Peter Cave - The New Avengers: House Of Cards

[dem bones]

Peter Cave - The New Avengers: House Of Cards (Futura 1975, 1976)

Blurb:

HOUSE OF CARDS..
Codename for a terrifying game of espionage: twelve 'sleeping' Russian agents conditioned by narco-hypnosis to live for years as normal English citizens, unless they receive a torn playing card. At that point they become deadly, mindless killers, each programmed to destroy a specific human target.

THE NEW AVENGERS

John Steed, Mike Gambit and the exquisite Purdey find themselves trapped in a web of terror and assassination as the House of Cards mysteriously begins to crumble and killer after killer is unleashed against the top men in British Intelligence. Among the targets – John Steed himself ...

The first in a series of novels based on the TV series, THE NEW AVENGERS, starring Patrick Macnee, Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt.

From W. Howard Baker's Danger Man effort straight on to more Cold War fun and games. Up to page 30 it's apparent from the off: Peter Chopper Cave is definitely cut out for this type of work.

"A chorus of blood-curdling screams ripped into Steed's concentration. From the opposite side of the lounge, Purdey and her screamy-bopper army threw themselves wholeheartedly into creating their planned diversion. Mike Gambit paled under the heavy make-up on his face as the teenage horde rushed toward him .... Purdey led the way, screaming at the top of her voice "Pretty Boy, Pretty Boy. Welcome to England!"

Top Russian nuclear scientist Professor Vasil's arrival at Heathrow is imminent and everyone knows he intends to defect to the West. Steed's old sparring partner, Nickolia Perov, is intent on the Professor's assassination on arrival, so Gambit is shoe-horned into a silver lame outfit and eight-inch platforms and made to stand around the departure lounge with an electric guitar. He is international pop sensation Pretty Boy Power and Purdey (wild frizzy Afro, multi-coloured kaftan, Bowiesque make up) has hired 150 teenyboppers to go on the rampage when Petrov and his henchmen show their faces. It all goes off swimmingly. Steed safely rescues Vasil from the hitmen in his Rolls and Perov faces the dire consequences of failure. There's only one thing for it. He'll have to fake his own funeral and put his master-plan, code name: House of Cards, into operation. Thank goodness he put aside a temporary death drug for such an occasion ...

[pulphack]

It has to be said, the New Avengers books are better than the series - got a couple of episodes on VHS, and it looks ropey as hell. Hate to say it, but the lovely Ms Lumley is awful, and Gareth Hunt is far better than history allows him. As for Steed... well, why is he there apart from continuity?

The books are another matter. Cave excels himself, Walter Harris turns in a good effort, and they're great fun.

This is TV-tie-in posting day...

[killercrab]

Steed is The Avengers and though he takes a less active role than in previous series - Mike Gambit ably compensates. I certainly think the first season is as good as any of the previous Avengers seasons - cybernauts , giant rats , homages to Hitchcock's The Birds , fishing rods bearing deadly hooks. Can't see the problem with Purdey either. She's arguably the most feminine of all Steed's girls and comes across as a great agent - she *might* be my favourite of the lot. The series only falters when they decamp to Canada - it just doesn't work - otherwise I heartily recommend both books and show!

Thingumajig

[pulphack]

exactly, ade - Steed is the Avengers, and that's the only reason he's there... but there's bugger all for him to do, mostly! which is why i just don't get the New Avengers - i know McNee was getting on a bit, but turn him into a Mother-figure and he can have more input. as it is, he's wasted. as was the opportunity, for me. i do agree about the Canada debacle, though - y'know, i can't remember amnything about those episodes, yet i must have watched them at some point. even looking them up in Dave Rogers' 'Complete Avengers' rings no bells.

whisper it, but i even prefer the FILM to the New Avengers!

[killercrab]

Steed being The Avengers is enough of a reason to tune in and he's not sat in a corner under a tartan blanket doing nothing. He remains the lynchpin of the stories whilst the other two do all the heavy lifting - but hey he always prefered to stroll than run - that's Steed. In fact as the first season progesses he loses some girth. The credit sequence is great also nevermind the pace of the episodes.

[jeperson]

One thing that sticks in my mind about all of the New Avengers novelisations is that the sex and gore were considerably ramped up from the actual episodes. House Of Cards has an unpleasant sequence where a brainwashed sleeper agent ends up bayoneting himself and stuck to the ground in a pool of his own blood, To Catch A Rat has a very unpleasant fellow drugging, raping, and killing a young woman, while Fighting Men (Dirtier By The Dozen) has a downright bonkers finale which shifts the action to an unnamed African state with a thinly-veiled Amin-a-like leader, and the main villain ends up being torn to pieces by a swimming-pool-full of crocodiles!

[killercrab]

This also appiles to other tv properties adapted to tie-in novel. DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE paperbacks are much much grittier and sexier. THE PROFESSIONALS and SWEENEY novels though seem about on par with their tv counterparts.

[Jaqhama]

I've got the New Avengers books and seen all the episodes.

