When I think of The Avengers, this is what I think of. It scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, and some of that imagery remains with me still and will be forever associated with Christmas.
I passed it on to my children, who also enjoyed it (once they got over the "Awwww, do we have to? It's black and white!!" stage).
Yep, it's one of my favorites. I stuck it on and watched this Christmasin fact.
shareDefinitely one of my faves from the black and white season. And much later, I actually tracked down a full copy of Green Grow the Rushes-O... not with Steed and Emma, but with a group called The Irish Descendants - I have it on my Mp3 and love listening to it.
shareI've always been fascinated by dreams, so an episode like this one was a natural to catch my attention. I remember seeing it once in the 70's, then not again until more than a decade later when my PBS station ran all the Rigg & Thorson episodes. Disturbing in spots, delightful in others.
This is also the one (as many trivia buffs tend to note) where Cathy Gale is mentioned, via a Christmas card.
Great episode indeed! It's interesting and quite unexpected to see Steed so...well..vulnerable. The Season 4 is the best out of the whole Avengers series, methinks.
share"Too many Christmas Trees" is also one of my favorite episodes. I just watched it again over the weekend with a friend.
It gives us a curious yet successful blend of a nightmarish quality overlaid upon a Dickensian literary theme.
The relentless pounding beat as Steed's mind is worked on from afar & the shots taken from above the table where the villains are seated work very effectively and are accompanied by some orchestral work that I have not heard in episodes previous to it.
One minor complaint I have is in regard to the triviality of the dialogue between the characters during the social and party scenes at the home of Brandon Storey.
Just learned recently that the actress who played Janis in that episode is married to Actor Keith Michell (people might know him best from Six Wives of Henry VIII - and he also played Dennis Stanton the crook turned insurance investigator on Murder She Wrote.) They have been married for over 50 years.
shareThere is more tenderness between Steed and Emma because of his nightmares, and Diana Rigg's 'Oliver Twist' outfit provides another example why she became a cultural phenomenon/sex symbol still remembered today. Very few episodes could lay claim to be better than this one.
"I take pleasure in great beauty" - James Bond
I love Too Many Christmas Trees, I'm new to the Avengers and have watched maybe 15 episodes so far, and this one is still my favourite. It's got so much going for it: it's in black and white, Steed and Peel's chemistry is in place and working a treat (e.g. The four poster bed scene), a beautiful house, a traditional Christmas party held by a jolly old man obsessed with Dickens, a ruthless female villain, a villain whose heart isn't in it and becomes a victim, Steed and Peel singing Green Grow The Rushes Oh, genuine scary moments (the malevolent Santa in Steed's dreams and The Hall Of Great Expectations. memorable lines ("Who is Boofums?") and to top it all, Barry Warren. Perfect.
"You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study. Not to bring back."
I've been a fan of the 1951 film version of "A Christmas Carol," starring Alastair Sim, since I was about four years old (c. 1960); they used to televise it on "The Late Show" on Christmas Eve-- technically, early Christmas morning. My siblings and I were allowed to stay up (in our pajamas) and watch it, and I liked it even though parts of it also "scared the hell out of me". 😉
Patrick Macnee appeared as the young Jacob Marley, and Mervyn Johns-- "Dickens expert" Brandon Storey-- played Bob Cratchit.
See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044008/combined
So it's interesting to see Macnee and Johns together again in a Dickens-based story-- especially the scenes where Steed dons a period costume much like the outfits he wore as young Marley.