The Avengers Forever: The Young Avenger

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Invasion of the Earthmen
By Joseph A.P. Lloyd

Direction: One out of five. Sharp's direction is utterly terrible. Just watch Steed, the first time he gets shocked by an electrified desk! Why is it long shot? And when we are with Tara over a hole, there is some very poor cutting, so it looks as if she does fall in in one shot, and then she is about ten yards back from the hole! Sharp does do a good job in "Get-A-Way!" though, so just ignore the direction.

Plot: Four out of five. We have a plot that is as Sci-fi as plots get, with astronauts, cryogenics and take-over bids. Doctor Who, eat your heart out! It does fit in well with some of the Rigg plots, though.

Original Music: Two out of five. The main theme is so appropriate for this episode that I will not malign it too much. However, it is so dated, so 60s, and so Doctor Who, that it is simply not The Avengers! Some good use of music from "From Venus With Love," though.

With Music From: "From Venus With Love," "The Living Dead," "You Have Just Been Murdered," "The Bird Who Knew Too Much," "The Danger Makers," "The See-Through Man" and "The Fear Merchants."

Wittiness: Two out five. How did Terry Nation get script editor job on the strength of this script? The best line: "Of course, I'm in the civil service now." "Yes, it does happen. Won't you sit down?"

Action: Four out of five. There are little scraps all the way through this episode, but the best one is where Tara knocks out two students with a fire bucket! Great!

Cars/Sets/Locations: Two out of five. There is some lovely location filming at Knebworth House, near Stevenage in this episode. Steed also gets to drive Tara's AC (lovely car!) for no reason at all. But, the supposed "outdoor" sets are embarrassing, the tunnel is horrid, and that pool of acid is fake! I only hope that I can do better.

Introduction/Tag: Three out of five. The introduction is actually very like Escape in Time, as some of you are no doubt unaware is my favourite episode. Shame that Roubicek gets a part smaller than even his Spy Who Loved Me role here. The tag is very strange, and is a real pointer to the age of this episode. Somehow, it was transmitted virtually half-way through the season! Steed's shirt is also nasty!

Overall Impression: Although we have really tacky sets, Tara in a silly blonde wig and Steed out of his Bentley for once, this is actually a rather good episode, with a reasonable plot, a good mastermind, and unusual execution. On the downside, the direction is terrible, the guest cast, apart from Brett is totally forgettable, and it is not to most fans' taste.

Rating: Six out of ten.