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Andrew Pixley
Have Fingers... Will Type!
Joined: 02 Sep 2008
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 Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 3:32 am Post subject: Philip Levene |
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In case anyone's interested ... one of Philip Levene's radio thrillers was repeated the other day and is now available iPlayer until the end of the month:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jxmr
All the best
Andrew
Last edited by Andrew Pixley on Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:07 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Rodders
The Big Thinker
Joined: 03 Jan 2013
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Location: Avengerland
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:56 am Post subject: |
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It was while Brian Clemens was listening to one of these that he had the idea of bringing the writer on board. Thank goodness he did!
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Andrew Pixley
Have Fingers... Will Type!
Joined: 02 Sep 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:17 am Post subject: |
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| Rodders wrote: | | It was while Brian Clemens was listening to one of these that he had the idea of bringing the writer on board. Thank goodness he did! |
I've always assumed that this was an edition of "Just Before Midnight" which Brian got to hear. Possibly "The Invader" (14 April 1964). Very fond of many of Philip Levene's scripts for "The Avengers" (even if they get a tad samey in the first colour run). "The Firechasers" is a rather enjoyable pilot as well.
All the best 
Andrew |
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mousemeat
Diabolical Mastermind
Joined: 04 Sep 2008
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Location: Elvis Central, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Andrew Pixley wrote: | | Rodders wrote: | | It was while Brian Clemens was listening to one of these that he had the idea of bringing the writer on board. Thank goodness he did! |
I've always assumed that this was an edition of "Just Before Midnight" which Brian got to hear. Possibly "The Invader" (14 April 1964). Very fond of many of Philip Levene's scripts for "The Avengers" (even if they get a tad samey in the first colour run). "The Firechasers" is a rather enjoyable pilot as well.
All the best
Andrew |
wealth of talent that clemens tapped into |
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Rodders
The Big Thinker
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Location: Avengerland
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 3:22 am Post subject: |
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Sadly, Philip Levene had major health issues - even as a young man working on The Avengers. As Andrew says, his scripts in Season 5 did get a bit samey, but I felt that he was back to his best in Season 6 and it is a shame that he and Clemens fell out. So many of the series' visual highlights are his creations: the Cybernauts, the sight of the mind-swapped Avengers, the miniaturised Steed and Peel, the machine-gunning nanny. Glorious.
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Frankymole
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Joined: 01 Sep 2008
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| Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:38 am Post subject: |
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Destination Fire, by Philip Levene. Episode 1.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b7jm
Back in 1962, Philip Levene explained his inspiration:
"I have always been fascinated by fire...... I was struck by the wide variety of intriguing ideas in a field that seemed (bar the obvious insurance fraud) comparatively untouched to date..... but the puzzle of the charred remains of a burnt-out building intrigue me. The motivations of arson are numerous: greed, financial reverses destruction of evidence and revenge".
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Service in September 1962
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mousemeat
Diabolical Mastermind
Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 6143
Location: Elvis Central, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Frankymole wrote: | Destination Fire, by Philip Levene. Episode 1.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b7jm
Back in 1962, Philip Levene explained his inspiration:
"I have always been fascinated by fire...... I was struck by the wide variety of intriguing ideas in a field that seemed (bar the obvious insurance fraud) comparatively untouched to date..... but the puzzle of the charred remains of a burnt-out building intrigue me. The motivations of arson are numerous: greed, financial reverses destruction of evidence and revenge".
