[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Hostage
Doubt Is Our Weapon   (9 of 10)

A traitor is suspected of operating inside Whitehall.  Secret defense papers are in the safe, and the man in charge can't wait until they're turned over to the Americans.  And then Purdey is kidnapped.  Steed is forced to run thru hoops in order to get her back... but as he does so, the people behind it are really more interested in framing Steed, in order to create lack of confidence between everyone in his department!

William Franklyn (THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA) is "McKay" (pronounced "McKie"), Steed's boss.  I suppose he's more "realistic" than some. He's certainly no "Mother", but he's no "One-Ten", "One-Twelve", "Charles" or "Quilpie", either.

Simon Oates (NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS) is "Spelman", who enjoys throwing it in Gambit's face that he's met Purdey's mother.  The moment the kidnappers mentioned her mother, I KNEW this SOB was the main villain. He's so smug, you just want to punch him in the face.

Michael Culver (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) is "Walters", tasked with following Steed, which results in a high-speed chase in the country once Steed decides to lose him.  In a dark carpark, he becomes another victim of the conspirators. (If I'd recognized him from the other thing I'd seen him in, I might have said to my TV, "Apology... ACCEPTED.")

Anna Palk (THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING-- what was it with the Brits and their incredibly-depressing "disaster" films?) is "Suzy", Steed's latest lady-friend.  If some woman told ME I shouldn't count on a 2nd date, I wouldn't even bother asking for one.

George Lane Cooper (THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW) is "Marvin", the tall, unstoppable thug who impersonates Steed at one point, then tangles with Gambit in possibly the toughest knock-down-drag-out fight of the entire series.

Legend has it someone (Patrick Macnee?) complained about Steed being sidelined in the first 13 episodes, in favor of Gambit & Purdey.  I never minded, as it was the "NEW" Avengers, after all.  But this episode has him front and center for nearly the entire story!  I don't usually go for stories where one of the heroes is a prisoner for the entire thing (as happened to Tara King too many times), but Purdey's unrelenting loyalty to Steed keeps her in the spotlight despite this.  As for Mike... well, he comes out of alright by the end.

As a writer myself, when I watch something like this, I can't help but imagine how I might have done something.  Like, Steed finding SOME way to tell Gambit what was going on.  Or, even better, Gambit REFUSING to believe Steed had gone bad, telling him so, and asking, "How do you want to play it?"

At any rate, the last 10 minutes of this just SCREAMS "Avengers", with Steed getting tricky and cocky around the bad guys, Purdey picking up on it and going along, and even Mike showing up to save the day (when it turned out things were even worse than Steed expected).

I'd just like to know what BRAIN-DAMAGED IDIOT in England decided to run "Dead Men Are Dangerous" as the season opener, when "Hostage", filmed FIRST, was WAY-better!  This was aired 7th in the UK (though I'd have to do some research to figure out what order it was on The CBS Late Movie-- those COMPLETE idiots ran all 26 episodes totally at random).  And the 2004 A&E Region 1 DVD box set for Season 2 was in UK broadcast order, despite the Region 1 box being in PRODUCTION order, as they should be.

One of the BEST stories in the run.  Steed was telling the truth when he said, "I never fight fair!"
   (6-17-2025)

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Trap
Danger In East Anglia   (6 of 10)

Our heroes, briefly helping the CIA, intercept a drug shipment, which causes the newest member of a NYC syndicate to "lose face". To restore his honor, he lures them by plane to his estate, where he plans to BEHEAD the 3 of them, in front of his business partners.  HORRORS!

But following a plane crash, it becomes a cat-and-mouse game in the woods, with a bow and arrows, a spear, a bolas, and a spare horseshoe.  And once Steed gets his hands on a fully-loaded rifle... the top-level baddies are all in big trouble.

What a terrific cast!  You've got Stuart Damon (THE CHAMPIONS) as the ill-fated CIA man, Bruce Boa (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), Ferdy Mayne (WHERE EAGLES DARE) and voice-actor Robert Rietty (multiple 007 films, but here we get to see him ON-camera for a change) as the syndicate members.

