6.19 - Killer

[Lhbizness]

Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think the Emma Peel parallel is there in the way she relates to Steed and those sudden expressions of intelligence (the way Emma would throw out a mathematical solution or an explanation of thermodynamics apparently at random). In some ways Forbes is a bit of a response to Tara, who has a different attitude. I agree that she could have been used more than once, just to give her a bit of development and flesh out the character (or, ya know, to replace Tara. Ahem.)

[Timeless A-Peel]

They no doubt wanted to put someone in who was different than Tara, because why would you write a Tara vacation episode and just slot in an identical character to fill in? But she doesn't remind me of anyone in particular, including Emma. Between her backstory and Jennifer Croxton's performance, she's just Forbes.

I sometimes wonder if they were thinking about pulling Jennifer Croxton in as a semi-regular, perhaps as a regular fill-in for when Linda went on vacation (as she did in this case) should the show have continued. They seem to have put a fair bit of work into establishing who she is for a one-off character. She feels more "official" than some of the other one-off partners they've given Steed throughout the years (like, say, Georgie Price-Jones or Merlin). And she does pop up in a lot of the comprehensive lists of Avengers leads, so she seems to have been granted that status. It wouldn't have surprised me to see her pop up again in some capacity. But I have no idea if they had any plans for her beyond keeping Linda's chair warm while she had a break.

[Frankymole]

Was Linda actually on holiday, or was it another of the "Tara lite" / "Steed lite" double-banked productions - where they were making so many episodes in such a short space of time that they had to alternate the leads?

[Timeless A-Peel]

Was Linda actually on holiday, or was it another of the "Tara lite" / "Steed lite" double-banked productions - where they were making so many episodes in such a short space of time that they had to alternate the leads?

I think I remember reading somewhere that she was actually on vacation for this one, though don't quote me on that. They did do a lot of those trade-off episodes to maximise production, so I hope they did give her a vacation at some point. The shooting schedule was pretty punishing.

[Frankymole]

I suppose she had been working solidly on the show for over 9 months at that point. It's difficult to tell because Tara (and indeed Steed) went off on holiday too (as fictional characters) often to allow the double-banking, the episode made before this was Wish You Were Here where Tara nearly had an endless holiday!

[Timeless A-Peel]

I suppose she had been working solidly on the show for over 9 months at that point. It's difficult to tell because Tara (and indeed Steed) went off on holiday too (as fictional characters) often to allow the double-banking, the episode made before this was Wish You Were Here where Tara nearly had an endless holiday!

Yeah, the holiday premise did get used a lot to explain why one of them was AWOL. Take-Over was another. But they did seem to allow them at least one holiday episode a season, to prevent burnout I suppose. After 9 months, Linda would definitely have earned a break.

[Rodders]

Croxton was brought in at the last moment, inheriting Tara dialogue. I'm sure Clemens wanted her to look as unTara as possible in a bid to get fans to question the decision to cast Linda Thorson. The tag scene makes Tara look so silly and is unnecessarily belittling.

[Timeless A-Peel]

Croxton was brought in at the last moment, inheriting Tara dialogue. I'm sure Clemens wanted her to look as unTara as possible in a bid to get fans to question the decision to cast Linda Thorson. The tag scene makes Tara look so silly and is unnecessarily belittling.

Was she? Was that because Linda was on holiday (which I thought I'd read somewhere), or was it a case of doubled up filming or illness?

[Frankymole]

Somewhat ironic then that the wooden Croxton, with her zero chemistry with Steed, manages to make Tara look even warmer and more appealing (just as the casting session films prove Thorson was by far the most suitable candidate auditioned)!

I don't quite buy the idea of Clemens sabotaging his own show though. First of all, there weren't "fans" as such just a general audience, and the succession of Bryce by Fennell & Clemens was done to rescue the 6th season, not bury it...

[Lhbizness]

Somewhat ironic then that the wooden Croxton, with her zero chemistry with Steed, manages to make Tara look even warmer and more appealing (just as the casting session films prove Thorson was by far the most suitable candidate auditioned)!

I think she has great chemistry with Steed right off the bat. Unfortunately, I also think Tara is ill-served by this episode; there was no need to make her quite so cloying as they did here, and she's often much more appealing (even someone who seriously dislikes her like myself can admit that).