tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58336999812100361102024-03-18T21:06:00.984-07:00Cult TV LoungeBritish and American cult television from the 1960s and 1970sdfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comBlogger425125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-20458029920336516192024-03-16T04:10:00.000-07:002024-03-16T04:10:54.438-07:00The Outer Limits - three season 2 episodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOK9xlY_Oj9lMhiryn1pmHr-sfIYPdnLLfVXMpTf48-3RHF7jVrLLV7xdUV7Kyqjg0FSYVV0wZkq1VHEVklXixToNra8nkhcwUuJbZKVB02pXYtA7uUHwL95s-8bQ6Thi6SUl-6WD5wl_rRYpyITSP38MBAF6jONLH82nYNcJlaM4q6nnCSqQNxry_WY/s615/OuterLImitsInvisibleEnemy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="615" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOK9xlY_Oj9lMhiryn1pmHr-sfIYPdnLLfVXMpTf48-3RHF7jVrLLV7xdUV7Kyqjg0FSYVV0wZkq1VHEVklXixToNra8nkhcwUuJbZKVB02pXYtA7uUHwL95s-8bQ6Thi6SUl-6WD5wl_rRYpyITSP38MBAF6jONLH82nYNcJlaM4q6nnCSqQNxry_WY/s320/OuterLImitsInvisibleEnemy1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I love horror/thriller/science fiction anthology TV series and <i>The Outer Limits</i> which aired on the American ABC network from 1963 to 1965 is one of my favourites. It certainly plays fast and loose with science but it was consistently inventive and original. It was created by Leslie Stevens.<br /><br />I’m just starting to delve in the second (and final) season so I thought I’d review a couple of episodes.<br /><br />Producer Joseph Stefano (who also wrote many of the scripts) had been the main guiding force but left the series after the first season. There was a slight change of emphasis in the second season, with fewer monsters.<br /><br />Some of the stories were crazy but they were almost always at least interesting.<br /><br />We do have to confront the special effects issue. This series has gained a reputation for the extreme cheesiness of many of the special effects. And yes, they are cheesy. Often very much so. The problem wasn’t really the technology of the time. The problem was that The Outer Limits was trying to do ambitious science fiction stories on a 1963 TV budget. It couldn’t be done. They went ahead and did it anyway. Younger viewers today may have real problems getting past the cheesy effects. You just have to accept them and concentrate on the stories.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Invisible Enemy</span></u><br /><br /><i>The Invisible Enemy</i> was written by Jerry Sohl and directed by Byron Haskin. It aired in October 1964. It concerns the first manned mission to Mars. It ends disastrously, with Mission Control hearing the screams of the astronauts before contact is lost.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-EEE-VOIOdSaWmvYrd8lKNFySHOGzSKyMT55wyYnzYOIecZBZNAFueceWDMR9HcdCkk2MaNmgY48EIGWywmcp37cRuTZ_pYsOYEC3bWX9G0aHOp475UcuLK_cnfw3m80Hl_OWRBw9LWSlyzs0kUy43ICX_b5H0hHSMLZUUkW9aqFFe5SbtlkRDTQX9E/s619/OuterLImitsInvisibleEnemy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="619" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-EEE-VOIOdSaWmvYrd8lKNFySHOGzSKyMT55wyYnzYOIecZBZNAFueceWDMR9HcdCkk2MaNmgY48EIGWywmcp37cRuTZ_pYsOYEC3bWX9G0aHOp475UcuLK_cnfw3m80Hl_OWRBw9LWSlyzs0kUy43ICX_b5H0hHSMLZUUkW9aqFFe5SbtlkRDTQX9E/s320/OuterLImitsInvisibleEnemy4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The second mission is supposed to be better prepared. They have a super-computer at Mission Control. And the four astronauts are under strict instructions never to get out of sight of one another. They also have a bazooka that fires nuclear-tipped projectiles.<br /><br />Predictably the first thing that happens is that one of them does get out of sight of the others and he is never seen again.<br /><br />The audience knows from the start what’s going on. The sandy plain where they landed isn’t a plain, it’s a sand sea. And there are sand shark monsters lurking in that sea. The astronauts take a long while to figure this out. In the meantime another member of the crew vanishes.<br /><br />Mission Control is really annoyed. They’re inclined to blame the spacecraft commander, Major Merritt (Adam West, yes Batman). They want the mission completed. They want the bad guys destroyed. They want to open up Mars for colonisation.<br /><br />It becomes a test of survival, with a race-against-time factor.<br /><br />This episode reflects ideas about Mars that would soon become untenable when unmanned space probes reached the Red Planet. The assumption here is that Mars has a breathable atmosphere. This was presumably so the actors wouldn’t have to wear helmets the whole time. The low gravity on Mars is ignored.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOPMyVupEOM5Ue-OFUjkIdfvPr4Ajy7IJ1B5-cbJZ8RSrNj8ruUaXbLTcKXDsSqXjdcRJ8hcHhPyFzK-ICToPA_ldHqRNa9J5MQtKf1UsvWBJ8lQSRJJoNn_7HmgorQpC8QnTtr-BJghDQbclGM8gfp_MvS5JAnQep-e2pNLc7cQr0Yg8tPTC4T5ai34/s615/OuterLImitsWolf359_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="615" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOPMyVupEOM5Ue-OFUjkIdfvPr4Ajy7IJ1B5-cbJZ8RSrNj8ruUaXbLTcKXDsSqXjdcRJ8hcHhPyFzK-ICToPA_ldHqRNa9J5MQtKf1UsvWBJ8lQSRJJoNn_7HmgorQpC8QnTtr-BJghDQbclGM8gfp_MvS5JAnQep-e2pNLc7cQr0Yg8tPTC4T5ai34/s320/OuterLImitsWolf359_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It has to be admitted that the sand sharks are incredibly cheesy.<br /><br />The main interest of the story is the tough decisions that may have to be made by Mission Control and by Major Merritt, and the price that may have to be paid for the conquest of space. It’s not a bad story.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Wolf 359</span></u><br /><br /><i>Wolf 359</i> was written by Richard Landau and Seeleg Lester and directed by Laslo Benedek. It first went to air in November 1964. This one is really wild. <br /><br />Jonathan Meridith heads a research project out in the desert. He and his team have created a miniature replica of a planet eight light-years away. It’s like a computer model except it’s real. The replica planet has a diameter of a few feet. Time is speeded up several millionfold on the miniature planet. Dr Meridith wants to watch the process of evolution on a distant planet take place before his very eyes in his laboratory. He has a special viewer gizmo that magnifies things a millionfold.<br /><br />The problem is that something really is going on on that tiny world. Meridith has seen something very weird through that viewer. What he sees loses a bit of its impact because the special effect comes across as a bit too goofy.<br /><br />The science is of course totally nonsensical and there’s lots of loopy technobabble but it has to be said that it’s a clever and original idea.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">I, Robot</span></u><br /><br /><i>I, Robot </i>was written Robert C. Dennis, based on Eando Binder’s robot stories published in the <i>Amazing Storie</i>s pulp in the late 30s and early 40s. It was directed by Leon Benson. It first went to air in November 1964.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Pf8JeJk61R8VLEG-p5GHRrkRP-qfUphIi_Teq2h3yRp7q-Te_945HMY3MW8QDACvOpewSlRsQZveqE5RgwoeuEFu0xjdalN-QUVbXXM2nopp9AsU4u2SAZxE_D-PSVu56PhyahMRtIDZz4uzw8fOlRawGGg5y5GMb3Q-paprlYxh0X0sUHxUUQbu5Z4/s615/OuterLimitsIRobot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="615" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Pf8JeJk61R8VLEG-p5GHRrkRP-qfUphIi_Teq2h3yRp7q-Te_945HMY3MW8QDACvOpewSlRsQZveqE5RgwoeuEFu0xjdalN-QUVbXXM2nopp9AsU4u2SAZxE_D-PSVu56PhyahMRtIDZz4uzw8fOlRawGGg5y5GMb3Q-paprlYxh0X0sUHxUUQbu5Z4/s320/OuterLimitsIRobot2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>An eccentric scientist has built an almost-human robot. He has named it Adam. Adam appears to have the ability to think for himself. He also appears to have some capacity for emotion.<br /><br />The scientist is now dead and the robot is blamed. Cynical but smart newspaper reporter Judson Ellis (Leonard Nimoy) smells a story. Trial lawyer Thurman Cutler (Howard da Silva) is coaxed out of retirement to handle the case. The robot is tried for murder. The events that led up to the scientist’s death unfold in a series of flashbacks.<br /><br />There is some attempt to grapple with the problems posed by artificial intelligences. Adam appears to be capable of thinking but is he really? He appears to have emotions but are these merely simulated emotions - is he simply copying human behaviour without understanding it? <br /><br />There’s a bit of speechifying at the end but mercifully it doesn’t get political.<br /><br />The robot does have that classic Tin Man look but he doesn’t look any sillier than robots from big-budget movies of the time. It’s a reasonably successful episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br />These three episodes are typical of the series in combining incredibly cheesy special effects with reasonably good writing. They’re all worth a look. <i>Wolf 359</i> is the best, with the coolness of its ideas.dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-60907706875458835262024-02-22T04:55:00.000-08:002024-02-22T04:55:44.898-08:00The Twilight Zone - The After Hours<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiJRovOOeO2QGkDPdErfprDC3JzOTmSyGcZBRR_K-rLaTDAcQZEK8e66qZxrSyZpdGKKVDzqu1QAUX23A-M9bGgqgythF43RqwmPCC8wI-byUhJ3jDtfdJ8RLlZIKwfI_e57m-zfJK4eARX166FcpWQc7K3IQ1omr8q7dtUCHxamSQy-LNUoRY9Fw/s599/TwilightZoneAfterHours1%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiJRovOOeO2QGkDPdErfprDC3JzOTmSyGcZBRR_K-rLaTDAcQZEK8e66qZxrSyZpdGKKVDzqu1QAUX23A-M9bGgqgythF43RqwmPCC8wI-byUhJ3jDtfdJ8RLlZIKwfI_e57m-zfJK4eARX166FcpWQc7K3IQ1omr8q7dtUCHxamSQy-LNUoRY9Fw/s320/TwilightZoneAfterHours1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Of the many and varied horror, science fiction and mystery anthology series that were such a feature of American television in the late 50s and early 60s <i>The Twilight Zone</i> is probably the one with the most glowing reputation. I have always had slightly mixed feelings about this series. There are many episodes that I love unreservedly and at its best it had a unique atmosphere that was profoundly unsettling rather than overtly scary.<br /><br />On the other hand it could at times be a bit sentimental, and rather preachy. It’s the episodes written by Rod Serling with which I mostly have issues. Serling was definitely prone to sentimentalism and he could be very preachy. At his worst the preachiness could be clumsy. He did write some great episodes, but he wrote quite a few that I find difficult to enjoy.<br /><br />Having said all that, my all-time favourite episode was in fact written by Rod Serling - <i>The After Hours</i>.<br /><br />This is episode 34 of the first season of <i>The Twilight Zone</i>. It originally went to air on June 10, 1960. It was directed by Douglas Heyes (arguably <i>The Twilight Zone</i>’s ace director).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP-nd83HuckwIoOlqBSHrSHPV3gS4co4SFR-Wc9IntdgIpmTj5G_GyAHa5m9l2xb9eV-K4kqgZpRBMLTAncB4amvZIwCaBgKAywi0xgipoN65XC6-JvVpfyBLA6CkfccxZxqoASu5Dm1ha_Lmqno3nAYSBosYaQxJ2TRcqHaYpvXP26ivZXGazTpo/s599/TwilightZoneAfterHours2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP-nd83HuckwIoOlqBSHrSHPV3gS4co4SFR-Wc9IntdgIpmTj5G_GyAHa5m9l2xb9eV-K4kqgZpRBMLTAncB4amvZIwCaBgKAywi0xgipoN65XC6-JvVpfyBLA6CkfccxZxqoASu5Dm1ha_Lmqno3nAYSBosYaQxJ2TRcqHaYpvXP26ivZXGazTpo/s320/TwilightZoneAfterHours2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s a tricky episode to discuss, because I really don’t want to spoil any of the twists. <br /><br />It starts innocently enough. Marsha White (Anne Francis) has gone to a department store to buy a gift for her mother. She’s looking for a gold thimble. She is advised to go to the ninth floor. Which she does. That’s something that will later be disturbing and perplexing for both Marsha and the store staff.<br /><br />She finds the thimble but later finds, to her intense disappointment, that it is damaged. Naturally she complains and for some reason which she cannot fathom this causes great consternation to the staff. Then she has a shock. She is advised to lie down and rest. She has a sleep and when she wakes up things start to get really strange. <br /><br />Marsha finds herself in a very frightening situation and it’s the kind of situation which would lend itself to a horror plot. But there’s no actual horror here. No gore. No bloodshed. No violence. No monsters. Nothing except a gradually increasing atmosphere of strangeness and disorientation. To the extent that it is horror, it is very subtle existential horror.<br /><br />This is more akin to the literary genre of weird fiction than to horror. The temptation would have been there to give the story a horror story ending but Serling cleverly resists this temptation. This is <i>The Twilight Zone </i>and Serling here achieves exactly the feel that he had in mind when he created the series. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6LKi4mMuceCh6fFx3_eNBQ131-270gutoM5F1Iak4gfsutR0s1ESUKXnHKF6XKhTNG-uoZwwl-K7nyVJzTvezLBAbg0fE3Y-pid6wBDp8yLjVnzRuEGkJrrOiFx03WAd33oioyIt-KowFJTIHU4NTbm-DmFoxlxmYUPzdxV5gr7NDg6vei1Ah5hc/s599/TwilightZoneAfterHours3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6LKi4mMuceCh6fFx3_eNBQ131-270gutoM5F1Iak4gfsutR0s1ESUKXnHKF6XKhTNG-uoZwwl-K7nyVJzTvezLBAbg0fE3Y-pid6wBDp8yLjVnzRuEGkJrrOiFx03WAd33oioyIt-KowFJTIHU4NTbm-DmFoxlxmYUPzdxV5gr7NDg6vei1Ah5hc/s320/TwilightZoneAfterHours3%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>One of the great strengths of this episode is that this time Serling has no real axe to grind. He’s simply trying to make us feel uneasy. And he succeeds admirably. <br /><br />Douglas Heyes as usual does a fine job as director. The visuals are impressive and a bit creepy. There aren’t any special effects as such. Everything is achieved through fine directing and good production design. <div><br /></div><div>And some very special props. <br /><br />Anne Francis is excellent, playing Marsha as a woman who is bewildered and disoriented rather than hysterical. The supporting cast is very good, but this episode belongs to Anne Francis. There are some lovely nuances to her performance. You don’t fully appreciate just how good her acting is until you get to the end of the story, and then you realise what her performance has been leading up to. And according to director Douglas Heyes most of the really clever touches were her own ideas. Anne Francis was a very fine actress but I don’t think she was ever better than this.<br /><br /><i>The After Hours</i> is a great example of what is now a lost art - short-form television drama. The half-hour television episode or standalone television drama was a very distinctive form and while it has its weaknesses it had very considerable strengths as well. It required discipline, focus and economy. Information that the viewer required (information about what sort of people the characters are, what kind of place it is that forms the setting of the story) had to be conveyed with extreme economy. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NKgqWmChPiM2Y_K9mWnEFMMr81Gtopfdqqp59erJd6BidV5ZAtajjK9PxSJZD3Nj4sH5NG4NG5mfih1Xcwf0vcVDOBRJkcsY--TuYvl0bxptnVHcDPin5_Z9_THzCq8UdezsRKm5X6JYO8S_SPuBNR4uimBt9hXKEK5yP0CfYqIhElgGtcrYlRAf/s599/TwilightZoneAfterHours4%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NKgqWmChPiM2Y_K9mWnEFMMr81Gtopfdqqp59erJd6BidV5ZAtajjK9PxSJZD3Nj4sH5NG4NG5mfih1Xcwf0vcVDOBRJkcsY--TuYvl0bxptnVHcDPin5_Z9_THzCq8UdezsRKm5X6JYO8S_SPuBNR4uimBt9hXKEK5yP0CfYqIhElgGtcrYlRAf/s320/TwilightZoneAfterHours4%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Which meant that the sets, the set dressing, the lighting, the costumes and the makeup had to be carefully thought out because most of that vital information was going to be conveyed through an immediate visual impression. There just wasn’t time for detailed explanations. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the actors and actresses had to give the viewer an instantaneous impression of the characters they played, with no time for them to tell their life stories.<br /><br />In <i>The After Hours</i> Serling and Douglas Heyes give us a master-class in this lost art. There’s not a single wasted shot, or a single unnecessary line of dialogue.<br /><br /><i>The After Hours</i> is beautifully shot, and by 1960 television standards it’s visually very very impressive.<br /><br />I’ve seen <i>The After Hours</i> at least three times now and I think I like it even more with each viewing. Very highly recommended.<div><br /></div><div>I've also reviewed some other <i>Twilight Zone</i> episodes <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/12/three-twilight-zones-from-1961.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-twilight-zone-two-charles-beaumont.html" target="_blank">also here.</a></div></div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-80265477103063162982024-01-25T16:38:00.000-08:002024-01-25T16:38:46.936-08:00The Avengers - Stay Tuned<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7gZa65V_nUlsPr5bovOPmir8WsSeepK7symwEVamDxt3sUn-Q2Wq3pwsRc5kygcbpyRzz_rw5YL03934xdwyy_-qCFf3lJ7ue3LPen9ppBWq-89u98hsAPrAbiRXBWeSczTamLed8QMkrTjefpmlRWFDx3s-50enrWQ9zG8PE4_w5QXp3_3rw9dj/s609/AvengersStayTuned1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="609" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7gZa65V_nUlsPr5bovOPmir8WsSeepK7symwEVamDxt3sUn-Q2Wq3pwsRc5kygcbpyRzz_rw5YL03934xdwyy_-qCFf3lJ7ue3LPen9ppBWq-89u98hsAPrAbiRXBWeSczTamLed8QMkrTjefpmlRWFDx3s-50enrWQ9zG8PE4_w5QXp3_3rw9dj/s320/AvengersStayTuned1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Stay Tuned</i> is another Tara King episode of <i>The Avengers</i>, and this one is a corker. It was written by Tony Williamson and directed by Don Chaffey and first aired in February 1969.<br /><br />Steed is getting ready to leave for three weeks holiday. As he’s about to walk out the door Tara arrives and she’s decidedly puzzled. Steed has already had his three-week holiday. Steed assumes that she’s playing a joke on him, until she advises him to check his suitcase. It’s full of dirty laundry and souvenirs he bought on his vacation. She also shows him today’s newspaper, whereupon Steed realises he has lost three weeks of his life.<br /><br />He must have been somewhere during those three weeks but he has no idea where. He doesn’t remember a thing. <br /><br />He also tries to crash Tara’s car, but he doesn’t know why.<br /><br />The forensics people check his car. It has been in France and Italy, and it has recently been sideswiped by another vehicle.<div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM--SZuwaBBlp8xw78ymYmEkLJnGs0XER-bExdNEau1QUQXurG_rqtf_ynD-wUskNdP1pjgo1sGxGw1o8oAy_JOHrY_vJ6LaqMZrp5DVAkVudqKyRsedVXVUGWs6kTtuXHhVxNQi18TuUoUFyjX0JKdsGCNE41lKje2G50Rdhe0DaHKqvFJv-uGTBh/s609/AvengersStayTuned2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="609" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM--SZuwaBBlp8xw78ymYmEkLJnGs0XER-bExdNEau1QUQXurG_rqtf_ynD-wUskNdP1pjgo1sGxGw1o8oAy_JOHrY_vJ6LaqMZrp5DVAkVudqKyRsedVXVUGWs6kTtuXHhVxNQi18TuUoUFyjX0JKdsGCNE41lKje2G50Rdhe0DaHKqvFJv-uGTBh/s320/AvengersStayTuned2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And then Steed finds himself once again getting ready to set off on that very same holiday. Losing his memory is bad enough but he seems to be condemned to keep living the same events over and over again.<br /><br />To solve the problem he will have to figure out why Tara lied to him. She would never lie to him. It doesn’t make sense.<br /><br />Even when we start to realise at least some of what is going there’s still plenty of suspense and weirdness. Steed of course fears that he is going mad, and it has to be admitted that the evidence tends to point that way. Tara on the other hand refuses to believe that Steed has gone mad. One way or another she’s going to find the solution to the puzzle, or at least help Steed to do so.<br /><br />A nice touch is Tara’s very genuine concern for Steed, which is clearly more than just professional concern. <br /><br />Mother doesn’t appear in the early part of this episode. He’s on leave, so Father has taken over. Father is of course a woman, and both Father and Father’s flat add further surreal touches. And Mother will put in an appearance later - he has an important part to play in the plot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36xWPF0NHyJWmk__2nFC4y9OGhb0zraND-Fh2_oip7O1MU0wp9dsaZfELKXQzOfSwhTPqqGgT-ihR2mwWPpdDUeH7oY34-Z7FheoiJXkcdWKBj8PF4lfYqrLqsOWUg5gWnEvSgAMUo10m-GDKX_pGoFQKFvE1GT8BYFDu5Jm9Wu4chzyKE6pBD0gD/s609/AvengersStayTuned3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="609" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36xWPF0NHyJWmk__2nFC4y9OGhb0zraND-Fh2_oip7O1MU0wp9dsaZfELKXQzOfSwhTPqqGgT-ihR2mwWPpdDUeH7oY34-Z7FheoiJXkcdWKBj8PF4lfYqrLqsOWUg5gWnEvSgAMUo10m-GDKX_pGoFQKFvE1GT8BYFDu5Jm9Wu4chzyKE6pBD0gD/s320/AvengersStayTuned3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Both Patrick Macnee and Linda Thorson are in fine acting form. Roger Delgado provides a menacing and sinister presence. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s always a treat to see Howard Marion-Crawford. He plays Collins, an agent assigned by Father to keep an eye on Steed.<br /><br />And we get a good fight scene between Linda Thorson and Kate O’Mara. Honestly, what more could you want?<br /><br />The bizarre psychiatrist’s office set, the mysterious room in the house in Fitzherbert Street and the man following Steed and Steed’s totally unaccountable failure to spot this man even when he’s only a few feet away from him add further bizarre disturbing touches. <br /><br />The set design is top-notch. There’s a wonderful atmosphere - there’s something very wrong and unsettling about everything but Steed just can’t put the pieces together. <br /><br /><i>Stay Tuned</i> is yet another Tara King episode that compares more than favourably the best Emma Peel episodes. Highly recommended.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-87938705581307698472023-12-31T00:04:00.000-08:002023-12-31T00:04:52.523-08:00E.C. Tubb’s Space: 1999 Rogue Planet (TV tie-in novel)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXyDvHuH6IwVFWNqIcbyqGN3oVRJvFvmBAwXYgLvU2Q6Sq3sEzDdDsacCYTng4WdoVHf9EJICUEUsSe6QTCghop3lfm5REEXkeLVtZgqmY0m2_xtknKcK9RIIeaRXj1JUTAtd_hVkcZK2iPYUceIaAQx7EXU8v9Q38ARjicjzyN5mOO8TdSIbKqVW/s1932/Space%201999%20Rogue%20Planet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1932" data-original-width="1160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXyDvHuH6IwVFWNqIcbyqGN3oVRJvFvmBAwXYgLvU2Q6Sq3sEzDdDsacCYTng4WdoVHf9EJICUEUsSe6QTCghop3lfm5REEXkeLVtZgqmY0m2_xtknKcK9RIIeaRXj1JUTAtd_hVkcZK2iPYUceIaAQx7EXU8v9Q38ARjicjzyN5mOO8TdSIbKqVW/s320/Space%201999%20Rogue%20Planet1.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>E.C. Tubb’s <i>Rogue Planet</i>, published in 1977, was the ninth of the <i>Space: 1999</i> TV tie-in novels. It is an original novel, not a novelisation of episodes from the TV series. It’s based on Year One of the TV series.<br /><br />E.C. Tubb was a prolific British science fiction writer. He wrote several <i>Space: 1999</i> novels.<br /><br />It’s relaxation time for the crew of Moonbase Alpha. They’re enjoying an amateur performance of Hamlet, but when the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears they see and hear something strange, something Shakespeare certainly did not write. It’s a warning that Moonbase Alpha is heading for danger. But every member of the audience saw and heard something different. And every member of the audience agrees that what they saw and heard was terrifying.<br /><br />Was it some kind of mass delusion? Was it some mysterious message beamed from somewhere in space? Not long afterwards some kind of temporary collective madness afflicts the Alphans. It passes, but again it was terrifying and inexplicable.<br /><br />Moonbase Alpha’s commander, John Koenig, wants answers. The base’s chief scientist Victor Bergman and chief medical officer Dr Helena Russell cannot provide answers, only speculation. Alpha’s instruments can detect nothing threatening.<br /><br />Then the brain appears. It can’t be a brain of course, but it looks like one. An enormous brain the size of a planet. And Moonbase Alpha is trapped in a separate miniature universe. There appears to be no escape but some means of escape must be found. One crew member has already died of old age and he was only thirty-two. The same fate may await all of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha.<br /><br /><i>Space: 1999</i> was a great series (or at least Year One was great) but you do have to accept the outrageous premise of the series - the Moon being thrown out of orbit and hurtling through space at an absurd speed like a gigantic spaceship. You also have to accept the idea that in the almost unimaginable vastness and emptiness of space they keep encountering countless planets and alien spacecraft. But then the science fiction genre as a whole requires a huge suspension of disbelief. If you love science fiction you learn to accept some wacky science.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCaGoJN7pLIZdhYtlumg8EkokIPu3Xu_ih34qKj2EZAeE4Z_h-mVWTR8DiaEyjpSr2gTjm36pv8-ZJIne0buIMzWPQN8j6jtu6xeA-oBxw2T6jzL1HTPti4zFL8CpmApl7GieEFI36xW_ELb-nz9JU6qaUaZE91l2qhRYl6Jm-Qsl1Hetfpgbl7y1/s1101/Space%201999%20Rogue%20Planet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="712" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCaGoJN7pLIZdhYtlumg8EkokIPu3Xu_ih34qKj2EZAeE4Z_h-mVWTR8DiaEyjpSr2gTjm36pv8-ZJIne0buIMzWPQN8j6jtu6xeA-oBxw2T6jzL1HTPti4zFL8CpmApl7GieEFI36xW_ELb-nz9JU6qaUaZE91l2qhRYl6Jm-Qsl1Hetfpgbl7y1/s320/Space%201999%20Rogue%20Planet2.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>The novel captures the feel of the series extremely well. The principal characters - Commander Koenig, Dr Russell, Professor Bergman, chief Eagle pilot Alan Carter etc - behave the way they behave in the TV series. There’s the same mix of space adventure and reasonably cool science fiction concepts.<br /><br />There’s a reasonable amount of emphasis on Koenig’s responsibilities as commander and the need to be strong and decisive while always bearing in mind that he’s dealing with people not machines. Similarly with Dr Russell there’s emphasis on the awesome responsibilities she has to shoulder alone.<br /><br />Tubb’s prose is straightforward but pleasing enough. <br /><br />It’s a very entertaining story with a few serious touches. The crew of Moonbase Alpha have to confront the imminent threats of death (death from accelerated ageing which is certainly a very frightening prospect) and madness. Death is ever-present in this story, in varying forms.<br /><br /><i>Space: 1999</i> was not a series that offered spectacular space battles. It offered action, but the action was more likely to be battles against strange unseen alien forces rather than hostile star fleets. This novel follows the same sort of formula. There are narrow escapes from mortal danger but the dangers in this case come from strange force fields and from being trapped in caverns and suchlike things.<br /><br />This novel also offers us an alien life form that is genuinely alien.<br /><br /><i>Rogue Planet</i> is a very decent science fiction novel. If you’re a fan of the TV series you’ll enjoy and even if you’ve never seen the series you’ll probably find it entertaining. Highly recommended.<br /><br />I’ve reviewed one of Tubb’s other <i>Space: 1999</i> novels, <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/06/space-1999-alien-seed-novel.html" target="_blank">Alien Seed</a> (which is excellent). I’ve also reviewed another <i>Space: 1999</i> novel, John Rankine’s <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/10/space-1999-android-planet-tie-in-novel.html" target="_blank">Android Planet</a> (which is quite good).<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-28838187635584154872023-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:002023-12-03T13:57:59.537-08:00The Saint in colour, part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5M_YNVe1ghdna9FUutHdHgyDTSo03IliEjlAkWQlR6_hrgTd8jhZrONRcJuCD2Z0T-4-0TA_eudUxqqr3KYjc-PpcbdNvTw5ghiJhsrgGFhEoFx_WJTGZsPTMq3YGsYppbTZQ5fk3s0aa5dRTY2OXPOvGLPWoNFy9jZy98ZAa1IVh8SciLnyDfEGfKo/s468/SaintFlightPlan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="468" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5M_YNVe1ghdna9FUutHdHgyDTSo03IliEjlAkWQlR6_hrgTd8jhZrONRcJuCD2Z0T-4-0TA_eudUxqqr3KYjc-PpcbdNvTw5ghiJhsrgGFhEoFx_WJTGZsPTMq3YGsYppbTZQ5fk3s0aa5dRTY2OXPOvGLPWoNFy9jZy98ZAa1IVh8SciLnyDfEGfKo/s320/SaintFlightPlan2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A few selected episodes from the colour era of <i>The Saint</i>. I slightly prefer the black-and-white episodes but there was plenty of fun to be had in the colour seasons as well.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Locate and Destroy</span></u><br /><br /><i>Locate and Destroy</i> (scripted by John Stanton and directed by Leslie Norman) went to air in December 1966.<br /><br /><i>Locate and Destroy</i> begins with what seems to be an attempted hold-up in an art dealer’s shop in Lima, Peru. Simon Templar naturally just happens to be on hand and foils the robbery. Except that it wasn’t a robbery. This much is obvious to the Saint. He decides that he’d like to find out what was really going on. The fact that it’s none of his business is merely an added attraction. In fact what is really going on is a bit too obvious from the start, and the story relies on too many clumsy clichéd narrow escapes. <br /><br />This one is a bit disappointing. It’s not terrible, it’s just very average.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>The Better Mouse Trap</u></span><br /><br /><i>The Better Mouse Trap</i> (scripted by Leigh Vance and directed by Gordon Flemyng) screened in November 1966. <br /><br />The Saint is in Cannes and of course crime has followed him there, in the shape of a series of daring jewel robberies. Naturally the police assume Simon is the thief. They always do. <div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XPtJBDqpVrlZQ3_AlpExKT5NwAqwlIHQpA-cdNe2U2a_0LxT5RkjcGcVRy5HfrVaWF8ZGTUqJ1K2o1wlaO-eddfj5ZryaflZ95op_EKDZqSV-0RL9-6-oH3HPtVc2usVlAG-ZMbX5Vam_27vr2fs6bBwLlgBSdAk8VmSu6kIGYx7dvZhOW7-FpvaG3s/s469/SaintLocateAndDestroy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="469" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XPtJBDqpVrlZQ3_AlpExKT5NwAqwlIHQpA-cdNe2U2a_0LxT5RkjcGcVRy5HfrVaWF8ZGTUqJ1K2o1wlaO-eddfj5ZryaflZ95op_EKDZqSV-0RL9-6-oH3HPtVc2usVlAG-ZMbX5Vam_27vr2fs6bBwLlgBSdAk8VmSu6kIGYx7dvZhOW7-FpvaG3s/s320/SaintLocateAndDestroy1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And naturally this adventure involves a woman, a Canadian. The thieves are trying to cover their tracks by framing Simon.