And then there's Terry Wood (a VERY-short IMDB resume), as "Soo Choy", an unusually TALL, FAT, BRITISH-looking Chinese warlord badly pretending to be Fu Manchu.  Can I assume Christopher Lee was unavailable, and Peter Sellers was out of their price range? Okay, if "Soo Choy" IS his real name, I have to assume his father married a large English lady and he takes after his mother's side of the family.  NONE of his business partners take him seriously, and I'm not sure we're supposed to either.  The entire story is SO serious (well, apart from a lot of nice banter between Steed, Gambit & Purdey), I have to wonder if his casting wasn't MEANT as a joke?

And speaking of jokes... oddly enough, this story was the 1st time I ever heard the phrase "Chinese takeaway".  Heh.

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Medium Rare
The Pot Calling The Kettle Black   (6 of 10)

A Whitehall man pulling a con on his own office is found out by his boss, and after having to kill the man to cover his tracks, decides to kill STEED to keep him from finding out. And then he hits on the idea to FRAME Steed as being corrupt, and then for killing a fellow agent.  But while this is going on, a fake spiritualist is suddenly picking up messages that turn out to be true... and tries to warn Steed, Purdey & Gambit. Purdey, suffice to say, makes light of it... at first.

Jon Finch (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, DEATH ON THE NILE) is "Wallace", desperate to cover his tracks.

Jeremy Wilkin (DOCTOR WHO: Revenge Of The Cybermen) is "Richards", the professional hit man recruited by Wallace. I'd also remembered him for the NEW AVENGERS episode "House Of Cards", but I'd forgotten he was was in this one as well.

Neil Hallett (THUNDERBALL) is "Roberts", the latest in a whole series of Whitehall IDIOTS who is actually stupid enough to believe John Steed, of all people, could be a crook or a murderer.

Mervyn Johns (DEAD OF NIGHT) is the "Elderly Man" attending a seance.

Sue Holderness is "Victoria Stanton", a fake medium who is very surprised when she seems to be receiving messages in her head for REAL.  Or, is she? Purdey makes fun of the whole idea, but Mike Gambit is determined to find out whatever the real truth is, especially if it can get to the bottom of the mystery.

Aside from the "medium" subplot, this story reminds me quite a bit of the Tara King story "Who Was That Man I Saw You With?"
   (7-4-2025)

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Angels Of Death
The Not-Good-For-Your-Health Farm   (7 of 10)

Just before he's killed, an agent coming back across The Iron Curtain reveals that the enemy has a "foolproof", "untracable" way of killing off top government officials.  Our heroes confirm about 46 people have died of "natural causes" in the last 2 years, right after the current man in charge of the office drops dead of an apparent heart attack.  So Purdey & Gambit are tasked with finding out A)what 46 dead men have in common, and B)who might be a likely "sleeper" agent in charge of the plot. (WHAT, ANOTHER ONE?).

Via 3 different paths, our heroes track down a "health farm" in the country where unsuspecting men are put thru paces which create, rather than relieve, stress, which can be "triggered" by a simple image of a maze.

This is all very clever.  EXCEPT... like "Target", they REVEAL too much too EARLY.  We see a man forced to dance with pretty girls 6 minutes in.  We see the same man trapped in a maze 8 minutes in. By 12 minutes in, we know even more.  And NONE of this was necessary.  Any really good writer of mysteries should know, you HOLD BACK important information, and let it out one bit at a time, so the heroes can figure things out with the audience-- or a little before them-- NOT after them.  At least, unlike "Target",  the heroes this time AREN'T made to look like COMPLETE IDIOTS.  (As an aside, when The CBS Late Movie ran this in late 1978, it was only the 3rd episode they ran-- and, they ran it one week after "Target", so as to suggest that by 3 weeks in, the show had ALREADY run out of ideas!!)

Among the cast is Dinsdale Landen (DOCTOR WHO: The Curse Of Fenric) as "Coldstream", the "sleeper" mastermind of the plot. Michael Latimer ("A Touch Of Brimstone") is "Rearsby", who runs the health farm.  Terence Alexander (THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN) is "Manderson", a good friend of Steed's and Gambit's top suspect-- until he's killed.  Melissa Stribling (HORROR OF DRACULA-- I never realized in all the times I watched this that she played "Mina" in that!) is "Sally Manderson", who doesn't realize she's about to become a widow.  Pamela Stephenson (18 episodes of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in 1984-85) is one of the "Angels", who gives Steed an injection. Caroline Munro (THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD) is "Tammy", perhaps the most aggressive and therefore evil of the "Angels". I'm not sure, but something tells me this may be one of the only times I've seen her in something where we got to hear her OWN voice, and not be dubbed by someone else.  Back in the 70s & 80s, I had such a THING for her... and, Joanna Lumley, for that matter.

