Autokill

DVD, The Champions (Autokill)

Many TV shows feature a final episode in which one of the main cast is injured and lies dying in bed (see the finales for 'Starsky & Hutch' and 'BUGS' for two examples), while the other characters have to solve the mystery and beat the villains. This can be a little frustrating as you want to see all the cast together as much as possible for one last time, but 'The Champions' judged it just right as we have a greater amount of time seeing them all at Nemesis HQ than probably any other episode, and the one among their number to be the victim is Tremayne, allowing the series' format to play out as it usually does: he gives them a briefing and they do a mission. This time it's personal, one of their own agents turns up to work one day and blows away a Colonel, then it takes at least three men to restrain him. There's no rhyme or reason in his actions because it's all part of a murderous scheme by villains intent on bringing down Nemesis from within using hallucinatory psychedelic drugs to brainwash them into killing. It's fitting that the finale, rather than being a globetrotting, impersonal adventure, should take place entirely in Geneva, and largely within Nemesis' famous building. For those of us that are insatiably curious about the organisation we see every week, and specifically the headquarters and its members, this is a fascinating chance to see more than we ever did before. For that reason alone it would be a good watch, but it's also blessed with a chilling story, sees our champions working well together, and features among the best villains of the series: an impressive concoction!

The villainous enemies of Nemesis are no mere dictators or criminals, they are bent on taking down this organisation that has stood against so much evil. And yet, as is essential in making a dimensional foil for the good guys, they have their personalities and foibles that bring them interest beyond a diabolical scheme. It should be no surprise that Brian Clemens wrote the screenplay as his episodes tended to be among the better stories and once again he comes up trumps with a chilling attempt to brainwash individual members of Nemesis into killing specific targets within the organisation in order to spread discord and distrust, everyone suspicious of everyone else. If you look too hard into this devious plot there are flaws in the reasoning of Klein and Barka, but you're too busy being swept along by the intrigue of it all, and the threat to our heroes' very centre of life - it couldn't have been more personal unless the three champions had been picked out specifically and their homes defaced and ransacked. There's pride at stake, no doubt, as their own boss is turned into a homicidal maniac, then after his bid to kill his target fails, goes into turns of comatose or violent agitation, something that kills the first victim, George Brading, and tells us that if his agents fail this time, it will be at the cost of his life!

I don't know what Barka had against Nemesis, whether they'd upset his life's work or perhaps, as his invented story made up for the brainwashed Richard to swallow goes, maybe he lost his brother to their operations. It could be a money-making device that he was being paid by criminal contingencies to get rid of their greatest foe, but I don't think so - he was far from dispassionate, he's like a tiger when roused and is a quite terrifying figure. His presence fills a room, and not just because of his wide girth, he just has this fiery belligerence under the surface that you sense could erupt at any moment. There's something unsettling, too, about a large man that can move quickly as we see him bludgeon Richard, taking him by surprise when he walks into the trap, and with his bare hands. And when Klein puts his own pressure on at one point, he turns from the drinking fountain almost a snarl on his face, the splashed water making his ill-kempt appearance more fearsome. It's also the hypnotic voice he has when he brainwashes his victims and the violence he pours into the story of hatred that turns them into his guided killing machines. In real terms we know that no amount of hypnosis or conditioning can make someone kill unless they already have that capability within themselves, but as all Nemesis agents have likely had the necessity of killing, he's dealing with charged weapons that only need the encouragement of a false history to set them off.

Klein is quite a different proposition. Thin and reedy, a touch effeminate in his regard of clothes and appearances, putting emphasis on neatness and cleanliness, quite in opposition to Barka, he has the same goal but quite a different attitude to his co-conspirator who is clearly the dominant personality in the outfit. Klein seems to enjoy his role impersonating a police officer and brazenly driving right up to the front door of Nemesis on more than one occasion. You could almost say he's a very British villain, except he's actually a foreigner, probably supposed to be Swiss from his accent. Fastidious, but also cowardly in the way you can't imagine Barka being. He'd fight to the last tooth and nail, a ferocious, driven behemoth, where Klein is immediately concerned about his face not being marked when Craig belts him in the nose - that's something else about the episode: they weren't afraid of it being bloody, as we see from Klein's bleeding beak and Richard's gushing mouth when Craig is forced to deal him crushing blows. The ferocity of the violence is actually at its most frenzied not directed at a person, but in a scene where Richard, affected by the unique drug pumped into his system, is let loose with a knife and falls on the huge poster of Craig's face, the man who 'killed his brother,' slashing and stabbing in a mania that makes me fear for William Gaunt's hand, so extreme does he stab!

A sympathetic villain is one thing, but an ominous and brooding one is just as powerful for drama, and Barka has that all over. Neither of these men are a match for the physical prowess of the champions, but their deviousness and element of surprise is what makes them formidable opponents. It's true that their plan was highly speculative if you think about it: even if they succeeded in getting Nemesis employees to wonder where the next attack was coming (a sort of microcosm of the world of terrorism we live in now), and from what friendly face, it's not like the organisation would crumble into nothing, there'd always be others, and the international community wouldn't sit back and see an important ally disintegrate. There might be some satisfaction in seeing such a successful organisation fail, but not for long, and other authorities would soon be clamping down and sending their best agents to rout out the villains. I'm not sure how far ahead Barka had planned, he seemed more intent on revenge than long term successes, but it could be that this was all a trial and if they could take down such a renowned power then they could sell their services to others.

