Rodney's Reviews
Page 21 of 42
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Rodney's Reviews |
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What the Butler Saw The Avengers Dossier describes this one as "rather a Tara episode, crossing that fine line between silly and stupid." I find myself nodding in agreement with this succinct summary. It probably says something about the trans-Atlantic divide that this episode is more popular with American fans. For me, it is a heavy-handed take on the Upstairs Downstairs of the English class system which is a shame, as the basic idea is a good one. Clemens—at his best—can combine the "silly" or eccentric with the sort of unsettling backdrop which makes the best episodes so memorable and so different from any other series: "A Touch of Brimstone," "Murdersville," etc. John Le Mesurier plays Benson with plenty of style and the opening barber scene is spot-on. However, both Steed's ridiculous disguises and the plastic security sack (for top secret military conferences) are just plain stupid. It is a "fine line," but Clemens steps over it far too often, IMHO. Whereas my father often doesn’t push the eccentric far enough—more comfortable, perhaps, in the Blackman era—Clemens' lack of subtlety often sends his scripts OTT. "What The Butler Saw," despite some lovely touches, is a prime example of this. Perhaps that's why Tony Williamson and Philip Levene create some of the most interesting Rigg episodes. They understood how to "do" eccentric but also kept at least half a foot in the real world, creating good, old-fashioned scripts... with an Avengers modern twist to them. |
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