After complaints about Steed being sidelined in the previous season, screen-time is more evenly split between the 3 leads, which is fine by me.  Purdey gets to spend time with both Gambit AND Steed, and unlike in earlier episodes, she doesn't seem to be as stand-offish toward Mike as she had been previously. She also gets into what I believe was her BEST fight in all 26 episodes, when she takes on 2 aggressive woman at once.  With more professionalism on display here and less attitude, the Purdey in this story is someone I could really go for.

Steed once again proves just what a TOP-notch veteran agent he is, first by instinctively taking someone else's place going to the farm (moments after he heard the place mentioned!), but also by out-thinking the "program". During this, we see flashbacks from "The Midas Touch", "Target" and "Dirtier By The Dozen".  I think if they'd CUT the too-early "reveal" scenes, they COULD have had time to show Steed's way of dealing with the "disco dancing".

This was one of only 2 episodes Terence Feely was involved in.  I wonder EXACTLY how much he did, and how much Brian Clemens changed before it was filmed?

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Obsession
Purdey’s Story   (8 of 10)

While investigating a fire at an RAF base, Steed & Purdey run into an old "acquaintance" of Purdey's-- really, her EX-FIANCE-- who once tried to kill a foreign diplomat he blamed for his spy father's death-- and is STILL planning to do so now. Steed recognizes that seeing "Larry" again is opening up old wounds-- and, with so much experience under his belt, he advises her on how to overcome her own fears. But it becomes clear more is going on when a General from the base has gone missing, and Larry is behind that, too.

Martin Shaw (THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD) is "Larry Doomer", who became so obsessed with revenge he let his engangement fall apart, and hurt his fiancee so deeply, it changed the entire course of her life. On meeting her again, he hopes he can win her back, not realizing any chance of that was lost a long time ago.  The first time I saw this, I had NO idea I'd seen Shaw before in what became one of my all-time favorite movies!

Lewis Collins (THE PROFESSIONALS) is "Kilner", a freelance munitions expert who tells Doomer they make a good team, and should think about working together again.  As Brian Clemens worked on both this show and Collins' later one, I can't help but feel he may have been looking toward the future already when he wrote this.

Terence Longdon (the first 4 CARRY ON films!) is "Commander East", aide to the General who winds up kidnapped, because Shaw needs to stop satellite photos of what he's up to from being seen by anyone. I kept staring at the actor while re-watching this today, trying to remember, where had I seen him before? It was only recently I got my hands on the 1st CARRY ON Blu-Ray set from Australia, where he appeared in all 4 films.

Among other things, this episode was my very 1st on-screen exposure to a real-life VTOL (vertical take off and landing) fighter jet.  The realm of science-fiction had become REAL when this was filmed!

This episode, especially near the end, also struck me as the most SLICK, professional, somehow "AMERICAN"-looking episode of this show ever done.  It made me wonder if Albert Fennell & Brian Clemens saw the handwriting on the wall, with the financing suddenly drying up, and decided to just shoot their wad in one last big GO before going overseas with the final 7 episodes.

Like many other series, THE NEW AVENGERS genuinely works better if seen in production order.  It took until sometime in the 90s before I managed to track down that running order (thanks to Dave Rogers' 3RD book on the show), and when I watched it that way, little bits of subtle "continuity" really began to fall into place.  Unlike more modern shows, TNA does not have episode-to-episode continuity, but there is more of it than there ever was on the original 60s show.    The slowly-evolving relationship between Mike Gambit & Purdey (is that her first or last name? heehee), a prime example.

For the entire run up to here, Purdey has been tough, self-sufficient, intelligent, charming, yet stand-offish. Regarding that last part, NOW we find out why. As some have said, her EX, it turns out, was the biggest (if not only) thing standing in the way of her developing any future romantic relationships... despite or because of how things ended, she hasn't been able to move on.

