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Reviews
Sykes and A... (1960)
Sykes and a Bus - Brilliant
OK, so I set your expectations too high and you won't agree with me. But I came in to this episode with no expectations at all and this was just brilliant. The basis of 'Sykes and a Bus' is that Eric is the driver and Hattie (his sister, of course) is the 'clippie' on a pre-Routemaster London Bus (the #136, as it happens). They aren't very good at it, and of course their unconventionality makes them a tremendous success and gets up the nose of... well the plots are all pretty much the all the same aren't they. It's the way the writers (Spike Milligan amongst others) set up the jokes and keep you guessing and smiling that is just art at work, a pure pleasure to watch. Hattie looks so young here (Hmm, Eric doesn't, but he must have been 40 I suppose, geez he's still in films at 80 though), and they both act so naturally in their parts, totally relaxed. Anyway - brilliant. Thanks BBC 4 for rolling out your archive!
The Avengers: The Murder Market (1965)
Good start, gets a bit lost
Black-and-white (they were the best ones, eh?): The story started quite strong and it's hard to guess the 'who' and what', but the plot starts to break down around half way through, holes appear, and all your are left with is the inevitable but rather primitive (to today's audience) fight scene. The plot and script and actually rather good until they start recycling the characters, and then - it's so hard not to give spoilers for a 25-min show - they started doing things that just didn't make sense within the context of the characters or plot - you find yourself saying "but if they made him do that, surely that would give the game away...?" - it's a real shame but overall was a highly entertaining half hour.
It was nice to see Penelope Keith.