<br /><br />As often happens in Simon’s adventures the woman is somewhat ambiguous. The viewer certainly has plenty of reason to suspect that she’s mixed up in the robberies.<br /><br />This is very much a stock-standard <i>Saint</i> episode, enlivened by a comic turn by Ronnie Barker as a bumbling French policeman. There’s the usual stock footage to convince us we’re in the south of France. <br /><br />Nothing special, but it’s executed competently.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Little Girl Lost</span></u><br /><br /><i>Little Girl Lost</i> (scripted by Leigh Vance and directed by Roy Ward Baker) went to air in December 1966.<br /><br />Simon is in Ireland where he rescues a young woman from a couple of thugs. The woman claims to be Hitler’s daughter! Simon is sure she’s either mad or lying but he likes a good story and she is pretty and it all sounds like it could be an amusing adventure.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivm22phyHMALiN4du2ZLFL_3CWTcv0oj2YY_BNMC-2jP1Iwlx8PfuWJ9XP5My0jVc9DtQfMRPVZ_HfiZiYtIZscHwht9xvy5AW-N9g_9SGhqeYG6_NMWYeUusLHmZGnlg_SmuZrjtBf6Fx82dDuZdyv8HwMAw6r132kD9QWPJmYG77pGsz-wX9hm_YCzM/s546/SaintLittleGirlLost1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="546" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivm22phyHMALiN4du2ZLFL_3CWTcv0oj2YY_BNMC-2jP1Iwlx8PfuWJ9XP5My0jVc9DtQfMRPVZ_HfiZiYtIZscHwht9xvy5AW-N9g_9SGhqeYG6_NMWYeUusLHmZGnlg_SmuZrjtBf6Fx82dDuZdyv8HwMAw6r132kD9QWPJmYG77pGsz-wX9hm_YCzM/s320/SaintLittleGirlLost1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>There’s a millionaire mixed up in it and a couple of crooked private detectives, Simon and the girl get chased through the countryside and there’s young love thwarted and a matter of a hundred thousand pounds. And quite a bit of fisticuffs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, and there’s a castle and a dungeon as well.<br /><br />All in all this is a delightful light-hearted romp.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Paper Chase</span></u><br /><br /><i>Paper Chase</i> (directed by Leslie Norman and written by Harry W. Junkin and Michael Cramoy) went to air in December 1966. <br /><br />A chap named Redmond from the Foreign Office has defected to East Germany taking with him a vital file. Simon gets inveigled into working temporarily for British intelligence since he can identify the defector. But it’s not as simple as that. The East German spy who was Redmond’s contact wasn’t what he seemed to be. And Redmond finds he’s been conned.<br /><br />There’s also a pretty girl (naturally). She’d like to go to London with Redmond. Or with Simon. Or with anybody who’ll take her.<br /><br />This story gives Roger Moore a chance to do the James Bond thing which of course he does pretty well. There’s a lot more action than usual and some decent suspense. <br /><br />All in all this is a pretty good spy thriller episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Flight Plan</span></u><br /><br /><i>Flight Plan</i> (directed by Roy Ward Baker and scripted by Alfred Shaughnessy) went to air in December 1966.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgkSlSmkjs7zFqD9DMZh7h39bvyQI9Z9FKH3xzmIrIiRoaeuRa6itfdVzE5FBDRKkvfhcJ7L4E2AfL0ez9ymZOJJqb8g3lnNv9nS-3Mi7imG7wbCYmmPWENcnuVuTkhOCIKzEvtSzrIg3WfkmqXiTyyiiTzBr4KflFjJPDCO2bbL-7pSNdOhPOACipxI/s489/SaintPaperChase2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="489" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgkSlSmkjs7zFqD9DMZh7h39bvyQI9Z9FKH3xzmIrIiRoaeuRa6itfdVzE5FBDRKkvfhcJ7L4E2AfL0ez9ymZOJJqb8g3lnNv9nS-3Mi7imG7wbCYmmPWENcnuVuTkhOCIKzEvtSzrIg3WfkmqXiTyyiiTzBr4KflFjJPDCO2bbL-7pSNdOhPOACipxI/s320/SaintPaperChase2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Diana Gregory (Fiona Lewis) arrives in London to meet her brother Mike but a phoney nun tries to kidnap her. Luckily when a damsel is in distress you can be sure that Simon Templar will be at hand to rescue her. But then there’s another mystery - her brother, an R.A.F. pilot, is nowhere to be found.<br /><br />Mike had been one of the pilots testing the new top-secret British fighter the Osprey (which appears to be the supersonic version of the Harrier that was planned at one stage) and it doesn’t take Simon long to figure out that there’s some kind of plot afoot involving that aircraft. Mike turns out to be a bit of a loose cannon, being a drunkard who passes bad cheques. Just the sort of person who get mixed up in an espionage plot.<br /><br />This is a decent spy thriller episode with the added bonus of aerial adventure (although the aerial stuff is of course almost entirely stock footage). William Gaunt (from <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-champions-1968.html" target="_blank">The Champion</a>s) plays Mike.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br />Five episodes, two of them a bit on the routine side but three of them very good.<br /></div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-12541014813083968312023-10-31T06:36:00.002-07:002023-10-31T06:39:30.469-07:00Callan Uncovered<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGluxmbTTfr86M6M23e4TXyFJ5ytIrGw3sYxRmcIGFPDISl4FmLb2a1FkUg-21xkyVbMbh5BQ5KXEtv1AQNiTAjXnODehrVXRS5Ub3cegtXY1agV_Wwx4jUsHV_hYY-seq6whMJkHoWXJNtjo91EBfHCyBhnCkVdBfpAYD6Cym015IXzVYjznE-_HC/s1360/Callan%20Uncovered1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGluxmbTTfr86M6M23e4TXyFJ5ytIrGw3sYxRmcIGFPDISl4FmLb2a1FkUg-21xkyVbMbh5BQ5KXEtv1AQNiTAjXnODehrVXRS5Ub3cegtXY1agV_Wwx4jUsHV_hYY-seq6whMJkHoWXJNtjo91EBfHCyBhnCkVdBfpAYD6Cym015IXzVYjznE-_HC/s320/Callan%20Uncovered1.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><i>Callan Uncovered</i> is a collection of the Callan short stories written by James Mitchell. Mitchell was the creator and main scriptwriter for <i>Callan</i>, probably the most acclaimed TV spy series of all time. The book also includes a complete script for an episode that was never made plus a treatment for another unmade episode.<br /><br />The first of the stories (a Christmas assassination tale) was written for TV Times in 1967, shortly after David Callan made his screen debut in <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/10/callan-magnum-for-schneider-1967.html" target="_blank">A Magnum for Schneider</a> and at about the time that the <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/10/callan-monochrome-years-1967-69.html" target="_blank">first season of Callan</a> started airing. The other twenty-four short stories appeared in the Sunday Express over the next few years.<br /><br /><i>Callan</i> was a spy series that was character rather than plot-driven. The focus was on the psychology of British government assassin David Callan, a killer who no longer enjoyed killing. There’s also an emphasis on the fact that Callan’s victims are not just targets. They are real people. They have wives, and daughters. They have the normal human hopes and fears. In order to carry out his assignments Callan has to get close to his victims which makes it impossible not to see them as real people.<br /><br />The problem with these stories is that they were written for newspaper publication and they therefore are fairly short short stories with not a lot of scope for characterisation. In fact some of the stories are really just vignettes. They’re mood pieces. They do however manage to capture the cynical seedy paranoid atmosphere of the series.<br /><br />I’m assuming that these stories are reprinted in roughly the order in which they were written. I suspect that this is so because the quality of the stories gradually improves. It seems as if Mitchell took a while to get a handle on the very short story format. The first half dozen stories are pretty then but after that Mitchell really hits his stride and gives us some very punchy, twisted, dark and cynical tales.<br /><br />In fact the mood is more cynical than the TV series. The whole point of the TV series is that in the Cold War the good guys weren’t much better than the bad guys. In these stories it’s hard not to see the British intelligence services as out-and-out bad guys. This is the British government not just assassinating foreign agents but brutally murdering British citizens who are often quite innocent merely because their existence is potentially inconvenient to the government. It’s pretty chilling stuff. Hunter is sinister and creepy enough in the TV series but in some of these stories he is clearly evil, and it’s the worst sort of evil, the evil that cloaks itself in high principles which in reality are nothing more than expediency.<br /><br />Mitchell takes the opportunity to do the occasional quirky story which would not have worked on TV. A story like <i>File on a Careful Cowboy</i> would have come across as slightly surreal on TV and that’s not consistent with the overall tone of the series.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Stories</span></u><br /><br />In <i>File on a Deadly Deadshot</i> six men enjoying a weekend of shooting. One is the intended target of an assassin. One of the others is the assassin, and Callan has to find out which one. There’s a bit of an attempt in this story to flesh out the Callan-Hunter relationship.<br /><br />In <i>File on an Angry Artist</i> Callan gets a surveillance job. A struggling artist with a major anger problem may be in possession of top-secret documents.<br /><br />In <i>File on a Reckless Rider</i> it seems like members of a fox hunt are being targeted but maybe there’s more to it.<br /><br /><i>File on a Weeping Widow</i> is better developed than most of these stories. The widow of a racing car driver is suspected of espionage but the suspicions are very vague. It’s enough to get her a Red File, but Hunter is prepared to be convinced that she’s clean. Callan’s job is to find evidence to clear her. Callan gets personally involved, in fact he falls in love with the woman. Hunter isn’t totally heartless. If she turns out to be a spy he won’t ask Callan to kill her. He’ll get Meres to do it instead.<br /><br /><i>File on an Angry Actor </i>presents Callan with a rather unusual assignment. It’s not often that the Section’s target for assassination is a famous movie star. Callan gets a job working on the star’s latest movie and Lonely gets work as an extra.<br /><br /><i>File on a Lucky Lady</i> is the most successful of the stories so far. Callan has to keep a rich girl alive and unharmed. Hunter fears she may be kidnapped in order to put pressure on here fabulously wealthy father. There’s a bit more action and excitement in this story.<br /><br /><i>File on a Dancing Decoy</i> introduces Callan to the world of ballet. A Russian ballerina defected a while back but why was it so easy for her? Is she being used?<br /><br />The diary concerned in <i>File on a Deadly Diary</i> was kept by the late husband of Lady Black. Diaries of important people are always likely to prove embarrassing to someone. In this case there are lots of nasty people who want the diary. Some want to publish it. Some want to suppress it. Including some unexpected interested groups. <br /><br /><i>File on a Classy Club</i>. The club is a gambling club. Very exclusive. Callan finds he is now a member. His assignment is to lose money. Lots of money. He assumes Hunter has some good reason wanting this to happen but in this case there are several important things that Hunter does not know. And if there’s one thing that upsets Hunter it’s things happening that he doesn’t know about.<br /><br />Callan finds himself at a health farm in File on a Fearsome Farm, which isn’t much fun except for the dishy Natasha Biscayne. <br /><br /><i>File on a Careful Cowboy</i> takes Callan to the Wild West. Well actually it’s a dude ranch in the south of France. A senior Mafiosi likes to live out gunslinger fantasies. Callan and Meres find themselves having to enact a classic western showdown scene. <br /><br />Sometimes Callan’s job involves killing people but sometimes it requires him to keep someone alive, and sometimes that’s even more unpleasant. That’s the case in <i>File on a Doomed Defector</i>, the defector being someone who richly deserves killing.<br /><br />In <i>File on a Pining Poet</i> Callan discovers that even economists can fall in love, but sometimes important economists fall in love with KGB agents. <br /><br /><i>File on a Powerful Picador</i> gets Callan mixed up with matadors and picadors and dangerous women.<br /><br /><i>File on a Difficult Don</i> takes Callan to Oxford. A brilliant young don who breaks codes for the Section is causing Hunter a good deal of concern. The East Germans might be about to snatch him. Callan has to pose as a military historian, which he does quite successfully. But he may have misread the situation pertaining to that troublesome don.<br /><br /><i>File on a Darling Daughter</i> involves a general and his junkie daughter and a drug-pusher who is mixed up in espionage. Meres gets the opportunity to indulge his tastes for sadism and torture.<br /><br />Callan hates working with amateurs and in <i>File on an Awesome Amateur</i> that’s just what he has to do. He’s also not sure why a poet should be so important. Nice to see the CIA as the bad guys in this one.<br /><br /><i>File on a Joyous Juliet</i> deals with a pretty young actress who is having an affair with an older married man. That older man just happens to have developed a horrifying new nerve gas. And he has a possessive wife. All of which makes Hunter very nervous. <br /><br /><i>File on a Mourning Mother</i> involves a young man, now deceased, who had a secret. In fat several secrets. What matters to Hunter is how many other people shared these little secrets. A very dark cynical story.<br /><br />Dealing with the KGB is hard enough but in <i>File on an Angry American</i> Hunter has the CIA to deal with and that’s much trickier. And Hunter doesn’t like the idea of the CIA killing people in Britain. There’s another reason that Hunter is very unhappy about this case, as Callan will find out.<br /><br />In <i>File on a Deadly Don</i> Callan has to kill a mafiosi on his home turf. It’s a job he’d rather not take on but Hunter has private reasons for wanting this kill.<br /><br />In <i>File on a Tired Traitor</i> Hunter wants Callan to bring in Alfred Dawes, accused of treason twenty-seven years earlier. It seems that for a lot of people the past cannot stay buried.<br /><br /><i>File on a Harassed Hunter</i> takes Hunter out of the office, in fact for this case he plays the part of Callan’s sidekick. And he hasn’t forgotten how to use a gun. This is one of several stories which give us tantalising glimpses into Hunter’s personal life.<br /><br /><i>File on a Beautiful Boxer</i> concerns rich playboy Rod Mercer who designs marine engines. The Israelis bought some and decided they were faulty, so they’re going to kill him. The Admiralty likes the engines and wants Mercer kept alive, so it’s Callan’s job to make sure he stays alive. A nice little story.<br /><br /><i>Goodbye Mary Lee</i> is the unmade script. It would be interesting to know when it was written. Hunter is several times referred to as Colonel Hunter, which only happens in the early episodes which suggests it’s an early script. Callan appears to have left the Section. Meres is mentioned, but doesn’t appear in the story. It’s hard to guess just where this episode was intended to be slotted in.<br /><br />Callan has fallen in love with an American senator’s daughter who just happens to be mixed up in every fashionable radical cause going. And she may have involved herself in espionage.<br /><br />The CIA wants Hunter to get the girl, Mary Lee, out of the way (not killed, you can’t go around killing senators’ daughters). Hunter has no idea that Mary Lee has a boyfriend, and his name is David Callan.<br /><br />There are lots of double-crosses in this episode as Callan tries desperately to keep his new lady love out of trouble. He’s hoping he won’t have to kill anybody. It’s a typically cynical <i>Callan</i> episode content-wise.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br />There was a <i>Callan</i> movie, a somewhat later TV-movie, several novels and these short stories but Callan always worked best as a TV series. TV in the late 60s/early 70s was the perfect medium for creating the enclosed paranoid seedy atmosphere that the series required. <br /><br />But having said that the short stories are enjoyable and interesting in being even more cynical than the series. Highly recommended.<br /><br />I've also reviewed the Callan novel <a href="https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2016/09/james-mitchells-russian-roulette.html" target="_blank">Russian Roulette</a>.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-48018769881972842872023-09-25T02:07:00.000-07:002023-09-25T02:07:24.521-07:00The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966-67), part two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LmFiwfJl0HjMP5n0nxUNagm0_5RjuKXcJvwYtgs4nQzKdkpWZQzhFb1SdDisWnuhVfMc2KwrwXrFVEL-q8HYYfa4prN4J7sfbpGcCll4HTZTU1YYptKaPW0ssbk1QglpK8YWfp_UFHdDQaIRE-AoMKE_AvWuD17fOZMSOTG3F9fgeGJAqIjknqTY4m4/s612/Girl%20From%20Uncle%20pt%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LmFiwfJl0HjMP5n0nxUNagm0_5RjuKXcJvwYtgs4nQzKdkpWZQzhFb1SdDisWnuhVfMc2KwrwXrFVEL-q8HYYfa4prN4J7sfbpGcCll4HTZTU1YYptKaPW0ssbk1QglpK8YWfp_UFHdDQaIRE-AoMKE_AvWuD17fOZMSOTG3F9fgeGJAqIjknqTY4m4/s320/Girl%20From%20Uncle%20pt%202.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>Of all the girl spies of 1960s television I think April Dancer may well be the one with the coolest name ever (which is not surprising since it was Ian Fleming who came up with the name at the time when he was involved in the initial planning for <i>The Man From U.N.C.L.E.</i>). April Dancer was of course <i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E</i><b>.</b>, which was a spin-off from the highly successful series <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> Unfortunately by the time it went into production the decision (a very bad decision) had been made to turn <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E</i>. into pretty much a pure parody camp-fest<i> and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> got the same treatment. So April Dancer never really had much of a chance.<br /><br />I watched a handful of episodes of <i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> a few years back (and I’d seen quite a few episodes years ago) and I wrote about the series here but was inclined to be a bit dismissive. Having just watched the episode of <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> that introduced the character I thought I should at least briefly revisit <i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i><br /><br />One of the odder thing about this series (and this applies to a considerable extent to <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> also) is that many of the stories are set in tiny feudal European statelets ruled by princes and grand dukes that seem straight out of The Prisoner of Zenda or the adventure stories of <a href="https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014/06/dornford-yates-blood-royal.html" target="_blank">Dornford Yates</a>. It’s a world that had ceased to exist long before the 1960s but it does give the series an intriguingly old-fashioned flavour.<br /><br />Stefanie Powers took over the title rôle for the series. One thing that soon becomes evident is that April Dancer is not really a kickass action heroine. That may have been a major factor in the failure of the series. Personally I like the fact that April is a fairly realistic female spy - she relies on her wits and her feminine wiles rather than her martial arts skills (of which she has very few).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIP2cjYncvZlKz4ePSdP05BZaroCJXGBHQiAQVO3IRGmRBPHYn5ipfaOwLJJzUW6dSHmlsqWg2vmXITKcjnHhxlTIqVxBJtapyl8zjWHR7BZ-iZN8kY7FyuZywbh97Emn-LqCUPf8kRUCxSHzzye448-49TF4tEFKKtOCEIIc7g9I4PKjNwFUWHDMh-8/s720/GirlFromUNCLE2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIP2cjYncvZlKz4ePSdP05BZaroCJXGBHQiAQVO3IRGmRBPHYn5ipfaOwLJJzUW6dSHmlsqWg2vmXITKcjnHhxlTIqVxBJtapyl8zjWHR7BZ-iZN8kY7FyuZywbh97Emn-LqCUPf8kRUCxSHzzye448-49TF4tEFKKtOCEIIc7g9I4PKjNwFUWHDMh-8/s320/GirlFromUNCLE2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The series had some very good moments and some very bad moments. It might be best to dispose of some of those bad moments first.<br /><br /><i>The Paradise Lost Affair</i> is an outstanding example of the series at its absolute worst. For most of the episode the spy thriller plot is totally forgotten in favour of a mixture of slapstick and bedroom farce in the South Seas. But if you’re going to aim for out-and-out comedy you need actual gags. Having people in silly costumes running about and shouting isn’t enough. And the actual gags just aren’t there. And since there’s virtually no spy thriller story here the unfortunate result is that there’s just no entertainment value whatsoever.<br /><i><br />The Faustus Affair</i> and <i>The Drublegratz Affair</i> both illustrate the pernicious influence of Batman and the network’s incredibly ill-advised decision to try to make the series more like <i>Batman</i>. The episodes with the strongest <i>Batman</i> influence are the worst episodes by far. Fortunately not every episode was afflicted by the <i>Batman</i> curse.<br /><br />There are other episodes that are basically good but with a few weaknesses, such as <i>The Garden of Evil Affair</i>. An ancient evil cult has devised a means of restoring to life the founder of their cult, but they need a direct descendant of the founder and they believe that such a descendant, a young woman, is to be found in Berlin. The cult has been working with THRUSH but now they’re planning a double-cross - they want all the power for themselves.<br /><br />This story suffers a little from the unfortunate tendency of the series often to try too hard to be zany and campy, especially in the middle with the rather pointless sub-plot about filming a western in Berlin and the rather silly slapstick chase sequence. Aside from this the story isn’t too bad, the THRUSH agents are a pack of delightful villains, the sets are good and there’s plenty of action.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREFwGg-yNHGd1HlJCpsl2KQe4jng49HarF2hkIKjtMp7OVsoK9oZNsiYuoIZA42_9cLSS3w3hSmnVtkpeE747r2tkuwramiP2IBJh2xJYtmeDbLaXxJl85OpNpRrE-fie__nN30JBpgmtGioHMz_ITQO1Ekrd-4z9_WZg4nhLuDUtrzPAXZlshTiNFKI/s720/GirlFromUNCLE1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREFwGg-yNHGd1HlJCpsl2KQe4jng49HarF2hkIKjtMp7OVsoK9oZNsiYuoIZA42_9cLSS3w3hSmnVtkpeE747r2tkuwramiP2IBJh2xJYtmeDbLaXxJl85OpNpRrE-fie__nN30JBpgmtGioHMz_ITQO1Ekrd-4z9_WZg4nhLuDUtrzPAXZlshTiNFKI/s320/GirlFromUNCLE1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Luckily there are those good moments, and when this series was good it was very good. And the good episodes do outnumber the bad ones by a very hefty margin.<br /><br /><i>The Atlantis Affair</i> was written by Richard Matheson, one of the great television writers, so it’s no surprise that it’s a very strong episode. It has lots of fun ingredients. There’s a crazy professor searching for the entrance to the lost continent of Atlantis, there are crystals that could destroy the world, there’s an eccentric Frenchman who has recreated the aristocratic lifestyle of the 17th century on a Caribbean island, and there are the usual THRUSH goons. There’s some nice location shooting and some decent sets. It works because it goes for a subtly surreal feel rather than high camp, and the action scenes are played for thrills rather than slapstick. It works because it feels inspired rather than contrived. It’s far-fetched but it never descends into mere silliness.<br /><br />This is also a story that gives April Dancer a decent fight scene. She might not have the usual martial arts skills but it turns out she’s a pretty good fencer, which is handy when you’re up against a 17th century villain.<br /><br />If only the entire series had been as good as <i>The Atlantis Affair</i> then NBC might have had a hit on their hands rather than a flop.<br /><br /><i>The Lethal Eagle Affair</i> is very nearly as good. It’s outlandish but it does have an actual spy thriller plot. Gita Volander is a senior THRUSH agent who has forcibly retired but now she’s come up with a scheme to put herself back into THRUSH’s good books. She has found a scientist who has devised a machine that can transport living things instantaneously by dematerialising them at one point and rematerialising them somewhere else. April and Mark Slate have infiltrated her operation. The Viennese setting provides some nice period charm. There are some effective moments - April tied to the top of a car and being attacked by an eagle is certainly an opening scene that is guaranteed to get the audience’s attention. It’s fast-paced, fairly exciting, it has some witty moments and the action finale is amusingly over-the-top.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCp9y6OGpYGrGF9CkxOKgeQgX9fFFrjhBJP9Dl7EKFLMsu9QOyHC1YCEUuh8h7ypmFjp5oRCZKgOQKsjzuT8fTur39mNAHZk3iT_iuLb9FaWWEPwVnjYfxoKioUizLJ3G6gjuTz_iJSnFhtd7rwvzWRp954u4-Gc0tHToax60jebuR8cvd25m0P-OIEQ/s720/GirlFromUNCLE4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCp9y6OGpYGrGF9CkxOKgeQgX9fFFrjhBJP9Dl7EKFLMsu9QOyHC1YCEUuh8h7ypmFjp5oRCZKgOQKsjzuT8fTur39mNAHZk3iT_iuLb9FaWWEPwVnjYfxoKioUizLJ3G6gjuTz_iJSnFhtd7rwvzWRp954u4-Gc0tHToax60jebuR8cvd25m0P-OIEQ/s320/GirlFromUNCLE4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>The Romany Lie Affair</i> April has to infiltrate a circus and arouses the enmity of a gypsy girl which gives April one of her better fight scenes. The episode overall shows that given a good script Stefanie Powers was a decent actress. This is one of the best episodes of the entire series.<br /><br /><i>The Little John Doe Affair</i> gets April mixed up with a mobster and a wonderfully creepy assassin. The easy assassination scene is superbly done. This is the series at its best - slightly strange and surreal but without degenerating into camp or silliness. A great episode.<br /><br /><i>The Furnace Flats Affair </i>takes April and Mark to the Wild West. April has to compete in a bizarre race against two other girls, each of whom has to cross Death Valley with a horse, a canteen of water and a bottle of whiskey. One of the other competitors is a murderous psychopath. It’s a very amusing romp with Ruth Roman chewing the scenery to great effect. <br /><br /><i>The Low Blue C Affair</i> has a bit of a Ruritanian flavour to it. A gangster is trying to murder his way to the throne of a tiny principality which happens to have one major asset - an extremely profitable casino. The only way to stop him is to persuade his cousin, a female major in a religious charity that bears an extraordinary resemblance to the Salvation Army, to exercise her right to the throne. Of course the gangster will try to kill her to close off this threat. Broderick Crawford has a lot of fun as the strangely likeable gangster. It’s quite a good episode, with the campiness kept under strict control.<br /><br /><i>The Petit Prix Affair</i> is rather confusing to say the least. April and Mark are in a small French village where a go-kart race is about to take place, but the race is being used as a cover for a plan to snatch a million dollars from an armoured car. The plan is to be carried out by students at a school for commandos and the money is to be returned afterwards. The mastermind of the plan, Professor Plato Pamplempousse, also intends to explode a bomb, but the bomb in question dates from the Franco-Prussian War so it’s almost a hundred years old. The Professor also hopes to run away with Desiree, a former Resistance heroine who like the rest of the school seems to be still living in the past.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6RDxPm-fcCzendJeXTicXJ2pN6S0hjJ-75HbO0NtfhM0dN9QuTGoY9OM-RzFCNGe6_Gk55JXFH8-Mqm_l9RltDjSACNrpPgr0z6HhGjSSVbuVX6sbgPUKiSqbnr7O7fxya4E2XPp2Bv77kqj37va712CPyTSuvYtc-oOVwUVym4zyrjPx3N8gj9F_qk/s717/GirlFromUNCLE5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="717" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6RDxPm-fcCzendJeXTicXJ2pN6S0hjJ-75HbO0NtfhM0dN9QuTGoY9OM-RzFCNGe6_Gk55JXFH8-Mqm_l9RltDjSACNrpPgr0z6HhGjSSVbuVX6sbgPUKiSqbnr7O7fxya4E2XPp2Bv77kqj37va712CPyTSuvYtc-oOVwUVym4zyrjPx3N8gj9F_qk/s320/GirlFromUNCLE5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Mostly it’s an excuse for outrageous and wildly exaggerated phoney French accents, and for generally indulging in mocking every stereotype of the French. Even including, rather daringly, making fun of the Resistance. It’s an episode that tries very hard to be zany, and succeeds at least moderately well. And it’s all quite good-natured.<br /><br /><i>The Phi Beta Killer Affair</i> actually deals with a poker game. The richest poker game in history, with the stakes in the billions. The real problem is that the players’ bodyguards, all trained at the same bodyguard school, have been programmed for assassination. Mark and April have to infiltrate the bodyguard school and then infiltrate the poker game. The opening scene is an amusing version of the assassination of Julius Caesar but with gangsters. The episode features a couple of over-the-top villains. It’s all comic book stuff but enjoyable.<br /><br /><i>The Double-O-Nothing Affair</i> uses a device that was used a lot in the first season of <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> - a well-meaning innocent bystander who gets caught in the middle of some nefarious THRUSH plot. In this case it’s a nerdy accountant who comes into possession of a tape that holds the secret to the location of THRUSH’s New York headquarters. In this one the camp and spoof elements are kept within bounds. Not a bad episode.<br /><br /><i>The U.N.C.L.E. Samurai Affair</i> takes Mark and April to Honolulu, their mission being to track down a Japanese war criminal. His sister is heading up some mysterious THRUSH operation in Hawaii. Mark poses as a surfer, the fact that he appears not to be able to surf being apparently not considered to be a potential problem. This is one of the episodes that strikes the right balance, being just outrageous enough to be amusing without veering too far into parody. Signe Hasso was Swedish so naturally she was an obvious choice to play a Japanese super-criminal. Quite entertaining.