Main cast: Carol Lynley (Eve) and Dennis Waterman (Albert Baker)
Director: Robert Stevens
Retail worker Albert Baker requests his manager for a transfer from the shoe section to window dressing, saying that he doesn’t mind a pay cut or overtime if the transfer is approved.
He has a pretty peculiar reason for this: the socially awkward young man has fallen for a mannequin, whom he images to resemble the leading lady in his favorite romantic movie.
Well, he gets his wish, and he is happy for the first time in his life. Spurning the attention of his female colleagues, he imagines the mannequin, whom he calls Eve, coming to life, and together, they live out his ideal romance.
It has to come to an end, of course. The store manager decides that a revamp of the window display is in order, which means Eve would have to be sent to the storage and, eventually, the dumpster. Oh no, is this the end of Albert’s romantic interlude? Not if he has anything to say about that!
Eve is the first episode of Journey to the Unknown, the response of Hammer Film Productions to The Twilight Zone. This show is so obviously, delightfully British, from the long-winded nature of most episodes and snooty upper crust delivery of lines, but sadly, it doesn’t have the longevity and legacy of the American show that it aspires to be.
Well, this one doesn’t exactly set the bar high as a season opener and the viewer’s first introduction to the show. That’s not to say that this episode is terrible. Based on John Collier’s Special Delivery, this one is a solid episode, but it is a slow boil kind of episode that will appeal more to people that are into romantic tragedies than woo woo shows.
Carol Lynley doesn’t have to many lines to say to her co-star, because the entire romance is clearly in Albert’s head, as the people around him will point out to him. They catch him talking and even dancing with himself, and of course, they believe he’s just excitable because he must be in a new relationship with another human being.
Eventually, Albert is so far gone in his delusions that he starts addressing Eve, even to his friends, like she’s a human being. The fact that Eve will soon be discarded will drive poor Albert to some predictable consequences.
It’s amusing to see a young Dennis Waterman playing a rather delusional young man that is a far cry from his typical roles later in his career, and he pulls off this role nicely.
There is a tragedy to Albert in that he aspires for an admittedly unrealistic romance and life of a upper class person, so much so that his personality and interests end up clashing with and driving away the very middle-class women that he tries to woo into going back with him to his apartment. This is one fellow that, fairly or not, just doesn’t belong to the strata of society that he is stuck in, and hence, his only way to achieving his personal idea of happiness is attainable only in his head.
Considering that there are women certainly interested in him, including his horny landlady, he could have had a nice life in a way, if he would just settle a little. I mean, he could probably get to stay at his apartment for free if he’d just give in to the landlady’s advances, I’m just saying.
This episode is a well done, well acted affair that can tug at the heartstrings, because there is sincerity behind Albert’s deepest delusion that makes him a tragic protagonist. He never means any malice, and things just escalate beyond his control, poor thing.
Of course, this story line has done many times in the years since this episode came out, so watching it today may make the episode feel rather predictable and even formulaic. Still, for a product of its time, it’s a solid, gut-wrenching episode. It is said that the song of the same name from the Carpenters was inspired by this episode, and I can see why!
