Quite Quite Fantastic! The Avengers for Modern Viewers

[Allard]

Well done on the book. I remember the QQF website well, it was online when I became an Avengers fan, good times.

[QuiteQuiteFantastic]

Hi Big Bear!
In my opinion, nothing in the fourth season is without merit. It's my favorite season -- not an uncommon opinion, I know. Anyway, your wish is my command. I like this review, though it's somewhat shorter. And I gave the episode a C, which is to say rather middle-of-the-road. I do like it though!

4.16.18 THE THIRTEENTH HOLE
Steed finds a bogey — Emma gets a birdie
Written by Tony Williamson
Directed by Roy Baker

GUEST CAST
Patrick Allen (Reed), Hugh Manning (Colonel Watson), Peter Jones (Dr. Adams), Victor Maddern (Jackson), Francis Matthews (Collins), Donald Hewlett (Waversham), Norman Wynne (Professor Minley), Richard Marner (Man on T.V. screen)

SYNOPSIS
After an agent is killed on the thirteenth hole of the Craigleigh golf course, Steed and Emma join the club to investigate. Eventually, Collins, the club’s acting secretary and club professional, is killed by a golf ball fired by the villains. Steed and Emma soon discover that Reed is always insistent on playing Dr. Adams, and he’s willing to knock Steed out of the tournament to do it…

REVIEW
It’s tee time instead of tea time for The Avengers, and Patrick Allen doesn’t like golfers who play through. Instead, he kills anyone snooping around the thirteenth hole with a .303 Jungle Carbine stuffed into his caddy instead of a 4-iron. The gun even has its own head cover with a label. Such cheek! Thus, the pre-title sets up the story as it does in all good episodes of the series. Golf enthusiasts trade for spy secrets on the links.
“The Thirteenth Hole” is somewhat of a break for the fourth season. It gives Steed and Emma a chance to relax, play a few rounds of golf, have drinks, play a few games of pick-up sticks in the clubhouse, and put away a few diabolical masterminds on the side. And that is just how the story plays out. The stakes are not particularly high and there is a casual feel throughout.
This casualness is even betrayed in one nighttime fight scene between Emma and Collins, in which she almost becomes complacent, smirking at the ease with which she kicks him into a sand trap multiple times before he briefly gets the better of her and drags her in with him. Then, he is killed by a high-powered golf ball flying through. It leaves an imprint of its label on his head. Someone didn’t bother to call “fore!” Except it’s not a golfer with lousy aim, it’s a tank, or at least a golf cart tricked out with a golf ball bazooka on the back. Yes, an armed golf cart is roving the golf course at night killing club secretaries. Only in The Avengers.
Patrick Macnee is especially good in this episode, and we need that because even Patrick Allen isn’t stepping up in particular. Again, Steed pushes his luck as he always does. With a superhuman burst of gentility he blatantly gives away all he knows about the villains’ scheme just to get a reaction, leaving them quite stunned and not knowing what to say. He also gets a chance to turn on the eccentric act at full force, incorporating all kinds of measurement devices into his golf game. He checks the wind and measures the incline on the vertical with a plumb line. You would think that Venus had to be in Leo before he could drive. Nevertheless, it could be said however that he’s a stellar golf player—with a little help from his adorable fairy godmother, Mrs. Peel.
The golf match is played for all its silly potential, with every humorous cliché involving a sand pit or soft patch being played out by the end. Finally, when the villains get tired of all the fun and games, out comes the golf ball bazooka again, and Steed is knocked out. He recovers in the clubhouse while Emma absently flicks shillings into a bowl. Despite this brief lay about, our heroes manage to put away the vicious golf ball-firing crooks in an exciting and surprisingly serious fight scene at the end—within an underground bunker underneath the thirteenth hole. It’s serious, except for one thing—why do those scientists cringe when Steed throws a stick at the TV screen? They’re scientists and yet they don’t know that a stick can’t be thrown at them through a television screen? Having saved the Vostic 2 satellite and terrified Russian scientists on television as a finishing move, how do Steed and Mrs. Peel leave…? On a golf cart drinking champagne, of course!
“The Thirteenth Hole” is a fun episode, if slightly slow-paced and inconsequential. It manages to make Steed and Emma look incredibly talented as they easily dispatch the enemy, but frankly, there’s something all too effortless about it to make it really interesting or exciting. The production of this episode also lets it down somewhat in the form of screamingly obvious rear-screen projection or optical printing for some of the closeup shots in the golf course scenes. This seems to be an unusual lapse for Roy Baker, who planned exterior shots at Mill Hill Golf Club in North London but was for reasons unknown forced to do them in studio. On the flip side, the nighttime golf course set is quite convincing.

