Linda Thorson is still on holiday, so Tara only appears in a couple of scenes in The Morning After, plus the coda at the end (which is a bit odd this week). Although she’s only awake for a few minutes, she still manages to be more use to Steed than either of his temporary companions this week. She only needs seconds to be brilliant, although it’s perhaps a little mean-spirited of Brian Clemens to have her wake up only to be knocked out by gas again immediately, as if he’s making a joke of the fact that he’s writing her out of the episode.

Our not-Tara this week is briefly Jenny (Penelope Horner), who is a lot better than last week’s not-Tara, Lady Wooden-and-Posh. She’s still no Tara, but at least she is a bit more interesting because of her journalistic determination in the face of danger, and she’s certainly much better acted. But for most of the episode, Steed is joined at the wrist to Jimmy Merlin, played by Peter Barkworth. I know him best from Doctor Who, where he played Clent in The Ice Warriors, so it was good to see him in such a completely different role, and one that he performs brilliantly. Merlin and Steed are a great double act. There are very few secondary characters in The Avengers who I would ever be keen to see return, but Merlin should have popped up again as a sort of mischievous arch-enemy for Steed. He could have been a Master-like character from Doctor Who, a wrongdoer who we love to watch. He has all the right qualities, because he’s clever and charming, but he also puts himself first and is double-crossing and cowardly. He’s a great contrast to Steed.

At the start of the episode, I thought we were going to have yet another story about villainous clowns (what was with that clown obsession this season, anyway?), but that turned out to be nothing more than an introduction to Merlin, and instead we have a story that starts as a mystery and becomes another of those villainous schemes to hold the country to ransom.

I love a story where everywhere is deserted. The Avengers tried it once before, to superb effect, with The Hour That Never Was, probably the best episode of the whole series. Another great example that comes to mind is Doctor Who: The Android Invasion, and The Twilight Zone also had at least a couple of tries at the idea. It’s bound to have an impact on the viewer because seeing a place so deserted has a wrongness to it that’s quite creepy, and it also works as an effective mystery. We are unsettled by what we see, and we also want to keep watching to find out where all the people have gone. This part of the episode is very well done, filmed during the early hours of the morning and with the locals asked to keep away from their windows. Money strewn across the pavement and beers left unfinished are both good ways to bring home the oddness of the situation, because those just aren’t sights we would ever see in real life, unless everyone has left in a big rush.

Inevitably, the spell is broken as soon as we see some people. That’s where these stories nearly always have to lead, because you can’t fill an entire episode with the main characters wandering around an empty town, and the impact is gone once the abandonment of the area is no longer shown to be total. We move onto a different stage of the story, which is still very watchable, about a plot to construct a bomb and hold the country to ransom after the locals return, having already demonstrated the chaos caused by an evacuation and how long it takes to get everyone out. For a madcap scheme, it hits the right notes, because there’s a certain amount of logic to it. This is also unusual for an Avengers episode, because it’s not small scale. We are used to villains’ plans centring around maybe one institution or profession, or treacherous spies or whatever, and when a villain has plans for world domination it generally never progresses beyond big ambitions, but this is the evacuation of a population from a huge area. It’s something that would make national news, or probably international. I can’t think of another example where that happened in The Avengers. Writers sometimes shy away from that sort of thing, because they think it harms immersive viewing, although that’s like chasing after the end of a rainbow anyway, and if there were ever a series where immersion doesn’t matter it’s The Avengers. Having said that, it has always been a show that seems to thrive on the smaller scale: eccentrics in villages, villains in offices, etc. And The Morning After deftly manages to be both. It’s a large-scale threat, which would be a national emergency, but the action is all seen through the lens of Steed’s adventures in the deserted town, with a handful of mercenaries delighting in wielding a bit of power. In the end, that might just be The Avengers’ most important theme: the dangers of small-minded men thinking big.   RP

The view from across the pond:

Oh, what a relief it is that The Killer was a fluke in a run of otherwise good episodes!  When I consider how many episodes I’ve put up with – and I do mean put up with – I am stunned to finally have a run of good episodes.  It only took them 140-ish to find that sweet spot.  So that means that just as I’m enjoying this series more frequently than I’m annoyed by it, it will end.  Well, it’s been said that the key to success is to stop a thing at the height of popularity.  If this run is any indication, I may end this series appreciating it after all.

