Cult TV Episode Guides

[HawkMan]

24. FOG.
A group of foreign delegates visiting a fog-bound London for an international disarmament conference are lured to their deaths by a killer imitating the Victorian mass murderer, the Gaslight Ghoul. Never caught, the ghoul has inspired a number of professional men to start their own Gaslight Ghoul club, one of the club's aims is to unmask the original killer. Steed joins the club to discover the identity of the latter-day culprit.

 

 

25. WHO WAS THAT MAN I SAW YOU WITH?
Miss King is working with the army to test the invulnerability of a computer, the Field Marshal, which will detect any likely nuclear strike on the country. However she is being wooed by an enemy agent to give the impression that she is a traitor so that the army will believe security has been compromised and the computer dismantled. When Steed realizes this he sets out to clear her name, aided by a lip reader played by the delightful Aimèe Delamain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

26. HOMICIDE AND OLD LACE
Mother spends his birthday with two of his aunts, and entertains them with a tale of "The Great Great Britain Crime," wherein the Intercrime organization prepares to rob all of Britain's treasures in one fell swoop by staging a false alarm missile attack on London.
Note: It was a difficult transition from Emma to Tara, director John Bryce completed only three episodes before being fired, the episodes were judged unsatisfactory. One episode titled ' The Great Great Britain Crime' was shelved, but eventually parts of it were used in 'Homicide and Old Lace'. Steed's boss, the wheelchair bound Mother played by Patrick Newell visits two elderly aunts and he amuses them by retelling a glamorous adventure, material from the abandoned episode was used and Mother filling in the missing bits made the Homicide and Old Lace episode complete.
The other two episodes were re-edited and a few new scenes added to bring them up to scratch...sort of. They were Have Guns Will Haggle and Invasion Of The Earthmen.

27. THINGUMAJIG.
Something is killing archeologists working on a dig beneath a Norman church, and this something has a voracious appetite for energy. Had the diabolical mastermind who invented it not let two of them escape by accident, Britain would awake one morning to see thousands of the little critters running around—killing everybody.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

28. MY WILDEST DREAM.
Following a tip-off Steed and Miss King are present when a member of the Acme Precision Combine is stabbed, seemingly by a sleep-walker who has no recollection of the murder. This leads the Avengers to a clinic run by Dr. A. Jaeger who may or may not be programming deadly sleep-walkers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

29.REQUIEM.
When a key witness is nearly murdered, Steed is called upon to provide protection. But the ones who want her dead devise an incredibly elaborate and devious means to extract Steed's whereabouts from Tara—which involves bombing Steed's flat and killing Mother!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

30. TAKE-OVER
Three men and a woman called Circe politely call on the country home of Steed's friends, married couple Bill and Laura Bassett. Unfortunately their visit turns sinister as they plan to implant explosives into the throats of the couple and send them off to destroy a nearby peace conference. Happily for the Bassetts - and the conference - Steed is coming to visit for the weekend, and he knows what to do.

 

 

31. PANDORA.
In the middle of an antique shop, Tara is grabbed and knocked out with chloroform. She awakens with a splitting headache in 1915, in a house full of people who call her Pandora. A wealthy old man on his deathbed has agreed to reveal his hidden treasure to a pair of diabolical nephews who have brought the old man's dead bride back to life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

32. GET-A-WAY
Enemy agents are escaping from a high-security prison, each with a single target, and the first two happen to be Steed's best friends. Then the ringleader—the most dangerous of the bunch—calmly announces that he, too, will soon escape... and guess who his target might be?

 

 

Final episode of the classic Avengers series.
33. BIZARRE
A woman found wandering through a snowy field in her nightgown claims to have seen a dead man in his coffin—and the man wasn't dead. But Happy Meadows, where the man was buried, has a different problem: all of the coffins are empty! Roy Kinnear as the troubled custodian of Happy Meadows, with the delightful name of Bagpipes Happychap.

 

 

 

 

This final series went as far as it could in the direction of weirdness and goofyness and went a bit too far at times. Appropriately the last scene shows Steed has his own rocket!!
Steed and Tara lift off in the rocket as the series ends...bizarrely.

