The Avengers International Fan Forum

Rodney wrote:One of my Season 5 favourites which would have suited Season 4, as you say. I love the music, the malevolent toys and it has a real sense of style. Possibly too British to appeal to anyone else. Only one writer could have created this one. I love it.

This Aussie loves it too. I couldn't agree more. It's a great episode and I think the first one I saw. It's just so eccentric and nutty without taking it too far (Epic), the kind of thing that only The Avengers could get away with.

I have a certain fondness for this one, I think because it was one of my first when I was discovering the series. If nothing else, it's fun to watch all these grown British men crawling around on all fours and playing with teddy bears (including Steed near the end, even if he is faking. I love it when he starts growling). No, this one's good fun, and I'd probably place it among my favourites for the season. (I think Nanny Roberts probably died of that injection, by the way, although they do leave it rather ambiguous. You'll notice Emma doesn't try to save her when the bullets start flying, though).

A big thumbs-up from me too - a guest cast that reads like a veritable 'Who's-who' of 70's British TV comedy, wonderfully paced and (as ever) extremely witty. What other show could get away with having key elements of the sets adorned with blatant signage (the book-laden shelves that Trevor Bannister consults being labelled with a large black-on-white sign denoting 'Records'!). Wonderful stuff.

Oh, i dont like this episode, it is too goofy and formular.
One of the boring Levene Scripts, incessant happend the same .

Polymath wrote:Plus, that unanswered plot point of what happened to Nanny Roberts after Emma finds her has always bothered me, as well.

Didn't she die just then? It looked to me like those were her last gasping words as she passed away from being overdosed on whatever drugs they were shooting her up with. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I thought happened.

With regards to the episode itself, though, I think David Smith has a great analysis. It is a little weird that the mastermind has to stop and explain everything so late in the episode (although I must say the first time I ever watched it I appreciated getting that confirmation of what I was thinking) but the other things like the gun-toting granny in a wheelchair (hilarious!) and the gun-shooting jack-in-the-box are things you just won't find anywhere else, and that's part of what makes this episode so endearing.

Love the episode, but then I love Season 5 as a whole so its not surprising. Great cast - Clive Dunn, Paul Eddington, Penelope Keith ( where is she in it though? ), and Trevor Bannister. A sitcom fan's dream! And good old Paddy Newell too. Favourite moment - Dunn's character shot by a jack-in-the-box! Only in 'The Avengers', eh?

Horatio Kane wrote:Penelope Keith ( where is she in it though?)

She was on the floor. Of the cutting room. It must have been a last minute edit, as her name is in the credits. Shame.

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:

Horatio Kane wrote:Penelope Keith ( where is she in it though?)

She was on the floor. Of the cutting room. It must have been a last minute edit, as her name is in the credits. Shame.

I reckon that she was in a scene with Steed when he visits the Nanny school just before "Nanny Roberts" starts firing at him in the grounds. The cut is rather obvious as it jumps to a scene with Yootha Joyce telling Trevor Bannister to get after him - there's no lead up to the moment at all and it jarred really badly when I first saw it.

In childhood the scene where Nanny Roberts falls into Emma's hand and the moment before that, with the hands trying to reach mrs Pell were soooo scary for me to watch.
I think it's one of the most Avengers-style episode in the Season 5, wonderful plot, great performance, love it

Darren wrote:

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:

Horatio Kane wrote:Penelope Keith ( where is she in it though?)

She was on the floor. Of the cutting room. It must have been a last minute edit, as her name is in the credits. Shame.

I reckon that she was in a scene with Steed when he visits the Nanny school just before "Nanny Roberts" starts firing at him in the grounds. The cut is rather obvious as it jumps to a scene with Yootha Joyce telling Trevor Bannister to get after him - there's no lead up to the moment at all and it jarred really badly when I first saw it.

She was in what I presume is the first take of the rotating prams scene, the promo still looks like she's about to talk to Steed, which would explain the credit.

See my trivia page for the episode:
http://www.dissolute.com.au/avweb/emmac ... rivia.html