Her inter-actions with Larry as the story progresses are inconsistent-- but given how strongly attached she was to him emotionally, this is understandable. Steed AND Mike both try to help, but, they don't know the full story-- because she's never told them-- and it's like pulling teeth to get her to tell them anything.

Steed's repeatedly saying "She's a woman" annoys me, because the attitude is that BECAUSE she's a woman, she somehow has the perogative to do whatever the hell she wants at any given time and it's okay.  NOT in MY book it's not! And Purdey has at times acted unprofessional enough in several previous episodes, where it almost got her KILLED. Say what you may about Mike, he's ALWAYS "professional". As it Steed.

One very interesting bit of continuity was the way Larry slapped her in the flashback sequence.  It went so far to explain her reaction to when Perov slapped her in "House Of Cards", the year before.  I have to think Brian Clemens had THIS later scene in mind when he wrote that one!

At the end, Mike does the only thing he could have, given his training.  And Purdey, however much she's hurting, has to realize he did the only thing he could have.  Joanna Lumley should have gotten an Emmy for her performance in this episode.

Seeing the episodes in production order for the first time years ago, I came to realize something else.  In the 7 episodes that follow this one... Purdey had started to become a MUCH-nicer person.  She was carrying around a lot of pain for so long... but not anymore.

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  The Lion And The Unicorn
The French Assassin and his Gang   (6 of 10)

Following a long car chase (why are the heroes running from the baddies?) and the attempted assassination of a Minister (never explained), our heroes manage to capture The Unicorn, an international assassin who, oddly enough, is also the head of a gang instead of the employee of one. Steed's been after him for 10 years, and not long after he's caught, one of the gang tries to kill Steed... but instead, unknowingly kills THEIR BOSS.  Oops!

And then they kidnap a French Royal Prince, determined to exchange hostages, not knowing the man they want to rescue isn't doing very well.

Lots of padding, a bizarre car chase where many things happen off-camera (I guess it's supposed to be funny), and a clever bit with 2 elevators lead to the one genuinely funny moment in the story, when Steed slaps Gambit on the arm and says "Well done!"

I'm afraid that even by my standards, most of the actors in this are complete unknowns to me.  With 2 notable exceptions...

Gerald Sim (15 episodes of TO THE MANOR BORN and 4 AVENGERS-- 1 each with Jon Rollason, Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson) is the un-named "Minister" who is the target of a hit, warned in advance to help draw the killer out into the open.  A nice cameo, but a waste of a good actor.

Maurice Marsac (a long and varied resume in both America and France going back to 1943) is "LeParge", a government official who winds up working with Steed to negotiate the rescue of the kidnapped Royal, exasperated that the man they're supposed to exchange is actually DEAD, and not the most competent when speaking with the baddies.  This may well be the biggest role I've ever seen him in, though the one thing he did I've seen the most times was his 1985 episode of NIGHT COURT with Ellen Foley.

Purdey wears a rather silly-looking outfit for most of the story, and I don't like her hair for once.  She's also much harder on Gambit than she needs to be, especially after we've seen them working so well together in previous stories.

This was the only episode written by John Goldsmith.  I see he also did 2 PROTECTORS, 4 RETURN OF THE SAINTs, and 2 of the Simon Dutton SAINT tv-movies later on.  I'm afraid that's the only work of his I'm familiar with.  I sometimes wonder if this show might have benefitted from more writers; it's hard to tell.

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS  /  K IS FOR KILL:  Part One:  The Tiger Awakes
The Suspended Animation Army   (6 of 10)

A Russian soldier invading Tibet stumbles across a monk who claims to be over 100 years old.  He turns it into a covert project in which hundreds of young soldiers are put into suspended animation all across Western Europe, to be awakened by remote control when the time is right for invasion.  But decades go by, the "Cold War" calms down... until suddenly, something with the radio technology goes wrong, and entire squadrons of Russian soldiers are waking up, attacking targets that are more than 30 years out-of-date, believing WW2 is still going on!  It's up to Steed, Gambit & Purdey to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it... before WW3 erupts.

I probably revealed more than I usually do here, but it can't be helped.  This ISN'T the first time we've seen "sleeper agents" on this show. We've had spies infiltrated into England as "regular" people, awaiting orders that may never come, we've had them infiltrate offices of government where nobody realizes they're working for the other side, we've even had imposters created by plastic surgery who murder the people they're replacing. But this does seem to be the first time pure science-fiction is involved, and that makes it seem more like a 60s story than a 70s one.  Except... it doesn't feel anything like a 60s episode at all.  Which, depending on your attitude about THE NEW AVENGERS, is either a good thing... or not.

