The Man From UNCLE # 007 Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable…

The Man From UNCLE # 007

Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable fantasy-driven spy yarn about brain-washing.

• There’s a great start to this when an UNCLE agent has a sort-of meltdown before dying. Some words he mumbled are enough to send Solo undercover working for an eccentric financier.
• Robert Vaughn is fun to watch (and is clearly having fun) as Applegate, his clumsy undercover character.
• Sadly, he breaks that cover quite fast and we then get some running around with a damsel-in-distress for most of the second act.
• After that, the second half of the episode is mostly conversations and escape attempts, with Solo and said-damsel held prisoner while being told what their eventual fate is to be. It’s fine, but really not much is happening. And, sometimes, it is very obvious that the outdoor setting is really inside a studio.
• Carroll O’Connor is in top form, however, as the mastermind behind everything: a plan to brainwash scores of important people around the world and send them back, as human time-bombs with subliminal instructions/beliefs implanted.
• It’s a purely fantasy-based threat, but the tone of the story never gets too silly. There are only a couple of examples of outright humour. Mostly quips from Solo.
• Illya Kuryakin appears only in the opening and closing scenes.
• It’s a straightforward story. The mystery generated by the strong opening is explained away quite quickly. And once the villain appears he doesn’t really do much except talk to Solo.

6/10

The Man From UNCLE # 007 Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable…

The Man From UNCLE # 007

Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable fantasy-driven spy yarn about brain-washing.

• There’s a great start to this when an UNCLE agent has a sort-of meltdown before dying. Some words he mumbled are enough to send Solo undercover working for an eccentric financier.
• Robert Vaughn is fun to watch (and is clearly having fun) as Applegate, his clumsy undercover character.
• Sadly, he breaks that cover quite fast and we then get some running around with a damsel-in-distress for most of the second act.
• After that, the second half of the episode is mostly conversations and escape attempts, with Solo and said-damsel held prisoner while being told what their eventual fate is to be. It’s fine, but really not much is happening. And, sometimes, it is very obvious that the outdoor setting is really inside a studio.
• Carroll O’Connor is in top form, however, as the mastermind behind everything: a plan to brainwash scores of important people around the world and send them back, as human time-bombs with subliminal instructions/beliefs implanted.
• It’s a purely fantasy-based threat, but the tone of the story never gets too silly. There are only a couple of examples of outright humour. Mostly quips from Solo.
• Illya Kuryakin appears only in the opening and closing scenes.
• It’s a straightforward story. The mystery generated by the strong opening is explained away quite quickly. And once the villain appears he doesn’t really do much except talk to Solo.

6/10

The Man From UNCLE # 006 Arlene Martel. Slow to start but…

The Man From UNCLE # 006 

Arlene Martel. Slow to start but ultimately very enjoyable adventure.

• The first act is reasonably slow. After a man Solo and Kuryakin had under surveillance is murdered there’s a lot of talk and set-up for the duo’s trip to Rome (as this is the only clue they have).
• Once in Rome, and still with no clue as to what is happening, the episode starts to pick up with the arrival of an American woman into Solo’s bedroom in the middle of the night. This is only a b-plot but at least it’s something.
• We are a full 24 minutes into the 50-minute story before the villain and his plan is revealed to us (and to Solo). Luckily it’s a very entertaining scheme and Paul Stevens is terrific as the schemer: the deposed leader of a Middle Eastern nation.
• This is one of those installments where David McCallum appears very little, and in little more than a supporting role. Illya shows up at the end to rescue Solo, basically. Also underused is the ever-stunning Arlene Martel as an Italian agent the boys liaise with. She only gets a couple of scenes, but she pretty much steals the episode nonetheless.
• As a solo Solo story it works really well because Robert Vaughn is such a consummate star. His Solo never gets his feathers ruffled now matter how much danger he is in. The guy has a wry smile for everything and comes across as very cool indeed. And that’s always fun to watch.

8/10

The Man From UNCLE

Back in the ‘80s The Man from UNCLE​ was on TV a lot. In the Summer of ‘82 BBC1 showed four of the feature films. I was 11. And I loved them. Even in the 80s this show was still cool as f*ck and a big hit with me, and everyone I knew at the time.
Twelve months later, August of 1983, once again at 7 on Friday nights, BBC1 showed the second batch of four films. I was 12 and I still loved every of them.
A couple of years later, actual one-hour episodes (starting from season 2) showed up on Mondays at 6:25 on RTE2 an that was my first chance to see the whole series as it was meant to be seen. (The cinema films are just re-edited episodes, after all.) Being in my mid-teens I re-evaluated the series a bit. It was still cool, but some episodes were terrible (I did not realise at the time that different producers cause different seasons to have very, very different standards of quality and that you are better off watching the first two seasons.) Nonetheless, I kept watching every week. Even a bad UNCLE episode is good fun, thanks to the cast and the occasional jokes.
And when it next appeared (starting about 1990, late on Fridays on ITV) I watched all it again. I in my twenties now and fully expected when I watched the first episode that i would not like it. In fact, I greatly enjoyed it (they were back in Season 2 and it was a Julie Sommars​ episode and it was terrific) and I was hooked all over again.
Mission Impossible was the smartest 60s spy series.
Danger Man was the gritty, realistic one. Get Smart, the funny one.
The Avengers was the most inventive 60s spy series. Genius-level ideas most of the time.
It Takes A Thief was the thriller, the one with a sense of danger and excitement, while I Spy was the most cosmopolitan, sophisticated and grown up.

That leaves UNCLE as the cool one. Not a bad position in the grand scheme of things.

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Friday 13 August 1982 BBC1
19.00 One of Our Spies is Missing!

Friday 20 August 1982 BBC1
18.25 How to Steal the World

Friday 27 August 1982 BBC1
19.00 The Karate Killers

Friday 3 September 1982 BBC1
18.50 The Helicopter Spies

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Friday 29 July 1983 19.05 BBC1
The Spy With My Face

Friday 5 August 1983 BBC1
18.50 One Spy Too Many

Friday 19 August 1983 BBC1
18.30 To Trap a Spy

Friday 26 August 1983 BBC1
18.30 The Spy in the Green Hat

The Man From UNCLE # 005

Robert Culp is excellent as the villain in this very intelligent and witty fantasy story. Best episode so far, by a long shot. Cast includes Rockne Tarkington who has a good scene with Culp at the very end. And all the scenes with Ilya being accidentally clobbered by Elsa Barnman are very funny. 9/10