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GTnAV5uI_6XAeTljXb0qyXkyNWYirgXr7iQDhIC2e9gdX81whTDNPGUEjWp3uGdFGivp6u7s-b2zdil5Xncfwt21Ht7bJE3vlid-EHOmGvUnpTGYAh-1T_x73eUmKGrdrtgBMdd04VvuRyJetrfRt4J2qtM1Q1y2XmBSGnERvUVNBxEKDyzMK7IjQZE/s717/GirlFromUNCLE6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="717" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GTnAV5uI_6XAeTljXb0qyXkyNWYirgXr7iQDhIC2e9gdX81whTDNPGUEjWp3uGdFGivp6u7s-b2zdil5Xncfwt21Ht7bJE3vlid-EHOmGvUnpTGYAh-1T_x73eUmKGrdrtgBMdd04VvuRyJetrfRt4J2qtM1Q1y2XmBSGnERvUVNBxEKDyzMK7IjQZE/s320/GirlFromUNCLE6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>The High and the Deadly Affair</i> THRUSH scientist Dr Merek has developed a deadly new chemical for which he has sinister plans. His first step is likely to be the assassination of the scientist who has developed the antidote. This may take place on a flight from London to Ankara so April goes undercover as a Mesopotamian Airlines stewardess, while Mark poses as a blustering big game hunter. The plot revolves around the problem with the two U.N.C.L.E. agents not only do not know which passenger is the evil mad scientist, they also don’t know which passenger is his intended victim. And it’s all rather fun. A very good episode.<br /><br />In <i>The Kooky Spook Affair</i> an assassin is gunning for April while Mark discovers he is now the 14th Earl of Maddington. His newly inherited country house seems like a good place for April to hide out. But there isn’t just one dastardly plot afoot - there are no less than three and everyone at Maddington Manor seems to have murder in mind. A fun episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br /><i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> had a lot of potential. Stefanie Powers and Noel Harrison were a slightly quirky pairing that worked rather well. They have very good chemistry - there’s some romantic chemistry but there’s also an affectionate playfulness between the two characters. They’re both adept at light comedy. They both have charm and they’re both likeable. Noel Harrison is particularly good - he’s a very unconventional TV spy but in an interesting way. <br /><br />If only this series had appeared a year earlier and had been done completely in the style of the first season of <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> it might well have been a success. <i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> went to air about six months after <i>The Avengers</i> made its American TV debut. It does have the occasional clever and surreal moments but it never quite achieves the consistent wit and style of The Avengers. <br /><br /><i>The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> does have an odd flavour of its own, it has likeable leads and it has plenty of genuinely very good moments. Despite its faults I just can’t bring myself to dislike this series and I’m going to recommend it. In fact I’m going to highly recommend it.<br /><br />Only 29 episodes were made but it did spawn a series of original spin-off novels several of which I’ve reviewed, including <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-girl-from-uncle-global-globules.html" target="_blank">The Global Globules Affair</a>, <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-girl-from-uncle-golden-boats-of.html" target="_blank">The Golden Boats of Taradata Affair</a> and <a href=" https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-girl-from-uncle-birds-of-feather.html" target="_blank">The Birds of a Feather Affair</a>.<br /><br />I’ve reviewed The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode which introduced April Dancer, <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-man-from-uncle-moonglow-affair.html" target="_blank">The Moonglow Affair</a>.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-16773437242610545222023-09-01T19:28:00.000-07:002023-09-01T19:28:17.948-07:00Dick Tracy TV series (1950-51)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthw5ECO2umJjrgrJoySH-6hlqeWtDSHYcWLxEzuiTcI9pl6YccpcT3St9vCW1rp-GLwYRLR7HeKrsyqM6z0CB78OJTJabG7-Z74x3Ia5OXH-xzQ_l9-INXw8YaaKSdvziIDjHYAayMWSZH9uCjJ0F31JVsfJT_gRiVbR0QULjzxHathomIORGQZmtqfY/s577/DickTracyTV2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="577" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthw5ECO2umJjrgrJoySH-6hlqeWtDSHYcWLxEzuiTcI9pl6YccpcT3St9vCW1rp-GLwYRLR7HeKrsyqM6z0CB78OJTJabG7-Z74x3Ia5OXH-xzQ_l9-INXw8YaaKSdvziIDjHYAayMWSZH9uCjJ0F31JVsfJT_gRiVbR0QULjzxHathomIORGQZmtqfY/s320/DickTracyTV2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The VCI boxed set containing all three Republic Dick Tracy serials (and I’m a huge fan of movie serials) which I bought recently includes as a bonus an episode of the 1950-51 <i>Dick Tracy</i> TV series which aired on the ABC network. It's a series I had never seen. <br /><br />The episode in question is <i>Hi-Jack</i>, episode 16 of season one.<br /><br />I don’t consider myself a huge Dick Tracy fan but I love the Republic serials and the 1940s RKO Dick Tracy movies so I guess maybe I am a bit of a Dick Tracy fan after all.<br /><br />The episode was a disappointment, but it is an interesting example of some of the problems of very very early TV crime drama series. American television was developing rapidly and by 1955 was starting to become reasonably sophisticated, but series from the early 50s do tend to be clunky.<br /><br />There were reasons for this. The half-hour TV drama is a distinctive format of its own, quite different from one-hour dramas and feature films. There was a real art to writing a successful half-hour drama. You really had to plunge the viewer straight into the action and you had to get on with it. It was essential not to waste time on sub-plots or irrelevant scenes that failed to advance the action. You would probably only have time for one major plot twist so it had to be a good one.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4XQn-SQ5WI9NFgB-CnkZuJRUI-3UvSjOuISno8Qx0GWuJiu9VTR0c3DRB08hfKXQsmNZRDPtNQY3xlWr5tCrUw8M4WZfSDRDGRnQGFxXaMxX3CQGS0qsds4SrPPvCTAHEpnNkChoPj9sddkS_GOk9-cOAlYAOtztWpZQn2Wn1n7iTLldfvCmEJ94Haw/s577/DickTracyTV4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="577" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4XQn-SQ5WI9NFgB-CnkZuJRUI-3UvSjOuISno8Qx0GWuJiu9VTR0c3DRB08hfKXQsmNZRDPtNQY3xlWr5tCrUw8M4WZfSDRDGRnQGFxXaMxX3CQGS0qsds4SrPPvCTAHEpnNkChoPj9sddkS_GOk9-cOAlYAOtztWpZQn2Wn1n7iTLldfvCmEJ94Haw/s320/DickTracyTV4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s hardly surprising that in 1950 these rules were not yet fully understood. Hi-Jack wastes a lot of time early on with a long boring completely irrelevant dialogue scene with no connection at all to the story. Once we get into the action there’s just not quite enough plot and there are no major twists. Even at a half hour it drags a bit.<br /><br />The plot, such as it is, concerns a car-stealing racket. Which is a rather mundane case for someone like Dick Tracy (at least it would be a very mundane case for the Dick Tracy of the serials and the RKO movies). The bad guys are switching the engine and chassis numbers on stolen cars and they’re also planning to double-cross each other.<br /><br />The villain is unfortunately rather colourless.<br /><br />Another problem with early 50s U.S. TV is that it looks stodgy. This was possibly due more than anything else to the limitations of the medium at that time. TV sets had very small screens and picture quality was not good. There was little point in trying for artistic lighting effects or imaginative framing (even if there had been time for such luxuries which there wasn’t). Sets were very basic. These early TV shows looked cheap.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnemUYyhp5yX7xPEdDWcx6bzC5emyRxu6-efy8aWg9tL7O9Ws0T0Tl5XqheB9vn0e4LioK-GK-AHFIyo5Xa2ijYkLxO6smVe5IDY0zIfNaqBnXfRFBBD0H6fXwAltoIxpfpL7CWSVLNtYDw35v9Yu7T-dFTDrnCk4M-0s777gLeRgVqtO-PoZAUyU6uc/s577/DickTracyTV3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="577" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnemUYyhp5yX7xPEdDWcx6bzC5emyRxu6-efy8aWg9tL7O9Ws0T0Tl5XqheB9vn0e4LioK-GK-AHFIyo5Xa2ijYkLxO6smVe5IDY0zIfNaqBnXfRFBBD0H6fXwAltoIxpfpL7CWSVLNtYDw35v9Yu7T-dFTDrnCk4M-0s777gLeRgVqtO-PoZAUyU6uc/s320/DickTracyTV3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Of course it’s possible that this just happens to be a dud episode. <br /><br />It doesn’t help that image quality is atrocious.<br /><br />What seeing this episode has done for me is to increase my admiration for the achievements of American television in the late 50s. The improvement was staggering. Series like <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2021/06/decoy-1957.html" target="_blank">Decoy</a> (1957), <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/02/m-squad-season-one-1957.html" target="_blank">M Squad</a> (1957) and Mickey Spillane’s <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/06/mickey-spillanes-mike-hammer-season-2.html" target="_blank">Mike Hammer</a> (1958) were to demonstrate just how good half-hour episodic television could be.<br /><br /><i>Dick Tracy</i> was possibly just made too soon. Six or seven years later it might have been possible to make a truly excellent Dick Tracy TV series.<br /><br />On the plus side the series does have Ralph Byrd, the definitive screen Dick Tracy. And that’s a major plus.<br /><br />So overall more of a curiosity than anything else.<br /><br />I’ve also reviewed a couple of the RKO movies - <a href="https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2019/08/dick-tracy-1945.html" target="_blank">Dick Tracy, Detective</a> (1945) and <a href="https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2019/08/dick-tracy-vs-cueball-1946.html" target="_blank">Dick Tracy vs Cueball</a> (1946).<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-29392805535165410042023-08-02T04:50:00.000-07:002023-08-02T04:50:31.064-07:00Man from Atlantis (TV-movie, 1977)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF2UC-JDxqQJ5QoEmbZydqyIq7-IKwxU0VlBnvJ6FDkEjOwzFUsuS1qxu42Asa-vkX1CV-njYikzy-P3hAgHsNKLzOzyTqTX4UqRK2uXkn5qgwz8RPZ_Ihe0EZ2QrVl70gB7Dhff5AOp1cX950-9ja7AIZyY2Y2_YqNHLZqW5bgGJR5eWFI9Ht3pzhfg/s500/Man%20from%20Atlantis1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF2UC-JDxqQJ5QoEmbZydqyIq7-IKwxU0VlBnvJ6FDkEjOwzFUsuS1qxu42Asa-vkX1CV-njYikzy-P3hAgHsNKLzOzyTqTX4UqRK2uXkn5qgwz8RPZ_Ihe0EZ2QrVl70gB7Dhff5AOp1cX950-9ja7AIZyY2Y2_YqNHLZqW5bgGJR5eWFI9Ht3pzhfg/s320/Man%20from%20Atlantis1.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><i>Man from Atlantis</i> started life as a series of four made-for-TV movies in 1977. They were quite successful and NBC gave the go-ahead for a weekly series which lasted just 13 episodes. I haven’t seen the series but the consensus seems to be that it was nowhere near as good as the TV-movies. <br /><br />Patrick Duffy starred. He would soon go on to major stardom in Dallas.<br /><br />The premise is rather silly, but then if you start worrying about the silliness of the premises of science fiction movies and TV series you’ll pretty much have to give up on the genre altogether. I figures that if I can accept impossibilities like faster-than-light travel then I can accept a water-breathing man.<br /><br />The man (later given the name Mark Harris) is found washed up on a beach. He is taken to hospital but all attempts to resuscitate him seem doomed to failure. Then Dr Elizabeth Merrill figures out the problem. This man breathes water! She insists that he should be thrown back in the ocean, whereupon he immediately revives.<br /><br />But where does a water-breathing man come from? The Navy’s super-computer has the answer. He must be from Atlantis.<br /><br />The Navy sees possibilities in this young man, as a weapon. Dr Merrill doesn’t want him used in that way. Mark is also not interested in being used in this way. Mark is eventually persuaded to carry out one mission. The Navy has lost a super-secret deep-sea research submarine. It’s lying at the bottom of the sea, 35,000 feet down. That’s no problem for Mark.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVOiAtqpQEfVyE3H48vrU5ufE-N1jqZy3c1A0JtuWsqIbD8zTaVm-lS_tcGQDDZKSMu8ljMPTrsdxokL32cbzcs6bHhJu0gYSUMxEInQkEhGwSyQor89jW5M1PbAldmRavtc7qIcsXKggbzOoTiPWXntpqPG7cdMfZKJNq3q1mintqZZibPpsEUQhDe0/s618/ManFromAtlantis1%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="618" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVOiAtqpQEfVyE3H48vrU5ufE-N1jqZy3c1A0JtuWsqIbD8zTaVm-lS_tcGQDDZKSMu8ljMPTrsdxokL32cbzcs6bHhJu0gYSUMxEInQkEhGwSyQor89jW5M1PbAldmRavtc7qIcsXKggbzOoTiPWXntpqPG7cdMfZKJNq3q1mintqZZibPpsEUQhDe0/s320/ManFromAtlantis1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>What Mark finds at the bottom of the sea is not what he expected. He finds himself a prisoner of sorts. And mixed up in a terrifying plan for world domination.<br /><br />It was clearly intended from the start to make this a series of TV-movies so, quite sensibly, lots of questions are left unanswered. They did after all want people to watch the next movie in the hope of getting those answers.<br /><br />Mark, very conveniently, has amnesia. He has no idea of his own origins. All he knows is that the sea is his home and that he understands the language of whales. Maybe he is an Altantean. If so, does Atlantis still exist? Is he the last surviving Atlantean? Where was Atlantis? Was it really a fabulously ancient highly advanced civilisation? We don’t know and Mark doesn’t know.<br /><br />He is suspicious of the US Government (this was 1977 so it’s the era of 70s paranoia) but we’re left unsure what plans the Government has for Mark. Those plans might well be somewhat sinister.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1twlxyLk_Rrbhqnpc1GajHprJRZmq1XWTcoPZWOxxrLbbOGAAykQV34K_9ohjag1z-j8sX-HltbNYFWcicTr1S-L0aioTh14cUHWWP869LgW1WOBfhPbUUCC4kolpeCWs-dS6jTN_NrV5EeEFBb3Xl9ro0Mhno21__2ZDSp49foa3HAyOlKgeexzc9g/s618/ManFromAtlantis2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="618" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1twlxyLk_Rrbhqnpc1GajHprJRZmq1XWTcoPZWOxxrLbbOGAAykQV34K_9ohjag1z-j8sX-HltbNYFWcicTr1S-L0aioTh14cUHWWP869LgW1WOBfhPbUUCC4kolpeCWs-dS6jTN_NrV5EeEFBb3Xl9ro0Mhno21__2ZDSp49foa3HAyOlKgeexzc9g/s320/ManFromAtlantis2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>His relationship with Dr Merrill remains unclear. She has obviously developed an emotional attachment to him but whether it’s a kind of displaced maternal affection or whether there’s a romantic elements to it, and possibly a physical attraction, is uncertain. Mark may have developed an attachment to her but that is less clear.<br /><br />All of this offers potential for further development, which is a sound storytelling strategy in this context.<br /><br />There’s an over-the-top mad scientist/diabolical criminal mastermind involved, which is always a good thing.<br /><br />Visually it’s reasonably impressive for a TV production.<br /><br />There’s some action but it probably needed a bit more and it definitely needed a bit more zing.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSEzKxSBqXI7WUeiNjA692mfp4cbskjLHiLcUiBoSW9Je1h57bkbaEX__YKdCQ8V5zd4QaNmjHSjAmzn1t0_mbz1TJn214diuxS1V9opEzCQyamOaDtESJ8esEgLWtaJSV6iWTOOx8-PHbxYjzSRApfyI9pkOle0Pi0-sZkfB2F3O-IZwEMAWO0_AwYaE/s618/ManFromAtlantis3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="618" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSEzKxSBqXI7WUeiNjA692mfp4cbskjLHiLcUiBoSW9Je1h57bkbaEX__YKdCQ8V5zd4QaNmjHSjAmzn1t0_mbz1TJn214diuxS1V9opEzCQyamOaDtESJ8esEgLWtaJSV6iWTOOx8-PHbxYjzSRApfyI9pkOle0Pi0-sZkfB2F3O-IZwEMAWO0_AwYaE/s320/ManFromAtlantis3%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The biggest weakness is that there are not enough exciting underwater action scenes. Such scenes are pretty much an essential ingredient for such a series. What they really needed to do was to get hold of someone like John Lamb, the man who did the underwater photography for <i>Sea Hunt</i> and <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/03/voyage-to-bottom-of-sea-season-1-1964.html" target="_blank">Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea</a>. Lamb knew how to do that sort of stuff and make it look good on a tight television budget. As it stands the underwater sequences are OK but just a little disappointing.<br /><br />The action climax also needed to be a bit more spectacular but there was of course a limit to what you could do on a 1970s TV budget.<br /><br />Patrick Duffy is OK. He’s supposed to be a kind of alien so his slightly detached performance works well enough. Belinda J. Montgomery as Dr Merrill is an adequate female lead and does the idealistic doctor thing convincingly. Victor Buono makes a fine mad scientist.<br /><br />The four original TV-movies have been released on DVD in the Warner Archive series and they look quite acceptable. The TV series has also had a DVD release. I believe the first TV-movie is also available on Blu-Ray.<br /><br /><i>Man from Atlantis</i> isn’t great but it’s fairly entertaining and just interesting enough that I’ll probably watch the second TV-movie.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-16602600912254240692023-07-06T03:23:00.000-07:002023-07-06T03:23:48.264-07:00The Avengers - The Interrogators<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3Q512wcL0GUOLnxcby9zXWboQ2WCtPlixYPrtHr_FGWJLVvK5DLAJhtev3WJP3xz0x-BgPPyZUzCjbz5NUS7BBFa5y5EurldW2uCOD0yBGMPqI1JNzKhMen0dKISOiARMSUduTQZU2N1USkLpQCrtiX82dmPH0jy4lViTYguAyRRS55jtskCGYwO/s609/AvengersInterrogators1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="609" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3Q512wcL0GUOLnxcby9zXWboQ2WCtPlixYPrtHr_FGWJLVvK5DLAJhtev3WJP3xz0x-BgPPyZUzCjbz5NUS7BBFa5y5EurldW2uCOD0yBGMPqI1JNzKhMen0dKISOiARMSUduTQZU2N1USkLpQCrtiX82dmPH0jy4lViTYguAyRRS55jtskCGYwO/s320/AvengersInterrogators1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>The Interrogators</i> is a very fine Tara King episode of <i>The Avengers</i>, written by Richard Harris and Brian Clemens and directed by Charles Crichton. It went to air in January 1969.<br /><br />I’ve always been a fan of the Tara King era and I’ve always enjoyed Linda Thorson’s performances.<br /><br />This one has a very solid plot with some nice misdirection. At first we think we know what is going on. A British agent is being mercilessly interrogated by the bad guys. The chief villain is a British officer named Colonel Mannering (Christopher Lee) but we’re pretty sure he’s really a traitor working for a foreign government. <br /><br />And then comes the first twist and we question everything we think we know. There will be more twists which will keep us wondering just how much we really know.<br /><br />The British agent doesn’t break under torture, but one of his contacts gets assassinated. We’re not really sure how the bad guys got the information. <br /><br />Mother is perplexed. Nothing seems to add up. There has to be a leak somewhere.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS67h1jJn5gqmGhvu5znjkTls4DZSRnUwBMjb7M_GSuNcqF-8yPQybW18h8x17-5hHwekyDNs6Sq97Ief3qZ-YIhxokurKqvQYQrgmBLTFb0NywErDeS00Na8J7bnHOyjENEDPl2vGq_J8feNU95k9WJzNhAczenoPR5OfCMk9v7XAeBUQgLQwllO/s609/AvengersInterrogators2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="609" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS67h1jJn5gqmGhvu5znjkTls4DZSRnUwBMjb7M_GSuNcqF-8yPQybW18h8x17-5hHwekyDNs6Sq97Ief3qZ-YIhxokurKqvQYQrgmBLTFb0NywErDeS00Na8J7bnHOyjENEDPl2vGq_J8feNU95k9WJzNhAczenoPR5OfCMk9v7XAeBUQgLQwllO/s320/AvengersInterrogators2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Tara thinks she’s found a vital clue. It’s a cigarette stub, with a very unusual tobacco blend. <br /><br />Tara will end up being interrogated as well, but whether the interrogation is carried out by the good guys or the bad guys is still open to question. Tara certainly doesn’t know at this stage.<br /><br />There’s a reasonable amount of action with Tara having some decent fight scenes. Steed gets to use his armoured bowler hat.<br /><br />There are plenty of surreal touches. The music guy and the balloon seller are highlights. We get to see a lot of Mother in this story and Patrick Newell is in sparkling form. As usual the meetings with Mother take place in bizarre settings.<br /><br />Christopher Lee provides some real menace but some nice ambiguity as well. It’s a vintage Christopher Lee performance. The acting overall is excellent and the sheer hopelessness and foolishness of the British agents under interrogation, determined to follow orders without exercising the slightest degree of intelligence, adds some amusement.<br /><br />Charles Crichton directs with energy and style.<br /><br />Mostly this episode works because it strikes the perfect balance. The script works as a clever spy thriller story, there is genuine suspense and mystery, and just enough outlandishness and lightheartedness. It’s a Tara King episode that stacks up quite favourably against the best of the Emma Peel episodes.<br /><br /><i>The Interrogators</i> is highly recommended.dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-24763927659797114402023-06-09T06:52:00.000-07:002023-06-09T06:52:42.428-07:00Lost in Space (TV tie-in novel)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GBQraEKPSNqV-i2xnyqbpORudaGr7CCUCFO1sCvb0YsDJMyrzOQ5htwJn9a0JcHVb43__3UvtUKUiNW00Nl_XAfT0JWLiLW4hLmthRLOHAKw7jcR1QRJfq1qR2eXkmkq1BVNhdzkNNZ80CG7Z0CSgIjeMeYFqt9pHRWy8tAziZQbL-JxyJ0LolUt/s498/Lost%20in%20Space1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GBQraEKPSNqV-i2xnyqbpORudaGr7CCUCFO1sCvb0YsDJMyrzOQ5htwJn9a0JcHVb43__3UvtUKUiNW00Nl_XAfT0JWLiLW4hLmthRLOHAKw7jcR1QRJfq1qR2eXkmkq1BVNhdzkNNZ80CG7Z0CSgIjeMeYFqt9pHRWy8tAziZQbL-JxyJ0LolUt/s320/Lost%20in%20Space1.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><i>Lost in Space</i> by Dave van Arnam and Ron Archer is as its name suggests a TV tie-in novel inspired by the classic TV series.<br /><br />One intriguing thing about TV tie-in novels is that some are very close in spirit to the TV series while others are quite different. Some were commissioned at a time when only one or two episodes had gone to air. The novels sometimes reflected the original concept for the series, rather than the way the series actually turned out.<br /><br />In this case the series premiered in 1965 and the novel was published in 1967 so I can only assume that the reason it differs so radically from the series is that it was a conscious decision on the part of the writers.<br /><br />It is however worth observing at this point that Lost in Space was not conceived of as a silly goofy kids’ show. If you watch the pilot episode (No Place to Hide) or, even more to the point, the first few episodes of season one then it is plausible that the authors of the novel decided to make that very early version of the series the basis for their novel.<br /><br />It’s obvious that the authors were attempting to write not just serious science fiction, but Big Ideas science fiction.<br /><br />Some of the characters also differ markedly from their television counterparts. Especially Dr Smith. The Dr Smith of the novel is a serious scientist and he’s not the least bit lazy. He’s also not especially treacherous. He’s not even all that cowardly. He does have some megalomaniacal tendencies, which the TV version of the character doesn’t really have, at least not to anywhere near the same extent. <br /><br />The authors also decided that the Robot would be groping towards acquiring independent decision-making abilities, which is certainly not the case in the TV version.<br /><br />It’s also obvious that the only characters in whom the authors are interested are Dr Smith and Professor Robinson, and to a much lesser extent Don West and the Robot. Maureen Robinson becomes a very minor character. Will, Penny and Judy are even more minor characters. I suspect that the authors marginalised Will and Penny because they didn’t want to be seen as writing a science fiction novel for kids.<br /><br />There is some of the familiar verbal sparing between Dr Smith and the Robot but the relationship between the two is overall quite different. In the novel the Robot’s function is not to provide comic relief. The relationship between Professor Robinson and Dr Smith is very different. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnGkCrfTxmrDBBtGJu9gYrjIk6eFEhcxY0W-tLA8oNoiIwSXvi1GEcCAMJrkTsR3mno50POwJLKnXJCbq42Xmj4CHEmFyaLXMCurPjJOAU7sMr7mJF6mx16GLksNxF0aqXKvIIXj2LFpE7vXS8Km6VQPreL8rl9nFzm7aSOJ3u0CJ6rnxBKPPL_jA/s630/Lost%20in%20Space2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="393" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnGkCrfTxmrDBBtGJu9gYrjIk6eFEhcxY0W-tLA8oNoiIwSXvi1GEcCAMJrkTsR3mno50POwJLKnXJCbq42Xmj4CHEmFyaLXMCurPjJOAU7sMr7mJF6mx16GLksNxF0aqXKvIIXj2LFpE7vXS8Km6VQPreL8rl9nFzm7aSOJ3u0CJ6rnxBKPPL_jA/s320/Lost%20in%20Space2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>One positive thing about the novel is that it takes advantage of a huge advantage that novels have over TV series - the ability to operate on a truly epic scale. The novel takes the form of a series of three linked short stories and not one of those stories could have been attempted with a 1960s television budget.<br /><br />In the first story the crew of the Jupiter II find a city that seems to have been home to an advanced civilisation but the planet is now deserted. Deserted, apart from a large number of robots and a central computer, all of which are dedicated to maintaining the city for the benefit of its non-existent inhabitants. The first mystery to be solve is obviously the lack of living inhabitants. There’s a second mystery - the central computer is hiding something very important and appears to be hopelessly conflicted over its own deceptions. It is now neurotic and guilt-ridden.<br /><br />In the second story our spacefarers find a planet which is home to intelligent life, but it seems to take the form of a kind of hive mind. <br /><br />The third story is even more ambitious. Our space adventurers find a vast city which turns out to be rather old. Billions of years old. And the history of this planet is somehow intertwined with Earth’s history and its destiny may be linked to Earth’s as well. <br /><br />And Dr Smith believes he has finally gained what he aways wanted - the power to be a galactic emperor. Of course he’ll need an empress, and he feels that Judy Robinson would be an ideal choice. The prospect of marriage between Dr Smith and Judy is certainly something you wouldn’t have seen in the TV series,<br /><br />If you’re looking for a novel that captures the feel of the TV series then you’re going to be pretty disappointed. About the only things it really has in common with the series are the names of the characters and the name of the spaceship. If that bothers you then you definitely should avoid the novel.<br /><br />If you approach it merely as a science fiction novel then it’s not too bad. It grapples with big ideas with reasonable success. If you’re content with that then it’s not a bad read.<br /><br />So I can’t really say whether I recommend it or not - it depends so much on what you’re looking for.<br /><br />I’ve mentioned the origins of the series. I’ve reviewed the pilot episode <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2019/08/lost-in-space-no-place-to-hide-unaired.html" target="_blank">Lost in Space - No Place to Hide</a> and the first few episodes of <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2016/12/lost-in-space-season-1-1965-beginnings.html" target="_blank">the first season</a> and they’re very much worth seeing as a glimpse of what the TV series could have been like.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-25317100937659685252023-05-25T04:36:00.000-07:002023-05-25T04:36:42.090-07:00The Professionals season 3 (1979)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqBLl-z7GpgvNRCbYgnzWyfCOHEAyO8qfCfB4pR9WcwVgamTi51rbGGOJAXBtbWHcdcveDYLq2gYCc1Di9xoj3M4d7D8_OauTt-7-BA1iHlMMDoN09IxOvvvnzZ-0-tWRFLy0baWCVBPBVSnXMW68hWfuNNk2_ulbOMCEmuHVrpO0_69aAIwpaeUP/s500/Professionals%20Season%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqBLl-z7GpgvNRCbYgnzWyfCOHEAyO8qfCfB4pR9WcwVgamTi51rbGGOJAXBtbWHcdcveDYLq2gYCc1Di9xoj3M4d7D8_OauTt-7-BA1iHlMMDoN09IxOvvvnzZ-0-tWRFLy0baWCVBPBVSnXMW68hWfuNNk2_ulbOMCEmuHVrpO0_69aAIwpaeUP/s320/Professionals%20Season%203.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>The mid-70s witnessed a revolution in British television. It started with seasons three and four of <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/07/special-branch-season-3.html" target="_blank">Special Branch</a> but the series most associated with this revolution was <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-sweeney-season-1-1975.html" target="_blank">The Sweeney</a>. Shooting on video in the studio was out. Everything had to be shot on location, on 35mm film. The emphasis henceforward was on action, which usually meant violent action. Brian Clemens was not unaware of this trend and had taken his first tentative steps in this new direction with <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-new-avengers-1976-77.html" target="_blank">The New Avengers</a>. For his next project Clemens decided to go all-out. He would out-Sweeney <i>The Sweeney</i>. That new project would become <i>The Professionals</i>. <br /><br /><i>The Professionals</i> certainly attracted attention. And outrage. It wasn’t just the violence. It’s a series about a British counter-terrorist counter-espionage squad, CI5, that quite openly flouts the law.<br /><br /><i>The Professionals</i> was made in five separate production blocks between 1977 and 1983 and screened as five seasons over the same period, but the production blocks and the seasons do not coincide at all. There was no attempt to screen the episodes in the order in which they were made. The 1979 third season is a mixture of episodes from the second and third production blocks.<br /><br />The cast remained unchanged from season two - Gordon Jackson as CIA chief George Cowley with Lewis Collins and Martin Shaw as Bodie and Doyle, his two top agents. The characterisations haven’t changed either. Cowley is as ruthless as ever with a fine disregard for everything except getting the job done. Ex-mercenary Bodie is pretty much an ice-cold killer, although with a sense of humour. Doyle is equally tough but more sensitive, and is the only one of the trio with what you might call a fully developed conscience.