First of all, before I begin tonight's Christmas review, I should point out that I've been under the weather since Monday night, and I haven't been to work since then. With Christmas being next week, and my vacation time kicking in, I'll be having another short week. At least, I'll be getting paid for it. Anyway, that's the reason why I've been able to do these reviews and get them posted early each evening.
In any case, once again I'm having trouble getting the review started. I got caught up in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, in which Andy and Barney stage their class reunion, and Andy reunites with his high school girlfriend. It's a very good episode, especially since the comedy largely takes a backseat in the story in favor of Andy's reuniting with his girlfriend Sharon, and subsequent understanding of why they couldn't make it work. Check it out on Netflix if you can.
Alright, let's get this review started. I've stalled long enough.
…
Tonight, we'll be looking at the Christmas episode of the 1960s series The Avengers, entitled "Too Many Christmas Trees". The series has nothing to do with any of the Marvel Comics books or characters, or any of the recent movies, other than that the 2012 Avengers movie had to be renamed Avengers Assemble in Great Britain because of the rights to the name.
In the story, British agent John Steed has been having bizarre dreams that seem to predict future events and feature a sinister-looking Santa Claus. He dreams about seeing the death of a colleague who's fallen under suspicion, and wakes to find the colleague's death is front page news, the result of severe neurological trauma.
It becomes clear that a group of genuine psychics are behind both the deaths and Steed's dreams. The group is also responsible for the leaked information that first cast suspicion on Steed's dead colleague. Meanwhile, Mrs. Emma Peel invites Steed to spend Christmas with her at the country home of Brandon Storey, a publisher with an obsession with Dickens. When they arrive, we find the psychics among the other guests and house staff.
Steed's dreams continue, now depicting him as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, a mysterious woman leading him to the guillotine. His dream again comes true when the woman, Janice Crane, shows up as a guest for Christmas and is herself one of the psychic conspirators. At the party that evening, Janice tries a "parlor trick" on Steed where she reads my mind, preparing for the final psychic attack. Mrs. Peel drops a glass to break Janice's concentration, but it seems the work has been done.
Steed begins acting strangely, singing old nursery rhymes to himself. Mrs. Peel discovers that Steed was to be drugged to help him sleep (and be vulnerable to psychic attack), but Steed himself thwarts this. The singing is a form of mental defense, confusing his attackers with literal nonsense. Steed has already deciphered what's happening, and his singing was prescribed by Doctor Teasel, a seemingly sinister guest who actually works for the same government ministry as Steed.
Steed's dream imagery lead him and Mrs. Peel to the conspirators. A physical confrontation thwarts the conspirators' plans and reveals that the true ringleader (and the man behind the sinister Santa Claus) is their host, Brandon Storey.
…
This is one of my favorite episodes of The Avengers, full of atmosphere as it evokes an old-fashioned Dickensian Christmas. Storey's obsession with Dickens extends to Dickens busts throughout his large house, character costumes at the Christmas party (Oliver Twist, Jacob Marley, and the Artful Dodger among them) and the Hall of Great Expectations, recreating Miss Havisham's neglected wedding feast.
This episode's Dickensian connection runs deeper than its plot-line. Series star Patrick Macnee (John Steed) had a small role as young Jacob Marley in the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, simply titled Scrooge, in which guest star Mervyn Johns (Brandon Storey) played Bob Cratchit. I cannot prove it, but I tend to doubt his involvement was any sort of coincidence, considering that Scrooge was quite popular at the time, and is generally regarded as one of the more faithful Dickens adaptations.
…
This review was hopefully informative, and for me, a wake-up call that I should've been doing stuff like this a long time ago. I guess it's one more thing to do differently when the new blog starts in January.
No comments:
Post a Comment