The Avengers International Fan Forum

peabody · Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 9:54 pm Post subject: 5.07 - The Living Dead

Discuss, review and rate The Living Dead, production completed January 1967.

Teleplay by Brian Clemens
Directed by John Krish

cyberrich · Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 8:26 am Post subject:

I'm currently watching season 5 and this was the episode I watched last night. Terrific fun! 9/10 from me. I'm sure Chris Carter, the creator of The X files, must have watched this one, as the FOG and SMOG premise of the the believer and non-believer was at the core of the X files. Rich.

Frankymole · Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 8:56 am Post subject:

Ah! One of the few colour Emmas that I bothered reviewing:

http://www.theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-7vr.htm#3

"It's far too elaborate for a private fantasy."

After a lovely "We're needed" scene, the first half of the story is very atmospheric, directed and lit almost as well as a monochrome Emma episode. The chapel, graveyard, and pub sets are small but employed extremely well. The mystery of the Duke's malevolent staff, lurking observers, hidden solarium, and top-secret cellar are set up suspensefully—much of the fun being due to Steed's heavy-handed investigation (his comments on how well-painted he considers the flouted "Keep Out" sign are hilarious). He approaches "flushing out" spies with all the subtlety a game hunt beater uses to put pheasants to flight—and it works!

The cast: Julian Glover again plays an arrogant militaristic heavy. Why does he never get cast as eccentric villains, the way other recurring actors such as Peter Bowles did? A waste. Kermit the Hermit is a babbling annoyance, and both Dukes are non-entities. But the competing SMOG and FOG investigators (Pamela Ann Davy and Vernon Dobtcheff) provide some fun, and Jack Watson's former miner/landlord is a great ally for steed. Emma's finding of the SMOG man's corpse is particularly well done (swinging on a church bell rope, impaled by a crusader effigy's sword). Best of all is the diffident firing squad commander, who is more nervous than his intended target!

Steed shows his steel... I enjoy the rare occasions when the coldly determined "no-nonsense" agent briefly emerges from the urbane-debonair gent. Teasing Masgard on his transparent "Englishness," repeatedly gripping Kermit's arm to prevent the alcoholic tramp from taking a sip until he's coughed up the information, and impassively polite and patient when faced with execution.

Was Diana on another holiday? Emma gets little to do, but her final scenes are fun and we rarely get to see her using a sub-machinegun in anger! Cyd Child mentions that her own "guard-spinning" fight in the cell caused worries among the production team because her face was fully visible, but no viewers noticed on transmission. Well, I may not have noticed originally, but watching this scene proves what a magnificent woman Ms Child is, effortlessly manhandling the guard in true Emma tradition and in the process looking just as lovely in an "Emmapeeler" as Ms Rigg.

The music seemed unusually limp... perhaps I'm spoilt by the preceding season and Tara soundtracks. Writing? It's hard to believe this story was plotted by the chap who wrote No Sex Please, We're British (a long-running stage farce); Brian Clemens does his best but it lacks the usual wit and charm.

Finally, I'm starting to get a bit disturbed by the way every bar set in The Avengers looks very very similar — having just watched "The Living Dead", the pub "The Duke of Benedict" bears striking similarities to the jolly old Gremlin in "The Town of No Return," and also the pub interiors in "Silent Dust" and "Man-Eater of Surrey Green." Sadly Emma doesn't sip a pint of ale in this one. It felt especially odd seeing Emma-horsewhipping Juggins (Jack Watson) return from "Silent Dust" as the friendly landlord in this episode. Maybe his "scrumpy" ran out!

"That isn't the cold. It's the vibration." Better than I remembered—I can almost forgive the retread of the "The Town of No Return" plot. Three out of four bowlers. There's better to come!

6/10.
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Last watched: The Man in the Mirror.

anti-clockwise · Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:40 am Post subject:

I felt the story line in this was not so inspiring but the acting really made up for it. Pamela Ann Davy I thought did a superb job. Never figured out why they just didn't get a lighter guy for Cyd to throw around.
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"He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise."