This is certainly one of the more "serious" episodes, and the only "light" moments seem to come from Steed, who, always looking at the bright side, rejoices that after a historical museum is shot up, at least the brandy is still intact... and, from Purdey, who, being Purdey, begins talking about complete non-sequiturs in the middle of a gunfight, always trying to look like the smartest person in the room, even if it's at the LEAST-appropriate time.

Pierre Vernier is "Colonel Martin", Steed's French army liason, who he gets along with quite well.  This 2-parter appears to be the ONLY thing he's ever done that wasn't in French, something he seems to share with 98% of the guest-cast this time around.  (The only thing on his resume I'm even vaguely familiar with at all, is the 1975 production of MICHEL STROGOFF, an adaptation of the Jules Verne classic story.)

Maurice Marsac is "General Gaspard", who bemoans the senseless destruction of the WW2 Museum he oversees. Marsac is really the odd man out here, a French actor who seems to have spent the vast majority of his career working in Hollywood!  I've seen him in countless things, including TARZAN AND THE TRAPPERS, KING OF KINGS, GET SMART, COLUMBO, McCLOUD, KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, but the thing I've seen the most times was his 2nd-season episode of NIGHT COURT, where he played a maitre'd in a fancy restaurant.  It's a bit bizarre that on this show, they cast him in 2 different roles, in 2 stories made back-to-back!

The CBS Late Movie ran this 2-parter LAST, the same thing they did with the 2-parter from RETURN OF THE SAINT a year later.

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  K Is For Kill  /  Part Two:  Tiger By The Tail
Two Murders to start World War 3   (6 of 10)

While most of the Russian "sleepers" have been killed or died of old age, the 2 most important ones, both assassins, awake a day later (as planned), and amid the chaos, follow their orders to kill a pair of targets whose deaths will hopefully plunge all of Europe into a new World War.

Charles Millot is "Col. Stanislav", who in utter defiance of his direct orders, intends to see the 1945 plans put into motion. His maniacal determination to see Soviet Russia conquer all of Western Europe somewhat parallels that seen in the later 007 film OCTOPUSSY.  Adding to the bizarre nature of the story, the 2nd assassin is his own father, who after more than 3 decades, is still a young man, while he, the son, is an old man.

Paul-Emile Deiber is "Toy", a Russian ambassador and good friend of Steed's, who's shot dead by the 1st assassin while he's trying to warn Steed of what's coming.

Sacha Pitoëff is "Kerov", the Soviet commander, who apparently was Mongolian, not Russian, absolutely does NOT want the old wartime scheme to go through, and at the end, winds up giving Soviet MEDALS to Steed, Gambit and Purdey, in a scene that predicts the finale of another later 007 film, A VIEW TO A KILL.

During a lull in the story, Purdey objects (after-the-fact) to a "follies" show Steed & Gambit took her to, saying, "What kind of a show is that to take me to? I'm a GIRL!!!" I found myself laughing, and thinking, if I'd been in that group, I'd have told her I'll make it up to you... and the next night, taken her to a Chippendales show-- just to see her reaction (heh).

It almost looks like Steed gets killed TWICE in this story, and it's easy to understand why The CBS Late Movie decided to run this as the series finale, although I prefer watching all the stories in production order.

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Complex
Who—or WHAT—is X-41?   (6 of 10)

Somewhere in Toronto, the Russians have an incorruptible, extremely-efficient agent working for them, known only as "Scapina", or, "X-41".  The British and the Canadians have wanted to get their hands on him for years, but anytime someone tries to pass on information, they wind up dead.  Steed gets an offer to reveal X-41's identity in exchange for one million dollars, so he, Gambit & Purdey travel to Canada, but the trend continues.  And before long, people working inside the fully-automated high-security building also begin turning up dead.  Who will be next?

Cec Linder (the 1958 TV version of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT) is "Paul Baker", the top security man in Toronto, who briefly comes under suspicion, until he mysterously disappears without ever leaving the building.