<br /><br />The stories haven’t changed a great deal either. CI5 battles spies and international criminals but their main focus is combating terrorism.<br /><br />There’s enough action and mayhem to ensure that the viewer will overlook any deficiencies in the scripts. And for the most part the scripts are solid and tight.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5wv30G9iqZPwDmOba7zAaQMzjHqbLLcHERschy7jsG5t4jBn7yXnLrqeQpyI7LyTJul7BgrmniRIZ-YnIgXIEKuQ9lPAbDRVm9pzqqjfnNQ54YrvbN4FzUEHA4j5GvHVlwsyUur6vF05ib5bGvTIKHeOW7kM7mDuPwkr9JYUGt-27cqJCrxmiftL/s597/ProfessionalsS3_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="597" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5wv30G9iqZPwDmOba7zAaQMzjHqbLLcHERschy7jsG5t4jBn7yXnLrqeQpyI7LyTJul7BgrmniRIZ-YnIgXIEKuQ9lPAbDRVm9pzqqjfnNQ54YrvbN4FzUEHA4j5GvHVlwsyUur6vF05ib5bGvTIKHeOW7kM7mDuPwkr9JYUGt-27cqJCrxmiftL/s320/ProfessionalsS3_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Professionals</i> was intended as pure high-octane entertainment so don’t expect any philosophical musing or too much in the way of subtlety. On occasions the series does confront ethical issues but this is not <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/10/callan-monochrome-years-1967-69.html" target="_blank">Callan</a>, or even <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/07/danger-man-aka-secret-agent-first.html" target="_blank">Danger Man</a>. If you’re looking for a series that offers provocative intellectual insights into the morality of espionage this is not that series. <i>The Professionals </i>offers car chases, gun battles and explosions. <br /><br />But the action is handled with style and energy.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Episode Guide</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>The Purging of CI5</i> was a logical enough choice for a season opener, with lots of action, lots of explosions and lots of excitement. Someone is trying to destroy CI5. Their plan seems to be to kill every last CI5 agent, including Cowley. And they seem quite capable of doing so.<br /><br />This episode is quite reminiscent of the excellent 1969 Callan episode Let's Kill Everybody. In fact the premise is more or less identical. It’s not a bad episode.<br /><br />In <i>Backtrack</i> CI5 have to stop an arms smuggling operation. They have a witness who might be useful, if they can keep him alive. They have to follow the trail of evidence back to a burglary. That burglar found something crucial. Bodie and Dole have to try out their own skills as burglars. <br /><br />A typical but very entertaining episode with Cowley being particularly ruthless.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO0ENr0kOsQ0w5HuqoVRv56O47huLNe0uCLQwp0MK90VlHvRaYL_82577-pVEaC_tvMSr9xigzlidXcJb0AsDnsMRT3gj6vfZvdmRU0F00Oh9BqOOzeOE2mRppTshuyWz00SUUDJMh7lYplE_Z-mTBSQNVeI9s-_6vBIWl1dpEdZ_Mw6Kz0bVJVn8/s597/ProfessionalsS3_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="597" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO0ENr0kOsQ0w5HuqoVRv56O47huLNe0uCLQwp0MK90VlHvRaYL_82577-pVEaC_tvMSr9xigzlidXcJb0AsDnsMRT3gj6vfZvdmRU0F00Oh9BqOOzeOE2mRppTshuyWz00SUUDJMh7lYplE_Z-mTBSQNVeI9s-_6vBIWl1dpEdZ_Mw6Kz0bVJVn8/s320/ProfessionalsS3_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Stopover</i> starts with a British agent who has just escaped from the Khmer Rough. He has some interesting information about a high-level defector. Of course there are twists. A solid enough plot.<br /><br />In this episode there’s plenty of focus on the tense relationship between Cowley on the one hand and Bodie and Doyle on the other. They feel that Cowley is concealing vital information from them, forcing them to work in the dark. And they’re right. And they resent it, understandably. One of the best episodes of the season.<br /><br /><i>Dead Reckoning</i> starts with an exchange of agents by the British and the Bulgarians. The British got double-agent Stefan Batak as their part of the deal. The arrangement was that the deal was to be kept secret. There is a complication - Batak’s daughter Anna who lives in London. She was all set to go to Bulgaria to visit her father in prison.<br /><br />There are the usual betrayals and counter-betrayals and complex plot twists. Cowley is getting plenty of information out of Batak. He thinks the information is accurate, but he still isn’t certain. And then disaster strikes. Could Anna be an assassin? Or is she an innocent pawn? <br /><br />Doyle takes some film and somebody is very keen to take it away from him. The trouble is that the film doesn’t show anything that could possibly be useful.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEV6-KTv_z7CVbPYWCd8bg11PFDSZie3qzuL5yDE6KXLne0olfUxrcF9dTjU7kGXpJboxN2QBcskCvRL_x50-76KRYQd95G_biu_kDKk-CoHLoEGNWCuGilmI1qllo-bv-82gP460_vv0cvTSeBjTW0QnUahNqpPZ87lW3TK0zLu5eossLne6Rr-8/s597/ProfessionalsS3_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="597" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEV6-KTv_z7CVbPYWCd8bg11PFDSZie3qzuL5yDE6KXLne0olfUxrcF9dTjU7kGXpJboxN2QBcskCvRL_x50-76KRYQd95G_biu_kDKk-CoHLoEGNWCuGilmI1qllo-bv-82gP460_vv0cvTSeBjTW0QnUahNqpPZ87lW3TK0zLu5eossLne6Rr-8/s320/ProfessionalsS3_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A nicely cynical twisted spy thriller plot. A very good episode.<br /><br /><i>The Madness of Mickey Hamilton</i> starts with an attempted political assassination but the viewer already has reason to suspect that something else is going on. CI5 however are sure it was an attempt to kill an African diplomat. If they’d realised earlier that were barking up the wrong tree disaster might have been averted, but that the theme of this episode - by the time anyone realises there’s a problem it’s too late.<br /><br />A good episode with Doyle showing an unexpected touch of compassion. To everybody else the villain in this story is just a villain, but to Doyle’s he’s a victim.<br /><br /><i>A Hiding to Nothing</i> involves the possibility of an assassination attempt on an Arab leader. And CI5 has a leak. There are lots of twists to come.<br /><br />Again we see a subtle difference between Bodie and Doyle, with Doyle being just as tough but with more of a human side. Excellent episode.<br /><br />In <i>Runner</i> a gun shop is robbed. Robbed of a variety of very nasty weaponry. CI5 assume it’s the prelude to a major campaign of violence, a campaign of political violence by an outfit referred to as the Organisation (presumably some offshoot of the IRA).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlOi1qf5cDgff5GaXe36CUH3z905JMlYKAl3IPwMunHgNEB2opzqyp2iPSuDm_JSjE3aPQ2WkvvqaYbFxeOUYkEP4FcZUt-47wZU9tABOYf-gN6qKEUt9UuVy95C5rGsGwc_Ts1yvWzGOMY4TWMtpUbArfbp34B2kCJfdEND1foVCPGn0TQmoPmyO/s597/ProfessionalsS3_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="597" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlOi1qf5cDgff5GaXe36CUH3z905JMlYKAl3IPwMunHgNEB2opzqyp2iPSuDm_JSjE3aPQ2WkvvqaYbFxeOUYkEP4FcZUt-47wZU9tABOYf-gN6qKEUt9UuVy95C5rGsGwc_Ts1yvWzGOMY4TWMtpUbArfbp34B2kCJfdEND1foVCPGn0TQmoPmyO/s320/ProfessionalsS3_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>CI5 are being manipulated and Doyle is being manipulated. The Organisation is being manipulated. There’s a dangerous game being played, and the motivations are not clear. CI5 have to find out what those motivations are. They have a number of sources of possible information but those sources are not exactly friendly. A solid episode with a fiendishly complicated plot. Maybe too complicated. You’ll have to concentrate. <br /><br />In the season finale <i>Servant of Two Masters</i> Bodie and Doyle have to investigate a possible traitor - George Cowley. This is by far the weakest episode of the season. You have to take seriously the idea that Cowley might be corrupt, and I don’t believe that a single viewer would have bought that for a second. If you don’t buy it the story becomes boringly predictable.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Overall a strong season with the season finale being the only dud episode. Other than that there’s plenty of excitement and mindless violence. Highly recommended.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-48963520474541432012023-04-30T22:55:00.003-07:002023-04-30T22:55:56.473-07:00Thriller - three 1973 epidodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zrLtoztqDaulvrThp14Fr_3YyOmXY8NqM-3U9-HOf9DxHtBt9qdbBDokkoxV2BeHscqSmZF2sgXw9SpgssUt56hWuQYd4gH5mYEP4xk3dTtfIu0Fz7MKuvJ_ofVOQg3vRxJv3Pl8-VY-Tb3NFLLX0RIqYZxu3Pix_hJgPOV3jiIXCL4HUe_mGA76/s763/Thriller73ColourOfBlood1%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="763" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zrLtoztqDaulvrThp14Fr_3YyOmXY8NqM-3U9-HOf9DxHtBt9qdbBDokkoxV2BeHscqSmZF2sgXw9SpgssUt56hWuQYd4gH5mYEP4xk3dTtfIu0Fz7MKuvJ_ofVOQg3vRxJv3Pl8-VY-Tb3NFLLX0RIqYZxu3Pix_hJgPOV3jiIXCL4HUe_mGA76/s320/Thriller73ColourOfBlood1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A look at three episodes from Brian Clemens’ horror anthology series <i>Thriller</i>, one of the finest series of its type ever made. All three episodes originally aired in 1973.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Colour of Blood</span></u><br /><br /><i>The Colour of Blood</i> is the fifth episode of the first season of Thriller. Brian Clemens wrote the script, Robert Tronson directed.<br /><br />The Carnation Killer, a crazed sex murderer who has killed at least nine women, has been caught. He has been found guilty but insane and he is now on his way to a hospital for the criminally insane. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.<br /><br />Unfortunately Arthur Page (for that is the Carnation Killer’s real name) never reaches the hospital. The prison van crashes and Page escapes.<br /><br />Page hopes to lose himself in the crowds at Waterloo Station. But first he must have a red carnation for his button hole. He simply doesn’t feel dressed without it. <br /><br />He is rather surprised when a young blonde woman carrying an attache case suddenly latches onto him. As luck (in this case bad luck) would have it Julie Marsh is waiting to meet a man she has never set eyes on.<br /><br />A man named Graham has inherited a large sum of money and a house in the country. Julie’s job is to meet Graham at Waterloo Station, hand over the money and then take him by train to Westerling (the house he has inherited). Julie will recognise Graham by the red carnation in his button-hole. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3XBgJnSWwAUvx1FB1-v4HxaJmvFmdG0lj_z3WovdxyxHX6AEmLTHHBC7ljpjHJP1aOHYIlY4xEhpvfsQxLEZpq_j5JdAHPswK3fCX0G1zpy__YtgpEQ4qA-LyZmf29zsadOzRpkPeAN6q0v-9YRpqE_MDUPDaIPT-tr5Wp9RqZAeTc-ScYi7Q0XV/s766/Thriller73MurderInMind1%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="766" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3XBgJnSWwAUvx1FB1-v4HxaJmvFmdG0lj_z3WovdxyxHX6AEmLTHHBC7ljpjHJP1aOHYIlY4xEhpvfsQxLEZpq_j5JdAHPswK3fCX0G1zpy__YtgpEQ4qA-LyZmf29zsadOzRpkPeAN6q0v-9YRpqE_MDUPDaIPT-tr5Wp9RqZAeTc-ScYi7Q0XV/s320/Thriller73MurderInMind1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s just very bad luck for Julie that the first man she sees with a red carnation is not Mr Graham, it’s Arthur Page the insane sex murderer. Page might be insane but he can also be very charming and appear very normal, and Julie has no idea that she’s chosen the wrong man and that she’s about to take him out into the country to a very isolated house where she’s going to be quite alone with him.<br /><br />But there are some major plot twists that are about to kick in and take the story in a rather different direction. There are nasty surprises in store for just about everyone.<br /><br />Norman Eshley’s chilling performance as Page is what stands out most in this episode. It’s a neat little script, which relies a little on coincidence but the coincidences are entirely plausible. There’s some effective suspense and some creepy moments. All in all an excellent episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Murder in Mind</span></u><br /><br /><i>Murder in Mind</i> was scripted by Terence Feely from a story by Brian Clemens. It was directed by Alan Gibson and was broadcast in May 1973.<br /><br />It starts with a murder that isn’t. <br /><br />Tom Patterson (Donald Gee) has held the very humble rank of Detective-Constable for all of a week. Like any keen young copper he dreams of solving a major case. And then a major case seems to drop into his lap. A woman wanders into the police station in the middle of the night and confesses to a murder. Since he’s the only detective on duty it’s Tom Patterson’s case. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-wAY7CNwiRSkUG6ys7tH7Mxu0sRDgLLWy9NG767O7dUsXQJzfXQn6A-Hb4aIxXRs0knO7dNZqY8GLJ8IM2aSTbckvn04crBm13EvWLGoEvygZBNlYDMGba-4qorKy3_0_GMgvkkzCqWfrZq9QL6ElPO2m1sDTXpXxTrea0qnKe0wyqY_90vFEISB/s741/ThrillerAPlaceToDie1%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="741" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-wAY7CNwiRSkUG6ys7tH7Mxu0sRDgLLWy9NG767O7dUsXQJzfXQn6A-Hb4aIxXRs0knO7dNZqY8GLJ8IM2aSTbckvn04crBm13EvWLGoEvygZBNlYDMGba-4qorKy3_0_GMgvkkzCqWfrZq9QL6ElPO2m1sDTXpXxTrea0qnKe0wyqY_90vFEISB/s320/ThrillerAPlaceToDie1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>But it ends disappointingly. Betty Drew (Zena Walker) had had a blow on the head and her confession was all nonsense. <br /><br />There’s something about the case that keeps niggling at Tom Patterson. He’s not sure what it is but he feels that there’s some connection he should have made but he didn’t and nobody else did either. There wasn’t any murder and it was all Betty Drew’s imagination and it would be better for Tom to forget all about it. But Tom still feels that there is a puzzle here somewhere.<br /><br />Brian Clemens has come up with a very intricate script this time. There’s a perfectly straightforward explanation for what has happened, the straightforward explanation being that Betty was concussed and confused and imagined a murder that never happened. Everybody accepts the straightforward explanation, apart from Tom. And of course the viewer is likely to agree with Tom - that there is an alternative explanation. But it requires the pieces of the jigsaw to be pieced together in a different way. The alternative explanation is convoluted but it’s clever and it’s plausible. <br /><br />But if Tom is right then there might be a murder after all.<br /><br />The acting is solid but for me the highlight is Ronald Radd’s performance as Superintendent Terson. Good episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">A Place to Die</span></u><br /><br /><i>A Place to Die</i> was scripted by Terence Feely from a story by Brian Clemens. It was directed by Peter Jefferies and went to air in May 1973. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2C0HbhCIzZ2Y2PsPiziEfyS6zijoKJ1jctv6MhBtmbYt5TWL1Kfhunqv-2wunfl9Aiy3Qz4f9pryjTvgZ__ISH6jq2LKvmbjATK54iuxBc4WAh8zR0a7Kc96DV8MwBtpv92BnSXsSi6neiJ2ANmQ8kpPaYWgC2fXxnf7DLGUnsT8yFFuJ1Jh7-N_/s751/ThrillerAPlaceToDie2%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="751" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2C0HbhCIzZ2Y2PsPiziEfyS6zijoKJ1jctv6MhBtmbYt5TWL1Kfhunqv-2wunfl9Aiy3Qz4f9pryjTvgZ__ISH6jq2LKvmbjATK54iuxBc4WAh8zR0a7Kc96DV8MwBtpv92BnSXsSi6neiJ2ANmQ8kpPaYWgC2fXxnf7DLGUnsT8yFFuJ1Jh7-N_/s320/ThrillerAPlaceToDie2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s a basic story that has been done countless times and i’s an idea that was very popular at the time - a remote community that seems perfectly normal but in fact follows either paganism or satanism. To be fair, in 1973 the idea was still reasonably fresh.<br /><br />It’s also another story of innocent city folk who foolishly move to a rural area only to find themselves in a nightmare world of primitive superstition and terror. Dr Bruce Nelson (Bryan Marshall) has just taken over a practice in a small village. He and his American wife Tessa (Alexandra Hay) are looking forward to getting away from the stresses of city life.<br /><br />The first sign that something odd is going on comes when they meet their seriously weird housekeeper Beth. Beth reacts with wonder when she sees Tessa. She excitedly informs the other villagers that Tessa is moon-pale and moon-gold and limps with her left leg. The villagers know what that means. Tessa is the Expected One. And it’s almost Lady Day, and this year Lady Day coincides with a full moon. The signs are clear.<br /><br />What is going on is obvious to the viewer very early on, we know what Bruce and Tessa have wandered into, but they have no idea. That of course sets up the suspense very nicely. The viewer doesn’t know how Bruce and Tessa are going to get out of a terrifying situation. Another fine episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br />Three more very solid <i>Thriller </i>episodes. All worth watching.<br /><br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-71510885113318733402023-04-09T01:21:00.001-07:002023-04-30T00:58:31.519-07:00Patrick Macnee's Dead Duck (Avengers tie-in novel)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbVc6aHpvcsnIn7NFkMr5lytI7u6oYVDqm_gvRpkGwC2XHfKfmby_HooxIb0K0JMQkc7l4YwbJp8u6i7-sGrjPippeguDlpjvPz30O4lFLBaelVwzQpgmmIFiWaO54rNrjzCZgZBv9ryPIapih6IMB5dQOyc8scy5vmR462dMfos3gM7G99yQyhmV/s697/Dead%20Duck1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbVc6aHpvcsnIn7NFkMr5lytI7u6oYVDqm_gvRpkGwC2XHfKfmby_HooxIb0K0JMQkc7l4YwbJp8u6i7-sGrjPippeguDlpjvPz30O4lFLBaelVwzQpgmmIFiWaO54rNrjzCZgZBv9ryPIapih6IMB5dQOyc8scy5vmR462dMfos3gM7G99yQyhmV/s320/Dead%20Duck1.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><i>Dead Duck</i> is an original novel inspired by the TV series <i>The Avengers</i>. It was published in 1966 and written by Patrick Macnee. At least Macnee’s name appears on the cover as the author. Of course he didn’t write it. The book seems to have been written by Peter Leslie who wrote some very decent TV tie-in novels. It is just within the bounds of possibility that Macnee may have had some slight input into the book.<br /><br /><i>Dead Duck</i> was actually the second Avengers novel credited to Macnee, the first being <i>Deadlin</i>e in 1965.<br /><br />Steed takes Mrs Peel to lunch, to a very swish French restaurant. He has told her that the duck is divine. One of the other customers would tend to disagree -he has a couple of bites of his duck and keels over dead.<br /><br />It seems to have been a heart attack. For some reason Steed is suspicious (he sees a man handing over a package to a girl just after the unfortunate diner’s demise) and does some checking. There have been rather a lot of deaths from heart attacks in this part of East Anglia recently. A lot more than one would normally expect.<br /><br />The victims all have one thing in common. They have all recently eaten, and all have eaten duck.<br /><br />The story feels like an <i>Avengers</i> yarn. There’s a poacher. With a beautiful daughter who tends to point guns at people. There are two odd old men conducting research - on birds. There’s an old house surrounded by elaborate but oddly childish booby-traps.<br /><br />Steed and Mrs Peel go both undercover, Steed as a journalist and Emma as a housemaid.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2FnG77GR6-LeUPIDwFLRHNtT4xHzNkRkYHMhXJC6Lls_KLs9xHL0O2ZnrexhnvC9e9-G7jWlfOa7pMYMik3jkkFGMmeNOli0l-a4HL828RSe6mCtXsw22km6binswdXHPZNDkRU9_WOEA9nhUkD3xDyMM0hWIzdgBbDjYRkw32L9KR7Ie6Ty-gDw/s367/Dead%20Duck2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="235" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2FnG77GR6-LeUPIDwFLRHNtT4xHzNkRkYHMhXJC6Lls_KLs9xHL0O2ZnrexhnvC9e9-G7jWlfOa7pMYMik3jkkFGMmeNOli0l-a4HL828RSe6mCtXsw22km6binswdXHPZNDkRU9_WOEA9nhUkD3xDyMM0hWIzdgBbDjYRkw32L9KR7Ie6Ty-gDw/s320/Dead%20Duck2.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>The story gets more <i>Avengers</i>-like. Steed engages in a life-or-death struggle with a bird. There’s mention of a sinister but mysterious character named Worthington whom nobody sees. There’s a South American connection. And there’s a horrifying conspiracy involving, naturally, birds.<br /><br />There are two villains and they’re fine <i>Avengers</i> villains.<br /><br />Steed finds that his gadget-loaded umbrella comes in very handy indeed. Not to mention his armoured bowler hat.<br /><br />The tone strikes the right mock-serious note. And Steed’s plan to unmask the conspiracy is absurdly far-fetched but amusing.<br /><br />And there are the right touches of <i>Avengers</i> surrealism.<br /><br />A good TV tie-in novel has to get the characters right. They have to be convincing as the characters from the TV series. This novel certainly gets Steed right. It gets Mrs Peel right in terms of personality but she’s not quite as much of an action heroine as she is in the TV series. She doesn’t get sufficient opportunities to strut her stuff and demonstrate her prowess in unarmed combat.<br /><br />There’s some of the witty repartee between Steed and Mrs Peel that you expect, but perhaps not quite enough.<br /><br />These are minor quibbles. It’s an engagingly offbeat story with a fine crazy finale. Fans of the TV series should enjoy this novel. Recommended.<br /><br />The only other <i>Avengers</i> novel I’ve read is a later one, Keith Laumer’s <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-avengers-6-drowned-queen-novel.html" target="_blank">The Drowned Queen</a> (which features Tara King), and it was quite good.<br /><br />Peter Leslie also wrote a couple of the <i>Girl from U.N.C.L.E.</i> novels.dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-39387118128304313582023-03-24T01:37:00.001-07:002023-03-24T01:37:46.214-07:00Nigel Kneale's Beasts (1976)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLwk0j2iU8-PUWcFJBV-0ySHpj0JvOu-k2Rtugf7jijGfAkaJ8whvfF_YZ2y7M2hne1edlCDMHTM-zGJzZTuVZIKG5HgZJMNHEz3mTDOyZWfU6RcA_wRujnRRUb0Nh4dhDgXZ6YqqEfw7nkyiW3iwe6SRA1vYQqftsL1xrw0PkR9uT-WwQMFGaP9j/s500/Beasts2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLwk0j2iU8-PUWcFJBV-0ySHpj0JvOu-k2Rtugf7jijGfAkaJ8whvfF_YZ2y7M2hne1edlCDMHTM-zGJzZTuVZIKG5HgZJMNHEz3mTDOyZWfU6RcA_wRujnRRUb0Nh4dhDgXZ6YqqEfw7nkyiW3iwe6SRA1vYQqftsL1xrw0PkR9uT-WwQMFGaP9j/s320/Beasts2.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><i>Beasts</i> is a six-part 1976 British horror anthology TV series made by ATV and created and written by Nigel Kneale. Kneale is best known for his 1950s Quatermass sci-fi/horror TV serials which were later adapted to film by Hammer, with great success although Kneale wasn’t happy with the Hammer versions. Kneale later wrote some very strange, disturbing but fascinating TV plays such as <i>The Year of the Sex Olympics</i> and <i>The Stone Tape</i> (both of which I highly recommend).<br /><br />Kneale had a knack for mixing horror with science fiction in a genuinely original and surprising manner.<br /><br /><i>Beasts</i> is typical of Kneale's work in that you’re never quite sure if there’s a supernatural element of if the stories are science fiction. Or they might possibly be merely the products of overheated imaginations.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The episodes</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>Baby</i> is an exercise in folk horror. Peter Gilkes (Simon MacCorkindale) and his wife Jo (Jane Wymark) have just moved to the country. Peter was tired of being a city vet. He wanted to be a real country vet. Jo is a country girl but oddly she seems less happy about the movie. Maybe she’ll feel better when their very rundown cottage is fixed up a bit. Jo is pregnant and she’s anxious since she had a miscarriage a year earlier. Jo’s anxiety will play an important part in the story.<br /><br />While tearing down a wall Peter and Jo find a huge earthenware jar. It contains a mummified - something. Peter is a vet but he has no idea what it is, although he finds it fascinating. Jo is totally creeped out by it.<br /><br />Jo hears all sorts of tales, some of which may be true and some of which may be folklore. The tales concern the piece of land on which the cottage stands, and the reason nobody farms this land. She also discovers an interesting fact about the previous tenants. They had no children. This seems significant to Jo.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxpEzmHBItv2YP_xdejAf92kNLGGwF8bIY2sQovm3pKU_GD6K6E89Y8jGeYzlUGYrJfXR8u-aauyn_3PxILVJE9lz6A3A3F1gsnPYW9TWgcoL3safADq064PuR06sGnbHPOOHHlqtaoVBGDAdlmv5xO6V2IPwkav49R8TUtlze2f4LvwgCkzSQ1EN/s512/BeastsStill4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxpEzmHBItv2YP_xdejAf92kNLGGwF8bIY2sQovm3pKU_GD6K6E89Y8jGeYzlUGYrJfXR8u-aauyn_3PxILVJE9lz6A3A3F1gsnPYW9TWgcoL3safADq064PuR06sGnbHPOOHHlqtaoVBGDAdlmv5xO6V2IPwkav49R8TUtlze2f4LvwgCkzSQ1EN/s320/BeastsStill4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jo hears strange noises and sees a few things that disturb her. Her anxiety grows. Nobody takes her fears seriously. The viewer will also wonder just how seriously to take her fears. Most of the things she sees and hears could be described as ambiguous. To find out whether Jo’s fears really are justified you’ll have to watch the episode. Good episode. <br /><br /><i>Buddyboy</i> is wildly original and quirky. Dave (Martin Shaw) is thinking of buying a broken-down dolphinarium. Not for the dolphins. The dolphins are long gone. Dave wants to turn the place into a cinema to show adult films. That’s the business Dave is in. He already owns an adult cinema. Converting this place into a cinema will be easy because a cinema is what it originally was, before it was turned into a dolphinarium. <br /><br />The guy selling the place, Hubbard (Wolfe Morris), seems extraordinarily jumpy and anxious to sell. He keeps talking about all the trouble he had with Buddyboy, his star dolphin. Buddyboy was a great performer but difficult to handle.<br /><br />There’s a strange girl, Lucy (Pamela Moiseiwitsch) who is always hanging around the dolphinarium. She’s obsessed with Buddyboy as well. She thought he was the most wonderful animal that ever lived. <br /><br />Dave is strangely drawn to the odd waif-like Lucy and they gradually become involved. Then there’s the ending (and I have no intention of revealing any spoilers here) which exasperates a lot of people. They feel cheated because there is no obvious supernatural element and they resort to prosaic interpretations which I feel are probably wrong.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiSmtNSmLezeJU8f2RdE_9rnnvmTs760Km4xtBquj0ikTGTgv3OqEdcb_bl6Cf7rpOBMy211ZzoLH8eyrZ_fNPzIcfo8BtZ1jh29UOfwkyGGQ_zsbDBl8ePnOBNe3ffAnB9QgsCN1TKzFqtheXYjjcKzeSWsHjrMEH-FD2qD5a3hn2Tt6ze9rQfLW/s996/BeastsStill3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="996" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheiSmtNSmLezeJU8f2RdE_9rnnvmTs760Km4xtBquj0ikTGTgv3OqEdcb_bl6Cf7rpOBMy211ZzoLH8eyrZ_fNPzIcfo8BtZ1jh29UOfwkyGGQ_zsbDBl8ePnOBNe3ffAnB9QgsCN1TKzFqtheXYjjcKzeSWsHjrMEH-FD2qD5a3hn2Tt6ze9rQfLW/s320/BeastsStill3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My feeling is that Kneale really wants us to think about this one. There are plausible and satisfying explanations but you have to tease them out and you have to think about what you’ve seen and you have to think about both Lucy and Buddyboy. It’s not that there’s no strangeness here, but it’s not the obvious strangeness people expect from straightforward horror. This episode made me think long and hard about what it could mean, and I think that actually makes it great television.<br /><br /><i>The Dummy</i> is another indication of the unconventionality of Kneale’s approach. Clyde Boyd (Bernard Horsfall) is an actor falling apart. His last chance is to play the monster known as the Dummy in yet another low-budget horror flick. The trouble really starts when he spots Peter Wager (Simon Oates) in the studio. Wager is the man who stole Boyd’s wife. Boyd falls apart completely but this shooting has to go ahead and harassed producer 'Bunny' Nettleton (Clive Swift) manages to convince Boyd to complete the scene. The result is mayhem, the police have to be called, there’s a dead man lying on the studio floor and Wager is running around with a shotgun threatening to shoot Boyd.<br /><br />The clue to what has happened is provided by journalist Joan Eastgate (Lillias Walker) who is on set hoping to interview Boyd. She talks about tribesmen who wear masks in religious ceremonies and how it’s the mask that ends up wearing the man rather than the other way around. That’s more or less what happens here. Boyd’s whole personality disintegrates and he becomes the monster, the Dummy. It’s not just his money problems and his wife leaving him, he also has to face the failure of his career as an actor. The only successful roles he’s ever had having been playing the Dummy, playing the entire part encased in a rubber suit. The Dummy is more real than he is.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNTVanMt9Ug0x-chhf5oBVHTSZ76n4HtFzPMratZVC7EQbRHN40cMHrj6BEAd5YZeXk3D7XxaASae8V6Ug_Qgert7YWn1X0ojkXX_7UXPPyUzmxD2aBKqqdn1sOBJGNcfKe6h_Pc_E52OU_5_Ck-wMxGjhC_kFa0A7ye8QqASP1zk55KDPGhiCL6f/s673/BeastsStill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="673" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNTVanMt9Ug0x-chhf5oBVHTSZ76n4HtFzPMratZVC7EQbRHN40cMHrj6BEAd5YZeXk3D7XxaASae8V6Ug_Qgert7YWn1X0ojkXX_7UXPPyUzmxD2aBKqqdn1sOBJGNcfKe6h_Pc_E52OU_5_Ck-wMxGjhC_kFa0A7ye8QqASP1zk55KDPGhiCL6f/s320/BeastsStill2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s great to see Clive Swift in a complex ambiguous part and doing it extremely well. Thorley Walters adds fun as the pompous but rather ridiculous Shakepearian actor turning up for a day’s work and a pay cheque.<br /><br />This is a serious and tragic story. Don’t be misled by the silliness of the monster costume. That was probably a swipe by Nigel Kneale at <i>Doctor Who</i>, a TV series he despised.<br /><br /><i>Special Offer</i> is a horror story set in a small supermarket. Noreen (Pauline Quirke) is a socially awkward clumsy teenager who seems to make a mess of everything she does, whether it’s packing shelves or working the checkouts. Accidents seem to happen around her. The story manager, the slimy Mr Grimley (Geoffrey Bateman), is exasperated with her. Even worse, Noreen has a crush on him, while Grimley is pursuing the other checkout operator, glamorous dolly bird Linda. Noreen claims it’s an animal causing all the trouble. A small furry animal that looks quite a bit like the company’s cartoon mascot, Briteway Billy.