1.11 - Sleeper

[Lhbizness]

I'm beginning to think that much of TNA improves on multiple viewings. Sleeper was one that I wasn't too fond of initially and now enjoy a great deal. It overcomes a slight issue with pacing by some very good set pieces (such as Purdey's mannequin scene and subsequent fight), and a serviceable plot. I particularly like the opportunity for Steed and Gambit to bond, even if it is a touch short-lived.

There's a bit too much running, jumping, standing still, and one too many short scenes concerning what the baddies are up to - we already know, and we do not need multiple sequences of blowing up banks. Could have been improved with a bit more mystery for the viewer, who is once more privy to just about everything, even if the heroes aren't (another persistent issue in TNA). However, the characters are so charming here that it's a minor problem.

[Frankymole]

Yes, it feels a bit like there's a layer missing. The baddies who are blowing up the bank consist of one or two masterminds and a ton of hired heavies (ill-disciplined, some of them, though their drunken trigger-happy revelry is rather charmingly naïve with just a few broken bottles of stolen drinks to show their villainy). We also get some uniformed policemen, breaking the Avengers 'reality intrusion' rules.

If the two geniuses in charge of the heavies had actually used them as unwitting help with another theft/sabotage, something more important than money, and had duped them regarding the nature of the real theft or sabotage (and the cleverer heavies worked it out) we might've got more going on. Or maybe I've just been spoiled by "The Morning After".

As it is, "Sleeper" looks beautiful and has some engaging set pieces, but the pacing and plot just stalls at regular intervals. If it had been a Professionals episode it would've been a standout, but as an Avengers story it's not deep or weird enough. I still enjoy it though, thanks only to the three regulars whose chemistry saves it.

[Frankymole]

Purdey's p.j.'s very Eastern! Kung Fu influence here maybe

Indeed. I always see her in silk, which is very oriental in itself.

[Frankymole]

Freewheelers had more recognisable London landmarks (The Mall and Trafalgar Square) but that was easier to achieve a decade earlier.

... especially with a maverick producer / director who, despite failing to get the necessary clearances, pressed ahead with a dawn shoot before anyone could stop him!

Paddy Russell did the same for the deserted London shots in her Dr Who story in 1973. Naughty! I think maybe the Tom Baker story in Paris had similar guerrilla filming - there it was crowded streets, done with a long lens. The French authorities probably have a more laissez-faire attitude anyway (a better sense of perspective!).