!

Oh stop it. His own family has belated apologised for some of the awful things he said.

Sexy Susan George sports a West Country accent as Mabel. The young wife of bald middle aged beekeeper Albert (Timothy West.)

He has become famous for harvesting Royal Jelly. Something he has been adding to the baby's milk.

It transpires that Albert has been taking Royal Jelly for months to give their sex life a buzz.

Well there was no mystery here. It was obvious what the baby was having. At least Susan George demonstrates that she could act.

"Royal Jelly" is horror at its very best-even though there is a sprinkling of dark humor that at times hints that Dahl's tongue is planted firmly in his cheek. Either way it doesn't get any better than this. It is a story about a Beekeeper named Albert, his wife (Mabel)played by the beautiful Susan George, and their baby girl. They are a nice couple and the kind of people you want as neighbors.They have a problem.Their baby daughter is not eating and thus is wasting away quickly. The couple doesn't know what to do. Albert sits down one night and reads in his Bee Journal about Royal Jelly.Royal Jelly is a substance produced by bees for the sole purpose of making a queen.If you look at a hive-you notice cells or combs.Almost all worker bees get fed a combination of both Pollen and Honey,.But the cell used to create a Queen Bee is filled with a substance known as Royal Jelly.It contains tremendous nutrients used for the Queen alone. Royal Jelly can create a diet so powerful that ultimate weight gain goes thru the roof. Albert decides since his baby girl is already dying of hunger to start adding Royal Jelly to the infants milk bottle without his wife's knowledge. The infant takes to it like a duck to water and his wife can't believe how well her baby is doing-she is gaining weight at a fast pace and looks great. When her husband discloses that he's been giving her Royal Jelly she gets very angry-"can you realize the dangers". Albert smiles at her and states there is no danger, in fact he has been consuming massive amounts of Royal Jelly for years and lets just say the episode ends with a high level of BUZZZZZZZZZing as it draws to a close.In other words-well, I think you get it I both read the short story by Dahl and saw the TV episode and the episode doesn't do justice to the book. In the book they mention as the story goes on that the Albert starts to look a little more fuzzy yellow,and itchy.It ends with the great line "Come on Mabel,give her a blanket. We don't want our little "QUEEN" to catch a cold"

I might add ever since seeing that episode i have been buying Royal Jelly at the local GNC. I have not started buzzing yet but it is a strong source of Vitamin B5.It also contains 85% nutrients that have never been identified or classified by science before.

Very simple plot.

A couple are worried about their young baby not growing enough.

The father (Albert) is a beekeeper and decides to feed the baby Royal Jelly. Royal Jelly is an organic substance the queen bee feeds her larvae to help them grow..

The wife Mabel (Susan George of Straw Dogs fame, a pin up of the time) is concerned about the effect this will have on the baby.

A really creepy episode despite the simple plot, with a horrifying ending.

Shades of the Fly, the original version of the Fly pre dates this episode (the Jeff Goldblum one came later)

One of the best and most famous episodes.