rabidsamfan | Tailspin

Well, it's been one of those weeks. Not as bad as I'd feared going into it on some fronts, worse than I'd imagined in others. I can probably survive work, now that I've figured out that keeping a sign saying "Medical Coverage" in front of my nose is good for keeping my mouth shut at meetings. And while the doctor and I aren't on the same page, she is willing to keep listening, has given me a prescription which I'm hoping will make the difference between being merely functional and feeling good, and has given me a way to get access to the information I want and need to make my arguments.

So those things went better.

But I have to stop writing fan letters to actors. It's a lot easier on the heart when you keep your love for the character on the screen, who will always be young, and cheeky, and handsome... and alive, as long as the writers are merciful or you don't watch that episode.

Twenty years ago I very shyly let Ian Marter know how much I enjoyed Harry Sullivan on Doctor Who, and he died shortly thereafter, much too young. Beginning of March I worked up my nerve to mail Gareth Hunt a letter telling him how much I'd liked what he'd done in The New Avengers and we lost him this week. And I don't even think I mailed it to the right address.

But here's the letter, anyway, just because:

The one truly wonderful thing about DVD commentaries is that they give you an excuse for writing the mash note that you should have written thirty years ago. So be warned, I've spent those thirty years on the wrong continent to see anything you might have done in the interim and this letter is going to waft enthusiastically about Mike Gambit.*

Still with me? I mean, I did once get to London, and I did see the posters for "Deathtrap" with you in it while I was riding the Tube, but I was very young and very green at the time and the only dress I'd brought with me that trip was my dress blues uniform for the US Air Force (I was in the Air National Guard, on a six week deployment to Boscombe Downs) and I wasn't entirely sure that it was even possible to go to theatrical performances in jeans and a t-shirt – not that I could have afforded a ticket, probably. I was young and green and broke. I don't remember how much money I'd taken with me for travel, food, and entertainment when I was off base, but I think it worked out to about ten pounds per week. I did take a picture of the poster, though, just to prove that I'd gotten to the same city you were in.

*sigh* Ah, yes, it was a lovely crush, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Mind you, from what I know now, I probably didn't even see an episode of The New Avengers until after the show had stopped production. I think I was in Denver then, instead of Omaha, and what I mostly remember is staying up late and using the tv in the basement to try to let the other people in the house sleep. Have you ever tried to watch television in a basement? Especially when the only antenna involved was a set of "rabbit ears"? I had to hold onto one ear with my left hand to stave off static blizzards and refrain from jumping up and down too hard when something fun happened on the screen, while I frantically adjusted the volume during every commercial break with my right hand so that my parents wouldn't come down and politely point out that I had to be on campus in a different city by eight o'clock in the morning. But it was worth flunking calculus to watch The New Avengers, it really was. (I didn't need calculus anyway...)

I couldn't tell you why I tuned in the first time... Probably because of Steed. I was old enough to remember some of the Emma Peel episodes and Tara King. I know why I tuned in the second time though. Gambit! He was cute, tough, witty, cute, intelligent, brave, and did I mention cute? Well, okay, I thought he was sexy, but very quietly and only in the back of my head where I wasn't going to tease myself about it. (I was kind of young for my age.) But I definitely thought he improved the scenery quotient, and after one episode I was hooked. This wasn't always easy! I can remember at least one occasion when the local station pre-empted TNA for some stupid movie and I had to frantically adjust the rabbit ears and apply wire and aluminum foil to bring in the signal from the station forty miles away. "Angels of Death," it was – and it's the episode I remembered best years later. Standing on a chair for ninety minutes (you wouldn't believe how many commercials they stuck in...) sticks with you, even if you are having to construe most of what you're "seeing" from the voices and occasional clear glimpses through the haze.

Flash forward many years and you find me, older, wiser, and plumper in the pocket, wandering through a store and finding the first season of TNA on DVD. Oh, frabjous day! Calloo, callay! (Of course, now I had to buy a DVD player...) Took it home, started watching... wait. Wasn't there an episode with Steed in a maze? Eventually the second season came out on DVD and put me out of my misery as I finally got to see "Angels of Death" without snow. Watched all the episodes cheerfully and remembered why I liked them, dug out my paperback novelizations and remembered why I'd always found them slightly inadequate, but moved on to other DVDs of old shows I also remembered liking.

Then last year I so I had a lot of free time on my hands. And I got in the mood to watch TNA again. And having watched a couple of episodes, I thought... "gee, there must be some fanfic** on the internet..." and I went looking. And there wasn't.

There was stuff about Steed and Emma – lots of it! But only a few mentions of Purdey and Gambit. But looking around I found The Avengers Forever, and the forum there (and more TNA fans!), and that led me, via devious paths, to the new DVD set (I can play it on my computer!) and the collectible cards and a happy resurgence of my interest in the show.

And the wonderful thing is, I don't have to depend on the memory of that young, green college student to love it. The fast forward button has something to do with that – but not nearly as often as I have to employ it for most shows of the era. (It mostly gets a workout over Soo Choy, and his "Italian" buddies, actually. You know, you skip the bad guys and "Trap" is actually a pretty decent episode!) But it's like a book you've read a dozen times. You already know what's happening, so you can skip to the good parts. And in TNA's case, that means skipping to Steed, Purdey and Gambit. And paying attention! The stuff you notice when you can look at something frame by frame is wonderful.

