Season Six: an apology

[mousemeat]

I have both a confession and an apology to make. I hadn’t watched an episode of Season Six in twenty years, ever since watching two terrible episodes on Channel 4: Wish You Were Here and Homicide and Old Lace. The latter, in particular, was so bad it put me off watching any others. Well, twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge so I recently bought the Canal Plus box set of the Tara King era. What a pleasant surprise awaited me. I’m still not entirely convinced by Tara King’s character which I feel lacks the ‘edge’ of both Mrs Gale and Mrs Peel. Also, Linda Thorson is not as talented as either Blackman or Rigg, IMHO. But I was wrong to dismiss her, and the season itself. I have watched about half of the episodes so far and love many of the locations, the storylines and both the atmosphere and charm. Favourites so far include some genuine ‘four bowlers’: All Done with Mirrors, Killer, Get-A-Way, and Stay Tuned. I quite enjoy the character of Mother and genuinely feel that this season takes the show in interesting, new directions. It was not Thorson’s fault that they made her character less Amazonian than her predecessors nor that many of her outfits look out of place on her more rounded figure. I think she actually looks better in her tom-boy type outfits, such as the cap and trousers in All Done with Mirrors. I have, so far, probably enjoyed it as much as Season Five, something I never imagined myself saying. What are other forum members’ highlights of the sixth season?

Some good insights..

I think at least for me, the main problem for the Tara Era, wasn't so much her character, or Linda's acting, but the state of the scripts..Some were good, others were clearly lacking..I believe the show was ending the end of it's run, mostly on a creative level..in my opinion.

[darren]

I think that considering how rushed they were with the latter episodes, they did a pretty good job getting them done in time. I don't think any series was a pushed for time than this one, they were getting so close to the American transmission dates that about 4 episodes were being made at the same time. Clemens was reusing quite a few ideas from Adam Adamant Lives! (Bizarre, Requiem, Pandora).

[frank]

Rodney how nice that you decided to give the King episodes another chance. I agree Homicide and Old Lace would frighten off any one. Basically that was a clip show. It happens with some US shows when they are trying to save time and money.

Well I love ....Two Fellers. It's 1 of the few episodes where they try to have some intellectual banter bewteen Steed and Tara (the ping pong scene) and witty interplay between the 2 of them. There are other vague attempts in the early episodes such as My Wildest Dream.

I can understand your reaction to Legacy of Death. It is more of an outright parody unlike Nonn-Doomsday which is more of an ode (to High Noon). I recall that was a result of Terry Nation trying to fit in more to Clemens vision of the series in terms of humor. I personally think the pacing is off but it was around then we started seeing a better written Tara

I think part of the postive aspects and look of the King show certainly can be attributed to Robert Fuest. The man had his own style but it fit with the Avengers and he gave the show a fresh look.

I think the most telling thing is if you watch the Tara episodes in production order generally they made her a lot sharper and intelligent by the last half of the series. Part of that I attribute to Thorson. And Thorson really knew how to throw a punch

Personally though I dont feel Clemens and company had any less time than a US company to produce those episodes. True there were 33 episodes but 7 of them had been produced and aired by the spring of 1968 in the US right on the heels of the the last 9 Peel episodes. So the US got to see those before the british.

The remaining 26 epsiodes didn't have to start til the fall. And at that time Star Trek was cranking out 26 episodes a year.

I always felt King DVD epsiodes should have been released in order of the US dates rather than the british ones since they adher much closer to the production schedule and then people could have the shooting gallery credits. Ironically there are like 3 or 4 different versions of the shooting gallery end credits. oh well must be content with my bootleg copies

[Rodney]

Have just watched Take Over which was a great shock to me. I don't think Terry Nation was the greatest Avengers writer but there we have a really serious episode with minimal music and humour. It's almost Hitchcock meets Pinter and I thought that the baddy was one of the best ever. Real drama and compulsive viewing. Like Look, you wouldn't want every episode to be like this one but it just shows watch a mixture Season 6 was.

[cyberrich]

Glad to see you're still enjoying season 6 Rodney. Have you seen Pandora yet. This feels even more like a Hitchcock movie than Take over.
Fog also has a tremendous atmosphere. Wonderful set and costumes together with swirling fog to create an almost authentic Victorian feel. The Rotters is good fun too and underestimated IMHO.

[Timeless A-Peel]

Have just watched Take Over which was a great shock to me. I don't think Terry Nation was the greatest Avengers writer but there we have a really serious episode with minimal music and humour. It's almost Hitchcock meets Pinter and I thought that the baddy was one of the best ever. Real drama and compulsive viewing. Like Look, you wouldn't want every episode to be like this one but it just shows watch a mixture Season 6 was.

Take-Over makes me squirm, but in a good way. It's incredibly stark, and I agree that if every episode were like this, I wouldn't watch. But as a one-shot it's incredibly effective--taught, intense, and incredibly disturbing. I don't know if the Avengers ever got quite as grim as this in any other episode, but this one is consistently one of my top choices for the Taras.

[Frankymole]

The remaining 26 epsiodes didn't have to start til the fall. And at that time Star Trek was cranking out 26 episodes a year.

However Star Trek had an ensemble cast and a lot of the scenes were done on a standing set that was the same from week to week. Producing 26 episodes with different casts (aside from 2 or 3 regulars) and different locations and sets is a lot more time-consuming.

[frank]

They still had to write scripts for those 26 epsiodes and their technical department still had to deal with special effects.

But on that note Mission Impossible, Man from Uncle and Batman also had location shoots and under the same pressure. I simply meant the expectations on the Avengers were the same as those on American genre shows.

As a matter of point Batman during it's second season had 2 episodes of tv each week for over 26 weeks virtually uninterrupted.

[Rodney]

Yes, I've seen Pandora now and enjoyed it, though I preferred Take-Over of the two. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of The Morning After: almost a cross between The Hour that Never Was and The Sleeper.

[Frankymole]

They still had to write scripts for those 26 epsiodes and their technical department still had to deal with special effects.

But on that note Mission Impossible, Man from Uncle and Batman also had location shoots and under the same pressure. I simply meant the expectations on the Avengers were the same as those on American genre shows.

As a matter of point Batman during it's second season had 2 episodes of tv each week for over 26 weeks virtually uninterrupted.

A bif difference in quality, though...

Weren't those 2 episodes both half-hours? Each story was in 2 parts.