Similiarities between Town of No Return/Murdersville

MaccaJack · Post by **MaccaJack** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:45 pm

Ok so, hello, I've been away for a little bit, I kinda lost my love, but I'm back!

Anyway so I decided I'd watch ALL of the episodes. I've been very biased towards the color season, and on watching "Girl from Auntie" was amazed. The monochrome season is a very fresh, stylish outlook on The Avengers.

Anyway, so I watched "Town of No Return" and noticed a few similiarites between the episode and another favourite of mine; Murdersville.

1. Both towns are very shady, and are covering up for covert operations.

2. Any members who do not agree have been replaced by actors/covering up characters.

3. Both in Small Towns.

4. At first sight, everywhere is pretty deserted.

I might be alone in my theory, but Murdersville and Town of no Return definitely strike a similiar tone to me.

Thoughts; Other similiar episodes?

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:07 pm

This isn't surprising as they are both Clemens episodes. There are parallels, I agree.
Apart from the obvious ones - i.e. remakes - then I guess The House that Jack Built and The Joker, again Clemens episodes, both solo Rigg ones where she is trapped in a house. My father's The Hour that Never Was was certainly a heavy influence on the Season 6 The Morning After.

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:12 pm

There are also lots of episodes which seem to share a certain style, such asFrom Venus With Love, The PN Man and The Rotters. For all its inventiveness, there is a neceassarily formulaic quality to the show: serial killings, menacing buildings or villages, clowns, technology used to murder, graveyard scenes etc. It's easy to get deja vu from an episode one has never seen before.

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:22 pm

Perhaps that's what makes those seriously novel episodes such stand-outs: where they seem to be 'making it new'. I'm thinking of The Murder Market, Too Many X Trees, Mandrake, The Hour that Never Was, Castle De'ath, A Surfeit, Honey for the Prince, Stay Tuned, All Done with Mirrors, and Take-Over. Some of the others seemed too similar to others, IMO, particularly during Season 5.

Post by **Allard** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:30 pm

Rodney wrote:There are also lots of episodes which seem to share a certain style, such asFrom Venus With Love, The PN Man and The Rotters. For all its inventiveness, there is a neceassarily formulaic quality to the show: serial killings, menacing buildings or villages, clowns, technology used to murder, graveyard scenes etc. It's easy to get deja vu from an episode one has never seen before.

Rodney wrote:Perhaps that's what makes those seriously novel episodes such stand-outs: where they seem to be 'making it new'. I'm thinking of The Murder Market, Too Many X Trees, Mandrake, The Hour that Never Was, Castle De'ath, A Surfeit, Honey for the Prince, Stay Tuned, All Done with Mirrors, and Take-Over. Some of the others seemed too similar to others, IMO, particularly during Season 5.

This is true but it doesn't say much about the quality in my opinion, because all the episodes you mention are good or very good Avengers episodes.

Avenger14 · Post by **Avenger14** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:56 pm

What about The Town of No Return and The Living Dead? the main point of both is that the bad guys are raising armies underground who will eventually get onto the surface and attack.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:24 am

Rodney wrote:Perhaps that's what makes those seriously novel episodes such stand-outs: where they seem to be 'making it new'. I'm thinking of The Murder Market, Too Many X Trees, Mandrake, The Hour that Never Was, Castle De'ath, A Surfeit, Honey for the Prince, Stay Tuned, All Done with Mirrors, and Take-Over. Some of the others seemed too similar to others, IMO, particularly during Season 5.

I think you're pretty much on the mark....blame the writers, i guess..(LOL)

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:32 pm

As I've said before Brian Clemens liked to return to an old theme. His favourite seemed to be lone woman trapped inside vulnerable to an impending menace.

I think he thought a good yarn is worth telling again and again.

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:08 pm

What my father and Clemens - at his best - understood was that the story needed a disturbing undercurrent, such as killers who murder with a smile and an upper-class politeness. Or a military theme where an abandoned base or an isolated house has a sinister side to it. It was a fine balance between humour, the surreal and drama. And when the writer and director pull it off, the result is something very special.

VA_Avenger · Post by **VA_Avenger** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:35 pm

Rodney wrote:What my father and Clemens - at his best - understood was that the story needed a disturbing undercurrent, such as killers who murder with a smile and an upper-class politeness. Or a military theme where an abandoned base or an isolated house has a sinister side to it. It was a fine balance between humour, the surreal and drama. And when the writer and director pull it off, the result is something very special.

That's precisely what put me off on the Canadian episodes of TNA. Too many people wandering around, too many distractions. The Avengers pattern, which was maintained throughout most of the series, had very few people involved other than the main characters - no random characters, no passers-by. That defined the surreal feeling that was so Avengerish.