The Avengers International Fan Forum

It is a mystery to me why - having written this wonderfully quirky, off-beat episode A Surfeit of H20, he was never asked back. Also, my internet searches have offered up almost no information about him. A mystery man?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember reading a few years back that Colin Finbow was a schoolteacher who submitted Surfeit of H2O. Not being a professional writer though, this seems to be the only script of his to have been filmed. A great script, and a great plot. The Avengers movie borrowed a lot from this episode, though I know which of the two I prefer. Rich.

I agree A Surfeit of H20 has a splendid story-line and is one of my favourite Avengers episodes -
and the script contains one of the most memorable Avengers devices - the giant wine-press,
and the classic Mrs Peel line ... 'You diabolical mastermind ...'
James

Colin Finbow was born in 1941 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. He is a director and writer, known for Dark Enemy (1984), Daemon (1985) and Willie's War (1994).

I copied and pasted this from the IMDb site. Only 24 when he wrote Surfeit, and I am right that he was a schoolteacaher at the time, but as he went on to be a professional writer and director it's safe to assume he changed his profession! Rich.

So, having written a first rate episode - and one which I would have thought Brian Clemens would have liked - why did he never get another crack at the series? I think it's one of the best Season 4 offerings, which says a lot.

I was in touch with Colin about 8 years ago relating to one of the films he'd made with the Children's Film Unit (which he was heavily involved with as I recall). Lovely man and extremely helpful.

All the best

Andrew

Andrew Pixley wrote:I was in touch with Colin about 8 years ago relating to one of the films he'd made with the Children's Film Unit (which he was heavily involved with as I recall). Lovely man and extremely helpful.

All the best

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew. If you ever speak to him again, please ask him why his wonderful Avengers episode was a one-off.

Andrew Pixley wrote:I was in touch with Colin about 8 years ago relating to one of the films he'd made with the Children's Film Unit (which he was heavily involved with as I recall). Lovely man and extremely helpful.

All the best

Andrew

I knew I hadn't imagined that. Thanks for the reminder, Andrew.

I'm sure I saw a TV feature on the CFU quite a few years back now and he appeared/was referenced and I recognised the name.

It's ironic that an episode about rain took place when it was clearly very sunny. If they'd made one about the sun you can guarantee it would have rained solidly during filming.

Despite some pacing issues, it's got lots of nice qualities. I do love Mrs. Peel's visit to Eli Barker with the pans everywhere (his upstairs must be incredibly wet!!). And the wonderful, sadly gone, Sue Lloyd shows great chemistry with Macnee.

mrs_emma_peel wrote:I agree A Surfeit of H20 has a splendid story-line and is one of my favourite Avengers episodes -
and the script contains one of the most memorable Avengers devices - the giant wine-press,
and the classic Mrs Peel line ... 'You diabolical mastermind ...'
James

one of the best peel lines...ever...

Jaz recently put me on to the fact that Colin lives in Suffolk, where I do and I managed to track him down to the Suffolk coast. I spoke to him this evening and he has fond memories of working on the show. He solved the mystery of why he only wrote one episode: his commitments on the Children's Film Unit meant that he had no more time to spare, although he was delighted to work on the Rigg/Macnee era. I have e-mailed him some questions and I will post his responses when I receive them.