DOCSLIB.ORG

The Avengers (1998) Directed by Jeremiah S

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Avengers (1998) Directed by Jeremiah S They Never Shut Up About Tea, Either By Fearless Young Orphan The Avengers (1998) Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik I don’t think I’d get much argument that The Avengers is an awful movie. It’s quite a colorful catastrophe. But I can’t bring myself to detest it, or even dislike it really. Of my many Chunks experiences, this is an unusual one, where I got the distinct feeling that we were about two steps away from a really good film. Failure when there was such obvious potential is more disappointing than failure when there’s nothing to work with. And of course, The Avengers is so ostentatious and ridiculous that you can’t even pretend to ignore its drastic missteps. As a contrast, the movie Places in the Heart is a fine film that touched me deeply, but it commits a rather elementary plotting error that lessens its overall worth. Yet, because it is a quiet drama, which purposely eschews any flash in favor of fine acting and a strong human message, one can get to the end of the film and only remember the quality. That trick doesn’t work with something as boisterous as The Avengers. The Avengers is based on the extremely popular 1960s British television series by the same name, which many of us came to love in syndication. If you haven’t been exposed to the television program, most of what the movie is trying to do will be completely lost on you. But to summarize it quick-and-dirty, The Avengers was a rather silly show of skilled secret agents keeping England safe against egomaniacal supervillains with science-fictiony doomsday devices (something like The Prisoner in tone, but not as paranoid). Thanks to the dry British wit of the writing, most of this over-the-top craziness sounded quite a bit more reasonable than it was. “A world dominating weather-machine? I say, that’s jolly unsporting of him!” The most popular pair of agents from the series was John Steed and Emma Peel, who had chemistry out the wazoo and were both so fun, clever, and obviously terrific that you’d enjoy watching them do any damn thing. This chemistry, which could possibly be spun as romantic, achieved the more elusive and compelling quality of friendship. They really liked and respected each other. And maybe they also had sex, and maybe they didn’t, but this was the 1960s and it was none of our business. Besides, there’s no hanky-panky on the job. That simply isn’t proper. While writing this review, I went briefly back to some episodes of The Avengers from 1967, just to make sure my youthful memories weren’t being clouded. But I wasn’t kidding myself. One episode I watched was called “From Venus With Love.” A group of English astronomers are planning to launch a satellite to the planet Venus, but they are being picked off by a mysterious, murderous light, which leaves them grey-haired and dead. Steed and Mrs. Peel go undercover with the society, the members of which believe that Earth is being invaded by Venus. Well, it turns out that it was all the dirty work of an optical surgeon who was killing people with an eye-surgery laser he had mounted to the hood of his car, and he nearly killed Mrs. Peel too! But of course Steed saved her (this is a 50/50 thing with them; she saves him about equally often). So you see, it’s all quite silly, but the charming duo of Mrs. Peel and Steed had such a great time together. They react naturally to all this strangeness as if it was exactly that: quite a lot of eyebrow-raising strangeness. They must solve this problem so that British Astronomy will live to stargaze another day. The budget was probably $1,500, the fight scenes were so corny I had to laugh, and some of the scenery looked ready to topple over. But that 51 minutes of an old TV show had twice the energy and fun that The Avengers movie ever allowed itself. Resources aren’t really the problem for the remake. The Avengers has a big-name cast in place: Ralph Fiennes is secret agent John Steed. Fiennes always comes across a wee bit psychotic to me, even when he’s playing nice guys like he did in Quiz Show. Uma Thurman is Emma Peel, an expert recruited to Steed’s organization. Sean Connery is super-villain Sir August De Wynter (who controls the weather, if you could not guess his motif by his name). They are joined by the likes of Jim Broadbent and Fiona Shaw. As is apparent from the lavish sets and effects, there was a fair amount of cash to spend. The material too was readily available, seeing as the movie did in fact borrow several scenes right out of the television program. So director Chechik seemed to have some clue as to what he was doing. If anything, we could fault the film for having an abundance of resources without a clear plan of action. Movies based on popular old franchises bug the hell out of me, but it’s not because I’m protective of my beloved memories. What bothers me is that nine times out of ten, the makers of these films seem to be doing it merely to have a recognizable name for the title, which will generate box office income. They do not subsequently seem interested in hiring anyone who ever loved or knew the franchise, so that whoever ends up making the product detaches it from everything that made the original franchise cherished. Or, even