QUOTES
“Two…four…303.”
“Should something go wrong tomorrow and this fellow Steed should win…?” “Then, he’ll sign his own death warrant. If he wins…you’ll have to kill him.”
“Fear not, for ‘ere this day is done, you shall have a hole in one! I am your fairy godmother.”
“Guaranteed to knock a hole in one every time.”

Excerpt from "Quite Quite Fantastic! The Avengers for Modern Viewers" is Copyright © 2018 by Michael Scott Phillips

[Big Bear]

Excellent thanks for posting. I will be ordering a copy this week.
I have had a self imposed 18 month break from The Avengers I was getting a bit tired of it and have been a fan since the 1983 channel 4 screening. I just needed a break.

Tunnel of Fear and your book have got me excited again and im even hosting my own Cybernauts triple bill screening this summer!

[James C McFetridge]

I went to order the Hardback, but it only ships from North America, with a very hefty postage charge to the UK. This is unusual for Lulu - any other hardback I've bought from them has been printed in Europe, with a domestic shipping cost. Any ideas why this should be the case for this particular book?

[QuiteQuiteFantastic]

I went to order the Hardback, but it only ships from North America, with a very hefty postage charge to the UK. This is unusual for Lulu - any other hardback I've bought from them has been printed in Europe, with a domestic shipping cost. Any ideas why this should be the case for this particular book?

I'm sorry about that. I believe that 8.5 x 11 hardcovers are only printed in the US. Other hardcover sizes may print in Europe. (It's something I need to research more as the information on Lulu is a tad confusing.) I didn't know until I had published the book that this was the case. I originally chose 8.5 x 11 for artwork that didn't end up happening, and frankly I'm kind of annoyed about the lack of European printing because obviously one of my biggest markets is Europe--the UK, France, Germany, Italy being major hotspots of Avengers fans. I've been considering reformatting the book into a 6 x 9 size that could be printed in France or the UK. I'll keep you posted.

Having said all that, I personally think the hardcover is really beautiful, and it's worth it to get one. One such copy is heading over to the UK as we speak using regular snail mail, and as soon as it arrives I'll be able to report on the shipping speed and book condition.

Edit: Also, may I inquire your country of residence? That way I can figure out which book size may reach the most customers.

Michael

[James C McFetridge]

I went to order the Hardback, but it only ships from North America, with a very hefty postage charge to the UK. This is unusual for Lulu - any other hardback I've bought from them has been printed in Europe, with a domestic shipping cost. Any ideas why this should be the case for this particular book?

I'm sorry about that. I believe that 8.5 x 11 hardcovers are only printed in the US. Other hardcover sizes may print in Europe. (It's something I need to research more as the information on Lulu is a tad confusing.) I didn't know until I had published the book that this was the case. I originally chose 8.5 x 11 for artwork that didn't end up happening, and frankly I'm kind of annoyed about the lack of European printing because obviously one of my biggest markets is Europe--the UK, France, Germany, Italy being major hotspots of Avengers fans. I've been considering reformatting the book into a 6 x 9 size that could be printed in France or the UK. I'll keep you posted.

