Episode 7: The New Avengers
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"It's the one percent that kills you!" Agents in Steed's
department are suddenly dropping like flies, apparently of natural causes. The only common
factor is that they had all gone on leave after taking target practice on a special
shooting range—a range which Steed had the distinction of being the only agent to
complete at 100%. Determined to match Steed's record, Purdey runs the course, but only
achieves 99%. When Gambit plays an unintentionally deadly trick on a
colleague, he learns that the shooting range has been compromised by the enemy and is poisoning agents—at which point
he realizes that Purdey had been hit. Now Gambit must run the course at 100% to retrieve the antidote and save her
life!
IMHO |
It gets off to a shaky start, with the premise established by a
series of abbreviated, abstruse vignettes—a second viewing is helpful here. The guest
cast is not especially memorable (Keith Barron looks as if he is sleepwalking). Then there's the
closing scene, when our recovered heroes drive off—crashing through the shooting range
gate... wait—why didn't they do that when they arrived to retrieve the antidote? Yet despite its abundant flaws, it
remains a favorite, mostly for the manifest camaraderie of the threesome.
Trivia |
"German-born Frederick Jaeger started out in the leading role of Bradshaw in 'Target', this week's episode of The New Avengers, sat around for two weeks in pouring rain, and ended as little more than an extra! His contract limited him to two weeks' work, so when the rain came to ruin the schedule of location filming, he only had enough time left to play the minor role of a character called Jones. Roy Boyd took over the Bradshaw part. 'Circumstances beyond our control,' explained Avengers executive Brian Clemens. 'Sometimes you can't beat the English weather.' " From TV Times magazine, 20-26 November 1976 (with many thanks to Alan and Alys Hayes)
Director Ray Austin was the stunt arranger for the Emma Peel era, and made a credited appearance in "The Gravediggers."
Mark H. Stevens notes, "One thing that disturbs me is the fact that in the scene where Gambit takes the course, they blow up a Police Box, and this episode was made when the only one of that type left in use was owned by the BBC. I wonder if they were thumbing their noses at you know WHO?"
But Terry Cook counters: "Mark
H. Stevens is wrong when he says that the police box destroyed was the last police box in
Great Britain, apart from the BBC's TARDIS prop. The TARDIS prop that the BBC used was
specially made, and not, contrary to rumour, a left over prop from the BBC crime drama
Dixon of Dock Green. It was much smaller than a real police box; the police box that was
destroyed in "Target!" was the model – much larger than the BBC version – made for the two
Doctor Who films of the 60s, Doctor Who and the Daleks and Daleks –
Invasion Earth, 2150 AD, both starring Peter Cushing as the erroneously named Doctor
Who. It had been standing around in the props store of Pinewood for ten years, and was
chosen to be the artefact to be blown up, rather than the scripted red telephone box. This
led to controversy in 1997, when The Sun newspaper in Britain claimed to have bought "the
original TARDIS" from Pinewood studios in a pointless publicity stunt concerning the New
Labour Government. As film historians—even amateurs such as me!—were quick to point out,
it couldn't possibly be the TARDIS prop used in the Peter Cushing films. The last REAL
working police box in Great Britain stood on the Barnett Bypass in London and was removed in
1980. A brand new police box was built outside Earl's Court tube station in 1999, but
further new police boxes have not—forgive the pun—materialised!"
Best Scene |
A delirious Steed stumbles into the shooting range and
snitches a hat from one of his mechanical doubles before proceeding.
Best Line |
Professor Lopez offers Steed some of his (apparently vile) special brew, commenting, "That's the way I judge a man." Steed groans in response, "Intestinal fortitude."
