MovieChat Forums > The Avengers (1966) Discussion > Ep by ep; Curious case of the countless ...

Ep by ep; Curious case of the countless clues-Stay Tuned

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

Going to do the next 4 on one go as I don't really rate them at all;

Curious case of the countless clues; The anti-CSI! Actual uniformed policemen but otherwise unremarkable.

Love all; quite clever, love the bureaucrat falling in love with the policewoman, Terence Alexander who will later gain fame in the detective series Bergerac, Steed pursued by a mob lustful schoolgirls at the end (remember the lyrics to Kinky Boots?), even Tara smitten and Steed horrified at the idea. The scene where she tries to jump and he struggles to stop her is actually pretty tense and the gay joke quite daring at the time.

Stay Tuned; pretty desperate although nice to see Roger Delgado as the hypnotist (which he also was of course in Dr Who) and a young and gorgeous Kate O'Mara.

Wish you were here; The Avengers does The Prisoner but not half as well. A Steed light ep but do rather like the bumbling nephew character. I remember McNee as the villainous head of a similar establishment in the series Automan.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Curious Case of the Countless Clues:
This, believe it or not, is the first episode Linda Thorson made when Brian Clemens came back after the 3 aborted John Bryce episodes. This was even shot before Forget Me Knot. I believe the script had already been written and Brian Clemens needed to complete the first 6 episodes in a hurry for US transmission. He revised the script making it more Avengerish.

Tara is relegated to a wheel chair in this episode and confined to her apartment. The scenes with Tara are the most memorable. Her sliding down the fire pole, her trying to escape the villain and getting her doors locked. This aspect reminded me of an old thriller or Hitchcock film with the damsel in distress trapped and footsteps on the stairs and shadows under the door. Whatever Thorson is given to do she does well, I just wish they gave her more to do and established her as a character right from the start.

As you said, the rest of the episode is mostly unmemorable.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Love All:
This one is a personal favorite and immensely enjoyable. A pretty silly episode, but done very well. It has some wonderful comedic performances especially Thelma the "novelist." Her reciting the romance plots to the computer is very funny. Also, everyone is great when they succumb to the effects of the love dots. Veronica Strong really stands out to me. Her transformation from old, haggard cleaning woman to attractive villainess was a great opening. She also looked great in the fur coat and hat ensemble.

For added Trivia, Veronica Strong's husband, Jeremy Burnham, wrote this episode! They do a wonderful audio commentary on the Region 2 Optimum DVD! Linda Thorson also highlighted this as one of her favorite episodes.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Wish You Were Here:
Yes, The Prisoner did it better, but overall this is a fun, if yet again silly episode. It is nice to see Tara front and center and carrying the episode by herself for a change! Linda Thorson puts in a great performance and shows off some great comedy skills. I like her and the other two banding together to overtake the hotel. They really put the hotel into chaos! Great to see the actor from Something Nasty In The Nursery here again as a villain. I feel if they were really going for a Prisoner spoof, they cold have set it in a village where no one can leave, and make it more Murdersville and add some more surreal touches, but they seem to be going for laughs here and keep the episode pretty light and simple in plot. Still, I thought this a great, memorable episode.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Stay Tuned:
A bit convoluted in plot, but I found this to be an entertaining episode. Steed not knowing what has happened to him for the time he was supposed to be on holiday added mystery. The man the steed can not see but hears was creepy, especially the whistling. We get introduced to Father, and Kate O'Mara is just stunning. Wishe she was a villainess in more Avengers episodes. (She did play the villainess in the notorious Avengers stage play in the 70s) We get to see Tara bound and gagged then fight Kate O'Mara so that was great. Overall, an intriguing episode who's mysteries unravel to the conclusion.

[–] tarot400 8 years ago

Great to see Kate O'Mara trussed up and gagged at the conclusion of 'Stay Tuned' as well!