more disappointingly, the makers often employ the franchise in-name-only and completely change everything else, giving me the impression that there was a generic, rough-draft script floating around, then someone picked it up and said, “This crime drama sucks, but if we set it on an uncharted desert isle and rename the cop Gilligan, we won’t have to think of a tagline.” I have seen two franchise-redos that managed to avoid these pitfalls. One was Starsky & Hutch, which took the TV show’s plot and style, then made itself into a rather good comedy. The other, and the best of them all, is the comic masterpiece The Brady Bunch Movie. Its stroke of genius was transporting the goody-two-shoes Bradys, clothes and all, into modern-day L.A. and having them go about their sugar-coated business without a clue that there’s anything odd about them, while bystanders stare in disbelief. I think The Avengers came awfully close to being nearly that good, and sadly missed the mark thanks to underlying miscalculations, like when NASA got inches and centimeters mixed up. Math is hard! So, what were the missteps? 1. The final, mutilated cut of the film. This is the fault of the studio. Originally The Avengers was about forty minutes longer. Test audiences hated it, so the movie was cut to 89 minutes. This decision is baffling, as I cannot fathom how they thought it might help. What resulted was a movie that people still hated, which now made very little sense. In the severely edited version, all sorts of things are said or done and you’ll not understand why. People arrive in places and we don’t know how they got there, or why they went. Characters inexplicably know things and we can’t understand how. The continuity is completely trashed. So yes, I could complain at length about the immensely confusing story arc, but that would be like making fun of someone in a wheelchair. The movie has been chopped apart. At full length, would it have been any better? Who knows? Rumors floated around about a director’s cut, but the movie was such a financial failure that it seems doubtful anyone would bother to do it. 2. Fabulous clothes do not equal fabulous characters. In the television show, Steed and Mrs. Peel dressed immaculately, and she was always at the height of fashion. Of course, everybody remembers Mrs. Peel’s justifiably famous black leather cat suit, in which Diana Rigg just looked fantastic. But the fact that they dressed well was merely a component of their characters, and was something that these classy people would do naturally. The costume designers for the film went to considerable trouble to make Steed and Mrs. Peel look terrific, and even villain Sir De Wynter appears in a full Highland dress tartan that is a showstopper. But people in incredible clothes are of no more value to us than a Bloomingdale’s catalog if all they seem to be doing is modeling incredible clothes. 3. Fabulous set design does not equal intrigue. The movie’s sets, like its costumes, are quite gorgeous. But all the castles, and funhouse rooms, and views of London, and chic apartments in the world just mean that we’ve put down our Bloomingdale’s catalogue and picked up a Better Homes and Gardens. The people within them are still wandering aimlessly, fulfilling purposes at which we can only guess. 4. Casting. Or Acting. Or . what? I’ve heard some grousing about the three leads: that they were miscast, that Uma Thurman was awful, that Sean Connery embarrassed himself. You know how people talk when they don’t like a movie. Personally I don’t have an issue with the actors chosen to play the parts. I think they’re all up to the task.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • En Garde 3 50 Cents
    EN GARDE 3 50 CENTS ®Z7\ ER ED THREE T-o^yneny "R/cc-er <dc-e R h a magazine of personal opinions, natter and comment - especially about Diana Rigg, Patrick MacNee and THE AVENGERS CONTENTS: TACKING ..........................an editorial .... ,pg.U by ye editor HIOFILE ON DIANA RIGG pg,? by warner bros. IROFIIE ON PATRICK MACNEE •pg.11by warner bros. THE AVENGERS ....... .a review • .......................... pg«l£ by gary crowdus TWO SEASONS - AND A HAIF ... a listing pg ,22 by ye ed TO HONOR HONOR ... .a section for honor, , pg,33 compiled by ed YOU HAVE JUST BEEN MURDERED , ,a review ........................... pg.U8 by rob firebaugh NEWS AND NOTES , , . « • .various tidbits. , • • • • pg .50 by ye editor Front Cover shows a scene from Art Credits; "The Master Minds" , 1966 show. Bacover shows sequence cut out "Walt" • , pages 11 and lb for Yankee audience. R. Schultz . , . pages 3, U, 7, 15, 18, 19,22, 35, E2, and $0 This magazine is irregularly published by: Mr, Richard Schultz, 19159 Helen, Detroit, Michigan, E823E, and: Mr. Gary Crowdus, 27 West 11th street New York City, N.Y., 10011 WELKCMMEN First off, let me apologize for the unfortunate delay in bringing out this third issue* I had already planned to bring this fount of Rigg-oriented enthusiasm out immediately after the production of #2. Like, I got delayed. Some things were added to #3, some were unfortunately dropped, some never arrived, and then I quickly came down with a cold and broke a fingernail* Have you ever tried typing stencils with a broken fingernail? Combined with the usual lethargy, this was, of course, very nearly disastrous* But, here it is* ' I hope you like it.
