retro-the-best....: Jan 19, 2014

Sunday, January 19, 2014

[New post] Retro Review: The Avengers -The Hour that Never Was

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Retro Review: The Avengers -The Hour that Never Was

by dailypop

'The Hour that Never Was'

steedo Episode 4-09
Written byRoger Marshall Directed by Gerry O'Hara
Transmitted 26 November 1965

Mrs. Peel accompanies Steed to an old RAF base that is being decommissioned. On the way to the base, Steed veers the Bentley off the road to avoid hitting a dog that had feverishly jumped in front of the car. Steed is looking forward to seeing old friends before they are dispersed across the globe and an era is ended. On foot, the pair approach the base while Steed spins yarns about his wild and carefree days of yore, but something is amiss. The Base is entirely empty, and despite obvious signs for a celebratory welcome, all signs indicate that it is a ghost town. During their investigation, they witness a milkman getting shot and are then assailed by an ear-shattering sonic attack. In the wake of the assault, Steed finds that he has lost Mrs. Peel only to find a strange tramp named Hickey who lives out of the discarded food and drink, but there's not much to nosh on these days. However, Hicket is happy to see his dog again, the same one that prompted the car wreck on the road. It turns out that the dog belongs to the guard. Inspired, Steed rushes off to see if he can find anyone else and is knocked unconscious... only to awaken in his wrecked Bentley again at precisely the same hour.

A very slow-moving and weird adventure, The Hour that Never Was focuses mainly on Steed which suits me fine. I adore the chemistry of Steed and Peel, but it is nice to see them on their own from time to time. The story is that it centers on Steed's jovial association with other servicemen. As Steed is such a well behaved and particularly well-mannered gent, it's interesting to see him in his element among others, including the dashing Gerald Harper (of Adam Adamant fame). The disquiet of the deserted base is very cleverly counter-balanced by the scene when the base is full of people who are obviously unaware that they are being manipulated.

The story has a weird almost dream-like quality as scenes are familiar yet different and the silence is replaced by music and laughter. It is a pleasant moment when Steed is reunited with Mrs Peel who is far more clever than he is and deduces what is really going on. Mind control via high frequency sound waves to create a vast network of sleeper agents across the world. What follows is the usual fisticuffs and a fanfare for each punch thrown. One aspect of the Avengers that continues to attract me is that even in the face of adversity and absolute destruction, Steed and Peel are unflappable.

How can you not love this show?

dailypop | January 19, 2014 at 10:27 pm | Tags: avengers steed peel | Categories: Cult TV | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-4T3

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[New post] The Outer Limits ‘Corpus Earthling’

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The Outer Limits ‘Corpus Earthling’

by dailypop

Corpus Earthling

TheOuterLimits-logo Season 1, Episode 9
Written by Orin Borsten and Louis Charbonneau
Directed by Gerd Oswald
Transmitted 18 November, 1963
Rocks: silent, inanimate objects torn from the Earth's ancient crust. Yielding up to man over the long centuries all that is known of the planet on which we live withholding from man forever their veiled secrets of the nature of matter and cosmic catastrophe, the secrets of other worlds in the vastness of the universe, of other forms of life, of strange organisms beyond the imagination of man.

One of the greatest strengths of the Outer Limits for me is its use psychological horror, and it's greatest star is Robert Culp. This story combines both in one of the most chilling and disturbing of tales... about killer rocks from outer space.

The story features a rational physician Paul Cameron who has dropped in to his wife's work space (where she works with a geologist Jonas Temple) to take her out to lunch. While there, he is left alone for a moment and upsets an experiment causing an explosion that prompts an unusual reaction... he hears voices. The voices are insidious and plotting evil deeds... and only Paul can hear them.

His wife Laurie is supportive and worried, but Paul slumps into a deep state of paranoia and anxiety as a series of tests reveal that the voices (which he presumed were picked up through a faulty metal cranial implant) can only be in his head. Returning to the lab, he once more hears the voices who compel him to jump out the window. At home, he cannot rest. He refuses to answer the phone or the door. His wife is beside herself and in a move of desperation the pair decide to take an impromptu honeymoon, making up for the one they never took after getting married not long ago. As they leave with very few belongings, the phone rings unanswered. The lovers disappear for Mexico in the middle of the night, hoping to find some relief from what is surely a mental breakdown.

Unfortunately, they are very wrong. The phonecall is from Dr Jonas Temple, who has become a zombified slave of the alien rocks. His hair a shocking white frizz, his face gaunt, he plots with his fellow rock to kill Paul Cameron who knows far too much and is a direct threat to their plans. Rational people leave a trail, one that is easily traced, so the aliens start tracking the lovers to their getaway.

Corpus Earthling is so haunting, so unsettling and emotionally wrought with tension that it is heart breaking to watch. Seeing Culp's character struggle to confront his fears and work past them is made all the more painful when the true nature of his situation is revealed. One of the most moving and stunning of the first season, Corpus Earthling is a classic.