Rodney's Reviews
Page 16 of 42

Small Game for Big Hunters
By Rodney Marshall

As Steed comments early on, "I've heard of forty winks but this is ridiculous." The sleep of the living death comes courtesy of Professor Swain’s tsetse flies rather than voodoo but this is still a fantastic—in both senses of the word—basic idea. Only in The Avengers could empire-building baddies construct a tropical jungle in the heart of the English countryside.

I'm at odds with most Avengers fans on this one. For me it is a four bowler in every category. Laurie Johnson produces one of his best scores to help create a genuine atmosphere of brooding gloom, the village church bells making way for the beat of the jungle drums. The deadly mastermind, Simon Trent, wonderfully underplayed by James Villiers, has hatched a plan (to re-invade Kalaya) which is so fanciful as to be almost believable. All the guest characters are welcome additions, from Colonel Rawlings still living the colonial life in the tropics (of Hertfordshire) to the native Kalayan "intelligence serviceman" who, naturally, speaks with an upper class English accent.

The grimacing native face which literally leaps at Mrs. Peel from a page of her book is a clever effect and the jungle is beautifully re-created. Philip Levene injects plenty of humour into his script, with some wonderfully witty lines for Steed, including his boast that "I once shot a bull elephant myself... f-8 at 500th of a second with a small roll of film." Steed's Tarzan swing to save Mrs. Peel is hilarious, accompanied by the interchange "Me Steed," "Me Emma." Great fun, impressive sets and an intriguing plot make this one of the best monochrome episodes IMHO.

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