<br /><br />Nobody believes her but then things start happening that can’t be blamed on her, and the other staff members can hear a small animal scuttling about in the store. Mr Grimley is out of his depth and calls on the grocery chain’s personnel manager, Mr Liversedge (Wensley Pithey), for help. Mr Liversedge thinks they’re dealing with something akin to a poltergeist although in this case it’s more a paranormal than a supernatural phenomenon. He thinks Noreen is unconsciously making these things happen.<br /><br />This episode starts out rather whimsically although with an edge of pathos. Very gradually the mood shifts to become more menacing. The terror when it comes is still mixed with whimsy which gives the story an interesting flavour. I like the idea of a small supermarket as a setting for horror, with tins of baked beans and boxes of cereal used as engines of destruction. And of course Mr Liversedge’s theory is that the terror’s starting point is Noreen’s hopeless love for Mr Grimley. 17-year-old Pauline Quirke’s performance is extraordinarily good, subtle but emotionally powerful. Quite a good episode.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsZwxfiLwdXsEvienQsuYDIr97rjtt9h6Kn0BeseDR-i3s0j4DRI8JWcrHRjlvbdQ7DBMIuA5QgnppjbLA6cr5lisc72-qY5Bl_RynR15xRLjUzLLYaAIkkB91IyTIelcD3hgfkZKifUXT30FyZJqX19tZQqWeSBIzf0XCPkIPkNAZtEggCeAr5HR/s512/BeastsStill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsZwxfiLwdXsEvienQsuYDIr97rjtt9h6Kn0BeseDR-i3s0j4DRI8JWcrHRjlvbdQ7DBMIuA5QgnppjbLA6cr5lisc72-qY5Bl_RynR15xRLjUzLLYaAIkkB91IyTIelcD3hgfkZKifUXT30FyZJqX19tZQqWeSBIzf0XCPkIPkNAZtEggCeAr5HR/s320/BeastsStill1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>What Big Eyes</i> begins with a young over-keen RSPCA inspector becoming convinced that an animal trader is up to something shady. He finds it hard to believe that three timber wolves would really have ended up in a tiny pet shop. He discovers that the pet shop’s owner, an elderly eccentric would-be scientist named Leo Raymount (Patrick Magee), really did obtain those wolves. But why? The answer has to do with Raymount’s bizarre theories about lycanthropy. Weird but oddly moving episode.<br /><br />In <i>During Barty's Party</i> a middle-aged woman is worried that there may be a rat in the cellar. Possibly two rats. Her husband isn’t too worried at first - his wife is rather nervous. Then it becomes obvious that there are more than two rats. A lot more. His wife is even more worried. She thinks these rats are not just ordinary rats. She thinks they have evolved much greater intelligence.<br /><br />This is a standard “what if nature turned against us” story, although it’s well executed. This is the least weird episode and for that reason I find it the least interesting.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>Beasts</i> is Kneale pushing the boundaries of the genre and giving us monster stories that defy all our expectations about monster stories. A strange offbeat unsettling series. Highly recommended.<div><br /></div><div><i>Beasts</i> is available on DVD from Network.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-52733879042424942472023-03-03T04:40:00.000-08:002023-03-03T04:40:01.956-08:00The Avengers, four early Mrs Gale episodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0CYgVqzJh62NDs9UzLV3i8EXdwdIsqhK2rFWkGsL07b51I6otGavE0vQ9hcFh4Dv_MqPoIrerY7vD3JHcJGqF9XYVQbtvueVMUWkLIUaS4TZU6RTUl25ZNBPRq-JvEuhr2RDcJjxttlVUhTVyoUX1IN1UqGYaTDTswvsGtnurCvxnotn9F8Mn8uQ1=s767" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="767" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0CYgVqzJh62NDs9UzLV3i8EXdwdIsqhK2rFWkGsL07b51I6otGavE0vQ9hcFh4Dv_MqPoIrerY7vD3JHcJGqF9XYVQbtvueVMUWkLIUaS4TZU6RTUl25ZNBPRq-JvEuhr2RDcJjxttlVUhTVyoUX1IN1UqGYaTDTswvsGtnurCvxnotn9F8Mn8uQ1=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Some early Cathy Gale episodes of <i>The Avengers</i>, from late 1962 and early 1963. They feature what I call Steed Mark 2. Steed Mark 1, seen in the one or two surviving first season episodes, is a rather nasty piece of work with an edge of sadism to his character. He’s a spy, espionage is a dirty game and he plays it dirty. With the second season and the introduction of two female co-stars (Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale and Julie Stevens as Venus Smith were intended to appear in alternate episodes) the personality of Steed changed somewhat. He became more charming and there was plenty of witty banter with his female co-stars. Steed was still far more ruthless and manipulative than the Steed Mark 3 most people are accustomed to from the Emma Peel era but he was ruthless and manipulative in a charming way.<br /><br />Steed would continue to evolve, gradually becoming a dandy with a love for vintage cars and the finer things of life. Interestingly enough he does not yet have his Bentley. In <i>Traitor in Zebra</i> he drives a very nice 1930s Lagonda. <br /><br />He would also slowly become more obviously upper-class, more obviously a polished well-educated gentleman, albeit one with very few moral scruples.<br /><br />Initially no-one was quite sure how Honor Blackman was to play Cathy Gale. The idea of having an expert in unarmed combat with a penchant for black leather emerged gradually during the first Cathy Gale season (May 1962 to March 1963).<br /><br />The relationship between Steed and Mrs Gale was exceptionally interesting. She doesn’t really trust him completely, and with good reason. He manipulates her and he sometimes neglects to tell her things that she really is entitled to know.<br /><br />The reason <i>The Avengers</i> lasted so long and became increasingly successful has a lot to do with the way the series was constantly evolving. The basic setup remained but the David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King eras all have their own flavour. The differences between the Cathy Gale and Emma Peel eras will be startling to those who are only familiar with the Emma Peelers.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Traitor in Zebra</span></u><br /><br /><i>Traitor in Zebra</i> was written by John Gilbert and aired in November 1962. There’s a security leak in a top-secret defence establishment, HMS Zebra, which deals with laser tracking systems. A young sub-lieutenant named Crane has been accused of espionage. Steed and Mrs Gale have the job of finding out if he’s really the traitor. Steed goes undercover as a naval psychiatrist and Mrs Gale as a research chemist.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmNkbMzmdb7A0tJ0pCnK23Tr_TqqKOi8LUvXNvAQvbbuQ4SV67f6LMoILhS6Zls8EAoUxwirJrqjtb6P0Q-DUKXhJhAuxMx43MNgbQAX0JGKkU2F80ecscBkFJDCrdsK2wxOU4o6G2QKa6spQylpCCEDxgIWHRGGvCfaaHD2CD-J50zbtHIFV_eZcN=s766" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="766" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmNkbMzmdb7A0tJ0pCnK23Tr_TqqKOi8LUvXNvAQvbbuQ4SV67f6LMoILhS6Zls8EAoUxwirJrqjtb6P0Q-DUKXhJhAuxMx43MNgbQAX0JGKkU2F80ecscBkFJDCrdsK2wxOU4o6G2QKa6spQylpCCEDxgIWHRGGvCfaaHD2CD-J50zbtHIFV_eZcN=s320" width="320" /></a></div>The local village is a small tight-knit community and the circle of possible suspects is fairly small.<br /><br />This is early <i>Avengers</i> so it’s a straightforward spy thriller plot without any elements of the surreal or the fantastic. There is some gadgetry but it’s all plausible technology. In fact the technical stuff basically makes sense.<br /><br />The methods by which the secrets are passed is quite ingenious.<br /><br />It’s always fun to see William Gaunt (later to star in The Champions). He plays another young officer who is keen to help clear the name of his friend Crane.<br /><br />It builds to a very satisfying very tense finale in which Steed’s ruthlessness is very much in evidence.<br /><br />There’s quite a high body count. At this stage The Avengers was still a fairly hard-edged spy series that portrayed espionage as a game in which nice people often get killed, and the good guys can’t afford to be too squeamish about using violence.<br /><br />The problem with this episode is that John Gilbert’s script is a by-the-numbers spy story and all the plot twists can be seen coming. In fact the viewer more or less knows exactly what’s going on early on, although Steed and Mrs Gale obviously don’t. It’s a competent episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Intercrime</span></u><br /><br /><i>Intercrime</i> was scripted by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke. It went to air in December 1962. A couple of safe-crackers are murdered on the job, or at least one is murdered and the other left for dead. The survivor, Palmer, provides Steed with the first clues to what’s going on. It’s already suspected that an international crime syndicate is operating in Britain. There’s been a string of major robberies and the MOs don’t fit with the habits of any known local criminals.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY78Eg3XEVRKhSukKXj1ZGftnDzwdWHSZmMf1Z-oqVMsIk_mDpnFSC9l0cSEORGWyXt6RCpiW5uheAt5TPeRmyHvp_bQ9Dgj1vqoHVJQKNtn5nPx8chhimY9N1AEziuDsAl0aG7b2-zs6VTGH8ppYvfKHj2Qyb0hnqcTXKe__v9F0grIf3UpyKSCao=s765" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="765" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY78Eg3XEVRKhSukKXj1ZGftnDzwdWHSZmMf1Z-oqVMsIk_mDpnFSC9l0cSEORGWyXt6RCpiW5uheAt5TPeRmyHvp_bQ9Dgj1vqoHVJQKNtn5nPx8chhimY9N1AEziuDsAl0aG7b2-zs6VTGH8ppYvfKHj2Qyb0hnqcTXKe__v9F0grIf3UpyKSCao=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Palmer, in a semi-delirious state, lets slip some important information. A key operative in the crime syndicate, Hilda Stern, is about to arrive from Germany. She is arrested and is to be deported but Steed gets a brainwave. Why can’t Mrs Gale impersonate Hilda Stern and infiltrate the organisation. Mrs Gale is not happy about this idea at all but is pressured by Steed into agreeing (typical of the uneasy relationship between them in this season).<br /><br />As you might expect Cathy’s fears that this was going to be an insanely dangerous idea prove to be well-founded.<br /><br />The weakness of the script is that Intercrime is so ruthless that inevitably some of its employees are going to turn against it. <br /><br />This is a solid enough episode with some decent tension (Cathy Gale really does get into a very sticky situation). The plot is routine but the idea of an international crime super-syndicate is a good one. And Intercrime really does seem like a formidable enemy.<br /><br />It’s interesting to notice how feminine Cathy Gale looks. Skirts and very feminine hairdos. This was not yet the black leather-clad Cathy Gale. This is also a Mrs Gale who uses guns rather than judo to deal with bad guys.<br /><br />Quite a good episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Big Thinker</span></u><br /><br /><i>The Big Thinker</i> was written by Martin Woodhouse and screened in December 1962. There are problems with a new experimental super-computer called Plato. The problems might be caused by sabotage.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg785ujZcjocY5iXfW_nn9tjL0P9afBc767R0g2Jeo7tEhj49mEtMK4KlTOZnJ-6FY3eOsX-71iIEmemRMUzdL5bQUjEHW5fuxW21uVuMCx95AiGByJriFKhz_jSWKT8USszuQVjY3c7u81_6_Wjbn2tzTjrkjJziR3dcF-zjHDxfAsYBSg8_Vbw83t=s767" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="767" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg785ujZcjocY5iXfW_nn9tjL0P9afBc767R0g2Jeo7tEhj49mEtMK4KlTOZnJ-6FY3eOsX-71iIEmemRMUzdL5bQUjEHW5fuxW21uVuMCx95AiGByJriFKhz_jSWKT8USszuQVjY3c7u81_6_Wjbn2tzTjrkjJziR3dcF-zjHDxfAsYBSg8_Vbw83t=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Cathy inveigles her way into Plato’s domain by posing as an anthropologist hoping to use Plato to translate dead languages. Computer whizz-kid Dr Kearns is an obvious suspect. He’s brilliant but erratic, he chases women, he drinks and he gambles. All of which could make him susceptible to pressure to betray the project.<br /><br />There are some really nice scenes in this one, especially when Cathy’s flat gets broken into. The gambling scene between Mrs Gale and Broster is also excellent.<br /><br />What’s nice is that the computer is more than just a McGuffin. It plays a central role in the story and also becomes a character. The idea that Plato isn’t just a computer but in fact the whole complex is also rather nifty. It’s not very original but it’s made to work here. You get the impression that Martin Woodhouse has actually put a bit of thought into the computer angle.<br /><br />Mrs Gale is still very feminine but she has picked up a few unarmed combat skills.<br /><br />Anthony Booth is terrific as Dr Kearns. He very wisely doesn’t try to soften the character - Kearns is arrogant and obnoxious but he’s vastly entertaining and the fact that nobody likes him plays an important story in the story.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Warlock</span></u><br /><br /><i>Warlock</i> was written by Doreen Montgomery and went to air in January 1963. This was the episode that was supposed to introduce Mrs Gale but the producers were not satisfied and ordered a lot of reshooting.<br /><br />In this episode Steed and Mrs Gale tangle with black magic. A physicist suffers what appears to be a stroke, but it isn’t. He then disappears. Steed found him clutching a hex symbol.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN_f5J7L_fviTd_XPSzcfi7CQCNPWsEO67SBRD90x3d6GQvfSjN-CZgQS76WDA0_vyKbkpBDRa7_Iz-d2VNDQh0iogBx7vZvcchhaa4SHg7fZzChKMXiH4I4ayS5bkQ6ed_4eMP58Wi1OklZIWl7IrJ-UXB2iITEP0kt3WeQbfsgNo07tLtTsUomTE=s765" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="765" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN_f5J7L_fviTd_XPSzcfi7CQCNPWsEO67SBRD90x3d6GQvfSjN-CZgQS76WDA0_vyKbkpBDRa7_Iz-d2VNDQh0iogBx7vZvcchhaa4SHg7fZzChKMXiH4I4ayS5bkQ6ed_4eMP58Wi1OklZIWl7IrJ-UXB2iITEP0kt3WeQbfsgNo07tLtTsUomTE=s320" width="320" /></a></div>International spies (headed by a sinister fellow called Markel) are using black magician Cosmo Gallion to induce scientists to part with vital secrets. Mrs Gale just happens to be an expert in psychic and occult phenomena.<br /><br />What’s interesting is that Gallion and Markel have totally separate and mutually contradictory agendas. Markel wants a secret rocket fuel formula; Gallion wants occult power.<br /><br />It ends with Gallion performing a black magic ritual at which it appears that he intends to sacrifice Mrs Gale. The ritual scene tries to be as sexy and you could get away with on British TV in 1963, with a blonde girl dancing in a very skimpy costume. Wearing nothing but very brief panties on her bottom half was pretty startling in 1963. The mixing of voodoo and black magic is amusing and adds some spice. Of course all the occult stuff is a hopeless mishmash worthy of the Sunday papers but this is television and it’s supposed to be silly fun. <br /><br />You have to remember that in the 60s the British press was continually creating moral panics about witchcraft in modern England. <br /><br />The relationship between Steed and Mrs Gale is not yet clearly defined. She seems to be very disapproving of Steed at this stage. Steed is very obviously hoping to seduce her.<br /><br />A well-crafted very enjoyable episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><br />Four pretty good episodes with <i>Warlock</i> being the best of them.<div><br /></div><div>I've reviewed other Cathy Gale episodes -in these posts - the Cathy Gale era <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-avengers-mauritius-pennymr-teddy.html" target="_blank">The Mauritius Penny/Mr Teddy Bear</a> and the <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-avengers-cathy-gale-era.html" target="_blank">Cathy Gale era</a>.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-79381218647920341812023-02-14T15:56:00.001-08:002023-02-14T16:01:22.038-08:00Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlncvLJgkphWkOn2Ht3JrOunDD8LeudN5belYXjdpYoxlwpcPAXYkfImpR9nA3SOHlbhFsVqrcxU981Eaf2e8E5x-M8Xvc865-ramFVo2gPP1hHx9X3Te8_0wecL23aIMoIqe28MCw8n1_uC_Rh6D-W2orj-bzZPgbdg4k_eI1W8KhMzKScPRNzG0/s1200/Hammer%20House%20of%20Mystery%20and%20Suspense1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="849" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlncvLJgkphWkOn2Ht3JrOunDD8LeudN5belYXjdpYoxlwpcPAXYkfImpR9nA3SOHlbhFsVqrcxU981Eaf2e8E5x-M8Xvc865-ramFVo2gPP1hHx9X3Te8_0wecL23aIMoIqe28MCw8n1_uC_Rh6D-W2orj-bzZPgbdg4k_eI1W8KhMzKScPRNzG0/s320/Hammer%20House%20of%20Mystery%20and%20Suspense1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><i>Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense</i> was Hammer Films’ last desperate effort to save itself. Their final feature film was <a href="https://princeplanetmovies.blogspot.com/2014/10/to-devil-daughter-1976.html" target="_blank">To the Devil…a Daughter</a> in 1976. Due to unfortunate financial decisions, failed to make them any money. The British film industry was on its last legs and things were about to get worse, with home video about to arrive and drive the final nail in the coffin. Hammer’s decision to move away from movies into television was actually quite sound. <br /><br />It’s a decision which should have worked. <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2019/06/hammer-house-of-horror-1980-part-one.html" target="_blank">Hammer House of Horror</a>, made in 1980, was well received and the ratings were healthy. The American network was initially keen on the idea of a second season. Sadly the deal fell through. Without the US network onboard the series was doomed.<br /><br /><i>Hammer House of Horror</i> did demonstrate that Hammer could do TV horror extremely well. And by the late 70s it was becoming obvious that TV was more suited to Hammer’s style of horror. At the beginning of the 70s Hammer had realised that they needed to vary their formula, and that they needed to add more blood and more sex and more nudity. Their late 1960s efforts were starting to seem a bit tame and a bit stodgy. Hammer responded by making a series of extremely interesting early 70s horror films, with the extra blood, sex and nudity. But Hammer never seemed entirely comfortable with the idea of erotic horror. It just isn’t British. They preferred to leave that sort of thing to the Europeans who were very comfortable indeed with the concept. On TV however they could make the kind of horror that they were comfortable with, a bit bloody but not too much so and with just enough sexiness. <br /><br />With <i>Hammer House of Horror</i> they hadn’t extricated themselves from their financial mess but the results of the series were still moderately encouraging. In 1984 they tried again, with <i>Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense</i>.<br /><br />This new series was a co-production with Fox’s TV arm in the US. That caused problems from the start. <i>Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense</i> was too rushed, and to please their American partners the series had to be squeaky clean, bland and inoffensive. If Hammer were uneasy about sex they were to find that American TV preferred to pretend that sex just didn’t exist.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTjprKTI9fUCiFSLh4VTNy6YrdeR6fzlkAjA12aS7sBOHhHj5IqCLdDMI_a1cqFydFVolV7y4SNM3UV96MqqT1RF9O_o97RDJnoo5Qu7d7HLOCHuTqfwEazsntwNAxV-rKDLXq8cSxSCakWQxYdy--LXIVuz3k4DpOuB1nyVAag1J7xnAmRbGDtnc/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense1%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTjprKTI9fUCiFSLh4VTNy6YrdeR6fzlkAjA12aS7sBOHhHj5IqCLdDMI_a1cqFydFVolV7y4SNM3UV96MqqT1RF9O_o97RDJnoo5Qu7d7HLOCHuTqfwEazsntwNAxV-rKDLXq8cSxSCakWQxYdy--LXIVuz3k4DpOuB1nyVAag1J7xnAmRbGDtnc/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The episodes have a 70-minute running time, presumably at the insistence of the American partners who intended the series to be screened as a mystery movie series. The running times are definitely too long in some cases. Some of the episodes are a bit slower than they should have been, with not quite enough plot to justify the movie-length running times. But it's only a problem with some episodes.<div><br /></div><div>The Americans presumably also insisted on imported American stars. <br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Episode Guide</span></u><br /><br /><i>The Sweet Scent of Death</i> was directed by Peter Sasdy. It was written by Brian Clemens so it’s no surprise that it plays out exactly like an episode from his 1970s anthology series Thriller. If you’re a Thriller fan you’ll know what to expect. The plot twists are done reasonably well but some key aspects of the story are a bit too predictable.<br /><br />Dean Stockwell (an actor I have never been able to warm to) plays an American diplomat in England. Shirley Knight plays his wife Ann. Someone seems to be out to get Ann, although it’s not clear just how serious the threat might be. The prologue suggests to us that there’s a connection to events in New York ten years earlier.<br /><br />There’s an obvious suspect on whom the police focus their attention but the viewer will immediately realise that there are three or possibly even four alternative suspects. <br /><br />Peter Sasdy directs the episode competently. It’s an OK episode but just a bit on the bland side.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tKlNy02o1iw5jCNhsXQfRbB49-UV9zn6oxjd2qHA97fqIAdq5mV6vZgS1ue0_31VkCppqA_F2FEP71qIPj34OEz5jesWimJil8eNgw0CLHO1vqJQwqkUACKWlmkVuBYYiGG13ss8ZwJ2fcaqnwhp9Bc16QqyYpmwtnnlicSBeB_UUZC1BS3V09p7/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense2%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tKlNy02o1iw5jCNhsXQfRbB49-UV9zn6oxjd2qHA97fqIAdq5mV6vZgS1ue0_31VkCppqA_F2FEP71qIPj34OEz5jesWimJil8eNgw0CLHO1vqJQwqkUACKWlmkVuBYYiGG13ss8ZwJ2fcaqnwhp9Bc16QqyYpmwtnnlicSBeB_UUZC1BS3V09p7/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A Distant Scream</i>, written by Martin Worth and directed by John Hough, is more interesting. An elderly man is dying. He spent the lest few decades of his life locked up for the murder of his girlfriend years earlier. He has always proclaimed his innocence and has been obsessed with finding the real killer. Close to death, he is transported back in time (presumably by supernatural or paranormal means) and is able to witness the two days leading up to his girlfriend’s murder.<br /><br />The old man is Michael (David Carradine). At the time of the murder Michael was a freelance photographer spending a holiday at a fishing village with his girlfriend Rosemary (Stephanie Beacham). She’s a married woman with whom he is having an affair.<br /><br />Michael as an old man is not only able to witness the events leading up to the tragedy, he can interact with the people involved. Rosemary can see him. He can talk to her. At times others can see him and speak with him. Even his younger self sees him at one point.<br /><br />This of course involves one of those famous time travel paradoxes. If he can interact with people in the past then he should logically be able to change the past. I was rather interested to see whether the scriptwriter (Martin Worth) was aware of the time travel paradox and if so how he was going to deal with it. Or whether he was simply going to ignore it.<br /><br />The weak link in this episode is David Carradine. He just can’t act. There’s another problem - as a dying old man he looks younger healthier than he does as his younger self. Stephanie Beacham’s performance on the other hand is quite solid.<br /><br /><i>The Late Nancy Irving</i>, written by David Fisher and directed by Peter Sasdy, concerns a lady golf champion. She has diabetes but it’s always been well controlled. She also has an incredibly rare blood type. <br /><br />Then she wakes up in hospital. She is told that she crashed her car. She has only vague garbled memories of some kind of car accident. She is assured that her injuries are not all that severe. What worries her is that she feels rather confused. Her mind seems foggy. She is a bit disturbed by the bars on the windows of her private room but she is given a reasonably plausible explanation. The bars date from a time when the clinic treated mental patients who might try to throw themselves from windows. Of course she isn’t being locked in and she’s silly to think such a thing.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iWK5LZ-kOdsJk3P31MUP9BVIsveSY_ZgrgGqNCXcIgBHUrxhGhKqq5gtXoWE8u1glo45HoO6zzuDZzmNHM7sH3y0ZsZVe7u6fkIFKEdX1Vpgq7SB1uhaWszG7uSV-RKtXLfTxWJwtAWOt7BzjwB_N_zCMG-Ae_tV5_8ZjZVcvGMDzf-Ts_VwPLJD/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense3%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iWK5LZ-kOdsJk3P31MUP9BVIsveSY_ZgrgGqNCXcIgBHUrxhGhKqq5gtXoWE8u1glo45HoO6zzuDZzmNHM7sH3y0ZsZVe7u6fkIFKEdX1Vpgq7SB1uhaWszG7uSV-RKtXLfTxWJwtAWOt7BzjwB_N_zCMG-Ae_tV5_8ZjZVcvGMDzf-Ts_VwPLJD/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense3%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Gradually she becomes a little worried. Why hasn’t she heard from her fiancé? Why hasn’t she heard from anyone? Why does she feel so weak? And why are they giving her blood transfusions? And then she sees a story on the TV news and she starts to get the picture.<br /><br />The main problem here is that while the basic idea is excellent there are not enough plot twists to sustain a 70-minute running time. The excessive length weakens the suspense. Cristina Raines in the lead rôle is also just a little bland. This is an OK episode that could have been a great episode.<br /><br /><i>Black Carrion</i> was written by Don Houghton and directed by John Hough. Journalist Paul Taylor (Leigh Lawson) is hired to write an article about the Verne Brothers. They were (according to the story) a hugely successful pop duo who disappeared in 1963. Totally disappeared. No-one knows what happened to them. They were never heard from again. To Taylor it’s obvious that this is a promising story. Researcher/photographer Cora Berlaine (Season Hubley) has been assigned to assist him. Cora has a prodigious knowledge of 60s pop music.<br /><br />Cora is troubled by memories. Disturbing but totally disjointed memories. Are they real memories? She thinks so but of course she can’t be sure. <br /><br />The search for the Verne Brothers takes Paul and Cora to the village of Briar’s Frome. It was rumoured that the Verne Brothers were going to buy the palatial manor house there. The village is deserted. It’s a ghost town. But weird things are happening in Briar’s Frome, and Cora’s memories are getting more vivid. <br /><br />The plot is all over the place and there’s some silliness but there are lots of great ideas (and even original ideas) in this episode. And lots of creepy atmosphere. I enjoyed this episode a great deal.<br /><br /><i>In Possession</i> was written by Michael J. Bird and directed by Val Guest. Frank Daly (Christopher Cazenove) and his wife Sylvia (Carol Lynley) reach their hotel room only to find that it’s already occupied by a woman and an old lady. When they fetch the manager to sort things out the woman and the lady have vanished. Then Frank sees them again by the river, and again they vanish.<br /><br />Frank and Sylvia start seeing various people in their flat. People who are not there. But they seem very real. Slowly it becomes obvious that in some way Frank and Sylvia are witnessing events that lead to a murder. Is this a shared dream? Or is it something that happened in the past? <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMVBko8HMftN7cqPP5mzdExjUoWUGLR8NTfzA6JBbN7-eWab8aTyESM87IP0rAmGKvq7l0_hkOOqtAPxJxP61pXIZ42c00U6IeTEYVTJxJNIaFK0sVtmku3yHts7IdCjKxE3qYQUD48z9P1NN5WiUIdRjQWFhoSW62m64yRglqB_90iiz-dWa9OiJ/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense4%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMVBko8HMftN7cqPP5mzdExjUoWUGLR8NTfzA6JBbN7-eWab8aTyESM87IP0rAmGKvq7l0_hkOOqtAPxJxP61pXIZ42c00U6IeTEYVTJxJNIaFK0sVtmku3yHts7IdCjKxE3qYQUD48z9P1NN5WiUIdRjQWFhoSW62m64yRglqB_90iiz-dWa9OiJ/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense4%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Whether you consider this episode to be a haunted house story depends on how broadly you define that term. Whether this counts as a haunted house story doesn’t really matter. It’s a fascinatingly weird and disturbing tale with some real moments of terror and creepiness. An excellent episode.<br /><br /><i>And the Wall Came Tumbling Down</i> was written by Dennis Spooner and John Peacock and directed by Paul Annett. An old deconsecrated church is being demolished by the Ministry of Defence. There’s a mysterious accident on the site, and we then get a flashback to events in 1949, events involving a coven of devil-worshippers. The devil-worshippers are betrayed by a young man. More than three centuries later another young man has a peculiar interest in this old church. <br /><br />As you may have guessed the world of the 1980s is about to encounter evil from the 17th century. Maybe not wildly original but it plays out in a very satisfactory manner with plenty of gothic atmosphere and some real creepiness. Caroline Trent (Barbi Benton) works for the government but her real interest is in the occult. She isn’t sure what is going on with that old church but she knows that Dark Forces are at work. The site manager Peter Whiteway (Gareth Hunt) doesn’t believe her, at least not at first.<br /><br />This one has an interesting cast. There’s Gareth Hunt (best-known for <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-new-avengers-1976-77.html" target="_blank">The New Avengers</a>), the wonderful Peter Wyngarde from <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/04/department-s-1969-70.html" target="_blank">Department S</a> and <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/05/jason-king-1971-72.html" target="_blank">Jason King</a> and there’s Barbi Benton, best known as a Playboy model. Hunt is very good, Wyngarde is sinister and charismatic and Barbi Benton is quite OK. It all builds to a satisfying conclusion. A very good episode.<br /><br /><i>Child's Play</i> was written by Graham Wassell and directed by Val Guest. Mike and Ann Preston are a young couple with a daughter. They wake up in the middle of the night to discover something very odd and disturbing. They have been walled in. Their whole house has been walled in. And it’s getting rather hot. The telephone doesn’t work. The radio doesn’t work. The TV works, but every station has nothing but a station identification logo and it’s the same logo on every channel.