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

SERIES 1
In the 70s Patrick Macnee as John Steed returned in THE NEW AVENGERS, a series remembered for the emergence of Joanna Lumley as Purdey and a younger actor to do more of the action scenes, enter Gareth Hunt as Gambit. A more 70s style espionage series rather than the way out stuff of the original show.
1. THE EAGLE'S NEST.
Steed investigates the death of a colleague while Gambit witnesses the kidnapping of Professor Von Claus. Purdey scuba dives to the remote island of St. Dorca, where a monastery hides a secret and Germany's greatest treasure.

 

2. HOUSE OF CARDS
Steed, Purdey and Gambit, aided by a flock of rabid female pop fans who they've recruited, rescue defector Professor Vasil from under the nose of Ivan Perov at an airport. Perov reactivates a group of 13 sleepers known as the House of Cards in order to avenge himself on the Avengers and get Vasil back to Russia.

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

3. THE LAST OF THE CYBERNAUTS
Double agent Felix Kane is horribly disfigured while being chased by the New Avengers. A year later, Kane forces Frank Goff to breathe new life into old Cybernauts left in storage by Goff's former employer, Dr. Armstrong. Further more, Professor Mason is kidnapped and forced to apply the Cybernaut technology to rebuild Kane's body so he can exact his revenge on Steed, Purdey and Gambit personally.

 

 

4. THE MIDAS TOUCH
Professor Turner has found the ultimate carrier for a host of deadly diseases, calls him Midas and offers him to the highest bidder in exchange for gold. However, Steed's former colleague Freddie, now a vagrant is on to him and manages to pass over a few hints to the New Avengers before he succumbs to everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[unapologetic pedant]

From what I gather, New Avengers is not widely respected. Often subject to dismissive after-the-Lord-Mayor's-show juxtapositions with the original Avengers - like Wings to the Beatles, That Petrol Emotion to the Undertones, Roger Moore's Bond to Sean Connery's Bond... plenty of similar similes. Read somewhere too that Patrick Macnee was never very complimentary in retrospect.

In spite of that, I recall the series making a considerable impact at the time. Joanna Lumley especially. The Purdey bob cut rivalled the Farah Fawcett layered and feathered style as the sought-after coiffure for women and girls in the mid-late 70s. 

Funktastically grandiose theme tune. In the same swaggering groovy ballpark as The Professionals or The Streets of San Francisco.

[unapologetic pedant]

Winding back the thread, Barrie Rutter makes an appearance in episode 8 of Star Cops. To no great surprise, he plays a crabby Yorkshireman.

Got me thinking whom might he play in TRL The Movie. Starring role. Capriciously deleting posts, angrily locking threads, threatening suspensions and bans.

[HawkMan]

56 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Winding back the thread, Barrie Rutter makes an appearance in episode 8 of Star Cops. To no great surprise, he plays a crabby Yorkshireman.

Got me thinking whom might he play in TRL The Movie. Starring role. Capriciously deleting posts, angrily locking threads, threatening suspensions and bans.

Geoffrey " Catweazle " Bayldon as Woolfhart , who I reckon was bloody  bonkers. 

That Petrol Emotion great ! Have now morphed into The Everlasting Yeah.

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

5. CAT AMONGST THE PIGEONS
The New Avengers investigate the murders of several ecologists who seem to have been attacked by flocks of kamikaze birds. Before long each one of them encounters a feathered foe on their trail. Behind this is the Great Zarcardi, with his flute like instrument has complete mastery of specially trained birds.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

6. TARGET!
Ministry agents are dropping dead of natural causes either on leave, or just about to go. Discovering a pattern, all clues lead back to the training range where Purdey has just scored a 99% walk through. Unfortunately for her, it's the one remaining per cent that kills.

 

 

 

7. TO CATCH A RAT
D16 Agent Irwin Gunner was on the trail of a double agents known as White Rat in 1960 when an arranged trapeze accident caused him to suffer amnesia. 17 years later he begins to regain his memory and vows to track down the Rat, who has certainly moved up in the world by now. As Steed, Purdey and Gambit race to catch up with the long lost agent known only to them as 'Flyer', the White Rat and his accomplices do the same in order to silence him.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[unapologetic pedant]

36 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

Geoffrey " Catweazle " Bayldon as Woolfhart , who I reckon was bloody  bonkers. 

