MovieChat Forums > The Avengers (1966) Discussion > Ep by ep; Look (stop me if you heard thi...

Ep by ep; Look (stop me if you heard this one before...)

posted 8 years ago by Joxerlives
2 replies | jump to latest

Complete and utter madness, it's like they knew this was the final season and just decided to go for it. Once again Steed actually fails miserably and doesn't manage to save any of the directors. We actually have a uniformed police officer albeit a fake one. This is a story so crazy only the Avengers could do it yet somehow it works brilliantly, the final quick-change fight especially is terrific as is the home for resting artistes (although a little sad too, seeing their livelihood disappear).
Pretty gruesome in places, I never really expected to see kids TV favourite Bernard Cribbins getting a throwing knife to the chest! Also great for John Cleese of course and the following exchange;

Steed; "I'm afraid I'm not in the entertainment business"
Marler; "Oh I see, you're from television"

Managing director; "Everyone knows that vaudeville is dead"
Steed; "It looks like vaudeville may have decided to fight back"

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Yes this episode is quite bonkers! I don't think any other spy show of the time could have done an episode like this and make it work.

The comedy works well I think because there is a sinister undertone to it all. Thorson shows she is great at comedy and she plays off Steed and the other characters well.

Tara is styled in long wigs in certain scenes, and I really think she looked super attractive with the long hair. They should have played around with that
more and found a longer style that suited her. It did however make her look super young, so maybe they decided against it so she didn't appear too young next to Steed.

The supporting characters are great and seeing John Cleese and those eggs was really great. This episode really emphasizes the variety of episodes found in the Tara season. Compare this to Take Over, and you feel like you are watching two different series altogether! Some fans are divided on this episode, but I found it enjoyable and the cast seem to be having fun. Very refreshing.

[–] dweilermg-1 8 years ago

LOVED this episode! Hilarious how after each slapstick style murder those 2 clowns would link arms and dance away to that "ya ta tata tata" style music like an old vaudeville act. A most brilliant episode indeed! 😀