| Director | Freddie Francis |
|---|
In the clinic link episodes, Dr Tremayne, a psychiatrist in a modern mental asylum, reveals to colleague Dr. Nicholas that he has solved four special cases. Tremayne explains the case histories of patients Paul, Timothy, Brian, and Auriol, presenting each in turn to Nicholas:
In "Mr Tiger", Paul is the sensitive and introverted young son of constantly bickering parents Sam and Fay Patterson. Amid the unhappy domestic situation, Paul befriends an "imaginary" tiger.
In "Penny Farthing", antique store owner Timothy stocks a strange portrait of "Uncle Albert" and a penny-farthing bicycle he has inherited from his aunt. In a series of episodes, Uncle Albert compels Timothy to mount the bicycle, and he time travels to an earlier era, where he courts Beatrice, who was young Albert's love interest. These travels place Timothy's girlfriend Ann in peril.
In "Mel", Brian Thompson brings home an old dead tree, which he lovingly calls Mel, mounting it in his modern home as a bizarre piece of found object art. He increasingly shows unusual attention to Mel, angering his jealous wife Bella.
In "Luau", an ambitious literary agent, Auriol Pageant, lasciviously courts new client Kimo; he shows more interest in her beautiful young daughter Ginny. Auriol plans a sumptuous luau for him; when the plans fall through, Kimo's associate Keoki takes over. The luau, as organised by Keoki, is actually a ceremony to assure Kimo's dying mother Malia passage to heaven by appeasing a Hawaiian god, and a requirement is that he consume the flesh of a virgin: Ginny.
In the epilogue, Tremayne watches as manifestations of the patients' histories materialise. Nicholas cannot see the manifestations and has Tremayne declared insane, apparently for believing the patients' bizarre accounts. Nicholas enters the patient holding area, and is killed by "Mr Tiger".