    [Show full text]
  • The Avengers Emma Peel Series
    The Avengers Emma Peel DVD Series DVD ‘65—1 DVD ‘65—1 The Town of No Return The Gravediggers Mrs Peel is called away from her fencing practice by Steed's One of Britain's early-warning radar stations has suffered a arrival. technically impossible glitch, and the Avengers are sent to Something's very fishy in the small North Sea village of Little investigate. Bazeley... and it's something to do with the local fisherman. When they discover that the man who developed the system Ministry agents have gone missing on assignment there, so died the week before, and was buried in the likely source of the Steed and Emma step in to uncover the mystery. glitch, things begin to look suspicious. Even more so when Joined on the train trip by the burly Jimmy Smallwood, they are Steed spots the dead man walking around a hospital for retired greeted coldly by the stone-faced locals at the pub. By morning, railwaymen. Smallwood is missing, hounded down and killed overnight while Emma finds him, definitely dead this time, a while later in an trying to locate his brother. undertaker's office, and is sent to the hospital in the guise of a On the surface, all is quiet, but the Avengers find Smallwood's nurse. The senior medical staff have hoodwinked the hospital's body on the beach. They then proceed to discover that every benefactor into funding their plot to destroy and invade Britain by person in the village is an impostor - the parish records have pretending to be destroying the motor car, which he considers to been destroyed, and the old air raid bunkers under the primary be the killer of his beloved railways.
    [Show full text]
  • The Original Is a German Text Translated with Google Translate !! 1 Chapter - Peter Peel Returns
    The Avengers Fanfiction _______________________ Die Rückkehr von Peter Peel by Green Bentley - Emma verliert zweifach Steed macht einen Hauptgewinn (only a few scenes) but rated NC-17/adult ________________________________ !! the original is a German text translated with Google translate !! 1 Chapter - Peter Peel returns " All right, Emma ? " Peter Peel looked anxiously at his wife, who lost in thought and noticeably quiet in the car sitting next to him . Since he had picked up a few minutes ago at the address in Stable Mews , he could not help thinking that she was about to break out in tears of the impression. If in the three years that he had been away , Emma's character had not changed fundamentally , this gave cause for concern , because his wife was not the type of person who was easily upset . "Emma ? " Peter asked again , as they seemed to have not noticed his question. In fact, Emma's feelings threatened to sink in a single chaos. Everything was so sudden , so unexpected ! Peter , who had been missing for three years appeared , unexpectedly, from the depths of the Amazon , through which call the Department of Defense it was from one minute to the next no widow - at for a more enjoyable state - but now she was also not free women more . The relationship with Steed had now gained a very different quality, because they now had his principle as a married woman having an affair with another man . And what kind of person would be Peter wilderness after three years , how much he would have changed, he would still be the man she had so unconditionally loved with all my heart ? And a few moments ago she had until further notice the bridge to the second man interrupted , whom she had brought into their lives the same intense feelings against : John Steed .
    [Show full text]
  • Coversheet for Thesis in Sussex Research Online
    A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details 1 Escaping the Honeytrap Representations and Ramifications of the Female Spy on Television Since 1965 Karen K. Burrows Submitted in fulfillment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, May 2014 3 University of Sussex Karen K. Burrows Escaping the Honeytrap: Representations and Ramifications of the Female Spy on Television Since 1965 Summary My thesis interrogates the changing nature of the espionage genre on Western television since the middle of the Cold War. It uses close textual analysis to read the progressions and regressions in the portrayal of the female spy, analyzing where her representation aligns with the achievements of the feminist movement, where it aligns with popular political culture of the time, and what happens when the two factors diverge. I ask what the female spy represents across the decades and why her image is integral to understanding the portrayal of gender on television. I explore four pairs of television shows from various eras to demonstrate the importance of the female spy to the cultural landscape.