I don’t know if the real win here is the abandoned town or Merlin (Peter Barkworth).  Merlin is a character alright, but he’s enhanced by the actor playing him.  For a double-double-double agent, he’s really a very likeable rogue.  I even like that Steed frees him at the end after they work together.  It’s also a fun double act with them spending so much of the episode handcuffed together.  Why don’t we get this much fun with Tara?   It does make me wonder if Brian Clemens just disliked Linda Thorson, since she’s been relegated to yet another non-role, this time being unconscious for the bulk of the story, waking up just long enough to jump on someone and then fall right back asleep.  In fairness, while Barkworth isn’t as pleasing to the eyes, he’s actually a much more enjoyable character.  What is it with loveable rogues anyway?  However, the moment I knew I liked him is when he offered Steed a “string of polo ponies”.  Those of you who know what I’m talking about … I’ve got you!  (“My string of poloponies!”)

But as good as he is, it’s the abandoned town that really gets me.  I mean, let’s face it, the big victory around The Hour that Never Was was largely the disconcerting atmosphere of an empty village.  It’s wrong on a very visceral level.  The title was the giveaway because I knew the movie The Morning After but what I didn’t know was that this came first.  The movie didn’t come out until 1986!  Nevertheless, it did help me figure out part of what was going on.  Everything is just left where it was; even money is left to the wind.  What happened?  The episode really builds an effective mystery around this creepy sight.  It loses a little something when the army comes in, but then the twist in the tale actually helps when we learn that the men who have come to diffuse an atomic bomb are actually the one’s planting it and getting it ready for detonation.  It’s a bit of a hairbrained scheme if you activate those little grey cells.  The idea is that the not-so-lovable rogues will hold the nation hostage for millions and if they don’t pay up, boom – atomic bomb!  But I don’t know… I’d be pretty afraid if a nuke went off in the US.  The UK is even smaller and if a nuke were to go off, I don’t think there’d be a safe place to live.  Is this really their plan?  Maybe they had a secret island base no one mentioned.  That would make more sense of it at least.  Regardless, for a change, my attention was held rapt and I barely wrote down any notes as I watched.

To compound the enjoyment, I didn’t recognize the Sergeant visually at first, but the moment he started shouting, I realized I was hearing the great Brian Blessed.  Do you think that was his real last name or was it like, “Brian sure is blessed with a great voice!  If he ever goes into show biz, he should change his last name!”  That’s my guess.  Unfortunately, the one real weak point from the episode comes from Blessed or, as I like to call him, Sgt. Exposition.  (Probably Basil’s granddad!)  He goes on for a solid 5 minutes, maybe 10, just rattling off their evil plans.  Come on now…  Really?  All the while, Thorson is asleep and we know she’s going to wake up eventually, but the buildup is just enough of a delay to have me turn to look at the clock.

Still, all things considered, they do seem to be on a roll and this episode gets a lot right.  This episode even has Joss Ackland in it – you know: “Diplomatic Immunity!” from Lethal Weapon 2.  He’s such a good villain!  Blessed, Ackland, Barkworth, an empty village, a sleeping agent, and an army of mercenaries – this episode may not be the best of the series, but it definitely ranks higher than most.  I may have to go back and review my reviews one day to pick out which episodes make my top 10.  I don’t think it would be that hard.  I’ve only really thoroughly enjoyed about a half dozen before this batch.  The real question for me is, how will the next one rank?  I peeked at the title, and I think we’re in for some Sherlock Holmes next.  I have my fingers crossed…  ML

The view from across the pond: The Avengers: The Curious Case of the Countless Clues