S1, Ep 2: The Poacher. In a country Inn a man tells an extraordinary tale to customers who are prepared to listen. He makes his living by poaching fish and game on the local lord’s land by night, but he recalls one time when he hit a barren patch. As he tries to regain his gifts, he notices something strange in the woods at night and feels compelled to investigate... This is one of the surviving episodes of the supernatural and eerie anthology series West Country Tales, which ran from 1982 to 1983. There were 14 episodes made, but five are missing. Luckily only the first episode is missing from the 1st series, which was broadcast on January 25th 1982 and the rest of Series 1 remains. What is unusual about this series is that most of the stories - especially Series 1 - was based on various people's own experiences. The Poacher it has to be said is a little slow to get going, but once he sees 'something' in the woods it maintains the interest, and the countryside is beautifully shot. By the way, these are not my own but ones I was lucky to save from Mick's Nostalgia Channel to watch later, so you have him to thank for these.