    [Show full text]
  • Counterpiracy Under International Law 1
    Counterpiracy under International Law 1 ACADEMY BRIEFING No. 1 Counterpiracy under International Law August 2012 Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Geneva Académie de droit international humanitaire et de droits humains à Genève Academ The Academy, a joint centre of ISBN: 978-2-9700786-9-2 © Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, August 2012. Acknowledgements The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (Geneva Academy) would like to thank all those who contributed to the project ‘Maritime Security and Counterpiracy’, and especially Martin Michelet, Head of Human Rights Policy Section, and Rémy Friedmann, Desk Human Security and Business, both of the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for their unstinting support. This report was written by Alice Priddy and Dr Stuart Casey-Maslen, both researchers at the Geneva Academy. Proofreading and layout were provided by Plain Sense, Geneva. The report was printed by the University of Geneva. Disclaimer This report is the work of the authors. Any views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of any of the external contributors to the report or supporters of the project. The use of particular designations of armed non-state actors, states, or territories does not imply any judgment by the Geneva Academy, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, or any other body as to the legal status of such actors, states, or territories, of their authorities and institutions, of the delimitation of their boundaries, or of the status of any states or territories that border them. ACADEMY BRIEFING No.
    [Show full text]
  • Amzejor 1910 Agnew Says U.S. Stands By
    amzeJor 1910 SEE STORIES INSIDE Fair and Cold THEDAILY FINAL Partly sunny and cold today. Clear, cold tonight. Cloudy, Red Bank, Freehold inow possible tomorrow. I „ Long Brandt 7 EDITION (Set CeUlU, Fill 31 Monmouth County's Home Newspaper tor 92 Years VOL. 93, NO. 131 RED BANK, N, J., FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1970 10 CENTS Agnew Says U.S. Stands By TAIPEI (AP) — Vice mainland China reflect a with the Communist Chin&se among Asian nations will cularly upset by the recent President Spiro T. Agnew ar- hope they will lead to steps do not in any way affect Hie mean a tapering off of diplo- relaxation of U.S. trade em- rived in Formosa today to by the Chinese Communists U.S. commitment to the Na- matic and military support bargoes against Communist assure Nationalist China the to lessen Uie tensions that ex» tionalist Chinese. for President Chiang Kai- China. The charge in trade U.S. government intends to ist in Asia. shek's regime. policy is regarded as a stand by it? treaty commit- The .United States, lie con- The Nationalist Chinese Recent reports that the. breach in U.S. diplomatic ments. But en route from tinued, should not sit still in ^capital was the third Asian United States is planning a support which, among other Vietnam he said the Nixon a stance of armed prepared- capital on Uie vice presi- reduction in« naval patrols, in things, has..:enabled the Na- administration favors initia- ness and make no initiatives dent's tour. Awaiting him the Formosa Strait, one of tionalists to keep China's seat tives to lesson tensions with to develop an atmosphere during his overnight stay was Nationalist China's major in the United Nations.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning Empowerment, Resistance and Female Identity Development from Popular Television: Trans-Women Tell Stories of Trans-Formation
    Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press 2007 Conference Proceedings (Halifax, NS, Adult Education Research Conference Canada) Learning Empowerment, Resistance and Female Identity Development from Popular Television: Trans-women Tell Stories of Trans-formation Robin Redmon Wright Texas A&M University, USA, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/aerc Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License Recommended Citation Wright, Robin Redmon (2007). "Learning Empowerment, Resistance and Female Identity Development from Popular Television: Trans-women Tell Stories of Trans-formation," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2007/papers/87 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Adult Education Research Conference by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Learning Empowerment, Resistance and Female Identity Development from Popular Television: Trans-women Tell Stories of Trans-formation Robin Redmon Wright Texas A&M University, USA Abstract: This paper explores how and why three British trans-women, who were biologically male when they watched The Avengers in 1962-1964, engaged in self-directed learning while modeling part of their new female identity on the character of Dr. Cathy Gale. You see, as a male, I looked like a music teacher—I thought as a woman, I’d look like a female music teacher. But I didn’t; I looked like a woman army officer . , and it was at this point that I started looking around for models.