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Service in September 1962 |
he was a unique talent..perfect for that time frame....he is missed today |
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J.Mac3
Thingumajig
Joined: 26 Jun 2015
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Location: western Massachusetts
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| Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| Rodders wrote: | | Sadly, Philip Levene had major health issues - even as a young man working on The Avengers. As Andrew says, his scripts in Season 5 did get a bit samey, but I felt that he was back to his best in Season 6 and it is a shame that he and Clemens fell out. So many of the series' visual highlights are his creations: the Cybernauts, the sight of the mind-swapped Avengers, the miniaturised Steed and Peel, the machine-gunning nanny. Glorious. |
I always wondered what happened to Philip Levene, one of my favorite writers of The Avengers. Given the complete lack of information about his death, I reluctantly assumed the worse–that he took his own life. I suppose it's better that's not the case but of course, that means little to him. He died far too young, either way. |
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hatpeg
Little Wonder
Joined: 12 Nov 2008
Posts: 131
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| J.Mac3 wrote: | | Rodders wrote: | | Sadly, Philip Levene had major health issues - even as a young man working on The Avengers. As Andrew says, his scripts in Season 5 did get a bit samey, but I felt that he was back to his best in Season 6 and it is a shame that he and Clemens fell out. So many of the series' visual highlights are his creations: the Cybernauts, the sight of the mind-swapped Avengers, the miniaturised Steed and Peel, the machine-gunning nanny. Glorious. |
I always wondered what happened to Philip Levene, one of my favorite writers of The Avengers. Given the complete lack of information about his death, I reluctantly assumed the worse–that he took his own life. I suppose it's better that's not the case but of course, that means little to him. He died far too young, either way. |
I seem to recall it was either a brain tumor, or cancer. Died much to young, Anyone confirm? |
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mousemeat
Diabolical Mastermind
Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 6143
Location: Elvis Central, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2022 4:35 am Post subject: |
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| hatpeg wrote: | | J.Mac3 wrote: | | Rodders wrote: | | Sadly, Philip Levene had major health issues - even as a young man working on The Avengers. As Andrew says, his scripts in Season 5 did get a bit samey, but I felt that he was back to his best in Season 6 and it is a shame that he and Clemens fell out. So many of the series' visual highlights are his creations: the Cybernauts, the sight of the mind-swapped Avengers, the miniaturised Steed and Peel, the machine-gunning nanny. Glorious. |
I always wondered what happened to Philip Levene, one of my favorite writers of The Avengers. Given the complete lack of information about his death, I reluctantly assumed the worse–that he took his own life. I suppose it's better that's not the case but of course, that means little to him. He died far too young, either way. |
I seem to recall it was either a brain tumor, or cancer. Died much to young,
Anyone confirm? |
I think it might have been cancer..hard to say...as the cause of his demise at 46, was sketchy...he was a multi talented performer..My fave script he wrote and appear in, was the Town of no return....which was originally filmed with Liz Shepard, as Mrs. Peel..
no matter..Philip left a fine body of work...one could only imagine had he lived several more decades, what else he could have written, etc.. |
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J.Mac3
Thingumajig
Joined: 26 Jun 2015
Posts: 82
Location: western Massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:44 am Post subject: |
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| mousemeat wrote: |
I think it might have been cancer..hard to say...as the cause of his demise at 46, was sketchy...he was a multi talented performer..My fave script he wrote and appear in, was the Town of no return....which was originally filmed with Liz Shepard, as Mrs. Peel..
no matter..Philip left a fine body of work...one could only imagine had he lived several more decades, what else he could have written, etc.. |
Of the many writers behind Avengers episodes, only Brian Clemens exceeded Philip Levene in the number of scripts used. Of the Emma Peel B&W episodes, he wrote four, none particularly distinguished with the possible exception of The Cybernauts:
The Cybernauts
Two's a Crowd
Man-Eater of Surrey Green
Small Game for Big Hunters
(Brian Clemens is credited with writing The Town of No Return.)
Of the 24 Peel color episodes, Levene wrote 12, and some of the best:
The Fear Merchants
Escape in Time
From Venus With Love
The See-Through Man
The Hidden Tiger
Never, Never Say Die
Something Nasty in the Nursery
Who's Who???
Death's Door
Return of the Cybernauts
You Have Just Been Murdered
Mission... Highly Improbable
He even a few of the early Tara episodes:
The Curious Case of the Countless Clues
Get-A-Way!