I believe that was the official diagnosis. And accordingly, they let him off! Diminished responsibility in space?

 

38 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

That Petrol Emotion great ! Have now morphed into The Everlasting Yeah.

Babble is in my top ten of the decade. Other people don't seem as keen. Who cares?

[HawkMan]

10 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

I believe that was the official diagnosis. And accordingly, they let him off! Diminished responsibility in space?

 

Babble is in my top ten of the decade. Other people don't seem as keen. Who cares?

May I recommend after Star Cops watching Dark Side Of The Sun on youtube,  then you can tell me what it's all about!!

[unapologetic pedant]

2 hours ago, HawkMan said:

May I recommend after Star Cops watching Dark Side Of The Sun on youtube,  then you can tell me what it's all about!!

I re-watched bits of the Aphrodite Inheritance after reading what you'd said about the ending.

Had it written off as seven and a half episodes of Bergerac unaccountably capped off by half an episode of Greek Mythology. I can see your point about artistic bravery. Still not convinced though.

You can probably guess what (or more to the point who) piqued my earlier interest in the series. That's one aspect of the finale for which I need no persuasion. The portrayal of Helene as a goddess.

[unapologetic pedant]

3 hours ago, HawkMan said:

 

  

 

There's something about that sky that cries out "Summer of 76".

[HawkMan]

8. THE TALE OF THE BIG WHY
Bert Brandon is released from jail and several parties, including the New Avengers, follow him to get their hands on the information he has been keeping secret, whatever it may be. The only clue is that the secret is at the tale of the big why. Steed obtains a copy of a Wild West fiction book of that title, is the clue in the book? A clever conundrum this, you can of course spell tale and why differently.

 

 

 

9. FACES
The New Avengers uncover an operation that is substituting doubles for politicians and other high ranking members of society. All the lookalikes seem to have been found amongst the drunks and derelicts of The Mission for the Distressed and Needy, so Gambit pretends to be a drunk named Walton, while Purdey infiltrates the organization on her own as 'Lollita'. Meanwhile, is Steed still himself, or is there a replacement in his stead?

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

10. GNAWS
Best remembered story , the one with the giant rat. Scientists Thornton & Carter have discovered a radioactive isotope that causes living things to grow enormous. Rather than inform the Ministry the scientists keep the secret to themselves. After some of the isotope is spilled down the drain, reports surface of a monster emerging from the sewers that is intent on killing people.

11. DIRTIER BY THE DOZEN
General Stevens has gone missing while inspecting the 19th Special Commando Division unannounced. Gambit intercepts a canister of combat footage starring the commanding officer of the 19th: Colonel 'Mad Jack' Miller. Purdey has her finds her way into the training area by way of a pub filled with soldiers.

 

 

Edited April 12 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

12. SLEEPER
The New Avengers are present at a demonstration of a new gas, S-95, that can knock out people instantaneously. Unfortunately a criminal called Brady is also present, steals 2 cannisters as well as the anti-dote and puts the heart of London to sleep the next morning. Now Steed, Gambit and Purdey are the only people left awake and able to stop the criminal gang from robbing all the banks of London. Unfortunately, Steed & Gambit have no way of contacting Purdey, and Purdey has trouble keeping her pyjama bottoms up.

13. THE THREE HANDED GAME
Steed has invented a way of using a triumvirate of agents with photographic memories to memorize top secret information in three parts. Each third being useless without the other two. A brilliant criminal named Juventor plans to use a mind-swapping device to piece all three parts together and sell the combined information to the highest bidder. When he learns The New Avengers are closing in on him, Juventor decides to swap brains completely with one of his victims.

SERIES 2.
1. DEAD MEN ARE DANGEROUS
Fast or slow, a bullet can still kill you. Ten years earlier Steed had put a bullet in the chest of a colleague who had crossed over to the dark side, and the bullet was inching its way toward the man's heart ever since. In bitter vengeance, the man sets about erasing Steed's very existence. Now, bit by excruciating bit, everything of value to Steed is being destroyed—until at last Purdey disappears...

