5.11 - Epic

[Dfrise]

I thought it was excellent. They wove together an episode with scenes that were funny, threatening, dream-like and quirky. All this, and a damsel in distress, and Z.Z. Schnerk.

[dissolute]

Oh my goodness, I just watched this again - first time on Bluray - and it was an absolute joy. It's one of my favourite episodes anyway so how could I not watch it again?

The plot is absurd but the bluray makes it more sensible. For instance, it's easier to see that Emma Peel has been written on the script in thick marker while the rest is printed.
I love the silent movie piano music that Schnerk plays as the damsel in distress approaches the circular saw (and the "Meanwhile back at the ranch" caption card presaging a return to Steed at Emma's flat).
The layers of reference and homage in this episode. The deliberate breaking of all four walls, as it were, letting us in back stage is what really does it for me.
It seems like a holiday script for Macnee but he plays a larger part in this than in The Joker or The House that Jack Built. Great performances all round but Wyngarde and Warren are superb, as always.

[Dfrise]

I thought it was excellent. They wove together an episode with scenes that were funny, threatening, dream-like and quirky. All this, and a damsel in distress, and Z.Z. Schnerk.

Correction: I should have said above, "a most exquisite damsel in distress."

[anti-clockwise]

Diana Rigg reactions were perfect in Epic. She appeared bored by the 3 diabolical maniacs until she was about to be sawed in half--and even then had quite the sense of humour!

[Rhonda]

Epic is growing on me! I think because i like James Hill's direction in all his Avengers/TNA episodes. It just seemed (and still is) untypical on the first viewing.

[Spaceship Dispatcher]

I’m very much in the ‘love it’ camp where Epic is concerned, one of my favourite Diana Rigg episodes. There’s something about so-called metafiction, fiction that has an awareness of its own fictionality and is associated with self-referencing wit and collapses of the fourth wall, which I usually find compelling because of the fascinating and ingenious varieties in its execution and expression. Here the actors are playing actors, the sets actually are sets, there’s a cameraman filming a show about Emma Peel in which a cameraman is filming a show about Emma Peel, and we have moments like the MGM Lion spoof in which Diana/Emma (draw the line wherever you feel appropriate) acts direct to the audience through a special effect that Diana would know about but Emma couldn’t. It’s all so clever and I never tire of rewatching it! Peter Wyngarde and Kenneth J Warren are gloriously over the top, but because they are playing movie/show business types who are supposed to be over the top in real life we have another aspect of self-reference/parody. Something that only really occurred to me on watching the episode this week for the purpose of commenting here is that the production obviously did not hire another company’s studio as a location, this is actually the studio that the episode would have been filmed in anyway; so there’s an element of ‘behind the scenes’ bonus footage in the camera pulling back to the wider angles.

[cyberrich]

Epic is a standout episode for so many reasons. There is certainly no other episode like it in The Avengers catalogue. While it certainly belongs in the black comedy genre, there are elements of unsettling horror that is almost reminiscent of classic European cinematography. The funeral of Mrs Peel segment is an absolute delight. The slow motion adds very surreal touches to the already eerie graveyard scene. So many episodes have a damsel in distress slant, but Epic takes this to extremes even by Avengers standards. The circular saw finale is very memorable and is an affectionate nod to Hammer Horror. Epic is certainly not subtle, but it is great inventive fun. 10/10. Rich.

[Mona]

This episode is a real work-out for my fast forward button. Episodes without Steed are episodes I have no interest in. Emma Peel absolutely cannot hold my interest on her own.

Once Steed shows up at the end, I'll rewind those minutes 100 times. The fight scene is wonderful, and then when Emma bops him with the real chair--Macnee's knees giving out, so funny! Then, of course, the two of them acting out the scene with the ending intention to go home and have sex--can't end the episode in any better way!

[unclefester]

First off I enjoy this show very much!

Now in no particular order when Steed rings the door bell at Mrs. Peel's flat he uses his gloved middle finger. I've noticed in some similar door bell scenes that Steed has always used his middle finger (unless he uses his umbrella). Is there anything at all to this middle finger usage? Every time I see it I keep hearing the line in my head..."I must have a bigger set". Just strikes me as something a bit off colour.

Staying with the door scene Steed rings the bell & then reaches up to the door jam. Am I right in saying he is looking for a key that only he knows is kept there? I can't think of any other reason to do what he does.

And Fitzroy Lane. I'm sure it was "renamed" for the show but I'm wondering if anyone has ever been to that filming location? Does that roadway still exist today? Is the precise location even known?

[dissolute]

I've never known a reason for the middle finger, except that the middle is longer than the pointer. I did read somewhere that people used to use the middle finger more than the pointer. Nowadays we're moving towards the mobile phone generation using their thumbs for everything.

Steed is reaching for the latch release switch that is hidden above her door, they use the same device in "Who's Who???"

Yes, Fitzroy Lane is a known location - in fact, it's two locations!
http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/q.htm#q5
http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/n.htm#n35