The Avengers Forever: The Young Avenger

	The Young Avenger Page 38 of 110

Two's a Crowd
By Joseph A.P. Lloyd

Direction: Three out of five. Unfortunately, there is nothing special about the direction in this episode as you might expect from someone on the top ten list like Roy Baker. There are also rather horrible shots of model aircraft, which seem very cheesy, even in 1965. Were they meant to be like this or not?

Plot: Three out of five. There really does not seem to be much of a plot, as Brodny is just lucky in getting Webster when he did by turning up at the fashion show. It is just like him not to be really clued into it, but, on the other hand, I am not entirely sure that there was a Webster or not, as it gets very confusing at the end.

Music: Three and a half out of five. Despite Johnson's reluctance to come up with any other music apart from the rather cheesy number at the fashion show specifically for this episode, most of the theme from "The Cybernauts" is reused, so I will give it a reasonable score for quoting from a superior elder.

Wittiness: Three out of five. Another rather lacklustre script from Levene, which is a shame as he is usually so good at what he does (see The Hidden Tiger and Escape in Time for confirmation). The idea of Steed versus Webster is certainly interesting, but not witty, just funny. There are a few good lines, however. David has picked up on one: 'That's nice.' 'You're not smoking it.'

Action: One out of five. There are no great scuffles between any members of the cast in this one, but it is mostly implied that something goes on between Steed, Carson and Webster, if Webster actually exists (I am not even sure that he does).

Cars/Sets/Locations: Three out of five. There might be quite a lot of location filming in this one, and it is mostly rather good, especially in the grounds of the Embassy. However, there really are too many tacky sets to give this a really high score, and Steed seems to have dumped his beloved vintage cars for a Humber Super Snipe. Oh dear.

Introduction/Tag: Three out of five. Oh dear, another silly Brodny scene. At first, we are meant to think that the model plane is real, but then we realise that it is not, and we see it drop the bomb. A very silly scene, but even then the model plane scene seems silly. The tag is great, my sister, an equestrian person if there ever was one, thought it was great to see Steed and Emma on their horses!

Overall Impression: Brodny is irritating, the plot is confusing and the sets are awful in this one. This could have so easily sunk without trace, which would have been a shame considering the talent of both the director and the writer in other episodes. However, it redeems itself by having Emma working as a shop girl, that silly fashion show, and the whole idea that Macnee can play Webster without making it look silly is great. Not as bad as "The See-Through Man," but against stuff like Levene's own "The Cybernauts," this one just manages to be a memorable also-ran.

Rating: Six and a half out of ten.