worst episode

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Sun May 30, 2021 5:07 pm

"Have Guns - Will Haggle" was always crippled by the fact it had to be remounted and changed a lot from the abortive "Invitation to a Killing". It's difficult for a director to take over another's almost-finished episode and make it his own.

Ian Wegg · Post by **Ian Wegg** » Sun May 30, 2021 8:37 pm

Purbright wrote:Surely it's part of an official record somewhere that "Homicide and Old Lace" is unchallenged as the worst Avengers episodes.

A while ago I did an analysis of the ratings given in the forum review section for series 4,5 and 6, which you can read here: http://avengersfanforum.s2.bizhat.com/v ... orum#62557

"Homicide..." was indeed at the bottom with an average score of just 4.29.

Not completely unchallenged though, three people scored it 8 making it 4th highest for variance; only "Fog", "...Brimstone" and "Legacy of Death" divided opinion more.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Sun May 30, 2021 11:10 pm

Ian Wegg wrote: Not completely unchallenged though, three people scored it 8 making it 4th highest for variance; only "Fog", "...Brimstone" and "Legacy of Death" divided opinion more.

I can see that. I personally love "Legacy of Death" for my own individual reasons but the faults of the colour seasons are more apparent in it, it's almost a perfect storm of the much-derided repetitive deaths formula (though at least each one has a different method and often a different assassin), the movie-reference tropes (albeit unashamedly open homages here), the now unacceptable yellowface performers, etc... not to mention the fact that some people will just hate a Tara episode whatever it's like. Worst of all it had a botched DVD release, and uniquely among the colour episodes a botched revised release instead of a fixed one (substituting squeaky sound for fluctuating or "wowing" brightness). I love the actors in it though, and its almost unique twilight feel and settings ("Stay Tuned" has similar).

"Fog" is even more claustrophic and a creature of the night, but as a fan of the Sherlock Holmes version of Victorian London it's perfection for me. I wouldn't want all Avengers episodes to be like it, heck just one of them is probably enough, though visually this could almost fit into the film-noirish feel of the videotaped era, especially watched as originally broadcast in the UK in black-and-white.

"A Touch of Brimstone" leaves me cold and doesn't feel like The Avengers to me, its gleeful sadism is too unleavened by any true wit. Which is a shame as I absolutely love Peter Wyngarde in everything else he's done on TV and film (that survives). Even "Epic" which must surely be divisive - how did that fare?

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Mon May 31, 2021 2:50 pm

not a big fan of honey for the prince...and invasion of the earthmen

Brugeoise · Post by **Brugeoise** » Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:13 pm

My selection for worst episode:

Season 2: The Decapod
Season 3: The Grandeur that Was Rome
Season 4: The Thirteenth Hole (Emma's line "Something to do with...golf?" is a pretty good indicator that even she expects the episode to be formulaic)
Season 5: The Living Dead
Season 6: Legacy of Death

Post by **dissolute** » Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:09 am

Series 2's worst will always be Immortal Clay for me, it's a complete stinker
Series 3 definitely The Grandeur that was Rome
Series 4? I've never got into Dial a Deadly Number
Series 5, for me it's The See-Through Man which is greatly irritating on many levels
Series 6 Homicide and Old Lace by a mile although Invasion of the Earthmen is hobbling into sight over the nearest hill
New Avengers - it would have to be Trap (edited, I put the wrong one in before)

Series 1 is harder as so many are missing but I suspect Please Don't Feed the Animals would have been the worst.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:14 pm

dissolute wrote: Series 1 is harder as so many are missing but I suspect Please Don't Feed the Animals would have been the worst.

Personally I'd go for the silly Christmas one where it's all about a cargo of rotten bananas and Steed and Keel hide in a wardrobe. "A Change of Bait".

Brugeoise · Post by **Brugeoise** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 2:37 am

I know I’m a minority in this one, but I always had something of a soft spot for Homicide and Old Lace. It is certainly a train wreck, but being a weird mixture of a botched episode with Mother’s tale thinly disguising Clemens & Fennell’s views on Bryce’s efforts always seems to do the trick with me. I can’t help watching it with indulgence.

Post by **dissolute** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:13 am

Frankymole wrote:
dissolute wrote: Series 1 is harder as so many are missing but I suspect Please Don't Feed the Animals would have been the worst.
Personally I'd go for the silly Christmas one where it's all about a cargo of rotten bananas and Steed and Keel hide in a wardrobe. "A Change of Bait".

Hmmm, could be , although I recall enjoy reading that script and ...Animals just seemed like hogwash. Diamond Cut Diamond sounds ho hum as well...

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 11:25 am

dissolute wrote: Diamond Cut Diamond sounds ho hum as well...

Yes, virtually no Keel in that one, which is a pity because Ian Hendry could liven up the dullest scenes with his wryly humorous delivery. Still, I understand that it was necessary to feature one or the other of the two Avengers more heavily in the earliest days because of the way recording and preparation worked. It just sounds like a rather tedious mission for Steed. At least in the next airport-heavy episode (planned for the later part of series 1, eventually made for series 2) they had air-crashes, wreckers and cross-dressing nuns!