<br /><br />They haven’t noticed it yet but that logo has appeared on all sorts of items in the house. It’s getting hotter and they’re close to giving way to panic.<br /><br />Mike comes up with various plans to break through the wall but it seems impossible. The two of them also come up with possible explanations. The actual explanation is one they hadn’t considered, and it’s pretty clever. There are some clues but I certainly didn’t guess the solution. This is a nicely scary creepy story, a bit like a good <i>Twilight Zone</i> episode. A very fine episode.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnNdp67dEYQF5A-LchzqwFjkt1yVPuD5A7-Zo3Q4GeDprAXsGf8ao5yXj7M9wqfa__3H6sn5AasnlRWyf3hwPABVhJut8sTz5wFkegnIRAQtITsAJEIyw7tvFVaNyVCm8-uA9EKwDcTAehDgZMQHgIh7VkfG2dtKXaeYH99_Ju7SUfGqdg1I7N6EG/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense5%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnNdp67dEYQF5A-LchzqwFjkt1yVPuD5A7-Zo3Q4GeDprAXsGf8ao5yXj7M9wqfa__3H6sn5AasnlRWyf3hwPABVhJut8sTz5wFkegnIRAQtITsAJEIyw7tvFVaNyVCm8-uA9EKwDcTAehDgZMQHgIh7VkfG2dtKXaeYH99_Ju7SUfGqdg1I7N6EG/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense5%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Paint Me a Murder</i> was written by Jesse Lasky Jr and Pat Silver and directed by Alan Cooke. Painter Luke Lorenz finishes a painting then gets into a rowing boat and heads out to sea. He then smashes through the planking of the boat. His body is not found. Suicide is assumed.<br /><br />He wasn’t a very successful painter when alive but now that he’s dead his paintings start to fetch huge prices. That’s good news for his widow Sandra (Michelle Phillips). And for art dealer Vincent Rhodes (David Robb).<br /><br />The major early twist won’t come as much of a surprise but the twists do keep coming. I liked this episode.<br /><br /><i>Tennis Court</i> was written by Andrew Sinclair and Michael Hastings and directed by Cyril Frankel. This is a haunted tennis court story. A middle-aged woman, Maggie (Hannah Gordon), inherits an old but moderately palatial country house. She has recently married Harry Dowd, a Member of Parliament. In the grounds of the house is an indoor tennis court. Slightly odd things happen on that tennis court. It has some connection to events many years earlier, during the war. A British bomber was shot down. One member of the crew survived. They other did not.<br /><br />The local vicar, John Bray (Peter Graves), knows something about that wartime incident. At the time he was a Canadian volunteer in the R.A.F. and he was there. <br /><br />Maggie is becoming increasingly terrified of whatever is in that tennis court.<br /><br />Not one of my favourite episodes, but entertaining enough.<br /><br /><i>The Corvini Inheritance</i> was written by David Fisher and directed by Gabrielle Beaumont. This one starts with a young woman, Eva Bailey, encountering a peeping tom. She is unharmed but rather scared. And it starts with a robbery at a fine art auction room.<br /><br />Frank Lane (David McCallum) is in charge of security at the auction room. He also happens to live in the same building as Eva. Frank offers to help make Eva’s flat more secure. They have dinner together. Frank is divorced and a bit lonely but he’s a nice guy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvRQc2u0AMoV5BQ-KNT47qe2G86l_ZLHUctZ5l0mRYaqNNpXkKfbolHTVRDQ3czq0cyaVYu7ymU9AnwOA561jWZiB3kWbTdiSuZ_IuEzmLYe6LgHlRPUqBwV2g3To6CJbqL4LXxF2FrXl2dM-KqWZvDQVRMF4NaI7Hg_69vF4JvIKe2-ipCG9SquH/s593/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense6%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="593" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvRQc2u0AMoV5BQ-KNT47qe2G86l_ZLHUctZ5l0mRYaqNNpXkKfbolHTVRDQ3czq0cyaVYu7ymU9AnwOA561jWZiB3kWbTdiSuZ_IuEzmLYe6LgHlRPUqBwV2g3To6CJbqL4LXxF2FrXl2dM-KqWZvDQVRMF4NaI7Hg_69vF4JvIKe2-ipCG9SquH/s320/HammerHouseOfMysteryAndSuspense6%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Frank has a big security job on. The Corvini inheritance, a fabulous collection of jewels amassed in Italy during the Renaissance by a family of professional assassins, is to be auctioned. It will be in the keeping of the auctioneers for several weeks. It’s an obvious target for professional thieves. The most valuable piece in the collection is a necklace with a grim history. It may be cursed.<br /><br />There are two plot strands here. Someone seems to be stalking Eva, and there’s the possibility of an attempt to steal the Corvini jewels. I liked this one a lot. There’s some nice ambiguity here.<br /><br /><i>Czech Mate</i> was written by Jeremy Burnham and directed by John Hough. This is a straightforward Cold War spy thriller but it’s nicely executed with plenty of cynicism and paranoia. Susan George plays an Englishwoman, Vicky Duncan, caught up in a web of deceit and betrayal behind the Iron Curtain. In this story there is no difference whatever between the good guys and the bad guys. People disappear and corpses turn up and Vicky discovers that she can’t trust anyone.<br /><br />Susan George and Patrick Mower (as her ex-husband) give excellent performances and it’s always nice to see Peter Vaughan in anything. This episode is a bit out of place in this series but it’s entertaining.<br /><br /><i>Last Video and Testament</i> was written by Roy Russell and Robert Quigley and directed by Peter Sasdy. Victor Frankham (David Langton) owns a vast electronic empire. He has a heart condition and he has a much younger wife, Selena (Deborah Raffin). A much younger wife who may be looking elsewhere for certain pleasures which her husband can no longer provide. Victor’s doctor has been encouraging him to have an operation. An operation which will restore his vitality in the bedroom, which may not be to Selena’s liking. <br /><br />Victor has a surprise in store for Selena, in the form of a videotape.<br /><br />This one has quite a clever central idea and it works very nicely.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Final Thoughts</u></span><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u><br />This is an extremely good series, much much better than its reputation would lead you to believe. Highly recommended.<div><br /></div><div>The German Pidax DVD boxed set includes all thirteen episodes, in English with removable German subtitles. The box cover suggests that it only includes eleven episodes but it definitely includes all thirteen. The transfers are perfectly acceptable.</div></div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-65897728479732980672023-01-31T04:44:00.000-08:002023-01-31T04:44:10.201-08:00The Twilight Zone - The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnn3y0bxcs4vf-raOgiiViXBsT9BjaJPizNEPBdytSwVHT4GpBwY1sNga5HeyInzc6NYvmOoexjWmbChZgREK-faBJh1g00snbvbrdiwMSND6mG6g5rMt0EGoPkFmVaXG9ZZFSKiT5XTEDAzsYW1TMbVUsEHSAqluT33LJmce5g4Ko9hFD6rk0VxfX/s599/TwilightZone16mmShrine1%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnn3y0bxcs4vf-raOgiiViXBsT9BjaJPizNEPBdytSwVHT4GpBwY1sNga5HeyInzc6NYvmOoexjWmbChZgREK-faBJh1g00snbvbrdiwMSND6mG6g5rMt0EGoPkFmVaXG9ZZFSKiT5XTEDAzsYW1TMbVUsEHSAqluT33LJmce5g4Ko9hFD6rk0VxfX/s320/TwilightZone16mmShrine1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrine</i> was the fourth episode of the first season of <i>The Twilight Zone</i> and it’s always been one of my favourites. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Rod Serling and first went to air on October 23, 1959.<br /><br />Barbara Jean Trenton (Ida Lupino) was, briefly, a major movie star. But that was many years ago. Her career took off quickly and crashed just as quickly. She is now a middle-aged recluse. She spends her time watching her own old movies on 16mm in a private projection room in her mansion.<br /><br />While Barbara Jean Trenton, the character played by Ida Lupino, clearly has a kinship with Norma Desmond from <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> and while the initial setup resembles that of Billy Wilder’s film it is quite wrong to see <i>The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrine</i> as merely a television rip-off of Sunset Boulevard. The story does not follow the same trajectory, and there are differences in emphasis. And while it isn’t immediately obvious at first by the end of the story it has become very definitely a Twilight Zone story.<br /><br />It has the essential <i>Twilight Zone</i> feel - everything seems just like everyday reality until suddenly it’s not everyday reality any more.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7m9KK4Wj2EeecxYPmFJmqR280jVrlSn1tHzCaW1sxlM5bUN22f7teiS4mwL3y6XXlY1Lm23V-FDjndf32z57Q9Zw1YIOiSrqwML-XyM9HKMJNxQhK-y_bpv3gw7S1lZcxPl42LS02d17LobVN4kFTNH8CkH366kD2-qYCQKF8dspQdkWnzRKvx7O/s599/TwilightZone16mmShrine3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7m9KK4Wj2EeecxYPmFJmqR280jVrlSn1tHzCaW1sxlM5bUN22f7teiS4mwL3y6XXlY1Lm23V-FDjndf32z57Q9Zw1YIOiSrqwML-XyM9HKMJNxQhK-y_bpv3gw7S1lZcxPl42LS02d17LobVN4kFTNH8CkH366kD2-qYCQKF8dspQdkWnzRKvx7O/s320/TwilightZone16mmShrine3%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrine</i> there’s quite a bit of focus on the essential voyeurism of cinema. The twist here is that it’s self-voyeurism. Barbara Jean Trenton has no interest in other people’s lives. She has no curiosity about other people. The subject of her voyeurism is Barbara Jean Trenton. Not Barbara Jean Trenton the woman, but Barbara Jean Trenton the movie star. She watches herself obsessively on the screen. A further twist is that Barbara Jean Trenton the movie star no longer exists. This is voyeurism focused on the past. <br /><br />And of course the viewer is watching Barbara Jean watching herself.<br /><br />The twist at the end was later borrowed (or homaged if you prefer) by a certain very famous film director but to say any more would constitute a spoiler. It goes without saying that the film director in question was hailed as a genius for this ending, but <i>The Twilight Zone</i> did it first.<br /><br />This is Rod Serling’s writing at its best. It packs an emotional punch but without sentimentality and without the viewer feeling manipulated. Serling could be guilty of sentimentality and manipulation but when he avoided those pitfalls he could come up with some top-notch scripts. And this is a wonderfully subtle script.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGKCaoWJjdDvm-GooiMXYBBtiIdb3MvB6lw1c6cgrVewMCrPscxRAlJjK19VpfA8aV-6-LAXgMc9_kghzOO4j-xhY2NNDhpXFgY0Brdb0qcD61FHL5T6x0pTgpu6iH9ZNeBpNxqQNvJ-vp1_JLdiSdAvJ3JxT8GrYBnk_t171PowrgLBemxcMeFzl/s599/TwilightZone16mmShrine2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="599" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGKCaoWJjdDvm-GooiMXYBBtiIdb3MvB6lw1c6cgrVewMCrPscxRAlJjK19VpfA8aV-6-LAXgMc9_kghzOO4j-xhY2NNDhpXFgY0Brdb0qcD61FHL5T6x0pTgpu6iH9ZNeBpNxqQNvJ-vp1_JLdiSdAvJ3JxT8GrYBnk_t171PowrgLBemxcMeFzl/s320/TwilightZone16mmShrine2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Martin Balsam is excellent as Barbara Jean’s loyal long-suffering friend and agent Danny Weiss.<br /><br />But the success of this episode depends entirely on Lupino’s performance. She’s superb. She wisely avoids self-pity. Barbara Jean has isolated herself entirely from the contemporary world but we don’t despise or pity her. She has made a choice. She is happier living in the past. She knows that the modern world would destroy her. Lupino gives her a certain dignity.<br /><br />While <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> was a rather scathing look at Hollywood and what it does to people <i>The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrine</i> has a different tone. It certainly acknowledges that Hollywood uses people, makes them stars and then discards them but Serling’s story lacks <i>Sunset Boulevard</i>’s venom. Barbara Jean’s fate is sad, and yet there’s no question that for a brief moment Hollywood really did give her everything she wanted. It gave her complete happiness. Would she have been better off never having experienced her brief moment of fame and fulfilment? If happiness is fleeting would we really be better off without it? Would we really be better off living safe predictable conventional lives with no insane highs and no insane lows?<br /><br />Barbara Jean would undoubtedly say that the highs are worth the price one has to pay. She knows that she was a star, and no-one can ever take that away from her.<br /><br />So rather than the bleakness and venom of <i>Sunset Boulevard</i> we get a bitter-sweet tone here, and the combination of Serling’s writing and Lupino’s acting makes it work.<br /><br />I’ve now seen <i>The Sixteen-Millimetre Shrin</i>e four times and it remains one of my favourite Twilight Zone moments. Very highly recommended.dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-76260043347896639242023-01-08T16:09:00.000-08:002023-01-08T16:09:52.651-08:00three more Outer Limits season 1 episodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxkRkXA7XaV4pY92Y3p8ybO1ChAZhbnVz29vHwk3AU9WXUWmEwp4QbVU8kBWdYtgxTZZa8uCWUS_7kwTIP2Mt6h-KUtRGfCS8QK7SvSQ1wuIHH8_W6hHqt8UqqhpExWGgXC00ro78AKNK6zNeJJK3zYMysX3vzBt8rPvEa63fCejnnOkJudzknFt5/s766/OuterLimitsSecondChance1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="766" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxkRkXA7XaV4pY92Y3p8ybO1ChAZhbnVz29vHwk3AU9WXUWmEwp4QbVU8kBWdYtgxTZZa8uCWUS_7kwTIP2Mt6h-KUtRGfCS8QK7SvSQ1wuIHH8_W6hHqt8UqqhpExWGgXC00ro78AKNK6zNeJJK3zYMysX3vzBt8rPvEa63fCejnnOkJudzknFt5/s320/OuterLimitsSecondChance1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Three more <i>Outer Limits</i> season 1 episodes from 1964. They’re not among the best episodes but even lesser episodes of this series are pretty good and pretty interesting.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Second Chance</span></u><br /><br /><i>Second Chance</i> was written by Sonya Roberts and Lou Morheim and directed by Paul Stanley. It went to air in Match 1964.<br /><br />A group of people are drawn to a carnival spaceship ride. They don’t know why. It’s just a silly fake spaceship. They get quite a surprise when the fake spacecraft actually lifts off and they find themselves in deep space. The carnival ride has been transformed into a real spaceship by an alien from a distant planet.<br /><br />The people on the ride are a motley assortment and it’s difficult to understand why the alien wanted them aboard. That will however gradually become clear. <br /><br />This is yet another example of <i>The Outer Limits</i> giving the alien invasion idea a major twist. And it’s another example of the series treating aliens as beings who might not necessarily be hostile. The idea of a carnival ride turning into a nightmare ride through outer space is very cool.<br /><br />And, as so often in this series, there’s more emphasis on character than you’ll find in most TV sci-fi. The plot is mostly a device to allow the characters to learn something about themselves.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Children of Spider County </span></u><br /><br />Written by Anthony Lawrence, directed by Leonard J. Horn, screened February 1964.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhKOomOqnqMXlxIaQMqP6w0-ZsL5KUbAu78_Pddz8GjgE3U3rF8VzplGGUuazlRjJf2sDH4MTuGv-d3-BgOVUHCBUNiUS3Pjk4i3MKKhi2pQbb8zemSvKQbRP5OUGKipmH1H0xrUzbizB7Q8pkuX1f6dMgu9krLpCz3mfLDUt4XNXD0YsTc5Wuyda/s763/OuterLimitsChildrenOfSpiderCounty1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="763" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhKOomOqnqMXlxIaQMqP6w0-ZsL5KUbAu78_Pddz8GjgE3U3rF8VzplGGUuazlRjJf2sDH4MTuGv-d3-BgOVUHCBUNiUS3Pjk4i3MKKhi2pQbb8zemSvKQbRP5OUGKipmH1H0xrUzbizB7Q8pkuX1f6dMgu9krLpCz3mfLDUt4XNXD0YsTc5Wuyda/s320/OuterLimitsChildrenOfSpiderCounty1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>The Children of Spider County</i> the Space Security agency gets involved when four young men disappear. There are extraordinary links between these four men that suggest a possibility that seems insane, but the links just can’t be explained by coincidence and Space Security takes the matter seriously. There’s also a fifth young man, Ethan Wechsler, and he’s facing a murder charge. <br /><br />This episode illustrates some of the weaknesses of this series - cheesy makeup and iffy special effects. But <i>The Outer Limits </i>never worried about stuff like that. If they felt that the monsters needed to be shown, they’d show them, and if they looked cheesy the producers felt that the scripts would be good enough to compensate. And usually they were. <br /><br />This episode works because it takes the alien invasion idea and gives it lots of interesting twists, and lots of ambiguity. Cleverly, the ambiguities are never fully resolved. There’s some slightly cringe-inducing speechifying about accepting differences but there are some genuine moral and emotional dilemmas.<br /><br />There’s some action, with Ethan and his girlfriend on the run from the cops, and maybe from the aliens, and maybe from Space Security. And again there’s ambiguity - maybe it would be better if the alien caught them, and maybe it wouldn’t.<br /><br />Not one of the great Outer Limits episodes but even the less-great episodes of this series tended to be very good and very thoughtful.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Moonstone </span></u><br /><br />Written by Stephen Lord, directed by Gerd Oswald, screened February 1964.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwTPYnSOX3fT6ipMJAv-sQIXaKeNVPGHeS79Im--PFZPfi87-pUSh-RpghcBNU1nCnkcJ2l72enjFNNfHs14RPAVwna3N5rnqdf_zMUStIh6zPzy_fVmmPb0DQrzwOxowjK_uVTxoeAvKjhBY2WBWBulErjekFYg_jbnEqdAEFW0iJV-ap9rw8nJ9/s765/OuterLimitsMoonstone2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="765" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwTPYnSOX3fT6ipMJAv-sQIXaKeNVPGHeS79Im--PFZPfi87-pUSh-RpghcBNU1nCnkcJ2l72enjFNNfHs14RPAVwna3N5rnqdf_zMUStIh6zPzy_fVmmPb0DQrzwOxowjK_uVTxoeAvKjhBY2WBWBulErjekFYg_jbnEqdAEFW0iJV-ap9rw8nJ9/s320/OuterLimitsMoonstone2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Moonstone</i> begins, naturally enough, on the Moon. American astronauts discover an artifact which is clearly not natural. At first they assume the Russians must be behind it but it soon becomes apparent that this small white sphere contains a number of alien intelligences. Are these aliens friendly or hostile? They seem benevolent. The aliens have a problem, and it’s a big problem. And it becomes a problem for the crew of the lunar mission as well. The commander of the lunar mission, General Stocker, will have to make a tough decision. He had to do that once before and it had consequences for which his second-in-command, Major Anderson, has never forgiven him.<br /><br />It’s that decision made by General Stocker in the past that provides the main thematic interest of this episode. It’s all about decisions and decisions that have to be made by both the human and alien characters. The aliens simply function as a catalyst for major personal upheavals involving General Stocker and Major Anderson and the mission’s chief scientist, Professor Diana Brice (Ruth Roman). There’s a romantic drama between the general and Diana Brice but Major Anderson seems to be mixed up in it as well.<br /><br />It’s not very profound but it is a bit more than just a space adventure yarn.<br /><br />The special effects are very cheap-looking but the aliens are rather cool. These are aliens who really look profoundly alien, rather than being guys in rubber suits or cheesy makeup.<br /><br />The acting is good enough to make the characters at least a bit more than cardboard cutouts.<br /><br />Not a great episode but it’s solid enough.<br /><br /><div><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u></div><div><br /></div><div>I've described these as lesser episodes but I think they're all worth watching.<br /><br />I’ve reviewed a number of other episodes of The Outer Limits, including <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-outer-limits-sixth-finger-1963.html" target="_blank">The Sixth Finger</a>, <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-outer-limits-dont-open-till.html" target="_blank">Don't Open Till Doomsday and ZZZZZ</a> and <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-outer-limits-man-who-was-never-born.html" target="_blank">The Man Who Was Never Born and O.B.I.T.</a><br /></div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-41761762738239161602023-01-02T02:49:00.005-08:002023-01-02T02:49:58.088-08:00highlights of 2022 cult TV viewing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa1lADSE-Hv7rjtw7cLiQXACq1rcNyj0gxa2J1CCV66oEqZiUk0GYP7HMCzKNGaqJ4KEbZSWFaCUHxedoQokayvxdWpJ5obg8IDKXViclzFSNoLn8t7pAZV5U793kIbX8xK6r56_QhVReiTFQTBCpnchgpWInwSJOG4mGjmwJ26sQTnqGLvZzwqtO/s720/SimonAndSimon9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa1lADSE-Hv7rjtw7cLiQXACq1rcNyj0gxa2J1CCV66oEqZiUk0GYP7HMCzKNGaqJ4KEbZSWFaCUHxedoQokayvxdWpJ5obg8IDKXViclzFSNoLn8t7pAZV5U793kIbX8xK6r56_QhVReiTFQTBCpnchgpWInwSJOG4mGjmwJ26sQTnqGLvZzwqtO/w200-h150/SimonAndSimon9.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>It's tie to once again look back over the year just gone. I was almost going to say that this hasn't really been a bumper year for me as far as cult television is concerned, but having a quick scan through my 2022 posts I find that in fact I discovered quite a few exciting series that were new to me.<div><br /></div><div>My most exciting cult television find in 2022 was undoubtedly the 1983 first season of <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2021/04/simon-simon-season-one-1983-84.html" target="_blank">Simon & Simon</a>, a delightfully quirky and charming private eye series.<br /><br /><div>My other exciting discovery was the Japanese anime TV series <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2020/07/ghost-in-shell-stand-alone-complex.html" target="_blank">Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex</a>. It was made in 2002 so it's a bit outside the normal time frame for this blog but it's a terrific science fiction series.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>There was also the 1957 cop drama <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2021/06/decoy-1957.html" target="_blank">Decoy</a>, the first cop series entirely focused on the work of a policewoman. Not an action series but intelligent, sensitive and occasionally provocative. In fact it's bet series ever made about a female cop.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this was the year I discovered <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2021/08/miami-vice-season-one-1985.html" target="_blank">Miami Vice</a>. This is my kind of TV show - style, style and more style.</div><div><br /></div><div>So overall, not such a bad year.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-47768064157473267982022-12-01T04:18:00.000-08:002022-12-01T04:18:46.636-08:00The Avengers - Emma Peel in colour, part one<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCEgoHbyRCeUQPo8uMQr5clN4DixIgEv0Cex1AS593ViyZ1mp4SiXAYCWKo439W5ixMLR2nn-vBL8FV9hX_OevoMUEtHU4lfIgDyZ4MS7IaGeuX9DWNodX4MP_WwWl6UE1B_GzuO_c7c/s1441/AvengersWhosWho2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCEgoHbyRCeUQPo8uMQr5clN4DixIgEv0Cex1AS593ViyZ1mp4SiXAYCWKo439W5ixMLR2nn-vBL8FV9hX_OevoMUEtHU4lfIgDyZ4MS7IaGeuX9DWNodX4MP_WwWl6UE1B_GzuO_c7c/s320/AvengersWhosWho2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I think that almost everyone would agree that the colour Emma Peel episodes of <i>The Avengers</i> are not quite as good as the black-and-white ones. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they’re not quite as consistent, but the best of them are as good as any of the black-and-white episodes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are four episodes that received the coveted four-bowlers rating on the excellent <a href="http://www.theavengers.tv/forever/guide.htm" target="_blank">The Avengers Forever</a> website. Do they deserve those ratings? On the whole I think I do.</div><div><br /></div><div><u><span style="font-size: large;">Who’s Who???</span></u></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div><i>Who’s Who???</i> was written by Philip Levene. One of the most popular ideas in 1960s/1970s action/adventure spy series was the double idea - having someone impersonate the hero and impersonating him so perfectly that the double can’t be distinguished from the real hero. It’s an idea that I intensely dislike. I think it’s lazy writing. Who’s Who??? however manages to give the idea some genuinely clever spins. Instead of doubles we have the villains using a machine that can transfer the mind and the soul of one person into another person’s body. So in this case instead of having two Steeds and two Emmas we have enemy agents Basil (Freddie Jones) and Lola (Patricia Haines) who now inhabit the bodies of Steed and Mrs Peel while Steed and Mrs Peel inhabit the bodies of Basil and Lola.</div><div><br /></div><div>And (in a very nice touch) we have Freddie Jones and Patricia Haines doing a very creditable job of capturing Steed and Emma’s personalities and mannerisms while Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg behave convincingly like Basil and Lola. They still look like Steed and Mrs Peel but they behave in a totally different manner. It also means we get to see Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg kissing frequently and Patrick Macnee patting Diana Rigg’s bottom but it’s OK because we know that they’re actually Basil and Lola.</div><div><br /></div><div>The purpose of the mind-swap is to use Basil and Lola, posing as Steed and Emma, to break the British floral spy network - a spy network consisting of agents using flowers as code names. The headquarters of the floral network (with an enormous Union Jack covering an entire wall and half the ceiling) is another amusing touch, as is the pompous major in charge of the network.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdvp4ZBmIAMz__M6ZcD_TaPQtcoZD436Yg6G1lebCk6KDPXjh2pHno81yyRA1qNm0uYYqCMM8wdTQBkvAGnDQRFmU3grfUxQlUGJpcaDt5TrIgzVPQEMaL9e8fN_ThF0CFBd7h7u3pkk/s900/AvengersHiddenTiger1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdvp4ZBmIAMz__M6ZcD_TaPQtcoZD436Yg6G1lebCk6KDPXjh2pHno81yyRA1qNm0uYYqCMM8wdTQBkvAGnDQRFmU3grfUxQlUGJpcaDt5TrIgzVPQEMaL9e8fN_ThF0CFBd7h7u3pkk/s320/AvengersHiddenTiger1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The end result is much cleverer and more amusing than the straightforward hackneyed double trope. And it gives Macnee and Rigg a chance to play totally different roles - Basil and Lola have none of the sophistication of Steed and Mrs Peel. They’re low-class hoods and both Macnee and Rigg have fun with that. Diana Rigg is particularly good as the gun-chewing rather tarty Lola.</div><div><br /></div><div>The brain-swap idea was far from original but I don’t think its ever been done with more style and wit. Brilliant stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><u>The Hidden Tiger</u></span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div><i>The Hidden Tiger</i> was also written by Philip Levene, one of the best of the writers of <i>The Avenger</i>s. It begins with two men torn to pieces, apparently by big cats. Judging by the mayhem inflicted, most likely lions or tigers. So Steed turns to big game hunter Major Nesbit, the first of the many wildly and delightfully eccentric characters who populate this episode.</div><div><br /></div><div>After several more unfortunates are gored to death the trail leads Steed to P.U.R.R.R., the Philanthropic Union for the Rescue, Relief and Recuperation of Cats. But they only rescue domestic cats and whatever killed those people had to be much much bigger. A domestic at couldn’t kill someone, could it? P.U.R.R.R. is run by a Mr Cheshire (played with some wonderfully odd mannerisms by legendary comic Ronnie Barker). Also working for P.U.R.R.R. are a Dr Manx and a young lady named Angora, played deliciously by a very feline Gabrielle Drake (of <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2015/03/ufo-1969.html" target="_blank">UFO</a> fame).</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTi3i6rs03-d8jqggUSNZbMFo8R7GI7Mn_PFE8Wf5xXxKC-HvdUuQyNJevlaiIFa_V23Zkqw589XHpc84LNtgHA12DltpF_zoVUd-QS-E0c3ykRzlpFRWjMTnZjXnGr3qFLX7xDbp_vQ/s1024/AvengersMurdersville1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTi3i6rs03-d8jqggUSNZbMFo8R7GI7Mn_PFE8Wf5xXxKC-HvdUuQyNJevlaiIFa_V23Zkqw589XHpc84LNtgHA12DltpF_zoVUd-QS-E0c3ykRzlpFRWjMTnZjXnGr3qFLX7xDbp_vQ/s320/AvengersMurdersville1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The cat-themed sets are wonderfully witty.</div><div><br /></div><div>One could fill pages with all the cat-themed double entendres in this episode. As Mrs Peel remarks at one stage, "Pussies galore!” Diana Rigg also does a remarkably sexy </div><div>purr.</div><div><br /></div><div>This episode has exactly the right mix of wit and cleverness. The plot is outlandish and has the right touch of the surreal. It really is great stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Murdersville</u></span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div><i>Murdersville</i> was written by Brian Clemens. And it’s a bit of a mixed bag. </div><div><br /></div><div>It starts superbly. Little-Storping-in-the-Swuff is the perfect, idyllic, picturesque little English village.It’s full of loveable eccentric rustics. It has a cosy pub. It’s the sort of place to which anyone would love to retire. And then, completely out of the blue, we witness a brutal murder. The villagers witness the murder, and take no notice whatsoever. Immediately we know that we’re in the bizarre surreal world of The Avengers. And all this happens within the first few minutes. It’s a brilliant start to the episode.</div><div><br /></div><div>Little-Storping seems like such a wonderful place in which to spend one’s retirement that Mrs Peel’s childhood friend Paul has decided to do just that. Mrs Peel drives him to the village to help him settle in. And then we get another touch of the bizarre. Two of the loveable village rustics go on a destructive rampage, smashing all of Paul’s most treasured possessions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul’s manservant Forbes disappears. Mrs Peel finds a body in the woods. And Paul disappears. Mrs Peel decides it’s time to call the police but it soon becomes obvious to her that there’s something very sinister going on and that she shouldn’t trust anyone in Little Storping. