5.07 - The Living Dead

[cyberrich]

Terrific photos I especially like the first one. Those early scenes in the pub were very atmospheric.

[frank]

I've had mixed feelings about this episode. The premise, a sci-fi variant on Town of No Return, is fine but I found the script to be a little lazy and full of logic gaps.

Too many moments where things happen for the sake of progressing the story but in a logical fashion

1) Why on earth are Steed and Mrs Peel investigating a ghost sighting to begin with?

2) Once Mrs Peel is captured, it is obvious Mandy is a mole, yet Steed doesn't suspect her

3) It makes no sense to take Mrs Peel only to keep her locked up yet Steed is going to be immediately put in front of a firing squad

4) Merely capturing Emma in order for the audience to see the city and explain how it came about is lazy plotting

5) Since they were going to shoot him anyway, why didn't Mandy just shoot Steed once he discovered the underground city? She already knew everything he suspected. again just an excuse to have the big montage of emma coming to his rescue

6) the final battle with Mandy was not well edited. Way too many close ups. It doesn't look like Mandy is putting up much of a fight. I once saw a series of full frame PR shots of the fight in a magazine and it was much better choreographed and more tense then how it came across on screen in the final cut

[mrs_emma_peel]

Thanks Rich
I agree about the Mandy-Emma fight - it should have been edited much better - Diana's brilliant tip-toe pirouette and left arm strike can only really be fully appreciated in very slow motion or still capture. Would have liked more full-length shots.

[cyberrich]

The first half of the episode is classic Avengers. Those scenes involving the fog enshrouded inn are very atmospheric and look great on screen. The FOG and SMOG acronyms are great fun and very typical of The Avengers during this period. The rambling cemetery clearly looks like an interior set, but is still an interesting one that adds atmosphere to this episode. In contrast the stark underground set is less pleasing and doesn't work that well. On repeated viewings the limitations of this set becomes ever more apparent. More like a gym than a city I have to say, and one of the weakest sets in The Avengers history. The idea of an underground city probably sounded great on paper, but in reality the limited budget allocated to each episode was always going to mean this set would miss the mark.
This is a fun episode nonetheless. Not in the top 10 episodes from this season, but still highly enjoyable. Julian Glover is the strongest of the supporting cast here, and gives the episode a much needed shot of credibility. 9/10.

[johnnybear]

Julian Glover, the sneering villain who is apparently a very nice guy in real life from what I've read made four appearances in The Avengers! Two with Emma and two with Tara but why didn't he return for The New Avengers? He was very much around at that time also playing Jarak in Space 1999s Alpha Child and wearing weird silver pants while Cyd Hayman was fully dressed!!!! Should have been the other way around!!!
JB

[Frankymole]

Julian is a very nice guy in real life. Gave a lot of his time free of charge to Dr Who fans for interviews about his 1960s episodes.

Amusingly, his son played William Russell, the actor, in a 2013 docudrama - Julian Glover had been a fan of Russell's acting while at school, and his school had received a visit from Russell to give a talk about acting. Which inspired him. They then acted together in said 1960s Dr Who, as King Richard and his knight.

[Allard]

A bit mixed episode. Not a real interesting plot nor visually very pleasing. Apart from the big underground set, it could very well have been an earlier episode. Dark, few and simple sets.

Does have a fair share of eccentrics, witty lines and charming moments.
In this it's very series five, but feels a bit odd on out for season.

[mousemeat]

I gave 7

initially, EONS ago, I gave it a 3...re watching it recently, I'll upgrade it to a ' 7 '....