The Avengers International Fan Forum

peabody · Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:13 am Post subject: 6.23 - Love All

Discuss, review and rate Love All.

Written by Jeremy Burnham
Directed by Peter Sykes

norw27 · Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:44 am Post subject:

Splendidly silly story but executed very well, with great performances from Veronica Strong and the rest of the guest cast and a brand new score from Laurie Johnson, (something that becomes greatly missed in the last series as snippets from old scores get reused more frequently, and sometimes distractingly) help make this an enjoyable episode.

darren · Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:13 pm Post subject:

9/10

After the disappointing, False Witness, Jeremy Burnham comes along with a fun love propelled script. It's wonderfully silly. The piano computer that writes the novels. The microdots (I need to check that as it doesn't seem right) hidden in the book causing people to fall in love with the first person they see and Steed covering his waistcoat in them (even getting the villainous Bromfield to fall for him!).

Burnham's wife, Veronica Strong does a great job in her dual role as cleaner Martha and sexbomb Martha. I always admire an actress who can dress down, it shows real vulnerability. And Terrance Alexander makes another appearance, he's so effortlessly suave. I love Thelma. Patsy Rowlands and Macnee play off one another so well as he flirts with sweet words about her hair colour and she's rather demused by it,

Thelma: It's not original you know.
Steed: Your hair?
Thelma: Your line.

I love it when Steed fakes an obsession with something, in this case the romance novels.

The scenes between Anne Rye as the policewoman and Brian Oulton as Tait are equally funny.

I don't think that Tara is used especially well especially with Mother fobbing off her suggestions.

It's another great show for director Peter Sykes making sadly his final job on the show. There's great diversity to his shots, high shots, low shot, tracking shots. It all helps to keep things interesting.

Laurie Johnson's score is easily one of his best. It's romantic as well as being downbeat and slightly twisted. Nice used of music from A Touch of Brimstone for Tara's fight.

The tag scene doesn't really work as Tara is in love with Steed anyway and the hundreds of girls who followed Steed are clearly two women, one of whom is rather old. But it's harmless.

Rhonda · Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 12:33 pm Post subject:

7 from me. Like Rodder's lady's disguise.
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Ian Wegg · Have Fingers... Will Type! Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 401

The last episode I watched, "Wish You Were Here", I thought started brilliantly but crashed into farce so I gave it an average 5.

I found "Love All" to be completely different ... it was uniformly average from start to finish. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood but to me they might just as well have called this episode Carry On Avenging.

I couldn't avoid the irony in the scene where Thelma (played, appropriately, by Carry On regular Patsy Rowlands) reveals that the romantic novels are actually created by computer; it seemed to me this story was too.

Nothing much to complain about but nothing to recommend it either.

5 / 10

Frankymole · Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:53 am Post subject:

Just watched it on ITV4.

I can't really imagine the tag scene of Steed being hunted down to his home by love-crazed teenaged schoolgirls being acceptable in anything made these days.

I'm amazed they left it intact for this repeat broadcast, to be honest. All it will take is one complaint and it'll be banned in today's "cancel culture".
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darren · Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 10:03 am Post subject:

The funny thing about the tag is that they've only got two extras for the scene - a young woman and an old woman with white hair. LOL

Frankymole · Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:56 pm Post subject:

I don't think she's old, just very blonde. But it's almost impossible to tell through the fluted glass.

I never thought the big glass panels either side of Steed's door were a very security-conscious feature!
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dissolute · Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:25 pm Post subject:

I thought she was old - I think it's one of the crew, you see her in some location stills holding a script. Might be Peggy Spirito who did continuity.
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Frankymole · Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:24 pm Post subject:

dissolute · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:44 pm Post subject:

Okay, say later middle aged. She has a fluffy perm and thick glasses which ain't young. I suspect they sneakily used the crew despite equity rules because of the rippled glass and they thought they could get away with it. It's certainly not the horde of teenagers you'd expect from the dialogue.
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Frankymole · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:57 pm Post subject:

I knew lots of schoolchildren with thick glasses!! Quite prevalent in the 60s and 70s especially in the UK with "National Health glasses" issued by the State being very chunky Smile

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darren · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:28 am Post subject:

That is not a "young" woman. Smile

dissolute · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:21 am Post subject:

Yep. I was wrong about the glasses but she's clearly at least middle aged.
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Every episode from 1961 to 1977 plus more trivia than you can shake a brolly at.

Rhonda · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:15 am Post subject:

Frankymole · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:06 pm Post subject:

Not old, just a bit "plain"! I went to primary school with some girls who looked like that aged 6 Very Happy

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norw27 · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:16 am Post subject:

I always reasoned in my head that they were teachers, I’ll always find a way to make production issues work 😂

Ian Wegg · Have Fingers... Will Type! Joined: 15 Sep 2011 Posts: 401

She looks to me like Patsy Smart.

dissolute · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:09 pm Post subject:

Frankymole · Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 1:07 am Post subject:

All part of the surrealism of The Avengers and Avengerland!
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