Probably prefer most of them to the original series.
Joanna was great.
But then she's my cousin, so I might be a tad prejudiced.

The Professionals...neither the novels nor the series was that great.
The Sweeney series and the Sweeney novels were far superior.

But better than any of the above (including the New Avengers) was James Mitchell's Callan.
Both the novels and the TV series was superb.
He also wrote as James Munro.
The John Craig series.
A so so movie made from the last book with Stanley Baker. Innocent Bystanders.

[andydecker]

The Professionals...neither the novels nor the series was that great

Well, the novels were pretty bad. But that is less the fault of the writers - Ken Bulmer and Rob Holdstock if I am correctly informed - than of the format. They crammed four or five stories in one book which makes each one a glorified summation at best instead a proper tale.

As far as the series goes, well, there is a lot to make fun of, deservedly, and it has aged quite badly. But I for one still love it. Bodie and Doyle were the Jack Bauer of their time

[blakiana]

DEAD DUCK
by Patrick MacNee (and Peter Leslie) (1966)
EDITION: Titan Books 1994

THE AVENGERS is as English as a red double decker bus, a good game of cricket (which we'll lose, of course) and tiny little cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. The series somehow managed to capture the subtle yet mad combination of eccentricity, irony, sexual repression and sense of the absurd that permeates England's weirdly stratified culture. Can something so impossibly complex and stylish be successfully transferred from the small screen to a book?

Well, if DEAD DUCK is anything to go by, yes it can ... but only just.

DEAD DUCK is credited to Patrick MacNee but it's widely acknowledged that Peter Leslie actually did the writing. I've yet to discover how involved MacNee was but the authenticity of the characterizations suggests that he took an active interest in the novel's development.

The story is THE AVENGERS through and through ... totally implausible! Basically, a member of the 'landed gentry' has been refused his rightful title. Typical of the aristocracy, his sanity is questionable at the best of times. Denied his heritage, he tips right over the edge and, together with his friendly neighbourhood mad scientist, plans a terrible revenge against all the unworthy inhabitants of the country.

This doesn't involve a James Bond supervillain-style nuclear threat. Ah no, nothing so potentially infallible. Instead, our crazy villain is going to fix poison to the legs of migrating ducks which, when they land on England's reservoirs for a swim, will render the water toxic thus killing anyone who turns on a tap to fill their kettle ready for a nice cup of tea. Cunning, huh?

Fortunately, Steed and Emma Peel are on hand to foil this dastardly plot with an equally barmy counterplan.

The action occurs in East Anglia, that very odd area of England where many of the original episodes were filmed. The author successfully captures the atmosphere of its barren wilds... and I should know; I lived there for eleven years. He also does an excellent job with Steed and Emma. You can practically hear their voices when you read their jocular exchanges. Also, by detailing their frequent changes of costume, the visual style of the series is well conveyed too.

So, authentic AVENGERS plot, characters, location and style. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, to be blunt, the writing is fairly amateurish. It starts off okay and the fact that the author is so successful in capturing the spirit of THE AVENGERS is easily enough to obscure any shortcomings. Unfortunately, though, as the story progresses the standard slowly deteriorates. A typical example is the author's repeated description of Steed as 'the undercover man'. A few times would have been fine but when it crops up over and over - even four times on one page - it starts to irritate.

In the final chapters, as Steed and Emma's plan kicks into gear, tight and dynamic writing is required but instead we get a rather sloppy and undisciplined effort which I found intrusive enough to mar my enjoyment.

It's not a fault that ruins the book but it's enough to lower its rating from 'excellent' to 'good'.

Overall, though, DEAD DUCK is well-worth reading and is an evocative reminder of those fabulous days of bowler-hatted villain-bashing. In fact, right after finishing it, I reached for the videos ... ...

[killercrab]

I'm probably alone in thinking that THE PROFESSIONALS was a brilliant show - much more watchable to me than the more cynical SWEENEY and CALLAN - though I'd love to see more of Woodward's show! THE PROS came along at exactly the *right* time for me - their over the top gung ho antics , un pc slap 'n tickle and hard hitting storylines that kept nailed me to the couch. I loved the banter between Bodie and Doyle - Collins' theatrically delivered Brut machismo was a delight whilst Shaw kept it *real*.

Of course I now know that Shaw wanted out and that Collins wanted into the SAS - but that just adds to the myth for me. Of course downstairs was George Cowley ( limping for half the first season) until he wanted more of the action.

If I had to choose a show for a desert island I'd take THE PROFESSIONALS without a second thought...

[Craig Herbertson]

Callan was top stuff though from the swinging light bulb to the wee guy 'smelly'. Saw him once at the Edinburgh festival. Top actor

[andydecker]

Collins would have made a great James Bond. He had an edge neither Moore nor Dalton had. ;D

[Jaqhama]

Jan 17, 2009 16:22:43 GMT andydecker said:

Collins would have made a great James Bond. He had an edge neither Moore nor Dalton had. ;D

Too short, apparently.