"Harvey Atkin" (99 episodes of CAGNEY & LACEY) is "Officer Talbot", who, after arresting Gambit for stealing a car and smashing it up, has far too much fun as Mike's expense, when he doesn't believe that Mike is a government agent.

Writer Dennis Spooner, whose specialties were science-fiction and comedy, manages to have both on display here. For once, he DOESN'T blow the mystery too early (though if you're really paying attention, what's going on should be perfectly clear no later than 25 minutes into the story). The main flaw here is the comic relief.  It's all at Gambit's expense, though it really makes the police look stupid, more than Gambit.  Even so, Mike probably would have done better if he'd simply insisted on his "one phone call" (do they have those in Canada?) and not even bothered trying to explain who  he was, especially as goverenment agents are SUPPOSED to keep their identities a SECRET!

Joanna Lumley's "Purdey" gets to shine in the very-suspenseful last act, as she finds herself in constant danger of immediate death, while, not for the first time, Patrick Macnee's "John Steed" uses lateral thinking in his investigation, and so is miles ahead of his colleagues when it comes to sorting out the truth.  Even so, it's a wonderful moment when ALL 3 of them figure it out at the exact same time.

This was the first of 4 "New Avengers In Canada" episodes, and it really was stupid when The CBS Late Movie didn't run it first, especially when early-on, Purdey says, "I've never been to Canada before!"

I could mention this story's plot has parallels with both a Diana Rigg episode AND a Linda Thorson episode, but that would give the mystery away too easily.

[profh0011]

This was actually the very 1st AVENGERS review I ever wrote...


THE NEW AVENGERS:  The Gladiators
Army Of Killers     (8 of 10)

In the pre-credit sequence, Karl Sminsky tells his "students" that he started with 148 men, and narrowed it down to 4. The mission he's about to embark on requires only 2. How to choose? Simple. The 4 pair off and fight-- to the DEATH. Russian Soviet KGB are utterly ruthless, but isn't this just a colossal waste of finely-trained manpower?

"The Gladiators" is the LAST really GREAT episode of this show. My best friend, who was really into Kung Fu movies and martial arts stuff in general, always loved this one. Sminsky (played by Louis Zorich-- I could hardly believe it when I found out he'd played Jamie's father in 35 episodes of MAD ABOUT YOU!) is one of the most cold-blooded, utterly ruthless villains in the entire history of the series. When one of his new trainees fails to show proper reflexes, he announces that "He can never go back; his vanity would have him talk, brag. He must be KILLED." With such an utter disregard for human life-- including his own men-- the aura of menace toward anyone else is absolutely palpable.

Meanwhile, Steed, Purdey & Gambit, "on holiday" (yeah, right) in Canada, investigate Sminsky, who was known to be studying various killing arts, before going missing. Known trouble-makers have also been going missing, and Steed puts two and two together.

One thing I find baffling is, considering this was filmed right after "Complex", why there is no mention that Canadian Security is either in a new building, or the same building. This continues an equally baffling trend of the entire NEW AVENGERS series, in that so many episodes took place presumably within the SAME MI-5 headquarters offices, yet not once did we ever see a single recurring actor or character in those offices, apart from Steed, Purdey & Gambit. Are these organizations that big, or do they just have a high turn-over of employees?

One of the best scenes is when Steed & Purdey find themselves facing several of the new "students" at a country house. The thug in charge notes Purdey is "too thin & fragile", and might be "kept around for more pleasant things". Steed replies, "A comment like that might make Purdey annoyed." In the resulting mêlée, we discover the students have not quite mastered the techniques they're trying to learn yet.

The big climax is at the security building, where our heroes have to square off against first Sminsky's best men, then Sminsky himself. The sight of dented metal and smashed concrete has always stuck with me. When Sminsky finally readies himself to face off against Purdey's automatic pistol, Steed, so cool, so suave, so slick, calmly says, "I've seen that before. But I'm CURIOUS! How does it work against TWO weapons?" Even at this stage of the game, Patrick Macnee exudes charm & confidence, and shows why he's been a hero of mine for so long. And Purdey, so much more relaxed since the events of "Obsession", may never have been prettier.