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is where the plot starts to get a little wonky. What Mrs Peel should do is quite obvious - she should take off in her car to go and fetch the cavalry. But she doesn’t. The plot requires her to behave irrationally and to make things easy for the bad guys. Patrick Macnee only makes brief appearances in this episode so it may be that Brian Clemens had to find a way to keep Mrs Peel in the village on her own even though it makes no sense.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqRP6qjzBN0T_gnPzbszIBgM-0rfNaKsqROSIescZiGYzhb9QmhQPOTK1u5PUUoJgWnOik7tvkF5pI3tLJN3ZKnzMu3F6e7aX6u4aT7be8RyjZyHVVkNrckOKMs558D6ycz2LZKUfHas/s502/AvengersEpic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqRP6qjzBN0T_gnPzbszIBgM-0rfNaKsqROSIescZiGYzhb9QmhQPOTK1u5PUUoJgWnOik7tvkF5pI3tLJN3ZKnzMu3F6e7aX6u4aT7be8RyjZyHVVkNrckOKMs558D6ycz2LZKUfHas/s320/AvengersEpic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This episode showcases a side of Mrs Peel that we haven’t seen before. We’ve seen her in tight spots before and we’ve seen her frightened before but we’ve never before seen her in a cold vengeful rage. We’ve also never seen her kill in a cold-blooded ruthless way. But in this episode that’s exactly what she does. We see her display raw emotion. This is definitely a major plus.</div><div><br /></div><div>We also get to see her in a chastity belt, which we definitely haven’t seen before. </div><div><br /></div><div>Her telephone call to Steed is a wonderful comedy moment. There’s some delicious dialogue. There’s a pie fight. The episode is a weird mix of light-hearted zaniness, genuine terror and deep emotion. And mostly the disparate elements do come together.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s an enormous amount to enjoy here if you can ignore some really glaring plot holes. A very good episode that just misses out on greatness due to the wonkiness of the plot.</div><div><br /></div><div><u><span style="font-size: large;">Epic</span></u></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div><i>Epic</i> was written by Brian Clemens. Some people consider this to be one of the best-ever Avengers episodes and some consider it to be one of the worst.</div><div><br /></div><div>Has-been silent era film director Z.Z. von Schnerk (Kenneth J. Warren) has decided to make a comeback. He still has his original stars from the silent era, Stewart Kirby (Peter Wyngarde) and Damita Syn (Isa Miranda) under contract but he needs a new face and he’d decided on Mrs Peel. He’s going to make her a star. Posthumously. The film will be The Destruction of Emma Peel and it will climax with a real-life death scene. He has Mrs Peel kidnapped and she finds that she’s in the middle of a movie but she hasn’t read the script. She gets shot a couple of times and when she discovers that the guns are loaded with blanks she treats the whole thing as a joke. Until she finds a real corpse on the set. Not all the guns in this are loaded with blanks.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the surrealism of <i>The Avengers</i> pushed to an extreme. It’s also an extreme exercise in metafiction. Z.Z. von Schnerk and his faded stars can no longer tell the difference between movies and reality. But of course there’s no reality here because this is The Avengers and it’s a TV series so it’s not reality either. And that’s how Diana Rigg plays it - as if she wants the audience to be aware that this is a TV show about a man making a movie, but the movie he is making is essentially a movie about movies, packed with references to other movies.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBf5z9dp6KYAqSH0jE58GUSnvd6NV5XWB3Z3QlWgBr75ntAud0A_rngysRE3u04CLNpF3SzQSQAEUI_RoIvjMJKDhI8PHBLCYZDuHND4Q6hZRfqNeL7nkJi2G64vJVIUI8x-ZtWx1ezg/s400/AvengersEpic2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBf5z9dp6KYAqSH0jE58GUSnvd6NV5XWB3Z3QlWgBr75ntAud0A_rngysRE3u04CLNpF3SzQSQAEUI_RoIvjMJKDhI8PHBLCYZDuHND4Q6hZRfqNeL7nkJi2G64vJVIUI8x-ZtWx1ezg/s320/AvengersEpic2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>The surrealism really works in <i>Epic</i>. It’s not just clever but at times genuinely disturbing and spooky (such as the wedding and funeral scenes). But then at the same time it’s all a joke. Mrs Peel isn’t sure whether she’s supposed to be scared or amused. The viewer isn’t sure whether to be scared for her or just amused.</div><div><br /></div><div>The metafictional touches continue into the very clever tag sequence. Are we watching Mrs Peel and Steed or are we watching Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the set of The Avengers?</div><div><br /></div><div>This episode has been criticised for being soulless but that misses the point. Any genuine emotion would have spoilt the effect. Epic draws attention to its own artificiality. These are not real people. It’s all just make-believe. Mrs Peel mimicking the MGM lion is a joke within a joke. The fact that Mrs Peel makes no serious attempt to escape from the movie studio is not a weakness in the plot. It’s just another part of the joke. The fact that the plot of the episode is nonsensical is part of the joke.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I have to come down on the side of the people who love this episode. It revels in its own archness. At times it’s almost too clever for its own good but somehow it gets away with it because we’re supposed to notice the ostentatious cleverness. Kenneth J. Warren (very obviously channelling Erich von Stroheim) and Peter Wyngarde are outrageous and delightful. Epic is great fun.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Final Thoughts</u></span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div>All four episodes are in their own ways <i>Avengers</i> classics. <i>Murdersville</i> has its flaws but its strengths easily make up for them. <i>Epic</i> is an episode that will always divide fans but I adore it. Great stuff.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-10162459605785091062022-10-31T20:44:00.001-07:002023-01-19T07:36:01.130-08:00Thriller - Brian Clemens’ favourite episodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC6EZPL5Iye2GevcxbdylfkOnyCh3T6bEOpx_g2Xrhw_wH2F_ofHAOPdpd_3uB5wjnnGFOVrlDDLelgoIM6J9176nOXQbLTYNux4PmcBGvU27lK3kCAWbxTsYIetRkja0O7v_OFJZH48/s737/ThrillerSomeoneAtTheTopOfTheStairs3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="737" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC6EZPL5Iye2GevcxbdylfkOnyCh3T6bEOpx_g2Xrhw_wH2F_ofHAOPdpd_3uB5wjnnGFOVrlDDLelgoIM6J9176nOXQbLTYNux4PmcBGvU27lK3kCAWbxTsYIetRkja0O7v_OFJZH48/s320/ThrillerSomeoneAtTheTopOfTheStairs3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I’ve finally made my way to the end of the 1970s British Brian Clemens anthology series <i>Thriller</i>. It’s taken me eight years to watch all 43 episodes. That might sound a bit ominous. It might suggest that I’m not a big fan of this series. Nothing could be further from the truth. I adored this series when I first saw it many years ago and I adored rewatching it. I’ve watched it slowly because I like to do that with anthology series, especially ones of which I’m particularly fond. I just like to return to them every now and then when I feel the need for reliable spooky entertainment.<br /><br />And given that each episode is feature length and of course completely standalone it’s a perfectly feasible way to approach such a series.<br /><br />Having reached the end I’ve decided to revisit the five episodes of which Clemens himself was most proud. Since I haven’t seen these particular episodes for seven or eight years that also seems to me to be a feasible idea.<br /><br /><i>Thriller</i> occasionally dabbled in the supernatural. It did this very seldom, but it did do it occasionally. Which was actually a rather clever move on Clemens’ part - when you watch a Thriller episode you might be confident that everything will have a rational explanation but you can never discount the possibility that Clemens might unexpectedly throw something supernatural at you.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Someone at the Top of the Stairs</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>Someone at the Top of the Stairs</i> was the third episode of the first season. <br /><br />Chrissie Morton (Donna Mills) and Gillian Pemberton (Judy Carne) are two broke art students in London. They think they’ve had a fabulous stroke of good fortune when they find a room in a charming old Victorian rooming house. The rent is ridiculously cheap.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_559P-j0BihxQq7_VgoFq8Qki1U80F9VxITwPZUHvsgtFTxHgXj_O01loYYoojc8fIP-LW4BJ_4slNp_txtrMESPCIirn3NdZZCRfGwf5eQOpeUYwBhwdvTzIAHa05miaVlDsIAqkxo/s739/ThrillerSomeoneAtTheTopOfTheStairs2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="739" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_559P-j0BihxQq7_VgoFq8Qki1U80F9VxITwPZUHvsgtFTxHgXj_O01loYYoojc8fIP-LW4BJ_4slNp_txtrMESPCIirn3NdZZCRfGwf5eQOpeUYwBhwdvTzIAHa05miaVlDsIAqkxo/s320/ThrillerSomeoneAtTheTopOfTheStairs2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The rooming house of course turns out to be a nightmare.<br /><br />At first it’s just very subtle creepy things. Odd sounds. One of Chrissie’s bras disappears. The other guests seem to laugh at inappropriate things. Various little things just don’t seem quite right. Then Chrissie discovers the peephole in the bathroom.<br /><br />Chrissie’s unease grows, as does her frustration that Gillian refuses to take her fears seriously. She does find a boyfriend, Gary, but he doesn’t take her fears seriously either.<br /><br />The viewer knows that there’s definitely something wrong in this house but we don’t really know much more than the two girls know. Like Chrissie we just slowly grow more uneasy.<br /><br />Director John Sichel handles things carefully. He avoids anything too obvious. He’s content to let the creepiness develop through hints and through the accumulation of very trivial things, things that taken in isolation would not even be disturbing but they become unsettling when taken together.<br /><br />Clemens of course wrote the script and it’s a fine effort which builds to a satisfying payoff. It’s satisfying because at the end we have to admit that this really is what all those hints have been pointing towards.<br /><br />The two lead actresses, Donna Mills and Judy Carne, are effective because they really do come across as two very ordinary girls. Chrissie is the one who gets worried but she’s not hysterical. She’s reacting in a perfectly understandable way. She sees a pattern of little things adding up to something that might be sinister. Gillian’s scepticism is equally plausible. That same pattern of little things seems to her to be very unlikely to be anything to get worried over. They’re not showy performances but they work.<br /><br /><i>Someone at the Top of the Stairs</i> is pretty effective stuff. Highly recommended.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">An Echo of Theresa</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>An Echo of Theresa</i> is the fourth episode of the first season. American businessman Brad Hunter (Paul Burke) has taken his wife Suzy (Polly Bergen) to London for a second honeymoon. It’s a business trip as well - an English businessman named Trasker wants to negotiate an important deal with him.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHhOzVQiO8S490UiDmeKJSwozoCmPj8M4MApZ9wAXPweto261vQ9o9mFnZZFXyzp7QM4gumzxM5V9CknwJ7Xnb5Onlt5sCEX5JO-Xy67fFZwOSAZ_FKsOPcL5_kZcJF0hegNSkCZEhcU/s741/ThrillerAnEchoOfTheresa3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHhOzVQiO8S490UiDmeKJSwozoCmPj8M4MApZ9wAXPweto261vQ9o9mFnZZFXyzp7QM4gumzxM5V9CknwJ7Xnb5Onlt5sCEX5JO-Xy67fFZwOSAZ_FKsOPcL5_kZcJF0hegNSkCZEhcU/s320/ThrillerAnEchoOfTheresa3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Brad starts doing strange things. He calls Suzy Theresa by mistake, and then claims that he’s never met anyone called Theresa. Although he’s never been to London he insists that a cabbie take him to an obscure street to find an old red-brick block of flats. That building was demolished years earlier - how could he possibly know it even existed? He becomes agitated an aggressive. He writes “I love Theresa” on a postcard.<br /><br />Hardly surprisingly Suzy insists that he sees a psychiatrist pronto.<br /><br />The psychiatrist discovers that there are two things Brad is sure of. Firstly, that he knows Theresa. Secondly, that he has never met Theresa. He knows her from Vienna, but he has never been to Vienna, in fact he has never been to Europe.<br /><br />Suzy has a friend at the American Embassy who suggests that this might be a case for Matthew Earp (Dinsdale Landen) . Matthew Earp is a private detective. He claims to be not just a very good a private detective but a magnificent one and he charges accordingly for his services. And he really is as good as he thinks he is.<br /><br />There are those who find this episode confusing. I have no idea why. Most of what is going on is perfectly obvious very early on. There’s simply no other plausible explanation and there are abundant and very obvious clues. Of course we still don’t know exactly how such an outlandish situation arose and we don’t know how it’s going to be resolved but we know enough for the story to lose much of its punch. <br /><br />It’s played out rather oddly. Paul Burke and Polly Bergen play it very straight (and Paul Burke is very effective as a man caught in a bewildering situation) while the other main characters are more off-the-wall and seem like they would have been more at home in a different story. And Dinsdale Landen plays Matthew Earp with tongue planted firmly in cheek.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCf9fYSdaqfiB_tVj22vPaDdQIS05eqolTE-NVBiF4FxtyjpONa3z5EN8etizxGDIbOIj8kRzNUysakAxPnq4EhacLQSdizXH9rvHu2xk76l_Ut8IQzbg1zKiZn_4E5kyedh0xwTgq6M/s742/ThrillerOneDeadlyOwner1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCf9fYSdaqfiB_tVj22vPaDdQIS05eqolTE-NVBiF4FxtyjpONa3z5EN8etizxGDIbOIj8kRzNUysakAxPnq4EhacLQSdizXH9rvHu2xk76l_Ut8IQzbg1zKiZn_4E5kyedh0xwTgq6M/s320/ThrillerOneDeadlyOwner1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ultimately it’s Dinsdale Landen’s gloriously over-ripe performance that makes this one worth watching. <br /><br />An Echo of Theresa is interesting and at times very clever, but it’s not a complete success.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">One Deadly Owner</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>One Deadly Owner</i> was the fourth episode of the second season. It went to air in February 1974. <br /><br />Fashion model Helen Cook (Donna Mills) buts herself a new car - a Rolls-Royce. It has only had one careful owner. Her boyfriend Peter (Jeremy Brett) thinks the car is a foolish extravagance. The odd things is that Helen feel that it rather than her choosing the car, it chose her.<br /><br />The car seems to have a mind of its own. It takes her places she doesn’t want to go. And then she finds the ear-ring in the boot. She tracks down the previous owner, a very rich man named Jacey (Laurence Payne). She’s sure the ear-ring belonged to Jacey’s wife. His wife left him a few months earlier. Helen becomes convinced that there’s some mystery involving the wife and she feels compelled to solve the mystery. <br /><br />Most of the things that happen early on are not really frightening or even particularly disturbing - they’re just puzzling. It’s almost as if Helen is being led on. Led on by the car.<br /><br />Now I know what you’re thinking - that this haunted car story sounds a bit like John Carpenter’s Christine, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. But Brian Clemens came up with the idea of a possessed car almost a decade before King. And they are two quite different stories. <br /><br />In this outing we know from the start that there’s something vaguely supernatural (or paranormal) going on. We also know that a crime has been committed, and there are multiple plausible suspects. It’s both a haunted car story and a whodunit and it works equally well both ways. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsyzeb8GuApPHxLVpz3GTdsrou7Kl9n36-76GEHC3e701LOzDQ7q0fHF8g_vNMLTYkJPrUNTEVTeNpMBYsDaqi7YB34iXMcS7l09kH-XoXxt1u7LRiUcZH647I-JyEuOb2qdPO3zbAZM/s734/ThrillerACoffinForTheBride1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="734" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsyzeb8GuApPHxLVpz3GTdsrou7Kl9n36-76GEHC3e701LOzDQ7q0fHF8g_vNMLTYkJPrUNTEVTeNpMBYsDaqi7YB34iXMcS7l09kH-XoXxt1u7LRiUcZH647I-JyEuOb2qdPO3zbAZM/s320/ThrillerACoffinForTheBride1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>One of this episode’s major assets is that Donna Mills and Jeremy Brett work so well together. Their relationship is convincing and both give fine performances. <br /><br />The fact that it’s a rather low-key story works in its favour. We’re slowly drawn in, just the way Helen Cook is slowly drawn in. <br /><br />This is an extremely good episode.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">A Coffin for the Bride</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>A Coffin for the Bride</i> opened the third season. We know what is going on right from the start. A ex-merchant seaman (played by Michael Jayston) marries rich middle-aged women and then drowns them in the bathtub (after they have made wills in his favour of course). The murders are successfully passed off as accidents but a lawyer named Mason (Michael Gwynn) is convinced that murder is indeed what they were. Mason is just a very ordinary solicitor but he’s intelligent and once he gets an idea into his head he pursues it grimly. And he does not intend to forget this particular murderer.<br /><br />The killer, calling himself Mark Walker, has now found himself in a very curious position. He has fallen for a woman. Really fallen for her. A young pretty woman named Stella (Helen Mirren). This time he really wants the woman, and not for the purposes of murder or profit.<br /><br />But of course he still has a living to make, and murder is his business. He already has his next victim picked out, a rich widow named Angela. I can’t tell you any more without risking spoilers.<br /><br />The twist ending is outlandish but justly celebrated - there are hints earlier on and when the big reveal comes you realise that of course that had to be the explanation. Which is of course the hallmark of good writing. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fJ6eVj5sLEexHhZVe4_CFcuf6wfIPP_Suid9Xq10FRbJvDqZTQxquka8hXAJGkSYDC5CyrE8xMrbfGjcSBUP-2MKNbCnIgcE3yVSy_IilzUaF-YUcFjoiFY7CKkI-l8irFO9Ot42rBg/s744/ThrillerImTheGirlHeWantsToKill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="744" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fJ6eVj5sLEexHhZVe4_CFcuf6wfIPP_Suid9Xq10FRbJvDqZTQxquka8hXAJGkSYDC5CyrE8xMrbfGjcSBUP-2MKNbCnIgcE3yVSy_IilzUaF-YUcFjoiFY7CKkI-l8irFO9Ot42rBg/s320/ThrillerImTheGirlHeWantsToKill2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It’s not just the ending that makes this one notable. The performances by Helen Mirren and Michael Gwynn are superb but it’s Michael Jayston who really impresses. Mark Walker is a monster but he has odd vulnerabilities. They certainly don’t justify his actions but they do suggest that there are things in his past that have made him into a monster.<br /><br />Arthur English is a delight as the friendly barman Freddy.<br /><br />A bravura effort from scriptwriter Clemens and from a fine cast make this deservedly one of the most fondly remembered episodes of the entire series.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill</i> is the second episode of season three. This is a pure suspense episode - we know the killer’s identity right from the start. But the police don’t know. They think they do, but they don’t.<br /><br />It starts with the murder of a woman. Then there’s a second murder. They’re clearly the work of a serial killer. Ann Rogers, an American working in London, saw the killer. Unfortunately she can’t identify him from the police mug shots file. <br /><br />She does however fall for Mark (Tony Selby), the Detective-Sergeant in charge of the case, and Mark falls for her. A few weeks later she sees the killer in the street, she recognises him and he recognises her. She realises immediately that he’s going to try to kill her. She returns to her office and as usual she has to work late. There’s nobody else in the building, apart from the security guard. But the killer is inside the building. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game which occupies the whole of the second half of the episode. <div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiy8nrFLS3mAaiqRTuVAJ4yAOQiDKHO-aWsR3w8lBEVRlPUyY37P_1rY0pvEdnzg1vVJHAuAKeEk7MO5sDoaJ2lI_IhqRh63TaUExrX5501012Vm-ZZMs4UbBD1jYCShWsoj5VLD2fyQ/s740/ThrillerImTheGirlHeWantsToKill3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="740" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiy8nrFLS3mAaiqRTuVAJ4yAOQiDKHO-aWsR3w8lBEVRlPUyY37P_1rY0pvEdnzg1vVJHAuAKeEk7MO5sDoaJ2lI_IhqRh63TaUExrX5501012Vm-ZZMs4UbBD1jYCShWsoj5VLD2fyQ/s320/ThrillerImTheGirlHeWantsToKill3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>To makes things even more exciting the killer has locked the building so there seems to be no escape for Ann.<br /><br />Robert Lang plays the killer and he’s a wonderful choice. He’s just one of those scary sinister-looking actors. Julie Sommars is very good as Ann - she’s convincingly terrified but she’s also quick-witted.<br /><br />A deserted office building proves to be a fine setting for such a suspense story. Everything looks so harmless, except that there’s a psycho running loose.<br /><br />The tension builds up and up and when you think it’s all over, it isn’t.<br /><br />This is an effective Brian Clemens script and it’s perfectly executed by director Shaun O’Riordan.<br /><br />This is a classic woman-in-peril story which works beautifully.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>I’m not totally sold on <i>An Echo of Theresa</i> but the other four Brian Clemens favourites can certainly be very highly recommended.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-22998483692072692782022-10-02T09:06:00.000-07:002022-10-02T09:06:20.945-07:00Hannay (1988-89)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpPtj2Owpa3WzaO52s0TLtOQ7kmBvz8PFzLUIxDrOi5Q69DYM5g0m1Te6mMZfC-xdk35iSkrIVvjDgKkivsjsPrOXrAVrM7Rk373ED2PxlQYLlJAJzLgKM2tE3pFuz2OsBDDYbGua6lwRXXuSyiVVeY-VNbIyoJ7lyPMu_7N_dtNLPDxTa1Ljcnua/s820/Hannay%20DVD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpPtj2Owpa3WzaO52s0TLtOQ7kmBvz8PFzLUIxDrOi5Q69DYM5g0m1Te6mMZfC-xdk35iSkrIVvjDgKkivsjsPrOXrAVrM7Rk373ED2PxlQYLlJAJzLgKM2tE3pFuz2OsBDDYbGua6lwRXXuSyiVVeY-VNbIyoJ7lyPMu_7N_dtNLPDxTa1Ljcnua/s320/Hannay%20DVD.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><i>Hannay</i> is a thirteen-episode (spread over two seasons) TV series featuring the hero of John Buchan’s classic thrillers, Richard Hannay. The series serves as a kind of prequel to <i>The 39 Steps</i>.<br /><br />The episodes really have nothing to do with Buchan, apart from borrowing his hero. They’re all original stories. If you’re expecting the stories to be in the same class as Buchan’s novels you’ll be disappointed. <br /><br />The stories are all over the place as far as tone is concerned. The best episodes are very lightweight and rely to an embarrassing degree on unlikely narrow escapes carried out by methods that are both silly and corny. These stories are much more like a cross between an Edwardian Boys’ Own Adventure Paper tale and an episode of Ripping Yarns. But they are fun in their own way. Other episodes are much more humourless and try to be serious. Many episodes are not spy tales at all but mysteries, some good while others are not so good.<br /><br />The series does have one huge asset - Robert Powell as Hannay. He played Hannay in the 1970s movie version of The 39 Steps and he was by far the best thing about that film. In fact I’d go so far as to say that Robert Powell is the definitive screen Richard Hannay. Even better than Robert Donat in Hitchcock’s 1935 movie (which I rate as one of the ten best movies ever made).<br /><br />At least he should be a huge asset. Unfortunately his performances are uncharacteristically restrained. A bit too restrained. If you’re going to put Robert Powell in an adventure series then you expect him to go totally over-the-top. You expect him to sparkle. But he doesn’t. <br /><br />I can’t help thinking this series would have been much much better had it been made fifteen years earlier. For starters a younger more vigorous Robert Powell would have been a lot more fun. And it would have featured fewer ludicrously anachronistic social attitudes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy657q8uzAa2N_OEXxzEUr1s1O8DHvWJRz_eB4hV35b5uwWcMaiu8Xu22NIfraCMke-FSw_RFEv_7n_MdZHu0wq1sPKTPsjL5IxIKqvQDjKA_i_sEA_QW5tJA_1XeIi5WYJVgfG_SRZgfC5h_00sBRx5gnPLOonAahaOPSXBtcIFdIJxtIRmYw1wXQ/s593/HannayCap1%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="593" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy657q8uzAa2N_OEXxzEUr1s1O8DHvWJRz_eB4hV35b5uwWcMaiu8Xu22NIfraCMke-FSw_RFEv_7n_MdZHu0wq1sPKTPsjL5IxIKqvQDjKA_i_sEA_QW5tJA_1XeIi5WYJVgfG_SRZgfC5h_00sBRx5gnPLOonAahaOPSXBtcIFdIJxtIRmYw1wXQ/s320/HannayCap1%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The biggest problem with this series is that not a single character behaves as you would expect people to behave in 1912. They’re all 1980s people wearing period costume. All the political, social and cultural attitudes are pure 1980s.<br /><br />The characters we’re supposed to find sympathetic never express a single thought that is at variance with the orthodoxies of late 1980s social attitudes. This has the effect of making them seem self-satisfied and at the same time lacking in any actual personality. The characters we’re supposed to find unsympathetic come across as cardboard cut-out villains. Richard Hannay himself has no real personality whatsoever.<br /><br />The TV series was shot entirely on videotape. Even the location shooting (of which there’s quite a bit) was shot on videotape. In spite of this looks it looks quite handsome. This is British TV at the tail end of its golden age so the costumes are terrific and it takes advantage of the abundance of superb character actors in Britain at that time.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Episode Guide</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>The first episode, <i>The Fellowship of the Black Stone</i>, opens with Hannay getting shot in South Africa. He is left for dead and is found clutching a black stone. His would-be assassin was notorious German spy Count von Schwabing (Gavin Richards). And a fine melodrama villain he turns out to be. He doesn’t actually twirl his moustache before carrying out dastardly deeds but you know that he’d like to.<br /><br />On the ship carrying him back to Britain Hannay encounters the Earl of Haslemere (David Waller) and the earl’s daughter, the Lady Anne. Hannay is charmed by Lady Anne, to say the least.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47rBXccz6Tc17UECYyYxBoaMGplclt2UXHFsj7iFu0vJIiiyqIOo_F6JLyvp2wRhXPRmkgtyGGy5CPUVX48BDPkU0cSqKaPF73uMs0Yo1TrQesnUu2GuqiI_hwvh6sBeVkUhlTwDkG3kIgZnZh74LtDZnA6YqXCdeErqkpARAsJ_rGtCypvMnupSA/s593/HannayCap2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="593" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47rBXccz6Tc17UECYyYxBoaMGplclt2UXHFsj7iFu0vJIiiyqIOo_F6JLyvp2wRhXPRmkgtyGGy5CPUVX48BDPkU0cSqKaPF73uMs0Yo1TrQesnUu2GuqiI_hwvh6sBeVkUhlTwDkG3kIgZnZh74LtDZnA6YqXCdeErqkpARAsJ_rGtCypvMnupSA/s320/HannayCap2%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Hannay had worked for the British Secret Service but had left their employ some years earlier. He finds himself caught up in a spy drama anyway, with the Germans hatching dastardly plots and poor Hannay getting himself repeatedly captured, tortured and threatened with certain death. Fortunately, although the German secret service is very efficient their agents have never been taught to tie a knot properly. Hannay keeps escaping by slipping out of his bonds.<br /><br />The highlight of this episode is Charles Gray as a senior Scotland Yard man.<br /><br />It’s all breathless stuff with a reasonable amount of action. A fine episode.<br /><br />In <i>A Point of Honour</i> Hannay meets Lady Madrigal Fitzjames on a train. They get off at the wrong station and then arrive at the wrong country house. The staff assume they are the honeymooning couple whose arrival they were expecting. Hannay and Madrigal decide to have a bit of fun. They pretend they really are the honeymooners.<br /><br />As it happens there’s an immensely valuable diamond necklace sitting in the safe. And things will soon get complicated and dangerous.<br /><br />Historical anachronisms are always a problem in series such as this. I have to say that in this episode I just didn’t buy Lady Madrigal’s behaviour. The story takes place shortly before the First World War. We assume it’s around 1912. I don’t believe any well brought up lady at that time would have risked her reputation so recklessly. It would have been social suicide and would have wrecked any chance she might have of making an even halfway respectable marriage. Had she been one of the Bright Young Things of the 1920s then I might have found it plausible. But not in 1912.<br /><br />It’s still an amusing, clever and entertaining story with a certain amount of charm.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDFOCldt6xs7IHLKVV9VAj_FMgbfL5iUfuwb7JUMUQTJr8NHfkc07ZSFx8ji7IGJiAXYTTj5EKdD5ri6qv8q4jDyrZ1JXeaf1Cp5K7oB204ZAwenQBcP1IocVEgG8GahAG7aS-HYgyUKjVO0Jv9U3hI18lirRLqfkdWeS9R2-63UQqSlQMmDk3E_a/s589/HannayCap3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="589" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDFOCldt6xs7IHLKVV9VAj_FMgbfL5iUfuwb7JUMUQTJr8NHfkc07ZSFx8ji7IGJiAXYTTj5EKdD5ri6qv8q4jDyrZ1JXeaf1Cp5K7oB204ZAwenQBcP1IocVEgG8GahAG7aS-HYgyUKjVO0Jv9U3hI18lirRLqfkdWeS9R2-63UQqSlQMmDk3E_a/s320/HannayCap3%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>Voyage into Fear</i> Hannay is accosted in an art gallery by a young girl who insists that there is a dangerous man who is trying to kidnap her. She insists that Hannay should pretend to be her father, to get her out of the gallery and back home safely. Hannay is inclined to think it’s all nonsense until he realises that the girl might be telling the truth.<br /><br />Then things start to go badly wrong, Hannay and the girl are drugged and they wake up on board a ship, having absolutely no idea where they are. This is a really fun episode.