Episode 1 - From Venus With Love

continuity and trivia

1. 
   2:18 - Cosgrove is some astronomer! He doesn't bother to write down the co-ordinates or declanation and then casually swings his telescope into position and starts taking pictures.
2. 2:38 - The glass of beer is suddenly 3/4 full but at 2:21 it was half full (or is that half empty?), at 2:44 when it starts to bubble, it's half full again.
3. 2:45QQ - The scene of the remote camera shutter swinging and Cosgrove lying dead on the floor was slate 67, it took four takes to get it right and was filmed on 2 November, 1966.
4. QQ - The scene of Frederick Hadley spinning around in the chair to reveal he's been bleached white was slate 68 and was filmed on 2 November, 1966.
5. 9:35 - Recognise those doors? They turn up in Thyssen's house in Escape in Time.
6. 
   10:30 et passim. - Emma's Lotus is an S3 1966. The S2 had a chrome label saying Elan S2 where this one just has Elan in chrome on the upper body. The rear lights are the elongated ovoid shape of the S3.
   The logo on the lower body (bottom right) is probably either the World Champions or Indianapolis Champions logo.
7. 12:00 etc. - Steed's arrive at the BVS was slate 69 and was filmed on 2 November, 1966.
8. 
   12:30-12:55 - Another messed-up close-up, Barbara Shelley keeps the pose of clenched hands in prayer position, despite the long shots mostly having them held over her stomach.
9. 14:44 - Diana Rigg runs part of the way accross the field but then Cyd Child stands-in for the fast bit.
10. 15:07 - Outside the barn is the same wagon as was used in Epic.
11. 19:45-20:15 - There's a hair caught at the bottom centre of the screen - it's probably on the camera lens, it reappears at 21:26 whenever there's a shot of Primble and Steed, but not when the other camera is used.
12. 20:27-20:47 - A muffed close-up - the clock on the safe says 8 seconds before 2:45, but 20 seconds later, when Jennings taps the clock in the long shot we've lost 12 seconds, as it's 4 seconds past 2:45.
    
    ©1961-9 CANAL+IMAGE UK Ltd All Rights Reserved
13. 20:48 et passim. - The painting that Mansford is appreciating just before he leaves this mortal coil turns up again backstage in Epic. Not only that, but both copies of it - with and without the silhouette - turn up in two episodes of The Saint ("A Portrait of Brenda" and "The Power Artist"). The non-silhouette version reappears in an episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

    Venus	Epic

14. 21:21 - Speaking of hats... Steed's eye test require him to identify these hats:
    
    trilby
    homburg bowler
    cap jockey porkpie
    topper boater busby fez
15. 22:48 - Ropes' watch says 2:54:53 but the clock on the safe says it's 2:57:35.
16. 23:49 - The hair on the camera appears to have migrated to the bottom righthand corner.
17. 24:21 - The clock strikes 3, 52 seconds early, but it can be excused by the changes of scene.
18. 26:20 - Brigadier Whitehead turns off a gramophone on his left which he hadn't turned on.
19. 28:50 - Venus departs out a door and walks down the driveway but Steed, who passes her upon arrival, heads up a jumble of stone steps to reach a door.
20. 
    29:37 - Elsewhere, you'll find claims that Whitehead wasn't holding a record when shot by the laser, but is holding one when found by Steed. This is wrong, as this picture shows - he picks it up off the table just out off shot, after setting another disk going (it's lying in from of the gramophone at 29:31). When Steed finds him, the record is no longer in front of the gramophone, and is white in his hands.
21. 31:39 - The close-up of the reel to reel player is misplaced, with Steed's arm on the wrong side, and the player rotated about 50°.
    
    ©1961-9 CANAL+IMAGE UK Ltd All Rights Reserved
22. 30:48, 31:39 and 32:24 - Everytime the recording of the sound of the laser in played, it's a different reel of tape.
23. 33:54 - Cyd Child had to battle her way through the flames onto the balcony, a stunt she hated having to perform.
24. 
    34:10, 40:06 - The set dresser misspelled 'ophthalmic' on Primble's surgery lamp.
25. 36:00 etc. - The shots of Steed crouched by the filing cabinet were slate 63. It was filmed in one take, including his reading the book, staring incredulously at the foaming beer and reacting to the flash of light. It was filmed on 2 November, 1966.
26. 36:20-36:25 - Another messed-up close-up, this time due to edits. The dummy's head has already collapsed in the long shot of Steed approaching it, but the next close-up shows it in the act of collapsing.
    
27. Passim but especially 37:47-40:05 - There's a curved overscan crop in the top left and bottom left corners of the screen, it had appeared earlier in the episode and returns around 42:00. It varies in size.
28. 40:10-40:30 - That's Cyd Child arriving in the Lotus and approaching the surgery.
29. 
    ©1961-9 CANAL+IMAGE UK Ltd All Rights Reserved
    41:17 onwards - The 'alien' vehicle is a Ford GT-40.
30. 42:10 - The door of the car closed but didn't fully shut at 41:45, but from this point until Mrs Peel gets out at 42:22 it's completely shut.
31. 42:40-42:44 - Mrs Peel leans over the side of the car to examine the laser which has emerged but when Martin grabs her, she's facing the front of the car from directly in front.
32. 44:10 - One of Steed's headlights isn't working, and it's probably Rocky Taylor driving, it's definitely not Patrick Macnee. The second unit would film scnes like these after the stars had moved onto filming the next episode.
33. 46:54 - Did they cut a shot of the bowler being shot? One second it's in Steed's hand, the next he's just holding the mirror, so how did the hat become white?
    
    ©1961-9 CANAL+IMAGE UK Ltd All Rights Reserved
34. 47:38 onwards - The bird sculpture from Art Incorporated is one of Mrs Peel's decorations.
35. Running time: 49'16"

Cast notes

1. Jeremy Lloyd went on to great heights of fame, not that he wasn't already a household name in Britain in the Sixties. He had a cameo appearance in "The Assassination Bureau", was one of the company of "Laugh-In" that sealed "The Avengers" fate in the US, and ended up writing comedy - "Are You Being Served?" and "'Allo 'Allo" being his most successful productions.
2. 
   The bloodthirsty (or maybe bleach-obsessed) Martin is uncredited in the cast list, is it Billy Cornelius or Rocky Taylor? I can't tell.