6.16 - Legacy of Death

[peabody]

Discuss, review and rate Legacy of Death.

Written by Terry Nation
Directed by Don Chaffey

[Lhbizness]

I'm surprised that I'm going to be the first to post a comment on this one, but alrighty.

The Good:The plot is excellent fun, with all the bodies piling up. A bevy of references to film noir and those crazy Oriental-themed 1930/40s detective stories abound, with the team of Stratford Johns and Ronald Lacey doing excellent impressions of Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. I was equally pleased and surprised to see Ferdy Mayne pop up, albeit for far too short a time. The whole plot is delightfully bizarre and ridiculous. Steed's somewhat serious and slightly befuddled attitude as various men step into his apartment just be killed keeps everything nicely grounded. The rather kinky aspects of "Chinese water/tickle torture" aren't overdone.

The Bad: It never adds up to more than a sum of its parts. There's no central mystery - at least, not for the viewer. The pastiche element, while fun, means that the climax feels a tad forced and just a little perfunctory. There is little tension to keep things moving along, as the whole episode depends more on a meta-awareness of the parody than on actually keeping the stakes high. Macnee seems to be lacking energy, or at least his performance has little humor, and sorry, but Thorson is not a good enough comedian to carry it by herself - nor is she even given much opportunity to do so. The comedy rests solely on the shoulders of the secondary characters, who do pretty well but cannot keep one interested for an entire episode of The Avengers.

On the whole, I liked Legacy of Death just for the cinephile inside of me, and the really enjoyable secondary performances.

[darren]

Steed playing it so straight makes for the funniest moment of the episode for me.

When Sidney Street is wallowing in his fake story about his Aunt and he reaches the bit when the small boy his hair blowing in the wind has the dagger in his hand and..

Steed: He stabs her.

LOL

[Rhonda]

5 from me. Like Stratford-Johns character. 'The line that never was' : "Why Steed give old Gorky plastic cup?"

[Brigadier Q]

I feel this episode, with it's sense of fun and magnificent cast, should have been extra special. But in the end was rather ho-hum. Actually dropping off at one point, having to rewind and watch again.

Lovely set design, nice premise, shame they had to get out the chloroform on poor Tara again!

My favourite scene was when steed went to the solicitors and paraded past the desks of the deceased partners, garlanded with flower memorials. Plus the mountains of rolled up case histories.

6 out of 10

[anti-clockwise]

I feel this episode, with it's sense of fun and magnificent cast, should have been extra special. But in the end was rather ho-hum. Actually dropping off at one point, having to rewind and watch again.

Lovely set design, nice premise, shame they had to get out the chloroform on poor Tara again!

My favourite scene was when steed went to the solicitors and paraded past the desks of the deceased partners, garlanded with flower memorials. Plus the mountains of rolled up case histories.

6 out of 10

Yes Dickens, Dickens, Dickens, Dickens, and Dickens. I rather enjoyed this one as well. It is also a pun on Victorian law in England full of useless ceremonies. It's a gem. Then the cherry picker arrives and shoots him dead ending. Sort of the last of the Victorian age attorney.

[Frankymole]

I feel this episode, with it's sense of fun and magnificent cast, should have been extra special. But in the end was rather ho-hum. Actually dropping off at one point, having to rewind and watch again.

Lovely set design, nice premise, shame they had to get out the chloroform on poor Tara again!

Bit of a hangover from Emma Peel always being tied up.

[dissolute]

I *really* like this episode. Ronald Lacey simpering, foreshadowing future roles, Ferdy Mayne being crazily German, Stratford Johns being melodramatic and Shakespearean. The constant post-modern nods to the film noir genre and the rollicking pace make for a fun episode even if John Tau is *ahem* oddly cast.

[Brugeoise]

I think this is an overall enjoyable episode, but i have always found it to be rather uneven. It has a great cast and wonderful performances, for sure, but the pace is highly uneven for my taste.

Nevertheless, what bothers me the most is that it has a certain plastic, artificial atmosphere. Henley Farrer’s Chinese-style house and butler are excessively stereotypical and that plastic coffin he gets into is extremely un-Avengers for my taste.

Also, I find Tara’s mid-season wardrobe to be just awful, I’m sorry to say. Unfortunately she dresses like that in several episodes and in the opening titles’ “Suits of Armour” version, but I just can’t get used to it. Her later episodes’ outfits, which are more reminiscent of Emma Peel’s season 5 costumes with the addition of some silk Chinese shirts (as the one she wears in Requiem, for example), are my favourite.

Although this is not one of my favourite episodes, it’s still very good and a great fun to watch.

[Ian Wegg]

Great fun. A bit out of the ordinary but I enjoyed it a lot. I hadn't remembered the plot but several scenes were familiar; the "dickens of a lot of Dickens" quote and Steed's response to Tara's question "Where are we going...?" are two that have particularly stayed with me from long ago viewings.

8/10