The Avengers International Fan Forum

Avengerholic · Epic Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Posts: 1165

I've just been listening to the Big Finish Torchwood audio release 'The Office Of Never Was', writer James Goss says in the behind the scenes documentary that it's inspired by, and based on the Avengers episode The Joker, which he says was so popular that they remade it three or four times - did they ? And that in one of the remakes someone is killed by falling down an empty lift shaft - do they ? I don't remember any episode of the Avengers where someone is killed falling down an empty lift shaft, do you ?
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dissolute · Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 1:56 pm Post subject:

No, but the falling down a lift shaft is mentioned in The Correct Way to Kill when Steed and Nutski are swapping stories of the old days.
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Sam · Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 5:12 pm Post subject:

If you wanted to stretch things a bit, you could say there's three versions. The original, Don't Look Behind You, with Cathy Gale. The remake, The Joker, with Emma Peel. And the South African radio version, also called The Joker.

Alan · Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:15 am Post subject:

The House That Jack Built is also arguably heavily influenced by Don't Look Behind You.
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Killerwhale · White Dwarf Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 6

Not heard the CD, so can't say for sure what James Goss meant. My first thought reading the original post was that he was remembering or misremembering some scenes where Purdey is terrorised in a Canadian office block in Complex. You could argue that this New Avengers episode owes something to House That Jack Built, which in turn owes quite a lot to Don't Look Behind You (which was directly remade as The Joker).
I've never seen Brian Clemens's anthology series, Thriller, but I believe he had variations on the Don't Look Behind You theme in one or more of its episodes.
On a related note, I always thought that the early X-Files episode, Ghost in the Machine had coincidental similarities to Complex.