MovieChat Forums > The Avengers (1966) Discussion > The Avengers ep by ep; Forget Me Knot

The Avengers ep by ep; Forget Me Knot

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

Now I came to The Avengers in a very roundabout way. As a kid we watched The New Avengers in the late 70s. Then I watched the Tara King years on Channel 4 in the early 80s and I was totally won over, John Steed was my hero and Tara was the greatest. I must confess I never realised it was set in the 60s, it seemed timeless (as indeed did The Monkees at primary school when they showed it on Saturday mornings). Years later I saw the Emma Peel years and was actually disappointed. So I'm going to start my reviews here.

Not a bad ep, the idea of an amnesia gas is something that will occur in other forms throughout the series (think of the ep where they have the drug which makes people unable to tell the truth). However we really know this ep for the introduction of Tara and leaving of Emma. Great gag where Emma's long lost husband turns out actually be a dead ringer for Steed, I always thought it was McNee but actually was his stunt double.

Some people say this is where The Avengers went wrong, that by introducing a wider espionage organisation the series lost its' mystery and became more rooted in the real world (presaging The New Avengers) but I like it, it puts things into perspective. Maybe the scene we all remember from this is Tara and Emma meeting on the stairs, the handover is a lovely scene.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

This was a mixed episode for me. Emma Peel leaving was devastating, but I've always liked Tara too. The main thing I wish is that the Tara of the later Avengers met Mrs Peel here. Imagine the Tara of Game or All Done with Mirrors with Mrs Peel. Also, Mrs Peel didn't have a lot to do here, but at least she got a well deserved final send off. Her final scene with Steed is truly emotional. Tara just wasn't defined here. Still caring the brick in her handbag and not overly confident. Yet she is still very smart and will prove herself later in the series. Mother I though was ok here as a one off appearance. I thought having him on weekly took away from Steed and Tara time. They are best together bantering off each other, Mother took away from that and I feel some of the mystery about Steed was lost. Steed having to answer to someone and take orders wasn't all that needed, but I did like the HQ of the week gag. Overall, not a bad crossover episode.

[–] Joxerlives 8 years ago

Yeah, it is kind of a bridging ep signified by the end sequence, them changing it for the regular series with the field sequence.

[–] ctaylor-65092 8 years ago

Yeah, I really loved how they started with the Emma opening credits and closed with Tara's. Apparently, in the US, the credits found on Split, with the countdown shooting gallery and Tara in her orange suit was used on the first 7 episodes. Then there was a break in broadcast and Whoever Shot Poor George, started using the field of armor opening and card trick closing. Yet in the UK the field of armor and card tricks were used on all episodes except Split for some reason. I really like the live action openings and wish the Tara episodes had Steed and Tara in the closings as well instead of the card tricks. It would have been cute seeing them interacting and closing out the episode together.