Darren · Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:05 am Post subject:

9/10

I really took to this one as I love it when the show does creepy and atmospheric.

I believe that director John Krish did a few public warning films that terrified children. He's not one of my favourite Avengers director but I like what he did here.

I missed off the top mark as the episode loses me once the action moves to the underground. I don't quite believe the scale of it and the trapping everyone underground, lots of seeming normal young people just feels at odds with the show.

But all the stuff before with the ghost hunters is lots of fun. I love Mandy Mackay. Oho ooh Uuuuummmm etc. I love the artificial stylised graveyard - it's almost Grimms fairy tale in look. I never spotted Cyd Child's until it was pointed out. It's got a great cast of solid character actors all oozing that Avengers guest actor quality.

peabody · Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:37 am Post subject:

Topaze · Nutshell Joined: 11 Feb 2014 Posts: 49

a strange episode like I love Exclamation

Rhonda · Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:32 am Post subject:

I gave 7
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Ron
Last Watched : Espirit de Corps

cyberrich · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 9:01 am Post subject:

The Living Dead is the latest episode under review. I'd love to know what you all think of this one. Rich. Smile

mrs_emma_peel · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 11:21 am Post subject:

Pub talk and nervous glances...

Great first two-thirds, but the last third isn’t quite as effective.

‘The ghost… it took Mrs Peel!’
Emma, captured by ghosts...

Bat-girl Emma, just hanging around.

An army of ghosts?!

Ballerina Emma, pirouetting on tip-toes.

Ghost-buster Captain Peel standing to attention... saviour of Steed
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James/Mrs Emma Peel

cyberrich · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 2:10 pm Post subject:

Terrific photos Exclamation

I especially like the first one. Those early scenes in the pub were very atmospheric.

frank · Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:24 am Post subject:

I've had mixed feelings about this episode. The premise, a sci-fi variant on Town of No Return, is fine but I found the script to be a little lazy and full of logic gaps.

Too many moments where things happen for the sake of progressing the story but in a logical fashion

1) Why on earth are Steed and Mrs Peel investigating a ghost sighting to begin with?

2) Once Mrs Peel is captured, it is obvious Mandy is a mole, yet Steed doesn't suspect her

3) It makes no sense to take Mrs Peel only to keep her locked up yet Steed is going to be immediately put in front of a firing squad

4) Merely capturing Emma in order for the audience to see the city and explain how it came about is lazy plotting

5) Since they were going to shoot him anyway, why didn't Mandy just shoot Steed once he discovered the underground city? She already knew everything he suspected. again just an excuse to have the big montage of emma coming to his rescue

6) the final battle with Mandy was not well edited. Way too many close ups. It doesn't look like Mandy is putting up much of a fight. I once saw a series of full frame PR shots of the fight in a magazine and it was much better choreographed and more tense then how it came across on screen in the final cut

mrs_emma_peel · Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 7:19 am Post subject:

Thanks Rich Smile

I agree about the Mandy-Emma fight - it should have been edited much better - Diana's brilliant tip-toe pirouette and left arm strike can only really be fully appreciated in very slow motion or still capture. Would have liked more full-length shots.
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James/Mrs Emma Peel

cyberrich · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:04 am Post subject:

The first half of the episode is classic Avengers. Those scenes involving the fog enshrouded inn are very atmospheric and look great on screen. The FOG and SMOG acronyms are great fun and very typical of The Avengers during this period. The rambling cemetery clearly looks like an interior set, but is still an interesting one that adds atmosphere to this episode. In contrast the stark underground set is less pleasing and doesn't work that well. On repeated viewings the limitations of this set becomes ever more apparent. More like a gym than a city I have to say, and one of the weakest sets in The Avengers history. The idea of an underground city probably sounded great on paper, but in reality the limited budget allocated to each episode was always going to mean this set would miss the mark.
This is a fun episode nonetheless. Not in the top 10 episodes from this season, but still highly enjoyable. Julian Glover is the strongest of the supporting cast here, and gives the episode a much needed shot of credibility. 9/10.