About this season
Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a British television anthology series produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network and broadcast between 1973 and 1974. The series presents standalone adaptations of classic mystery, crime, and supernatural stories drawn from literary sources including Dickens, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Balzac, Maugham, O. Henry, and others. Each episode is framed by original introductory and closing sequences performed by Orson Welles, who serves as the series’ host and sole recurring on-screen presence. These segments, written and directed by Welles (uncredited), function as stylized narrative framing devices rather than dramatic participation in the stories themselves. The dramatic content of each episode is performed by separate casts and directors, with no continuing characters or serialized narrative, establishing the series as a unified television anthology rather than a collection of standalone films.
Episodes (26)
1. Captain Rogers
Aired 1 September 1973 • 25 min
The respectable owner of a quiet inn in 18th century England is blackmailed by a grubby stranger, who knows he is secretly the notorious pirate Captain Rogers.
2. The Leather Funnel
Aired 8 September 1973 • 25 min
When a young man discovers a curious funnel made of leather, he has a presentiment that it was once used as an instrument of torture
3. A Terribly Strange Bed
Aired 15 September 1973 • 25 min
Charles Faulkner, a young American gambler in Paris, should have left the casino after striking it lucky. Why the devil did he accept to sleep in the casino's guest bed? This was to be the most horrible night he had ever lived.
4. La Grande Breteche
1.0Aired 22 September 1973 • 25 min
A Spanish officer, captured by the French during the Peninsular War, is imprisoned at the country house of an elderly aristocrat with a bored young wife - whose lover he becomes, with deadly consequences.
5. The Dinner Party
Aired 29 September 1973 • 25 min
Blake is a brilliant accountant, but does he deserve a promotion to the board of directors? It all depends on the suitability of his wife. His bosses attend a small dinner party given by the Blakes to check her out.
6. Money to Burn
Aired 6 October 1973 • 25 min
A French girl in London finds herself in the awkward position of owing money to a Soho crime boss. But when she pays him off, he contemptuously sets fire to the money. Why?
7. In the Confessional
Aired 13 October 1973 • 25 min
An old tramp takes refuge in a church, and, concealed within the confessional, overhears things of great interest.
8. Unseen Alibi
Aired 20 October 1973 • 25 min
Dean Stockwell stars as the victim of an elaborately staged murder frame centering around a lover's rendezvous.
9. Battle of Wits
Aired 27 October 1973 • 25 min
At the end of the semester, college professor Richard Lumsden is getting ready for vacation - and retirement. However he is interrupted by an angry parent of a student, blaming him for his son's suicide after he was expelled for stealing.
10. A Point of Law
Aired 3 November 1973 • 25 min
A lawyer cannot stop a middle-aged spinster from making a fool of herself with a young fortune-hunter, but he can stop the fellow from getting his hands on her money.
11. The Monkey's Paw
Aired 10 November 1973 • 25 min
An old army sergeant, back in England after long service in India, shows some old friends a strange possession he's acquired - a monkey's paw which can make wishes come true.
12. The Ingenious Reporter
Aired 17 November 1973
Reporter Harry Langley pretends to be the murderer of unidentified women to boost sales with a special report from prison. But once arrested, the authorities seem to be convinced that he is indeed the killer.
13. Death of an Old-Fashioned Girl
Aired 24 November 1973
Four people are investigated after the death of a woman who ruined an artist's life and drove his wife to leave him.
14. For Sale - Silence
Aired 1 December 1973
Businessman Pennington is bribed by a Mr. Briggs due to an extramarital affair. But it seems that Briggs has underestimated his opponent and the tables might be turning.
15. The Inspiration Of Mr. Budd
Aired 8 December 1973
How did Mr. Budd become a top-class West End hairdresser after such humble origins in a suburban barbershop? Well, one day, a stranger came in for a shave and a haircut.
16. An Affair of Honour
Aired 15 December 1973
India: After secret plans for the defence of a harbour are secretly copied, British General Sanderson tasks officers Bruce and Rolfe with convincing the apparent traitor Fanshaw to "save his honour" by committing suicide.
17. Farewell to the Faulkners
Aired 22 December 1973
The masquerade is over when a murdered man turns up alive in the guise of his wife.
18. The Power of Fear
Aired 29 December 1973
A handyman, finding that a number of middle-aged housewives require him for rather more than his professional services, turns to blackmail.
19. Where There's a Will
Aired 5 January 1974
A letter opened in error provides rather dangerous knowledge concerning a murder case.
20. A Time to Remember
Aired 12 January 1974
Zigorin, a top Russian spy, has defected to the West. But is he really Zigorin or an impostor?
21. Ice Storm
Aired 19 January 1974
An "Ice Storm" traps a woman with a potential thief masquerading as one of three experts invited to view a collection of valuable manuscripts.
22. Come Into My Parlour
Aired 26 January 1974
Two beautiful women chat pleasantly over their martinis in a luxurious flat in Naples. But all is not what it seems - one is plotting an evil revenge on the other.
23. Compliments of the Season
Aired 2 February 1974
A penniless man tries to claim a reward from a millionaire at Christmas, and finds it's not as easy as he thought it would be.
24. Under Suspicion
Aired 9 February 1974
A pianist on an international tour is forced to spy for the secret police to avoid being detained.
25. Trial for Murder
Aired 16 February 1974
During a murder trial in 19th-century England, one of the jurors begins to have mysterious hallucinations - has he seen a ghost?
26. The Furnished Room
Aired 23 February 1974
A young man's month-long search for a missing girl ends in a haunted room of a boarding house.