If there's a pity, it's that this wasn't the LAST episode. If the show had ended TWO weeks sooner than it did, its ending might not have been saddled with such a deservedly-bad reputation. Near the end of the generally-good Tara King run, there were about 6 episodes IN A ROW that I consider among the worst of the entire series. Sadly, the last 2 Purdey & Gambit episodes managed to be even worse. But "The Gladiators" is not to be missed!
     (4-9-2011)

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Forward Base
The Hidden Headquarters   (5 of 10)

A hurricane knocks out all communication in part of Canada in 1969, prompting the Russians to do... SOMETHING. 8 years later, a technical breakdown prompts the Russians to send...SOMETHING to the same area.  Steed confers with his fellow agents in Canada, who both discuss something that's become a legend... "Forward Base".  No one knows what-- or where-- it is.  But Steed, Gambit & Purdey are determined to find out.  Especially when one of their Canadian colleagues-- who always insists he "works alone"-- does so, and gets KILLED while doing so.  Before it's all over, Purdey ALMOST gets herself killed-- AGAIN-- for doing the SAME THING. (When will that girl learn?)

For a Dennis Spooner story, he actually didn't do too bad this time, out, as far as keeping the mystery just enough of a mystery to keep the audience guessing.  You have a feeling you know what's going on... but you can't be sure.  UNTIL YOU ARE.  That's at least better than completely blowing any sense of mystery before the opening theme song plays.  It's also nice that, once again (and once again in a Spooner story) all 3 of our heroes figure it out AT THE SAME TIME, via 3 separate routes.  Of course, Steed comes out looking the coolest, while Purdey probably wishes she had asked Mike to tag along.

When The CBS Late Movie ran this in late 1978, the series was so completely out of sequence, that this was actually the 1ST of the 4 "New Avengers In Canada" episodes run-- while, according to Dave Rogers' 3rd book on the series, it was in fact the NEXT-TO-LAST episode filmed.

I will admit, it probably makes more sense to watch it LAST.  Like the very 1st episode, "The Eagle's Nest", we have enemies set up on an island... the threat of a foreign missile base hidden on domestic soil is big enough to think of it as a "series finale" (even as "K Is For Kill" was, when CBS ran that story LAST).  Purdey goes scuba-diving (just like in "The Eagle's Nest", making it a sort of "coming full circle" sort of thing), and the mysterious underground hide-out whose existence and explanation takes most of the episode to come out, reflects the one in "Bizarre", the LAST of the Tara King episodes!  (Never thought of most of this before.)

The sad thing is, a large chunk of this story seems intended as a light-hearted comedy... except, it's not really funny.  And those "swan" boats just look STUPID.  They would have looked stupid, even in the COLOR Diana Rigg episodes!

[profh0011]

THE NEW AVENGERS:  Emily
OH, the IGNOMINITY of it!   (4 of 10)

Purdey somehow got captured by Russian spies in Canada (MORE of those?), but escapes, after learning a notorious double-agent (ANOTHER one of those??) named "The Fox" will be receiving a payoff.  Working with the locals, the team stake out the incident, trying to find and nab the mysterious person the Canadians have been after for ages.  Steed knows it has to be someone within Canadian Intelligence, and so suspects everyone there.  During a brief struggle, the man accidentally leaves a full handprint on a rather old car, and Steed makes the questionable decision to borrow the car, and drive it to Toronto himself, to have the fingerprints people compare it against everyone in the department, and finally nail the identity of The Fox.

It all sounds so straightforward, doesn't it? Instead, the bulk of the episode almost plays out like a protracted BENNY HILL sketch.

You've got a dotty old lady who has trouble understanding what's going on with her car, you've got Purdey riding the car through a car-wash to prevent the handprint getting washed off, you've got our heroes wrongly accused of killing a Canadian agent and chased by the Police, a farmer who shoots at unarmed people, a moonshiner who thinks fighting is fun, and the most irritating banjo music intruding non-stop over the chase through the country.  (I suppose Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax" would have been just too much.)

It turns out, there is actually ONE guest-actor in this I have seen elsewhere, but I have NO memory of seeing him in the various things I DID see him in back when, so maybe it just doesn't count.

This one has always gotten on my nerves, since I first saw it on The CBS Late Movie during the 1978-79 TV season. I'd have to personally rank this all the way down with "Murdersville", "Look (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers", "Wish You Were Here" and "Pandora" among my LEAST-favorite episodes. The best thing about having the show on disc now is, it makes it so much easier to SKIP anything I just don't like!