Colin Finbow

[Frankymole]

my questions to Colin went under the e-mail title 'A Surfeit of Questions'; his reply? 'A Paucity of Answers'!

Those answers do show the great humour of the man, and it's the humour and intelligence that runs through many Avengers episodes that still lift them up above the more recent fare, especially the kind that Mr Finbow rightly says leaves one cold. I'm interested in his words about the secret of the show's mainstream success - it wasn't a "cult" at the time, of course, so is it merely age that puts off modern viewers, or have the really been dumbed-down by what they're watching now? When the BBC repeated The Avengers a couple of times recently, it tended to be on its "highbrow" BBC4 channel, though even that's populist compared to what BBC2 used to be like when there truly was a higher-brow channel.

[mousemeat]

my questions to Colin went under the e-mail title 'A Surfeit of Questions'; his reply? 'A Paucity of Answers'!

Those answers do show the great humour of the man, and it's the humour and intelligence that runs through many Avengers episodes that still lift them up above the more recent fare, especially the kind that Mr Finbow rightly says leaves one cold. I'm interested in his words about the secret of the show's mainstream success - it wasn't a "cult" at the time, of course, so is it merely age that puts off modern viewers, or have the really been dumbed-down by what they're watching now? When the BBC repeated The Avengers a couple of times recently, it tended to be on its "highbrow" BBC4 channel, though even that's populist compared to what BBC2 used to be like when there truly was a higher-brow channel.

what is the difference between BBC 2 and 4 ?

[darren]

my questions to Colin went under the e-mail title 'A Surfeit of Questions'; his reply? 'A Paucity of Answers'!

Those answers do show the great humour of the man, and it's the humour and intelligence that runs through many Avengers episodes that still lift them up above the more recent fare, especially the kind that Mr Finbow rightly says leaves one cold. I'm interested in his words about the secret of the show's mainstream success - it wasn't a "cult" at the time, of course, so is it merely age that puts off modern viewers, or have the really been dumbed-down by what they're watching now? When the BBC repeated The Avengers a couple of times recently, it tended to be on its "highbrow" BBC4 channel, though even that's populist compared to what BBC2 used to be like when there truly was a higher-brow channel.

what is the difference between BBC 2 and 4 ?

BBC2 is a terrestrial channel (started in 1964) whereas BBC4 is a much newer digital channel (started 2002). BBC2 was always intended as more highbrow than the populist/mainstream BBC1. BBC4 is probably more specialist highbrow than BBC2, more new programmes than repeats and it doesn't run all day.

[anti-clockwise]

my questions to Colin went under the e-mail title 'A Surfeit of Questions'; his reply? 'A Paucity of Answers'!

Those answers do show the great humour of the man, and it's the humour and intelligence that runs through many Avengers episodes that still lift them up above the more recent fare, especially the kind that Mr Finbow rightly says leaves one cold. I'm interested in his words about the secret of the show's mainstream success - it wasn't a "cult" at the time, of course, so is it merely age that puts off modern viewers, or have the really been dumbed-down by what they're watching now? When the BBC repeated The Avengers a couple of times recently, it tended to be on its "highbrow" BBC4 channel, though even that's populist compared to what BBC2 used to be like when there truly was a higher-brow channel.

I think there is way too much choice now. it may seem like a wonderful thing to most, but i am afraid the good stuff can easily get lost amongst the garbage. Also it does seem like the story is less important now with more cutting edge technology taking over even on screen. I find this rather a bore. I always love Steed for his wit and low tech but quite effective tactics to deal with his enemies, like a flying champagne bottle cork to the eye. Especially in the US, many want to see big guns and high tech. I'll take Steed and his charm and wit any day over the latest and greatest.

[Lhbizness]

my questions to Colin went under the e-mail title 'A Surfeit of Questions'; his reply? 'A Paucity of Answers'!

Those answers do show the great humour of the man, and it's the humour and intelligence that runs through many Avengers episodes that still lift them up above the more recent fare, especially the kind that Mr Finbow rightly says leaves one cold. I'm interested in his words about the secret of the show's mainstream success - it wasn't a "cult" at the time, of course, so is it merely age that puts off modern viewers, or have the really been dumbed-down by what they're watching now? When the BBC repeated The Avengers a couple of times recently, it tended to be on its "highbrow" BBC4 channel, though even that's populist compared to what BBC2 used to be like when there truly was a higher-brow channel.

I think there is way too much choice now. it may seem like a wonderful thing to most, but i am afraid the good stuff can easily get lost amongst the garbage. Also it does seem like the story is less important now with more cutting edge technology taking over even on screen. I find this rather a bore. I always love Steed for his wit and low tech but quite effective tactics to deal with his enemies, like a flying champagne bottle cork to the eye. Especially in the US, many want to see big guns and high tech. I'll take Steed and his charm and wit any day over the latest and greatest.

