MovieChat Forums > The Avengers (1966) Discussion > Ep by ep; Thingumajig

Ep by ep; Thingumajig

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

What a wonderful title, so very Avengers!

Actually a story which is quite scary in a 1970s Doctor Who kind of way. I can never help but laugh at the sight of Steed in his three piece suit topped off with a pair of wellington boots.

Best part of this ep is Tara with the 'expert', the person they bring in to solve the mystery, a man who gazes at the evidence and says 'This is very intriguing, can I ask you what it's all about?'. A situation that has happened to me several times. HOWEVER he turns out to be the hero, phoning to warn Tara and telling her how to defeat the box (surprisingly menacing for such a simple prop). Quietly amazed that Tara does her own cleaning, I'd have thought she would have a woman-who-does (I bet Steed does). Tara's little turn on the organ is also funny.

All told an atypical but hugely fun ep.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

This was an ok episode. The set up is great, full of mystery and spookiness, especially with the church excavation. Something very The Living Dead about it. However, once the box is revealed, I think a lot of the suspense and mystery is gone and just making it a black box was a little of a let down. It was fun how Tara defeated the box though! I thought the brown outfit she wears is a little cheap looking with the gold trim. It made her look wide and was not stylish or flattering. For me, not one of the more exciting episodes.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

If I'm not mistaken, Steed had a cleaning woman in one of the Cathy Gale episodes. He also had a cleaning woman in the New Avengers.

[–] Joxerlives 8 years ago

You see I think it's the very simplicity of the box which makes it scary

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

In a way I suppose. Maybe it's not the box itself, but how it was implemented. The shift from supernatural spookiness to science fiction didn't meld together as well as some other episodes. I think the biggest thing for me was that Tara was pretty much isolated or separated from the main action most of the episode. She was in her apartment, making phone calls and icing a cake. Yes she did have her showdown with the box, but here again she and Steed are not working together and seem to be doing seperate scenes. Would have like Tara more intergrated into the plot. (We know she can do so much more!)

Interesting you mention Dr. Who. Apparently Terry Nation, who wrote this episode was a writer for Dr. Who.

Linda Thorson interestingly picked this as a personal favorite when she filmed intros for tv reruns in the 90's.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Interesting fact I discovered. Apparently Linda Thorson got sick, says she got a heavy cold, and had to miss 3 days filming. The episode underwent rewrites and Tara's scenes were confined to pretty much just her apartment as a result.