Evidently the TARDIS was back in 12th Century China or at the Fungus
Mines of Thanagar when this threat to our planet reared its ugly
tendrils.* The Avengers definitely stray into Doctor Who territory as
mundane spies and smugglers are momentarily forgotten to tackle a
telepathic carnivorous plant from outer space. No, seriously, that's the
story. I rather liked "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green." It had overtones
of Quatermass, the Triffids and other fondly remembered British science
fiction, and it's a neat little chiller in its own right.
Several noted British horticulturists have been disappearing without
explanation. In fact, we first see plant expert Laura Berford (rather
pretty actress) kiss her finance and then turn all blank-faced and
zombielike to stride away and get into a waiting Rolls driven by a
sullen-looking chauffeur. Her unsuspecting sweetie is not affected by
whatever whacked her out, and the camera closes in on his hearing aid
for the episode's title. There you have it, the mystery and a clue in
one neat sequence.
Investigating the rash of straying botanists, John Steed offers his
accomplice in counter-crime one of the roses he is growing. I like Mrs
Peel's sly suspicion that, whenever Steed is nice to her, it's because
he's about to draw her into something dangerous. You have to remember
that Emma is not an agent working for whatever ambiguous Ministry that
employs Steed; she's a "talented amateur" going on these cases because
she enjoys the adrenalin rush and the joy of problem-solving. Whatever
relationship she has with Steed (and we're never quite sure) is tinged
by their odd working set-up.
Digging for information in his usual debonair manner, Steed is obviously
getting too close to the truth when he finds a deadly object hidden
under the blanket on his car seat. It's lucky he detects it before
plopping down, because the cactus (which looks just like a nasty prickly
dildo, errr corncob) is in fact poisonous. It's always a good sign when
the detective or secret agent starts getting assassination attempts made
on him, as it means he's finding out what the bad guys want to keep
secret.
Soon enough, our heroes uncover a crashed space capsule that had been in
orbit since a year earlier (things went poorly), with its unfortunate
occupant just a skeleton. Tangled around the wreckage is a huge mass of
spiky vines. It seems the space capsule collided with some sort of alien
plant. What are the odds of that, eh? (Emma helpfully remarks that
recent photos show areas of vegetation on the Moon. Reading THE FORTEAN
TIMES again, Mrs Peel?) A leading horticulturist is called in to see if
she can provide any helpful information. This is one of the lovely
parade of colorful eccentrics who populate the Avengers Universe. Dr
Sheldon is an enthusiastic and excitable old lady with a wonderful
bulldog face, all jowls and eyebags. (actress Athene Seyler reminds me a
bit of the great Margaret Rutherford.)
Dr Sheldon enlightens the Avengers** that what we are dealing with here
is a fast-growing man-eating plant that will likely overrun the Earth in
a few weeks. Not only is the plant telepathic but it exerts a powerful
mental control over people, making them its slaves and sending them out
for fertilizer (Bring me... MULCH!). The only way to resist Vegetus (my
pet name for it, I've been reading too much Golden Age pulp) is to wear
a hearing aid, which acts as a barrier, so Steed and Emma plug theirs in
and set out to do some foliage removal. (This is 1965, remember, so the
"deaf aids" are big things that hook around your ear and have a cord
going down to a sizeable battery worn in your shirt pocket.)
By now, the alien plant is swarming all over the estate where it has
gathered the botanists, covering the building and dragging people off
with its tentacle-like creepers to digest. Worst of all, it's ready to
germinate and spew forth millions of dandelion-like spores to cover the
landscape (eek). Steed and Emma ride to the battle with Dr Sheldon,
bringing a large container of herbicide. But things never go that
easily. Inside the building, with all those tendrils snaking around and
looking for warm flesh, Emma loses her hearing aid. She becomes a
mind-controlled plant slave and Steed must prevent her from dumping the
herbicide. It's a duel between the two partners with the fate of the
world at stake (not for the first nor last time).
There are a lot of remarkably unsettling scenes showing the zombified
servants of the plants carrying out their orders. Inside the building
under siege by Vegetus, atmospheric photography creates quite an ominous
mood (black and white is so well suited for horror), and the numerous
nude female mannequins standing about add a surrealistic touch. All in
all, "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green" is an enjoyable combination of
suspense and goofiness. I particularly like Steed's blithe remark that
the enslaved scientists were "hand-picked" by the planet (har).
Mrs Peel knew Laura Burford (not that well, they were acquaintances),
which gives her added motive at first to investigate. During the final
battle, Emma finds one of Laura's discarded shoes and realizes the plant
has eaten her friend. A brief somber expression crosses Emma's face but
there isn't time to dwell on it. One thing I notice is that both Steed
and Emma are somewhat detached from humanity; they like people well
enough but always remain at a certain distance. Perhaps being all that
sophisticated and witty also means not letting your emotional guard down
and showing your feelings to plainly.
It's worth noting that, in many of the fight scenes, the lithe and
attractive Mrs Peel abruptly transmogrifies into a bulkier
broad-shouldered form with straggly hair. Evidently, she's a
shape-shifter and this is her battle mode. Okay, yes it's a male stunt
double wearing a dreadul wig.
As I notice with the reviews of the 1950s ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, these
sudden appearances of stuntmen were not nearly so noticeable on the much
small TV screens of those days. And, of course, audiences then just
watched and enjoyed without being able to freeze-frame on DVD players
and study every second. Steed gets a stunt double, but it's not as
noticeable. Now, if they had used a stuntwoman to stand in for Patrick
Macnee, we'd have a crossdressing judo-flipping party going on.
_________
*Actually, scriptwriter Robert Banks Stewart later swiped errr reworked
this premise for the DOCTOR WHO episode, "Seeds of Doom." I haven't seen
that exploit of our favorite Time Lord yet, but maybe someday...
**Neither John Steed nor Mrs Peel refer to themselves as "The Avengers",
nor does anyone within the show. It's the name of the series, not the
characters, just as the Doctor from Gallifrey is not actually named
"Doctor Who." I'm calling Steed and Emma "The Avengers" here just to
break up the repetition of their names.
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