The CLOSED Avengers International Fan Forum

peabody · Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:53 pm Post subject: 5.11 - Epic

Discuss, review and rate Epic, production completed Monday 27th February 1967.

Teleplay by Brian Clemens
Directed by James Hill

cyberrich · Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:11 am Post subject:

I'm working my way through season 5 and this is my most recent episode. I have had a strange relationship with this one. When I first saw this season as a teenager (Channel 4 1982-3) this was my very favourite. I didn't see it again until Bravo (cable) repeated them a long 11 years later. This was the one I was looking forward to the most, and I can remember being so disappointed. That's what 11 years of not seeing it and putting it on a pedestal will do Exclamation

Now, I have learned to appreciate it again. A very inventive and surreal episode. Love the abandoned film set and the bizarre villainous cast and director. The funeral scene is particularly creative. Beautifully filmed. Almost a 10, but for now it's 9/10. Rich.

peabody · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:14 am Post subject:

This episode seems to divide fans. I suppose you either love it or hate it. I sit firmly in the "love" it camp. Everything is just so lovely over the top.

Z.Z. von Schnerk is a lovable loon, despite the fact that he's actually doing a snuff film, and that's no mean feat. Patrick Wyngarde is, well, Peter Wyngarde! You simply can't go wrong with him in an episode. Isa Miranda is also great fun, and together they make a great couple fallen from grace.

Yet again, there's a spooky and sinister element to the proceedings which I really enjoy. It's empty in Avengerland and you really get that feel here.

"Mrs. Peel... We're waiting for you". A 9/10.

anti-clockwise · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:26 am Post subject:

It's interesting. In Sunset Boulevard they have a deluded actress who thinks she is still the star. But in Epic, we have Mrs. Peel forced into stardom, in this shared delusion of the older actors. A nice clever twist on an old familiar plot..
Who doesn't like this one? Some nice touches like when she roars. And when she is about to be sawed in half, i think mentions becoming a split personality. I love the way she seems rather calm throughout, with all these crazy Sunset Boulevard Types around her.
_________________
"He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise."

cyberrich · Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 11:07 am Post subject:

anti-clockwise · Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 11:38 am Post subject:

I agree Rich it deserves a 10. It was my favorite for a long time. But so far in the ratings no 10's. I must have already voted for this one too! I don't think we can change our minds on this poll. Wink

_________________
"He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise."

Topaze · Nutshell Joined: 11 Feb 2014 Posts: 49

My favorite episode,10/10!!!
So crazy and delirious. I love the scenes in slow motion in the cemetery.
An atmosphere very strange, beautiful colors
I'm totally crazy about this episode Mad

Rhonda · Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:31 am Post subject:

I gave 2
_________________
Ron
Last Watched : Trap

cyberrich · Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 2:20 pm Post subject:

Epic is the latest episode under review. If you get chance to view this episode, please post your thoughts here. Thanks, Rich. Smile

frank · Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:25 pm Post subject:

I've always enjoyed this parody of Sunset Boulevard

How can you not love Peter Wyngarde hamming it up in almost 12 different roles?

I love how the episode makes a commentary about "breaking the 4th wall" without "breaking the 4th wall" by literally breaking down the 4th wall.

Plus it has the best tag scene in the whole series

Dfrise · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:31 pm Post subject: EPic

I thought it was excellent. They wove together an episode with scenes that were funny, threatening, dream-like and quirky. All this, and a damsel in distress, and Z.Z. Schnerk.

dissolute · Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:38 pm Post subject:

Oh my goodness, I just watched this again - first time on Bluray - and it was an absolute joy. It's one of my favourite episodes anyway so how could I not watch it again?

The plot is absurd but the bluray makes it more sensible. For instance, it's easier to see that Emma Peel has been written on the script in thick marker while the rest is printed.
I love the silent movie piano music that Schnerk plays as the damsel in distress approaches the circular saw (and the "Meanwhile back at the ranch" caption card presaging a return to Steed at
Emma's flat).
The layers of reference and homage in this episode. The deliberate breaking of all four walls, as it were, letting us in back stage is what really does it for me.
It seems like a holiday script for Macnee but he plays a larger part in this than in The Joker or The House that Jack Built. Great performances all round but Wyngarde and Warren are superb, as always.
_________________
Mrs Peel, you're needed!
http://www.dissolute.com.au/the-avengers-tv-series/
Every episode from 1961 to 1977 plus more trivia than you can shake a brolly at.

Dfrise · Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:34 pm Post subject: Re: EPic

anti-clockwise · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 11:04 am Post subject:

Diana Rigg reactions were perfect in Epic. She appeared bored by the 3 diabolical maniacs until she was about to be sawed in half--and even then had quite the sense of humour!
_________________
"He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise."

Rhonda · Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 11:07 am Post subject:

Epic is growing on me! I think because i like James Hill's direction in all his Avengers/TNA episodes. It just seemed (and still is) untypical on the first viewing.
_________________
Ron
Last Watched : Trap

Spaceship Dispatcher · Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 8:41 am Post subject:

I’m very much in the ‘love it’ camp where Epic is concerned, one of my favourite Diana Rigg episodes. There’s something about so-called metafiction, fiction that has an awareness of its own fictionality and is associated with self-referencing wit and collapses of the fourth wall, which I usually find compelling because of the fascinating and ingenious varieties in its execution and expression. Here the actors are playing actors, the sets actually are sets, there’s a cameraman filming a show about Emma Peel in which a cameraman is filming a show about Emma Peel, and we have moments like the MGM Lion spoof in which Diana/Emma (draw the line wherever you feel appropriate) acts direct to the audience through a special effect that Diana would know about but Emma couldn’t. It’s all so clever and I never tire of rewatching it! Peter Wyngarde and Kenneth J Warren are gloriously over the top, but because they are playing movie/show business types who are supposed to be over the top in real life we have another aspect of self-reference/parody. Something that only really occurred to me on watching the episode this week for the purpose of commenting here is that the production obviously did not hire another company’s studio as a location, this is actually the studio that the episode would have been filmed in anyway; so there’s an element of ‘behind the scenes’ bonus footage in the camera pulling back to the wider angles.

cyberrich · Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 9:31 am Post subject:

Epic is a standout episode for so many reasons. There is certainly no other episode like it in The Avengers catalogue. While it certainly belongs in the black comedy genre, there are elements of unsettling horror that is almost reminiscent of classic European cinematography. The funeral of Mrs Peel segment is an absolute delight. The slow motion adds very surreal touches to the already eerie graveyard scene. So many episodes have a damsel in distress slant, but Epic takes this to extremes even by Avengers standards. The circular saw finale is very memorable and is an affectionate nod to Hammer Horror. Epic is certainly not subtle, but it is great inventive fun. 10/10. Very Happy

Rich.

Mona · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:24 am Post subject:

This episode is a real work-out for my fast forward button. Episodes without Steed are episodes I have no interest in. Emma Peel absolutely cannot hold my interest on her own.

Once Steed shows up at the end, I'll rewind those minutes 100 times. The fight scene is wonderful, and then when Emma bops him with the real chair--Macnee's knees giving out, so funny! Then, of course, the two of them acting out the scene with the ending intention to go home and have sex--can't end the episode in any better way!
_________________
Fan of John Steed
Agent, Esquire, Hunk