<br /><br /><i>Death With Due Notice</i> is a murder mystery story. Several men have received anonymous threatening letters, all in the form of quotations from Shakespeare. A routine episode that doesn’t really have the right flavour.<br /><br /><i>Act of Riot</i> is one of the worst pieces of television I have ever seen in my life. A clumsy embarrassingly obvious script, stodgy direction, heavy-handed political messaging, atrocious acting, leaden pacing, a total lack of action, dull and humourless. Robert Powell is clearly bored and uninterested and I can’t say that I blame him.<br /><br /><i>The Hazard of the Die</i> is better. At least it’s a spy story. The wife of a Cabinet Minister loses heavily at the casino at Monte Carlo and is trapped into espionage. The first problem is that there really aren’t enough plot twists. It’s a bit predictable. The second problem is a total lack of action. This is an adventure series. We’d like to get some adventure. It all falls just a bit flat.<br /><br />So the first season of six episodes is a mixed bag. The first three are terrific fun. The next three are pretty dull.<br /><br />The second season opens with <i>Coup de Grace</i>. Hannay gets involved with a woman and he’s charmed by her, and he meets charismatic hard-driving businessman and gambler Sir Marcus Leonard (Anthony Valentine). And Hannay gets caught in the middle. With Anthony Valentine as guest star you assume you’re going to be in for some fun and Valentine certainly delivers the goods. What’s strange is that Robert Powell allows himself to be totally overshadowed by Valentine. It’s a crime plot rather than an espionage or adventure tale but it’s a decent story.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALIqHKnU_upQ5RDNR--sS1582UC12mPh18FOcL8TF9L49eoiPaxsjXEYPTz15s_uyFik9d-tpgZTDEmIGMiIlmiuS4Ql9E7MOU3O54ExnpU4obgo2IBfEOkocyWO3P-ap5wmetwGUa-bdprtGjoOohQiSj0-aJvZuP_psh1tj6v_JZQgchOwfgIeK/s593/HannayCap4%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="593" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALIqHKnU_upQ5RDNR--sS1582UC12mPh18FOcL8TF9L49eoiPaxsjXEYPTz15s_uyFik9d-tpgZTDEmIGMiIlmiuS4Ql9E7MOU3O54ExnpU4obgo2IBfEOkocyWO3P-ap5wmetwGUa-bdprtGjoOohQiSj0-aJvZuP_psh1tj6v_JZQgchOwfgIeK/s320/HannayCap4%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The series gets right back on track with <i>The Terrors of the Earth</i>. Not only is it a spy story, it’s a totally outrageous spy tale. There’s actually some action and Hannay gets to be much more energetic and pro-active than usual. And Robert Powell’s performance has some zest. A very entertaining episode.<br /><br />In <i>Double Jeopardy</i> a rich dying man entrusts Hannay with some diamonds. Hannay is to pass them on to a man named Desmond Leigh but only on certain conditions. This puts Hannay in a very awkward spot. Leigh has failed to meet those conditions but he has a young wife. Then the plot gets really convoluted with a murder and a kidnapping and Hannay under suspicion and all manner of conspiracies. The plot might be convoluted but it’s quite nicely constructed with some fine twists. A very good episode.<br /><br /><i>The Good Samaritan</i> gets off to a promising start. Hannay is in central Europe, he’s on a train and he’s just met a beautiful mysterious woman. There’s a shady oilman of indeterminate nationality. And oh yeah, there’s a corpse. And a vanishing lady. It’s hard to go wrong with those ingredients. This is a terrific episode which movies along at break-neck pace.<br /><br />In <i>That Rough Music</i> an old friend of Hannay’s dies and leaves his estate and fortune to his half-African daughter. A totally unconvincing story told in a very clumsy manner.<br /><br /><i>The Confidence Man</i> is a major improvement. Hannay comes to the rescue of a music-hall proprietress menaced by an extortion racket. Hannay’s initial attempt to help ends in disaster. He realises he’s going to have to be much cleverer and he turns out to be a rather goof confidence trickster, all naturally in a good cause. A lightweight episode but it moves along briskly and it’s fun.<br /><br /><i>Say the Bells of Shoreditch</i> involves a disappearing bridegroom. The young man works for his father who runs a shipping and insurance empire. There’s something strange going on in the company with all sorts of rumours flying around. <br /><br />The jilted bride is Hannay’s goddaughter so he feels compelled to find the missing young man. Hannay discovers an ingenious and dangerous conspiracy.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Most of the episodes are quite entertaining but the series just doesn’t quite ring true. It’s very very uneven. The bad episodes are absolutely terrible but the good ones are very good. And the good episodes do outnumber the bad.<br /><br />The biggest problem is that the series can’t decide if it wants to be fun or if it wants to be serious. <i>Hannay</i> is a slight disappointment but it’s still worth a look.<br /><br /><div>Network have released the complete series on DVD.</div>dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-31674377455268303382022-08-31T09:16:00.000-07:002022-08-31T09:16:48.405-07:00Mediterranean Caper (It Takes a Thief tie-in novel #2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKswjL5goRaBQofiNyFNx9NNMOADkLIJpHU-JrReJeGJRg5I7y0sBsE8586G1XBuMRjE9mo6Yh4z5KdhrwgQQx54yU_82D6W11gXBc3TVeTZY2pVFKBHPjC7yeCmpz_teDYE4xfAgpGVRQ3VfotdmQmWgmvYrkmV6sp-TxJvzE7tjtXsgOMi-5alrm/s630/Mediterranean%20Caper1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKswjL5goRaBQofiNyFNx9NNMOADkLIJpHU-JrReJeGJRg5I7y0sBsE8586G1XBuMRjE9mo6Yh4z5KdhrwgQQx54yU_82D6W11gXBc3TVeTZY2pVFKBHPjC7yeCmpz_teDYE4xfAgpGVRQ3VfotdmQmWgmvYrkmV6sp-TxJvzE7tjtXsgOMi-5alrm/s320/Mediterranean%20Caper1.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>Published in 1969, <i>Mediterranean Caper</i> was the second TV tie-in novel based on the very successful 1968-1970 American TV spy series <i>It Takes a Thief</i>.<br /><br />It was written by Gil Brewer, much better remembered as one of the great hardboiled/noir writers of the 1950s.<br /><br />If you’ve never seen the TV series (and if you haven’t you should because it’s terrific) Al Mundy is a cat burglar facing a long prison sentence. One of those shadowy US intelligence agencies offers him a deal - he can stay out of prison if he agrees to steal for the government. He finds himself, very reluctantly, working as a spy.<br /><br />He doesn’t like it. The SIA (the agency in question) is pretty ruthless. They offered him his freedom but he isn’t free at all. He’s under permanent house arrest and he has to do whatever they tell him to do. Sometimes he thinks prison would have been better - criminals have better ethical standards than intelligence agencies. But he has no choice.<br /><br />Looking at it another way, he has no skills other than being an extremely accomplished thief and at least he gets to do what he does best. And his missions always seem to bring him in contact with beautiful glamorous women. Al likes beautiful glamorous women. And they tend to like him.<br /><br />In this case he has to steal a coded formula and he has to rescue a Soviet defector named Marina. Her defection went wrong and she’s fallen into the hands of the KGB. She’s being held somewhere in Marseilles. And the Red Chinese are after her as well.<br /><br />And, as luck would have it, this Soviet defector happens to be a beautiful glamorous woman.<br /><br />This mission turns out to be a very easy one. Too easy. He gets the formula but he loses it. He gets the girl but she’s the wrong girl.<br /><br />It gets worse. Not only has Marina been captured, the bad guys have Miss Agnew as well. Miss Agnew is Al’s parole officer but she also works for SIA. She’s more or less his keeper. Al has a thing for Miss Agnew. His feelings are not reciprocated but that doesn’t worry Al. He’s sure that eventually his charm will win her over. But now she’s in the hands of a madman, the fiendish Red Chinese spymaster Hu Yang who has an obsession with American women. Al has a fair idea what Hu Yang plans to do to Miss Agnew and it isn’t a pretty thought.<br /><br />TV tie-in novels were often written by authors who had only seen the original outline for the series in question and maybe the first couple of episodes. Sometimes they hadn’t seen a single episode. As a result the tie-in novels often have a slightly different feel compared to the TV series. Sometimes they’re a bit sleazier. That’s not the case here. But this novel does have more of a Bond movie feel than the series. Hu Yang is very much a Bond villain. <br /><br />Brewer certainly does know how to tell an action-packed tale.<br /><br />The Al Mundy of the TV series is a charming rogue and Brewer gets that part right. The character in the book is recognisable as the character from the TV series.<br /><br />Brewer also captures the essential element of the series - Al is very unhappy about working for SIA. Al’s moral standards are flexible but he’s basically a decent guy. He likes stealing but he’s not keen on violence unless he has no alternative. In this novel Al really doesn’t care about the secret formula. He’s not unpatriotic but he’s not overly patriotic either. Politics bores and disgusts him. He does however very much dislike the idea of pretty girls falling into the hands of lust-crazed madmen. His main motivations are to do what he has to do to avoid getting sent back to prison and to rescue the two girls. If the SIA ends up getting that formula then that’s fine but Al doesn’t care.<br /><br />Brewer was a noir writer so the idea of writing about a man forced into spying against his will would have had some appeal to him.<br /><br /><i>Mediterranean Caper</i> is lightweight but it’s fun and breezy. Highly recommended, especially if you’re a fan of the TV show.<br /><br />I reviewed the first season of <a href="https://cult-tv-lounge.blogspot.com/2014/03/it-takes-thief-1968-70.html" target="_blank">It Takes a Thief</a> a while back.<br /><br />I’ve also reviewed a couple of Gil Brewer’s noir novels, <a href="https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2021/06/gil-brewers-three-way-split.html" target="_blank">The Three-Way Split</a> and <a href="https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2011/09/vengeful-virgin-by-gil-brewer.html" target="_blank">The Vengeful Virgin</a>.<br />dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5833699981210036110.post-53140952612236798882022-08-01T15:56:00.000-07:002022-08-01T15:56:24.741-07:00 The Bionic Woman season one (1976)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j06YsjByLRXWJEWkkmjpCI1mGtbTyu9FjnJP0Lcj1gFkgpneTdOCIIP3HvcTQTpmNHeZmiBAgZzz_AMa45OnTrKk72Krct1fGkw0PJbwho63XrUG7SJMjDBf4vyFm58u3Q6t6fQgtCE/s1829/Bionic+Woman+s1_1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1829" data-original-width="1289" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j06YsjByLRXWJEWkkmjpCI1mGtbTyu9FjnJP0Lcj1gFkgpneTdOCIIP3HvcTQTpmNHeZmiBAgZzz_AMa45OnTrKk72Krct1fGkw0PJbwho63XrUG7SJMjDBf4vyFm58u3Q6t6fQgtCE/s320/Bionic+Woman+s1_1.jpg" /></a></div><i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i> had been a big success so when writer Kenneth Johnson came up with a story idea for an episode featuring a bionic woman the producers were enthusiastic. After all if a bionic man was super-cool then a bionic woman would be totally awesome. And so the bionic woman, Jaime Sommers, was launched on the small screen with a two-part Six Million Dollar Man episode. The original intention was that this would be a one-off appearance but it didn’t take long to figure out that featuring her in a spin-off series would be an even better idea.<br /><br />Now there’s one thing I have to say upfront. It’s impossible to discuss <i>The Bionic Woman</i> without discussing the episodes of <i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i> which introduced the character and which preceded The Bionic Woman series. And it’s impossible to say anything about those episodes without revealing some spoilers for those episodes. It probably doesn’t really matter because anyone interested in either series is almost certainly already aware of certain events that happen during those episodes. The very existence of <i>The Bionic Woman</i> series is in some ways a spoiler for those episodes.<br /><br />But if you’ve never seen those two early two-part episodes and you’re really spoiler-phobic you might want to skip the next section and jump ahead to the episode guide for <i>The Bionic Woman</i>.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The early crossover episodes</span></u><br /><br />Jaime made her first appearance in a two-part episode called The Bionic Woman (written by Kenneth Johnson) which went to air during the second season, in March 1975.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">The Bionic Woman</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Steve decides he wants to buy a ranch in his home town as a way of getting back to his roots, and to have a refuge from the craziness of his life as a secret agent. It just so happens that this small town has produced two celebrities - Steve Austin the astronaut (obviously) and Jaime Sommers, a rising star on the women’s professional tennis circuit. Steve and Jaime were high school sweethearts years earlier but they both had ambitions that made marriage seem impractical. But Steve soon discovers that he’s still in love with Jaime.<br /><br />Their newly rekindled romance is just starting to blossom when Jaime has a terrible sky-diving accident. She’s dying but Steve knows that there’s a way to save her - all he has to do is persuade Oscar Goldman that the government really needs a bionic woman. And all Oscar Goldman has to do is persuade the US Government to shell out another six million dollars to rebuild Jaime.<br /><br />The first instalment of this two-parter takes a long time to get going. There is perhaps too much time spent on the Steve-Jaime romance, and way too much time spent on Steve’s parents doing folksy things. The extended treatment of the romance was I guess necessary in order to make it plausible that Steve would do anything, absolutely anything, to save Jaime.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcrhm-7bWTNVQnMkO9HATfW1D-8TeuZ4xaIlsL4TytXhvG_Hu1cxX5S3mXACarC21Abz3w5fjPY9hi7NwdDm0lAni4hZ3zTIxFTrTsAiBmd1gI-wF65Vq5tzuJOZHQo3zxUSSc-YmMSs/s708/BionicWomanCrossover3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="708" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcrhm-7bWTNVQnMkO9HATfW1D-8TeuZ4xaIlsL4TytXhvG_Hu1cxX5S3mXACarC21Abz3w5fjPY9hi7NwdDm0lAni4hZ3zTIxFTrTsAiBmd1gI-wF65Vq5tzuJOZHQo3zxUSSc-YmMSs/s320/BionicWomanCrossover3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The transformation of Jaime into the bionic woman is also pretty much travelling ground that was already travelled in the first of the <i>Six Million Dollar Man</i> TV movies. On the other hand Lindsay Wagner is cute and likeable and she and Lee Majors do have some genuine chemistry.<br /><br />The producers didn’t want Jaime to be an exact clone of Steve Austin so instead of a bionic eye she has a bionic ear.<br /><br />There is a spy plot mixed in here somewhere but the main focus is very much on the Steve-Jaime love story. It’s not the sort of thing that you would have expected the Six Million Dollar Man target audience to have gone for but in fact the viewers loved it.<br /><br />This is a very emotion-heavy episode with an ending that was not only daring for network TV in the mid-70s but turned out to be rather rash. The ending does pack a punch.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: medium;">The Return of The Bionic Woman</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>The Return of The Bionic Woman</i> was screened during the third season of The Six Million Dollar Man in September 1975.<br /><br />This episode also introduces the third actor to play the rôle of Dr Rudy Wells, the medical genius responsible for Steve’s bionics. <br /><br />Steve is badly injured on a mission involving a gangland war. He is rushed to the hospital in which Dr Rudy Wells does his bionic surgery. Steve is only semi-conscious but he is sure he sees Jaime in an adjoining room. But that can’t be. It can’t be her. Oscar assures him that he was delirious. Then he sees her again. Oscar has a lot of explaining to do. There’s also a lot of explaining to do to the audience but writer Kenneth Johnson comes up with an explanation that doesn’t stretch credibility too far (given that this is a science fiction series).<br /><br />Jaime is alive but not she’s not exactly well. She has lost all her memories. She has no idea who Steve is. Which is a bit of a blow, considering that they were engaged to be married. Steve has other blows to deal with, such as Jaime falling in love with the young genius doctor who saved her.<br /><br />So, like the earlier two-parter, this is going to be another very emotion-driven episode. It has to be emphasised just how bold a move it was in the mid-70s to have two two-part episodes of an action-adventure-science fiction series devoted almost entirely to romance plots.<br /><br />It was also quite an acting challenge for Lindsay Wagner. She has to play Jaime as Jaime, but as a slightly different Jaime. Without her memories she is just a little bit child-like and innocent. The whole world is new to her. She has to rediscover the world, and she has to face the most complicated human challenge imaginable - she has to start her emotional life all over again. <br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">The Bionic Woman Episode Guide</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><i>The Bionic Woman</i> series kicks off with <i>Welcome Home, Jaime</i> and it’s another daring move - beginning an action/adventure series with a two-part episode focused almost entirely on emotional drama. This was just not done on network TV in 1976. In fact the whole “how Jaime Sommers became the bionic woman and it affected her emotionally” tale is a six-episode story arc (beginning with four episodes of <i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i>) and that was most certainly not done at that time. Kenneth Johnson (who wrote all six episodes and created The Bionic Woman) was years ahead of his time. Whether you think multi-episode story arcs are a good thing or a bad thing is another matter (I think that on the whole they’re a bad idea).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteImDKr_YU44503fvOAilYQYnKBdpmXBq6c8MHEtIqGSNQnqzFp89tVNC3MJYHfmBLvwO5bwZxRkHVQcw6miKBD9vhjCC11rfA3_Fb91fhlNN1Ews_XdBuOpX3ZS5AtnkkQe9VMZHQ3o/s717/BionicWomanS1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteImDKr_YU44503fvOAilYQYnKBdpmXBq6c8MHEtIqGSNQnqzFp89tVNC3MJYHfmBLvwO5bwZxRkHVQcw6miKBD9vhjCC11rfA3_Fb91fhlNN1Ews_XdBuOpX3ZS5AtnkkQe9VMZHQ3o/s320/BionicWomanS1_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jaime has had yet another operation, the hope being to regenerate some of her brain cells so that she can get her memory back. It works, up to a point. She now remembers a lot more. But she still doesn’t remember being engaged to marry Steve Austin. She is however about to find out.<br /><br />In the second part we finally start to see Jaime doing some serious secret agent stuff, and showing off her bionic abilities. The big difference between Steve Austin and Jaime is that she has a bionic ear instead of a bionic eye and his story makes plenty of use of that bionic ear. It’s what keeps her one step ahead of the bad guys.<br /><br />This two-parter is still basically part of the introductory story arc, giving us Jaime’s backstory and establishing her character and also establishing the vital fact that much of her past has been lost to her. She’s not just going to be battling bad guys but presumably also trying to re-establish her own identity.<br /><br />So in some ways you could argue that the first season proper started with episode three by which time the format of the show had been more or less finalised.<br /><br />There’s a definite Clark Kent vibe to the series - on the surface Jaime is a mild-mannered bubbly pretty young schoolteacher but she has a hidden identity as a secret agent with super-powers. This gives the series an interestingly different vibe to The Six Million Dollar Man. There never was anything ordinary about Steve Austin. Before he became the bionic man he was already a hero - a test pilot and world-famous astronaut. Being a hero comes naturally to him. Becoming the bionic man hasn’t changed his life all that much. He was already doing extraordinary things that no ordinary person could ever hope to do. But before becoming the bionic woman Jaime Sommers really was just an ordinary girl. Being a super-heroine does not come naturally to her.<br /><br />Also interesting is that Steve Austin had to be coerced into becoming a secret agent and he was initially very resentful. Even though he’s a born hero there’s a part of him that would like to return to the small town in which he was born and become ordinary. Jaime on the other hand is not only a volunteer - she was the one who pressured Oscar Goldman into letting her become a secret agent. She’s the complete opposite of Steve Austin - she’s an ordinary girl who yearns to be extraordinary.<br /><br />The series itself has a slightly different feel compared to <i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i>. In a lot of the stories Jaime isn’t doing the secret agent thing, she just gets involved in situations in which her bionic power happen to come in handy. The Bionic Woman at times feels more like a family-oriented adventure series while The Six Million Dollar Man was more overtly a sci-fi/spy series.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBizRRFYEyP72L5BzJU-HZyO7xaEkWaNaAwKDRjHmqVLQwpkDfkfIcGN80ZpeguAUZdPDYSCKwYZiihHdCoaH-ePtYn3lBZPuCaQ9aAW1VQWmUt4_zlb2aOq9YRDZoPmKwZbaCluuaf4/s717/BionicWomanS1_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBizRRFYEyP72L5BzJU-HZyO7xaEkWaNaAwKDRjHmqVLQwpkDfkfIcGN80ZpeguAUZdPDYSCKwYZiihHdCoaH-ePtYn3lBZPuCaQ9aAW1VQWmUt4_zlb2aOq9YRDZoPmKwZbaCluuaf4/s320/BionicWomanS1_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>While <i>The Six Million Dollar Man</i> has Steve dealing with missions involving national security a lot of the stories in <i>The Bionic Woma</i>n involve Jaime personally, or involve people she knows personally.<br /><br />There was an intention to continue doing crossover episodes and in fact Steve Austin makes his reappearance as early as the fourth episode. <br /><br /><i>Angel of Mercy</i> takes Jaime to the South American republic of Costa Bravo where the American ambassador is trapped in the middle of a civil war. Jaime has to get him out, with the help of hardbitten helicopter pilot Jack Starkey (played surprisingly by Andy Griffith). Her cover is that she’s a nurse. Maybe that wasn’t one of Oscar’s brightest ideas - she knows nothing about nursing and can’t stand the sight of blood (which adds some amusing moments). This one is rather similar to one of the first season episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, Little Orphan Airplane, with this time Jaime using her bionic powers to rebuild a broken-down aircraft. Jaime gets to use her bionic powers a lot in this episode.This episode works, largely because Lindsay Wagner is so charming and amusing. She really was starting to settle into the role.<br /><br /><i>A Thing of the Past</i> takes Jaime back to her day-to-day life as a schoolteacher. The only excitement is that the school bus crashes but no-one is hurt thanks to the quick-thinking bus driver. And then the world of gangsters starts to intrude into Jaime’s small-town everyday life. That bus driver had a past and it’s caught up to him and Jaime is caught in the middle. It’s an OK episode. Lee Majors makes a totally unnecessary brief appearance but given that The Bionic Woman hadn’t yet established itself it made sense from a promotional point of view. It is however Jaime who does all the heroic stuff.<br /><br />In <i>Claws</i> Jaime has to mind a wild animal farm for her friend Susan Victor (played by Tippi Hedren who in real-life was involved in caring for big cats). One of Susan’s animals is a ridiculously tame pet lion but the local ranchers are convinced that the lion has been killing their steers. If Jaime can’t discover what’s really going on then the future looks grim for the lion. This is an episode that veers dangerously close to heart-warming territory.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchurklnECBVDEKiVmBlkm01Er_sRaSTI6BbSVrBkjqzZF_-xAeMZ1vX3MeaIaWkNpm6Y0wLvNIw_ta-d-8swiSfMRD45PVHsuyHxZW8xTRKqW2GUos440hT38tN3uCuWhk3XaK4lITV4/s720/BionicWomanS1_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchurklnECBVDEKiVmBlkm01Er_sRaSTI6BbSVrBkjqzZF_-xAeMZ1vX3MeaIaWkNpm6Y0wLvNIw_ta-d-8swiSfMRD45PVHsuyHxZW8xTRKqW2GUos440hT38tN3uCuWhk3XaK4lITV4/s320/BionicWomanS1_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In <i>The Deadly Missiles</i> a ballistic missile with a de-activated warhead lands in a reservoir near Los Angeles. It appears to have been fired from the ranch of wealthy industrialist J.T. Connors (Forrest Tucker), an old friend of Jaime’s. Jaime refuses to believe that J.T. could actually be involved. But her job is to find out. And she has to find out before somebody fires another missile with a live warhead. Jaime is torn between her duty and her loyalty to a friend. A pretty decent episode.<br /><br />In <i>Bionic Beauty</i> Oscar orders Jaime to enter a beauty pageant. The pageant is a threat to national security but he doesn’t know why. Jaime has to find that out. This episode is mostly filler with the beauty pageant stuff distracting from the actual plot. But since the plot isn’t particularly good maybe it was a good idea after all to focus on the beautiful girls. Not a very impressive episode.<br /><br />In <i>Jaime's Mother</i> Jaime thinks she’s seen her mother. Which is disturbing, since her mother died in 1966. Jaime fears she’s going mad. Oscar isn’t happy. But Jaime still thinks her mother may be alive. This is another episode more focused on Jaime personally and on her emotional state than on secret agent missions although there’s more to the reappearance of Jaime’s mother than one might think. It’s all a bit contrived and with a bit too much emotional angst.<br /><br />In <i>Winning Is Everything</i> Jaime has to enter a desert car race in a south-west Asian country. Oscar has hired failed Grand Prix driver Tim Sanders to drive with Jaime as navigator. Her real mission is to pick up a tape hidden by an American spy. Almost the entire episode is taken up with the car race (which I guess is exciting) and the very feeble plot gets largely forgotten. Not much of an episode really.<br /><br /><i>Canyon of Death</i> is another episode in which Jaime gets personally involved. One of her pupils, John Little Bear, wanders off into a restricted area in the desert and discovers something very dangerous. It relates to the testing of a top-secret atomic-powered jetpack flying suit. This is definitely an episode aimed squarely at a very young audience. The idea of an atomic-powered flying suit is amusingly retro for 1976. Not a very good episode.<br /><br /><i>Fly Jaime</i> is basically a rehash of the <i>Six Million Dollar Man</i> episode <i>Survival of the Fittest</i>. Rudy Wells has to fly to South America, on a charter flight, to pick up a secret formula. Jaime goes along as his bodyguard (masquerading as stewardess Miss Winters). The plane crashes and the survivors are stranded on a deserted island and among the passengers are killers after that secret formula. It’s OK but if you’ve seen the <i>Six Million Dollar Man </i>episode referred to then you’ve seen this one.<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXffU0d-IqIbIqpLnJRw6gC3CebI1BsGcafcoMmVTwlA-ijDgyfvMwiBpjfFGToQiVyfi15_XtLFZnukhd7V6A0W5D-olLqhurWX-kSOTPkHCoB92WFN60k8CJgP4Fj2YcRlm02FDoHrE/s717/BionicWomanS1_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXffU0d-IqIbIqpLnJRw6gC3CebI1BsGcafcoMmVTwlA-ijDgyfvMwiBpjfFGToQiVyfi15_XtLFZnukhd7V6A0W5D-olLqhurWX-kSOTPkHCoB92WFN60k8CJgP4Fj2YcRlm02FDoHrE/s320/BionicWomanS1_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Jailing of Jaime</i> starts out with Jaime getting a straightforward assignment - to deliver a top-secret code-breaking device to a military base. It turns out no to be so straightforward and Jaime winds up in jail, suspected of treason. Of course no prison can hold the bionic woman for very long. She breaks out, determined to clear her name. Her ability to break out of impossible places will come in handy again later. A routine but entertaining episode and we do get to see just how strong she really is.<br /><br />It was an ironclad rule in the 60s and 70s that every action-adventure series had to have at least one episode in which an evil double of the hero or heroine was running around causing mayhem. And so we get <i>Mirror Image</i>. Yes, the bad guys have surgically altered a woman to make her look exactly like Jaime and her mission is to kill Oscar Goldman. The idea is hackneyed but it’s executed reasonably well with Lindsay Wagner varying her performance subtly when she’s playing the double. A good episode.<br /><br /><i>The Bionic Woman</i> goes spooky in <i>The Ghosthunter</i>, with Jaime up against witches, ghosts and things that go bump in the night. A top government scientist and his daughter have been troubled by what appear to be ghostly visitations. The scientist’s wife, now deceased, had been the descendant of a woman accused of witchcraft in 1692. Jaime soon discovers that weird things really are going on. The episode does a good job of keeping us uncertain as to whether these are genuinely supernatural happenings. There’s a possibility it maybe be an elaborate espionage conspiracy, or it could be something paranormal or overtly supernatural. We’re also kept in doubt not just about the nature of these happenings but also the source. A pretty good way to end the first season.<br /><br /><u><span style="font-size: large;">Final Thoughts</span></u><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>The scripts are sometimes a little on the weak side but the coolness of the concept and Lindsay Wagner’s performances carry the show through a few less than brilliant episodes. On the whole it’s a fun series and it’s worth a look.dfordoomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.com1