Grant, a British agent, snips through barbed wire and gains access to private property. He has not gotten far when a mantrap closes on his foot. As he tries to free himself, a poisonous snake slithers towards him, and takes a bite. Nearby three young people in strange yellow uniforms look on in amusement.
So begins 'Invasion Of The Earthmen', officially the first 'Tara King' episode. John Bryce, formerly a producer during the Honor Blackman series, was brought back to push the show in a different direction from that of the previous season, which was felt to have been extreme. Bryce produced a total of three episodes - 'Invitation To A Killing', 'The Great Great Britain Crime', and, of course, this one - before he was fired and Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell reinstated. The first two were remounted, shown under different titles, but 'Earthmen' got off comparatively lively. It is therefore chiefly of interest as an example of how the series might have looked under a different producer. On the evidence of this, it seems Bryce was trying to bring it into line with the I.T.C. shows of that period, in particular 'The Champions'.
Steed and Tara find a brochure in Grant's room produced by the Alpha Academy - a school for young people of above average intelligence. It is run in militaristic fashion by Brigadier Brett ( William Lucas, later to play 'Dr.Gordon' in the kids' show 'Adventures Of Black Beauty' ). The Avengers show up pretending to be husband and wife, and wishing to enrol their 'son'. Snooping around, Tara comes across a man in a spacesuit ( who looks like Humpty Dumpty ) floating about in mid-air. The Academy is secretly training an army who will then go into suspended animation and colonise other planets ( who they are expected to fight out there is never made clear ).
It comes as no surprise that this should be the work of Terry Nation, creator of 'the Daleks' for 'Dr.Who'. 'Earthmen' could easily fit into the Jon Pertwee era of said programme ( come to think of it 'The Tomorrow People' did a similar story called 'The Doomsday Men' ). As 'Tara', Thorson is a little bland ( she got better over time ), and that blonde wig makes her look like 'Carry On' star Liz Fraser! ( special footage had to be added to explain why Tara had different coloured hair ).
Another user has commented on the similarity of the Alpha Academy uniforms to those worn in 'Star Trek'. This must be a coincidence as the Gene Roddenberry-created show had not yet been screened in Britain when this was made. The Academy deserve reprimand for its truly shocking decor - a two-tone effect comprised of green and purple. Ugh! Among the precocious youngsters are Lucy Fleming ( later to play 'Jenny' in Nation's 'Survivors' ), Warren Clarke ( of 'Dalziel & Pascoe' ), and Christopher Chittell ( 'Eric Pollard' of 'Emmerdale' ).
The director, Don Sharp, was responsible for the Hammer Horror classics 'Kiss Of The Vampire' and 'Rasputin The Mad Monk'.
An enjoyable episode then, but avoid it if you hate spiders ( Tara finds herself in a tunnel with loads of the things at one point )!
So begins 'Invasion Of The Earthmen', officially the first 'Tara King' episode. John Bryce, formerly a producer during the Honor Blackman series, was brought back to push the show in a different direction from that of the previous season, which was felt to have been extreme. Bryce produced a total of three episodes - 'Invitation To A Killing', 'The Great Great Britain Crime', and, of course, this one - before he was fired and Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell reinstated. The first two were remounted, shown under different titles, but 'Earthmen' got off comparatively lively. It is therefore chiefly of interest as an example of how the series might have looked under a different producer. On the evidence of this, it seems Bryce was trying to bring it into line with the I.T.C. shows of that period, in particular 'The Champions'.
Steed and Tara find a brochure in Grant's room produced by the Alpha Academy - a school for young people of above average intelligence. It is run in militaristic fashion by Brigadier Brett ( William Lucas, later to play 'Dr.Gordon' in the kids' show 'Adventures Of Black Beauty' ). The Avengers show up pretending to be husband and wife, and wishing to enrol their 'son'. Snooping around, Tara comes across a man in a spacesuit ( who looks like Humpty Dumpty ) floating about in mid-air. The Academy is secretly training an army who will then go into suspended animation and colonise other planets ( who they are expected to fight out there is never made clear ).
It comes as no surprise that this should be the work of Terry Nation, creator of 'the Daleks' for 'Dr.Who'. 'Earthmen' could easily fit into the Jon Pertwee era of said programme ( come to think of it 'The Tomorrow People' did a similar story called 'The Doomsday Men' ). As 'Tara', Thorson is a little bland ( she got better over time ), and that blonde wig makes her look like 'Carry On' star Liz Fraser! ( special footage had to be added to explain why Tara had different coloured hair ).
Another user has commented on the similarity of the Alpha Academy uniforms to those worn in 'Star Trek'. This must be a coincidence as the Gene Roddenberry-created show had not yet been screened in Britain when this was made. The Academy deserve reprimand for its truly shocking decor - a two-tone effect comprised of green and purple. Ugh! Among the precocious youngsters are Lucy Fleming ( later to play 'Jenny' in Nation's 'Survivors' ), Warren Clarke ( of 'Dalziel & Pascoe' ), and Christopher Chittell ( 'Eric Pollard' of 'Emmerdale' ).
The director, Don Sharp, was responsible for the Hammer Horror classics 'Kiss Of The Vampire' and 'Rasputin The Mad Monk'.
An enjoyable episode then, but avoid it if you hate spiders ( Tara finds herself in a tunnel with loads of the things at one point )!