John Newland’s ONE STEP BEYOND

"What you are about to see is a matter of human record. Explain it: we cannot. Disprove it: we cannot. We simply invite you to explore with us the amazing world of the Unknown ... to take that One Step ... Beyond."

WOW! I am in love with a TV show I'd vaguely heard of years ago, but had never seen ... until today. ONE STEP BEYOND. I'll tell you this, it's much better than the classic Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE. It's more horror-orientated, with focus on true-life paranormal encounters, instead of fiction stories of various genres. This lends each episode a certain quality, a quiet uneasing menace of "it really happened", however loosely based on fact, it gives the show an edge all of its own.

I watched a couple of episodes today and I can say I'm totally hooked. There were 96 episodes made between 1959 and 1961. The mere fact that it predates THE TWILIGHT ZONE by about nine months is interesting, but what's more impressive is ONE STEP BEYOND's format. It's exactly the same as THE TWILIGHT ZONE! The show's host, John Newland, introduces the start and end of each episode. Serling obviously found "inspiration" from this for his own ZONE.

But what's really impressed me is the quality of the stories, and the fact that John Newland directed every single one of the 96 episodes! This is a phenomenal achivement in itself, and I can't believe I've only just started watching this gem of a horror series.

The show is available on less than stellar quality transfers. Something to do with the copyright not being renewed! So the show is in the public domain, but with a show like ONE STEP BEYOND, it's the quality of the stories that matter, and the lack of a digitally remastered DVDs is better than no DVDs at all. One company has released 50 episodes in a cheap boxset, and they're supposed to be releasing the other 46 episiodes later this year. I'll definitely be picking them up, and reviewing the odd episode on my blog.

What I find strange is how the show has a cult following, but has hardly been acknowledged by the critics. I've read the synopsis' of every episode on TV.com and I can honestly say that each one sounds brilliantly unique. Newland's direction is subtle and concise. There's no filler, no dull bits, and his camerawork glides around a lot with an economy of style that most contemporary productions simply lack.

Some of the later episodes were also filmed in England! So there are great production values and a few British actors that make appearances.

If you haven't seen any episodes of ONE STEP BEYOND, see it!