    [Show full text]
  • How Far Does the Avengers Reflect the 'Pop' Aesthetic of the 1960S
    Susan Landon The Avengers and the ‘Pop’ aesthetic of the 1960s The Avengers is iconic in the ‘pop’ aesthetic of the 60s. In this essay I will explore how much the Avengers reflected and contribued to that pop aesthetic. In the first part I will consider what the ‘Pop’ aesthetic of the 1960s actually is, and will move on to look at the influence of ‘The Avengers’ on that ‘Pop’ aesthetic. Since The Avengers spans two decades (from the sixties’ first series to the seventies’ New Avengers – and, technically, also the film made in 1998, which is, frankly, little more than revisionist nostalgia) the stylistic developments that take place over the years mean that not all of what we call The Avengers reflects the pop aesthetics of the 1960s. While this would in itself be an interesting topic for discussion, in this essay I will be focussing on episodes made in the sixties and their specific relationship to ‘Pop’ aesthetics. Finally, beyond simply reflecting pop culture and pop aesthetics, I will look at how far The Avengers of the sixties actually contributed to the creation of this pop aesthetic. If culture is both for and of its time, then programmes like The Avengers should be viewed as active agents and protagonists in creating the culture of their time and, ultimately, become ‘Pop’ in their own right.1 The Avengers was the first TV series to hire an ‘Exploitation Manager’ and have its own fashion line spin-off, creating both a new market (by fetishising the pop aesthetic), and marketing scheme (i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Comic Strips! Steed and Mrs Peel Are Needed!
    WWW.BIGFINISH.COM • NEW AUDIO ADVENTURES ISSUE 93 • NOVEMBER 2016 UNIT: THE NEW SERIES SILENCED! THE SILENCE PREPARES TO RISE AGAINST HUMANITY… PLUS! TORCHWOOD! DOCTOR WHO! THE AVENGERS! OUTBREAK! THE THIRD DOCTOR! COMIC STRIPS! FULL CAST ACTION! BRAND NEW ADVENTURES! STEED AND MRS PEEL ARE NEEDED! HEADING WELCOME TO BIG FINISH! We love stories and we make great full-cast audio dramas and audiobooks you can buy on CD and/or download Big Finish… Subscribers get more We love stories! at bigfinish.com! Our audio productions are based on much- If you subscribe, depending on the range you loved TV series like Doctor Who, Torchwood, subscribe to, you get free audiobooks, PDFs Dark Shadows, Blake's 7, The Avengers and of scripts, extra behind-the-scenes material, a Survivors as well as classic characters such as bonus release, downloadable audio readings of Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera new short stories and discounts. and Dorian Gray, plus original creations such as Graceless, Charlotte Pollard and The You can access a video guide to the site at Adventures of Bernice Summerfield. www.bigfinish.com/news/v/website-guide-1 WWW.BIGFINISH.COM @ BIGFINISH THEBIGFINISH WELCOME TO VORTEX EDITORIAL SNEAK PREVIEW I AM NOT A NUMBER! Nicholas Briggs previews volume two of The Prisoner… OMETHING THAT'S informing volume two is Mark Elstob's remarkable performance. Now I know how S he's doing it, I'm writing for him this time. His performance is very difficult to define. In many ways it's very reminiscent of Patrick McGoohan's performance in the original TV series, but if you actually study it and break it down, as I have done – endlessly – it's very much its own thing.
