AVENGERS, THE: TOO MANY CHRISTMAS TREES (TV)
Summary
One in this series of spy dramas following the exploits of John Steed, a British secret agent.
Steed experiences a disturbing nightmare set in a field of fake Christmas trees. In it he unwraps a present which turns out to be a photograph of himself, and is beckoned by a malformed Santa Claus over to a bed, where he finds a mustached man dead. That morning Steed is visited by Mrs. Peel. He tells her about his recent nightmares, mentioning that the man in his dreams was Frederick "Freddy" David Marshall, an old colleague of his who has been accused of giving away vital government secrets. Steed claims he is the only other person in possession of these secrets. Both he and Mrs. Peel are disturbed to discover a newspaper article about Freddy's mysterious death the previous night in a hotel room. Meanwhile, a council of mysterious people sits about a rotating table, replacing a photograph of Freddy with one of Steed.
Simultaneously, Steed decides to take a nap and experiences another nightmare with strange imagery, such as a large estate, a menacing face, and the Santa Claus from the previous dream. He is then awakened by Mrs. Peel. He informs her that Freddy died from an escalating nervous breakdown which overloaded his brain, causing it to shut down. Mrs. Peel invites Steed to accompany her to a Christmas party held at the house of famous publisher Brandon Storey. Steed is distressed to find a Christmas card sent to him by Freddy featuring several of the images he saw in his dreams. Steed's discomfort increases when he drives to Storey's house with Mrs. Peel and finds that it matches the estate he saw in his dream, and several other objects within also correspond to his nightmares. Mrs. Peel tells Steed that Storey has a noted obsession with the works of Charles Dickens, and has modeled his house and furnishings in a Dickensian style.
The arrival of Steed and Mrs. Peel is secretly watched by Martin Trasker and Jeremy Wade, two of Storey's guests. They have lured Steed to the house to partake in some manner of "experiment." Steed tells Mrs. Peel about the similarities between his nightmares and Storey's furnishings, and she begins to suspect something strange is happening as well. Later, Steed and Mrs. Peel meet Storey, who seems to be an amiable old man. Jeremy and Martin introduce themselves as well. In private, Jeremy and Martin discuss further details of their "experiment:" it turns out that they are part of a conspiracy of psychic individuals trying to extract key information from the minds of people like Steed. Jeremy believes that their attempts to do so with Freddy caused his death, although Martin tells him it was only a coincidence. Storey introduces Mrs. Peel and Steed to Dr. Felix Teasel, a noted psychoanalyst. Storey realizes that although Dr. Teasel seems familiar with him, he cannot remember ever meeting Dr. Teasel.
The psychic conspiracy use their powers to will Steed into feeling tired, causing him to go upstairs to take a nap. The psychics cause Steed to experience another nightmare wherein he puts on an 18th-Century outfit and is brought to be executed at a guillotine by the malformed Santa and an unfamiliar young woman. The guillotine blade descends and Steed wakes up. He goes out to the balcony, where he sees the young woman from his dream arriving at the party. Mrs. Peel visits him and Steed tells her about the dream. The young woman in question is Janice Crane; Steed says he must have met her before but Mrs. Peel knows this isn't true. Steed also seems to believe that his dreams are merely being influenced by his surroundings, a portrait of Sydney Carton from "A Tale of Two Cities" in his room. Meanwhile, Janice meets with Martin and Jeremy; she is the most powerful of the psychics and they plan to use her to weaken Steed's mental defenses under the guise of performing a party game. Jeremy objects to this plan, believing that they have gone too far, but soon he relents. Janice, however, suspects that Jeremy may betray them.
The party guests are brought Dickensian costumes for the party that night. Mrs. Peel receives an Oliver Twist costume, and Steed is disturbed to find that he has been given a Sydney Carton costume, the same one he saw in his dream. They go downstairs to find that the party is in full swing. Mrs. Peel tries to get Steed to see that there is some sort of pattern to his nightmares, but he does not appear to take her seriously. Storey announces a "party game" and Janice is blindfolded in order to perform extra-sensory perception on Steed. She starts by correctly guessing any object he picks up, but soon begins infiltrating his mind, causing him to hallucinate. Mrs. Peel, realizing what is happening, breaks Janice's concentration by dropping a glass, freeing Steed from her mind control.
At the stroke of midnight Storey announces that it is officially Christmas Day. As the party continues Mrs. Peel approaches Jeremy, realizing that he is involved in the mental assault on Steed. He reveals that they have been conducting a "psychic experiment" but says only that he will meet her later to tell her more, as there are too many other people around. Janice tells Martin of Jeremy's treachery. Later that night, Mrs. Peel goes to a "Great Expectations" themed room, where Jeremy instructed her to meet him. However, she discovers Jeremy has been killed and his body propped up in a chair. She tries to tell Steed about what is happening, but he appears to have lost his mind, not paying any attention to her warnings. However, he is also aware of what is happening and is using his ramblings to prevent Janice and the others from entering his mind. Martin plans to use sedatives to put Steed to sleep, thus making him vulnerable to their telepathic attacks.
Mrs. Peel wakes up Dr. Teasel to try to tell him about what's happening to Steed. She leads him to where she found Jeremy's body only to find it missing. She hypothesizes that several people are working in concert to increase their telepathic powers, although Dr. Teasel seems skeptical of this claims. She witnesses Jenkins, Storey's butler, prepare a drink for Steed laced with sedatives. Before she can stop him, Dr. Teasel holds her at gunpoint, revealing that he is part of the conspiracy as well. Jenkins gives Steed the drink and he appears to take it, drifting off to sleep. Janice tries to enter his mind again, but he seems to somehow put up a struggle against her. Mrs. Peel knocks out Dr. Teasel while he's distracted and rushes to Steed's aid. She finds him singing aloud, and he reveals that he poured out the drink and is singing to prevent the psychics from concentrating enough to mentally assault him. Mrs. Peel joins in as well when she realizes that she must have been mentally compelled to invite Steed to Storey's house in the first place.
Using song to deflect further psychic assaults, Mrs. Peel and Steed make their way downstairs and discover a secret door in the parlor. It leads into a room filled with funhouse mirrors. The psychics realize that they are getting close and dispatch Jenkins and Martin to stop them. Steed is knocked unconscious, but Mrs. Peel manages to subdue the attackers herself. Finally the malformed Santa Claus from Steed's dreams appears armed with a pistol. Mrs. Peel manages to avoid the shots long enough for Steed to regain consciousness and knock out the Santa. When unmasked, it is revealed that the Santa Claus is actually Storey, the mastermind behind the whole thing. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: August 11, 1966 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:51:02
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: 109076
- GENRE: Drama, spy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, spy
- SERIES RUN: ABC/Thames (United Kingdom) - TV series, 1961-1969; ABC (United States) - 1966-1969
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Julian Wintle … Producer
- Brian Clemens … Associate Producer
- Roy Baker … Director
- Tony Williamson … Writer
- Laurie Johnson … Music by
- Patrick Macnee … Cast, John Steed
- Diana Rigg … Cast, Emma Peel
- Merwyn Johns … Cast, Brandon Storey
- Edwin Richfield … Cast, Dr. Felix Teasel
- Jeannette Sterke … Cast, Janice Crane
- Alex Scott … Cast, Martin Trasker
- Robert James … Cast, Jenkins
- Barry Warren … Cast, Jeremy Wade