Edited April 13 by HawkMan

[unapologetic pedant]

20 hours ago, HawkMan said:

May I recommend after Star Cops watching Dark Side Of The Sun on youtube,  then you can tell me what it's all about!!

Watched the first two episodes more or less back-to-back.

Reminding me of the John Fowles novel The Magus. With possibly a soupcon of Night of the Demon.

Could all change, as the series progresses. Certainly be sticking with it.

[HawkMan]

2. ANGELS OF DEATH
Important people, politicians and military etc are lured to a health farm, where they are brainwashed, so at a signal given later they appear to drop dead from natural causes.

3. MEDIUM RARE

A department chief poses as various informers and sells useless information to the agency.
Steed is being framed for murder in an attempt by the swindler to avert Steed's attention after the death of a colleague. But then a fake medium suddenly begins predicting the framers' every move! How does she do it?

4. THE LION AND THE UNICORN
With the help of Gambit and Purdey, Steed manages to capture the ruthless killer known as The Unicorn whom he has been tracking for ten years. The Unicorn's accomplices kidnap a British royal to use as a hostage to swap. Unfortunately they are unaware that their previous rescue attempt left The Unicorn lying dead on the floor.

Edited April 13 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

5. OBSESSION
June 1977. Purdey is confronted with her former fiancée Larry Doomer. She's been avoiding him ever since he attempted to murder a Middle Eastern emissary 7 years earlier. Now it seems he's planning a second attempt by using a brand new RAF rocket. 

Lewis Collins and Martin Shaw together in this episode just prior to The Professionals

 

.

6. TRAP
The New Avengers, with some help from CIA agent Marty Brice, stop a drug deal arranged by Chinese crime lord Soo Choy. To rectify this embarrassment, Soo Choy lures Steed, Purdey and Gambit to his territory in order to exact his revenge in front of his peers.

 

Edited April 13 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

7. HOSTAGE
Purdey is kidnapped and Steed is given instructions to copy some top secret documents in order to get her back. Unable to tell anyone what he's doing, the Ministry begins to suspect Steed has switched sides and Gambit is ordered to follow him.

8/9. K IS FOR KILL
Pt 1.In 1945 Russian soldier Stanislav stole the secret of longevity from a Tibetian monk. He created an army of 252 sleepers that were stationed all over Europe. In 1965, one of them awoke by accident and went on a rampage in Berkshire. 12 years later, the same thing happens to a larger group in France. Only in death do the Russian soldiers show their advanced age. Steed, recognizing the symptoms, takes off for France with Gambit and Purdey.
Pt 2.
250 of the Russian sleeping commandos have been defeated and accounted for. Only the two most dangerous K-agents remain. Colonel Stanislav orders them to assassinate General Gaspard and the French President in order to cause the outbreak of World War III.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

Last four episodes form a " New Avengers In Canada " finale to production.

10. COMPLEX
The New Avengers fly to Toronto, Canada to learn the identity of KGB assassin X-41, aka Scapina. Unfortunately all their contacts end up dead before they are able to spill the beans. Also, Gambit keeps getting arrested by the Canadian police and Purdey finds herself trapped in a ultra modern building.

11. THE GLADIATORS
Though officially on holiday in Canada, the New Avengers join the search for several missing Soviet and Canadian agents. KGB agent Karl Sminsky has achieved super human strength thanks to a combination of martial arts. Now he is gathering a group of 'gladiators' to teach his secrets to.

Edited April 13 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

12. EMILY
On the trail of the elusive agent 'The Fox', the New Avengers find their target has left a palm print on the roof of a car. Borrowing the vehicle, which is called 'Emily' from her owner proves to be easier than getting it safely to the Canadian Secret Service in Toronto.

15 years after the first Avengers episode, we come to the final assignment for John Steed and Co.

13. FORWARD BASE
The New Avengers attempt to intercept a package drop in Canada before it gets to the mysterious Russian outpost called Forward Base. They follow a trail of people dropping valuable machinery in the water and changing clothes during the course of drowning.

Edited April 13 by HawkMan