5.06 - The Winged Avenger

[peabody]

Discuss, review and rate The Winged Avenger, production completed December 1966.

Teleplay by Gordon Flemyng & Peter Duffell
Directed by Richard Harris

[anti-clockwise]

Just saw this one yesterday again. I love any episode that has a cartoon theme that comes alive. I loved the quirky professor who invented the boots. Would love a pair myself for those days I feel like climbing a wall. Although i suppose this episode might be considered campy I loved the way the villain was killed, quite humorous and Emma being part of the cartoon. I would give this episode an 8.

[MikeR]

Yes, one of my favourate episodes too. An atmospheric and tight mystery.

Author Richard Harris admitted at The Avengers at 50 event a couple of years ago that the characters found in America comic books were his major influence in writing this.

[Frankymole]

It takes off near the end (sorry), but I find the business/board type stuff near the beginning dreadfully dull. Colin Jeavons is wonderfully frenetic as usual (and used much better here than in Brimstone) and the Frank Bellamy artwork mirroring - or, rather, predicting - the action is inspired.

At some points the direction plods a little (it doesn't help that it looks so wintry and gloomy) but little touches like Steed's model to calculate the angles of aerial approach to the building, and the final dash to the rescue, are well done and lift it. The metal talons producing no blood is very Avengerish but the attacks are so vicious and noisy that it's hard to suspend one's disbelief that the results are merely a few tears in clothing and death from shock.

Nigel Green and John Garrie are good eccentrics, but both better will be served two years later in "Fog".

7/10 - three bowlers out of four, on a good day. Good, but not the height of Avenging.

[darren]

It's an episode that has such an impact. The silly things like "Eeeee-urp!" and the stylised use of the comic captions to illustrate the action leave a massive lasting impression.

But something just doesn't really take off. Maybe it is due to having two directors (Peter Duffell seemingly removed and replaced by Gordon Flemying). It feels really laboured for waaay too long. It's only really the scenes at Steed's appartment that add any sense of pace or fun or flair. The first victims.. well you just can't wait for them to die. It's nothing to do with the characters being nasty. They're just so boring. Seeing Donald Pickering (an actor I'm always found really boring in everything) be cold hearted in his office isn't exciting TV.

Nigel Green's fake mountain is amusing but that's the only good thing about the scenes in his house. He has his not so oriental oriental butler. John Garrie must have been told to speak as slowly and laboured as possible. That scene with him on the phone is painful. All these people deserved to die for being so unutterable boring.

Thankfully things pick up with Jack MacGowan as Prof. Poole. A man who is always utterly adorable. Diana Rigg's green outfit to visit his house is one of my favourites.

Colin Jeavon's is always brilliant as crazed people on the verge of insanity. He makes up for the tedium in the first half of the episode.

7/10

[anti-clockwise]

yes well described Darren. Shooting the boring actors probably a good idea. Although I was not as bored with this one as some other episodes. Really had it's ups and downs. No pun intended. I thought Mrs. Peel's outfits were classic. The blue and pink catsuit with the pink matching hat on the ceiling was pretty nifty with the silver walking boots.

[MikeR]

(Peter Duffell seemingly removed and replaced by Gordon Flemying).

Darren, it was the other way round and Peter Duffell can get quite upset over this, when I spoke with him some years ago.

[Frankymole]

Is it known why Flemyng was removed?

[darren]

(Peter Duffell seemingly removed and replaced by Gordon Flemying).

Darren, it was the other way round and Peter Duffell can get quite upset over this, when I spoke with him some years ago.

Oh wow, really? Thanks for putting me right on that.

I'd just assumed that it was Duffell as he didn't seem a very Avengers style director and didn't even have a previous episode.

I'd be very interested in who did what as my previous assumption are clearly now wrong.

[MikeR]

Is it known why Flemyng was removed?

Despite having directed The Fear Merchants, Flemying was discribed by Brian Clemens as not being an Avengers director, which could just about mean anything. All I can think of is that Flemyng fell behind with the schedule of the episode, but Clemens and Fennell were not very strict in enforcing this, as they believed more time and effort meant a better product, then if this was the problem, he must have really lost control of things.