My Wildest Dream
It's a shame he left us just as he was entering the mid-point of his career. |
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mousemeat
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Posts: 6143
Location: Elvis Central, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 6:48 am Post subject: |
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| J.Mac3 wrote: | | mousemeat wrote: |
I think it might have been cancer..hard to say...as the cause of his demise at 46, was sketchy...he was a multi talented performer..My fave script he wrote and appear in, was the Town of no return....which was originally filmed with Liz Shepard, as Mrs. Peel..
no matter..Philip left a fine body of work...one could only imagine had he lived several more decades, what else he could have written, etc.. |
Of the many writers behind Avengers episodes, only Brian Clemens exceeded Philip Levene in the number of scripts used. Of the Emma Peel B&W episodes, he wrote four, none particularly distinguished with the possible exception of The Cybernauts:
The Cybernauts
Two's a Crowd
Man-Eater of Surrey Green
Small Game fo
r Big Hunters
(Brian Clemens is credited with writing The Town of No Return.)
Of the 24 Peel color episodes, Levene wrote 12, and some of the best:
The Fear Merchants
Escape in Time
From Venus With Love
The See-Through Man
The Hidden Tiger
Never, Never Say Die
Something Nasty in the Nursery
Who's Who???
Death's Door
Return of the Cybernauts
You Have Just Been Murdered
Mission... Highly Improbable
He even a few of the early Tara episodes:
The Curious Case of the Countless Clues
Get-A-Way!
My Wildest Dream
It's a shame he left us just as he was entering the mid-point of his career. |
thanks for your post...loved the info...what a body of work....
I couldn't have stated it, any better.... |
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Frankymole
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Joined: 01 Sep 2008
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 7:50 am Post subject: |
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I think Two's A Crowd is the most memorable of the "doppelganger" type episodes (Man With Two Shadows, They Keep Killing Steed, Faces etc). And for me Man-Eater of Surrey Green is important because it inspired the joint-best Doctor Who story of all time, with the all-time best Who villain, in The Seeds of Doom. In fact "inspired" is generous - Dr Who totally ripped-off the Avengers story, wholesale (with a dose of The Thing From Another World while they were at it!)...
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cyberrich
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Posts: 1321
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 9:39 am Post subject: |
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| If I think of a writer who had the ideas and inventiveness, I would single out Philip Levene. He wrote my very favourite episode, and possibly the most iconic one, The Cybernauts. He also wrote the best two colour episodes From Venus with love and Escape in time. I just wish he had contributed more to season 6. |
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Allard
The Ministry
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Posts: 2050
Location: The Netherlands
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| Certainly the scope in episodes is noticeable.They vary very much in types of story. |
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J.Mac3
Thingumajig
Joined: 26 Jun 2015
Posts: 82
Location: western Massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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| cyberrich wrote: | | If I think of a writer who had the ideas and inventiveness, I would single out Philip Levene. He wrote my very favourite episode, and possibly the most iconic one, The Cybernauts. He also wrote the best two colour episodes From Venus with love and Escape in time. I just wish he had contributed more to season 6. |
All three of those episodes – Cybernauts, From Venus with Love, and Escape in Time – are terrific. But he also wrote my favorite of any Peel episode, monochromatic or color: The Hidden Tiger. It is indeed a shame he didn't write more for the Tara series. |
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cyberrich
Site Admin
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Posts: 1321
Location: Midlands, U.K.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:53 am Post subject: |
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| I agree about The Hidden tiger being terrific. It's my 3rd fave colour episode, which means Levene is responsible for what I think are the best three in season 5. |
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Frankymole
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Posts: 5540
Location: Carmadoc Research Establishment
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:23 am Post subject: |
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The Hidden Tiger makes a real virtue of its studio-bound night-time "exterior" scenes during the "tiger hunt", making it seem very surreal and mysterious, and suspenseful with a kind of "calm before the storm" stillness about it.
From Venus With Love has a similar strange stillness to its observatory scenes and again the episode has a night-time feel that is very compelling.
Both episodes have excellent villains and especially the "villainesses" played by Barbara Shelley and Gabrielle Drake. Having the likes of Ronnie Barker and Philip Locke means that our male-female pairing of heroes has an equally formidable and gender-balanced guest cast ranged against them. But the writing is the key, and what attracted such illustrious players to the series in the first place (along with the money!).
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Frankymole
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Frankymole wrote: | Destination Fire, by Philip Levene. Episode 1.
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Eight episodes are up now: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m000b6l6
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mousemeat
Diabolical Mastermind
Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 6143
Location: Elvis Central, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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wow,...how cool is this ? great body of work. period. |
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