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Program Guide
    Page 1 of 21 Sydney Program Guide Sun Dec 15, 2019 06:00 HARRY Captioned Repeat HD WS PG Harry Connick Jr. hosts this light hearted daytime talk show with a focus on family-friendly entertainment. Featuring interviews, stunts, audience participation and music. Today Harry interviews Jeff Perry. 07:00 WEEKEND TODAY Captioned Live HD WS NA Join the Weekend Today team as they bring you the latest in news, current affairs, sports, politics, entertainment, fashion, health and lifestyle. 09:30 2019 PRESIDENTS CUP Captioned Live HD WS NA Wide World of Sports presents the 2019 Presidents Cup Tournament, brought to you live from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Players include Adam Scott, Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Ricki Fowler and more. 10:00 2019 PRESIDENTS CUP Captioned Live HD WS NA Wide World of Sports presents the 2019 Presidents Cup Tournament live from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club where the US will compete against the world. Join our expert commentary team for all the action. 16:30 THE EMBASSY Captioned Repeat HD WS PG The Embassy is based in Australia's busiest embassies and features unprecedented access as staff deal with Australians requiring diplomatic assistance. 17:00 NINE NEWS: FIRST AT FIVE Captioned Live HD WS NA See it first with Nine News; join the team for all the latest in news, sport and weather. 17:30 CUSTOMS Captioned Repeat HD WS PG In Gatwick, one man is confused as to who his bag belongs to. On an inbound flight from Madrid, one passenger seems to let his nerves get the better of him.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuringbehind the Scenes on the Dramatic Third Up! Series
    WWW.BIGFINISH.COM • NEW AUDIO ADVENTURES AWARD WINNING AUDIO DRAMA! COUNTER-MEASURES MEASURINGBEHIND THE SCENES ON THE DRAMATIC THIRD UP! SERIES PLUS! DOCTOR WHO: LOUISE JAMESON APOCALYPTIC TALES WITH THE SURVIVORS AVENGERS: ANTHONY HOWELL ISSUE 65 • JULY 2014 VORTEX PAGE 1 VORTEX PAGE 2 WELCOME TO BIG FINISH! WE LOVE STORIES AND WE MAKE GREAT FULL-CAST AUDIO DRAMA AND AUDIOBOOKS YOU CAN BUY ON CD AND/OR DOWNLOAD Our audio productions are based on much- You can access a video guide to the site by loved TV series like Doctor Who, Dark Shadows, clicking here. Blake’s 7, Stargate and Highlander as well as classic characters such as Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera and Dorian Gray, plus original creations such as Graceless and The SUBSCRIBERS GET MORE AT Adventures of Bernice Summerfield. BIGFINISH.COM! If you subscribe, depending on the range you We publish a growing number of books (non- subscribe to, you get free audiobooks, PDFs fiction, novels and short stories) from new and of scripts, extra behind-the-scenes material, a established authors. bonus release and discounts. WWW.BIGFINISH.COM @BIGFINISH /THEBIGFINISH VORTEX PAGE 3 VORTEX PAGE 4 SNEAK PREVIEWS EDITORIAL AND WHISPERS DOCTOR WHO – THE ROMANCE ELLO! I’m Kenny, and I’ve kindly been invited by Big Finish to OF CRIME AND THE ENGLISH succeed the late, great Paul Spragg as editor of Vortex. WAY OF DEATH H Don’t fear if you think that Big Finish have allowed Vortex to fall into the hands of someone who has no idea of what the company is all about.
    [Show full text]
  • Episode 156: Tara King Era Page 157 of 192 More Views • the Young
    The Avengers Forever: Pandora 12/26/14 11:40 AM Episode 156: Tara King Era Page 157 of 192 PANDORA Steed searches for a white rabbit Tara wakes up as someone else* Production completed: 17 January 1969 UK Premiere (London, Season 7): 30 April 1969 US Premiere (New York, Season 4): 10 March 1969 In the middle of an antique shop, Tara is grabbed and knocked out with chloroform. She awakens with a splitting headache in 1915, in a house full of people who call her Pandora. Seems a wealthy old man on his deathbed has agreed to reveal his hidden treasure to a pair of diabolical nephews who have brought the old man's dead bride back to life. IMHO If I see Tara grabbed and knocked out with chloroform one more time, I'll... I'll... Well, you might imagine that I am quite tired of this little device... Anyway, this one could have been better if they'd fixed almost everything. Greatest liability: one of Linda Thorson's worst performances (ironic, as it is her favorite episode). It also suffered from a lack of production creativity—Tara was drugged the whole time, but where were the fish-eye lens perspective shots? It did have a neat Night Gallery ending, as well as a cute little homage to Cathy and Emma, but it wasn't enough to earn it another bowler, I'm afraid. More Views Trivia • The Young Avenger • Visitor Reviews Screenwriter Jeremy Burnham was a guest actor who appeared in three episodes: "The Town of No Return," "The Fear Merchants" and "The Forget-Me-Knot." A.K.A.
    [Show full text]