Having said all that, I personally think the hardcover is really beautiful, and it's worth it to get one. One such copy is heading over to the UK as we speak using regular snail mail, and as soon as it arrives I'll be able to report on the shipping speed and book condition.

Edit: Also, may I inquire your country of residence? That way I can figure out which book size may reach the most customers.

Michael

Thanks for the reply. Lulu hardbacks are very nice, and I always prefer them over paperbacks.

I'm the the UK, by the way. I believe that in Europe Lulu prints their hardbacks in France, but only charge domestic shipping for them to reach the UK.

[QuiteQuiteFantastic]

I went to order the Hardback, but it only ships from North America, with a very hefty postage charge to the UK. This is unusual for Lulu - any other hardback I've bought from them has been printed in Europe, with a domestic shipping cost. Any ideas why this should be the case for this particular book?

I'm sorry about that. I believe that 8.5 x 11 hardcovers are only printed in the US. Other hardcover sizes may print in Europe. (It's something I need to research more as the information on Lulu is a tad confusing.) I didn't know until I had published the book that this was the case. I originally chose 8.5 x 11 for artwork that didn't end up happening, and frankly I'm kind of annoyed about the lack of European printing because obviously one of my biggest markets is Europe--the UK, France, Germany, Italy being major hotspots of Avengers fans. I've been considering reformatting the book into a 6 x 9 size that could be printed in France or the UK. I'll keep you posted.

Having said all that, I personally think the hardcover is really beautiful, and it's worth it to get one. One such copy is heading over to the UK as we speak using regular snail mail, and as soon as it arrives I'll be able to report on the shipping speed and book condition.

Edit: Also, may I inquire your country of residence? That way I can figure out which book size may reach the most customers.

Michael

Thanks for the reply. Lulu hardbacks are very nice, and I always prefer them over paperbacks.

I'm the the UK, by the way. I believe that in Europe Lulu prints their hardbacks in France, but only charge domestic shipping for them to reach the UK.

I just got off the phone with Lulu. They informed me that the problem is that the 8.5 x 11 dust jacket hardcover is US shipping origin only but the casewrap hardcover is global (likely printing in France). Personally, I love the dust jacket version, but this is still great news for me because I can just redo the cover slightly and produce a 8.5 x 11 casewrap hardcover for my European customers without having to reformat the whole book in a different trim size. Not quite as nice as the dust jacket version but at least a little less expensive with all the shipping advantages. If you wish to wait until I can do that, I will understand. It may take a few days to prepare the new version but I will update everyone here when it is done.

Michael

[James C McFetridge]

I managed to find a free shipping code that currently works in the UK:
SHIPIT2018
This reduces the shipping cost from £8.99 to free!

And with the code FWD15, I saved another 15%. Result!

Looking forward to reading it now.

Of course, it will still be good to have a "Europe" edition, for those times when a free shipping voucher isn't available.

[QuiteQuiteFantastic]

I managed to find a free shipping code that currently works in the UK:
SHIPIT2018
This reduces the shipping cost from £8.99 to free!

And with the code FWD15, I saved another 15%. Result!

Looking forward to reading it now.

Of course, it will still be good to have a "Europe" edition, for those times when a free shipping voucher isn't available.

Cool! I'm glad you found that. I'll have to make a note of that code for future reference. Please share your thoughts when you get the book.

Michael

[mrspeel01]

Hi
I have ordered the book today, with many thanks to James for the codes. looking forward to it.

I am just curious looking at the cover, which shows Gambit on front cover and Tara on back cover. No criticism intended i assure you- just wondered if this is just a personal preference? I guess i 'm so used to the original series characters being the main focus on book covers etc that it raised an eyebrow! It was just for a second and returned to normal causing no lasting damage!! They are all Avengers after-all so it shouldn't matter. I'm just interested in these things...maybe too much time on my hands...?!