I mean, I know you all probably did a lot of the small stuff deliberately, but it really is fantastic. Like the shadow of "Walton's" razor wavering all over the other fellow's face in "Faces" – or the fact that that episode is the only one where Gambit isn't wearing the ring on his left hand or the chain with the small pendant around his neck. (We've decided that it must be a St. Christopher, by the by. What other kind of jewelry would a former sailor value so much that it didn't occur to him to take it off with everything else he owns? We could be wrong, of course, but when you start trying to treat "slightly thicker cardboard" characters as if they're real you end up coming to all sorts of interesting conclusions.) Walton wouldn't have those things, of course, but that the costume department remembered is wonderful.

In fact, the only "continuity error" I can think of, off the top of my head, is that the sound effects guy forgot that Gambit was stockingfooted at the end of "Trap" and put in the sound of shoes hitting the floor. From show to show there might be some odd skips, like Gambit suddenly acquiring a kitchen in his front room, but in general, each episode is consistent within itself – and that's actually rarer than it ought to be.

And then of course there's the acting. I love watching the eyes: where they're going – who's looking at whom. Like in "Tale of the Big Why" after Gambit's walked into the gun he doesn't know is unloaded. He does that little gunslinger spin with his finger in the trigger guard and then looks up to see how Purdey's holding up. Doesn't even glance at Steed until the older man comes over to him tossing that clip of bullets in the air.

I notice, of course, that I'm talking about acting and then using the names of the characters, but that's just it. I forget that I'm watching actors. Or even characters. I'm watching three people. They're having adventures, but they're also having fun, and they like each other in ways that are sometimes more complicated than they want them to be. I mean, take the kiss in "Sleeper" – you can see that Gambit kisses Purdey's hand on sheer impulse, and the expression on his face when she kisses him back is the look of someone who has just been pleasantly poleaxed.

(You do know you've got great eyebrows? Yes... I thought so.)

Yes, I know some of it is the scripts and the direction. But I'm allowed to love it in "House of Cards" after Gambit gets stabbed and Purdey and Steed have obviously made him sit while they do the searching through the house. I love the way he comes into the conversation for a moment, cracking a joke, but then goes quiet again as he continues to contemplate the half-card in his hand. I love it that Steed sends Purdey off alone and takes Gambit with him – that the story lets me wonder if Steed – who has had a lot more experience at suddenly finding out that a trusted friend has turned bad – isn't going to take a chance to say something helpful on the way to visit Roland. And I love it that the episode has Gambit reassuring Steed when they discover that David Miller was a sleeper agent.

I know I'm kind of Gambit-centric, but to me the relationship between Steed and Purdey was always the least interesting because it was the most straightforward. Gambit and Purdey – yup, all sorts of interesting possibilities there. Gambit and Steed – all sorts of interesting complications... especially after "Hostage". (Again, a bit of acting that utterly delights me – watching the play of expressions on Gambit's face at the tag end of "Hostage" when Purdey gives Steed that hug. It's wonderful the way he ...er... you... manage to go from surprise to resigned amusement via something which might almost be hurt pride except that he's seen it coming.)

Er... right, DVD commentaries... uhm... yes.

I enjoyed them very much. I did kind of want to kick the "interviewer" because he seemed to have a set of questions he wanted to elicit the answers for and he didn't give either of you enough time to react to what you were seeing on screen. I wasn't hoping for a rehash of interviews or show history I could get from other accounts – I was hoping for a lot more of "we filmed this here" and stories like the one about the fellow who owned the folly. Still, I did manage to confirm the existence of the tattoo! (Which I was inordinately pleased with myself over, since I'd spotted it peeping out from under a sleeve in "Faces".) I did get a charge out of what you said about watching the show and getting caught up in it. (And I have to agree with you, that scene with Purdey and the charcoal burner in "The Eagle's Nest" is one of my all time favorites.)

I'm not sorry I spent the money, even if I did have to order them from the UK. And to be honest, if anyone ever does a frame by frame restoration and more commentaries, I'll buy that set too! There are advantages to being older and employed, I must say. So, if the chance ever comes along to do more commentaries, by all means do! I'm not bored yet! And if you manage to tell us more about the stunts, or the cars, or the sets, or whatever – hooray! (Personally, I'd love to know what might have happened to the scripts for the other Canadian episodes that didn't get made. I've seen articles talking about Gambit and Purdey approaching Niagara Falls in a barrel....?)

So thank you, once for all you did thirty years ago, and again for the commentaries. It's been a lot of fun!

*I've got italics and I'm not afraid to use them!
**er... you do know what fanfic is, right? An excuse to watch a show over and over looking for minute details that might be of interest to three other people on the planet, but are fun to know anyway. It's an expensive hobby, believe me! Between the cards, dvds (for me and for long distance friends I'm trying to get interested enough to read my stories) and used books I've probably spent a thousand bucks on TNA this year.

Goodbye, Gareth. I'll miss you. I'm glad I've still got Mike Gambit, though. Still young, and handsome, and brilliant...