I think it's age and a sense of 'datedness' more so than anything. Doctor Who continues to have legs because it's been an ongoing show and now has modern iterations. The Avengers stopped in 1969 and had a brief resurgence in 1976. But visually and aurally, it's a show of the 60s. The stunts are contrived, the gadgets (where there any) are low-tech; a lot of the dialogue and characterization depends on subtlety; the plots of the masterminds are in keeping with Cold War mentality. In order to enjoy The Avengers now, you have to possess a camp sensibility and an interest in the time period, I think.

I work for several film sites and blogs, and have lots of friends and colleagues in the film community. There are many otherwise intelligent media fans who simply refuse to watch anything made prior to 1980; anything in black and white is a foreign world to them. Complaints like "it's too slow" are common. I never understand it: I was raised on screwball comedies and Marx Brothers films and 60s music, and I find those kinds of things far more diverting, charming, and deep than just about anything produced by the mainstream today. But in a media culture where you're constantly offered nothing BUT big budget explosions, it's difficult to seek out the more interesting products. We're at the nadir of media culture at the moment and it won't end until we've killed the blockbuster.

[Frankymole]

I think The Avengers still appeals because of lightness of touch. It deals with death and mayhem in a humorous way, whereas modern TV's equivalent offerings are gray-ded, i.e. graded to have all colour removed from the image, and are grisly morbid squalid shows preoccupied with violence and foul abuses. A bit like the "gritty drama" of the 70s which led to "The Professionals" and "the Sweeney" where the stylised fights of 60s shows were replaced with a thug leaping out of a Ford transit and crushing someone's skull with a crowbar - now we have CSI/NCIS, Waking The Dead etc showing the gruesome results in fetishistic detail. The pendulum will swing again when people are sickened enough by the effluent that passes for modern "drama".

[Frankymole]

BBC2 is a terrestrial channel (started in 1964) whereas BBC4 is a much newer digital channel (started 2002). BBC2 was always intended as more highbrow than the populist/mainstream BBC1. BBC4 is probably more specialist highbrow than BBC2, more new programmes than repeats and it doesn't run all day.

It is now, but in the 60s and 70s - even the 80s - BBC2 was higher-brow than BBC4 is now. It's all to do with the changing TV landscape. Even Channel 4 was pretty specialist when it started - not least showing great old shows like The Avengers!

[Lhbizness]

I think The Avengers still appeals because of lightness of touch. It deals with death and mayhem in a humorous way, whereas modern TV's equivalent offerings are gray-ded, i.e. graded to have all colour removed from the image, and are grisly morbid squalid shows preoccupied with violence and foul abuses. A bit like the "gritty drama" of the 70s which led to "The Professionals" and "the Sweeney" where the stylised fights of 60s shows were replaced with a thug leaping out of a Ford transit and crushing someone's skull with a crowbar - now we have CSI/NCIS, Waking The Dead etc showing the gruesome results in fetishistic detail. The pendulum will swing again when people are sickened enough by the effluent that passes for modern "drama".

Absolutely - one of the things I do not like about the use of violence or grim subjects on TV is not the violence itself, but the consistent delving into the deepest, darkest recesses of human cruelty with very little lightness or abatement (Hannibal, with its Argento-esque Grand Guignol style, is a perfect example). Even the heroes are irreparably damaged. Not that there isn't a place for that, but when it's the rule of the television and filmic landscape, it gets very tiring.

[anti-clockwise]

I think The Avengers still appeals because of lightness of touch. It deals with death and mayhem in a humorous way, whereas modern TV's equivalent offerings are gray-ded, i.e. graded to have all colour removed from the image, and are grisly morbid squalid shows preoccupied with violence and foul abuses. A bit like the "gritty drama" of the 70s which led to "The Professionals" and "the Sweeney" where the stylised fights of 60s shows were replaced with a thug leaping out of a Ford transit and crushing someone's skull with a crowbar - now we have CSI/NCIS, Waking The Dead etc showing the gruesome results in fetishistic detail. The pendulum will swing again when people are sickened enough by the effluent that passes for modern "drama".

I just hope it is sooner than later. We need humour back. There was something so ever subtle about TA, that made it much more appealing than NCIS will ever be.

[Rodders]

The pupils in my school - aged 11-13 - absolutely adore The Avengers and loved creating teasers when we did these in class recently. They adore the Peel colour season and the most intelligent ones state a preference for the monochrome season because "it's more complex and quirky" as one boy Charles told me. The market is still there!