The biggest flaw in the plan would seem to be that after a couple of attacks people would know what to expect: so they'd have security on the door (which you'd expect anyway with Nemesis, who must have had many enemies), noticing anyone that looked deadpan and ignored everyone around them. As soon as you saw someone striding purposefully along like a missile homing in, they'd have to take them down. The other issue with the plot was the whole business with the police station. Surely, as head of an international agency fighting every kind of crime and threat, Tremayne would have liaised with the local police to some degree, even if only to discuss security of his HQ. You'd think he'd know where the police station was if it was only a few minutes away, and so wouldn't be caught out by being taken to a fake building. The same should be true of the champions themselves, that they'd know Sector 13 well and have had dealings with the police at some stage. The Lieutenant that deals with them at the station does show the proper respect when they inform him they're from Nemesis and Craig produces a bright yellow ID card, so it's obviously something the local force know about. It's never been a secret organisation, that's for sure - not with a sign outside saying 'Parking Drive Pour Nemesis' and another sign above the door, too!

If you leave aside the magnitude of the villains' coverup, being able to drive a car around that appeared to be police, then convert it back into a normal car, or that none of the passersby ever found it strange that sometimes there was a police station, and other times the sign said 'To Let,' then it's a good story. And you can make an argument that it was situated down a side street so maybe people didn't notice. The fact they replicated the look of the original station so closely seemed only there for the gag when Craig states Richard was taken through 'that door,' only for there not to be a door at all. It was a bit of a typical Sixties spy drama trick and you're not supposed to wonder why they'd recreate the police station then get something like that wrong, but it really doesn't matter that much. There were a lot of people involved in their plan by the way we see people coming and going through the station, although Jason is the only named accomplice. Although he never speaks, he was quite an amusing character. His job is to drive Klein around, but when he's not doing that he keeps his nose buried in a newspaper. He finds enjoyment in playing with the rotating police car lamp and when Klein instructs him to brush his suit he's rather halfhearted about it where Klein is very serious about being in character, at least as far as his looks are concerned. When Barka and Klein bristle at each other he looks up from his newspaper then hides in it again, acting as if he's a child caught in the room where his parents are arguing, quite comedic for such a small part.

One thing I wondered about was how they were able to quick change their 'police' car from that to a normal street vehicle, but we see when Craig and Sharron track the car down Jason's about to go out and stick on fresh decals, along with the blue light, so he must have got it down to a fine art, and as seemingly his only responsibility he must have had an interest in it. It's not just the little things, like minor characters having more to them, that makes the episode stand out, as it's also one of the few episodes in which we learn a little about the main characters: for example, we hear from Barka's brainwashing sequence that Richard was born in 1938 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, that he had no brother (the trick is to give him one that was murdered by Craig to bring out Richard's hatred), and his Father was a banker. It's not much, but anything is like a gem of information when we've been so starved of anything about them for most of the series. They each had episodes where we found out a few slivers of detail, and this is Richard's turn. If we didn't suspect it already, we hear that Tremayne is a 'tough nut,' as described by Dr. Amis, who also says he's putting up a good fight against the drug in his system - we even get a rare moment of action for the old guy, a bit like in 'The Fanatics' when he got shot, as he tries to tackle the wild Brading early in the episode, and while he doesn't achieve much, perhaps he bought some time for the other, younger men to subdue George.

One of the greatest things about the episode for me, as someone that is fascinated by the inner workings of Nemesis and being able to see beyond the bounds of Tremayne's famous office, is that we do get more of the building than ever before. There had been occasional episodes that showed more than just the one room, such as 'The Gilded Cage' or 'The Interrogation,' but here we have the best understanding of the layout on that floor. They go in and out of the door directly to the left of Tremayne's desk, which has a 'Private' sign on the outer side, and which links into a main corridor. Turning to the right is the main lift to the floor through which people enter and exit several times, and turning left leads down to other rooms, such as the Cypher Room (as the door sign says), where Colonel Corston is shot by Brading. Turning left again leads to the medical room, although it's a bit confusing how the layout works around there. There has to be room for Tremayne's sleeping quarters and I'm not sure how that stacks up with the office set, plus the usual door our champions go through to his office would surely be right in the medical room, which it clearly wasn't. So unless they had some renovation done which changed the internal structure compared to the other episodes I suspect the office set didn't actually connect to these corridors and other rooms. Still, it's tremendous fun working it all out in your head and only makes you wish to see more of the rooms and where everything leads! It was great that we actually got to follow Tremayne and the others as they exit the medical room and walk round to his office.

If Barka and Klein's fake police station was busy, it was nothing compared to the volume of people milling around in or outside the Nemesis building - that was almost as packed as one of those old starships in 'Star Trek,' and I'm sure we never saw as many Nemesis employees at any other time, from military (the Colonel), to other agents (you assume the men in suits were, unless they were internal security), and most likely receptionists (women, aside from Sharron, didn't seem to have many other roles in those days). We also see some of the procedures of the place and get a sense of some of its workings - for example, Tremayne goes off to lunch about one o'clock, first informing his secretary he's going to Barbarella's, which is apparently only a few minutes away and which was accustomed to catering for him. The camera looks above the 'Private' door inside his office to show a clock, and you can just about see the blue lintel high above that. I don't remember ever spying a clock there before, but I couldn't be certain, and even if not, it's a simple thing to pop in a nail and put one up if the boss thinks it necessary. It's also good to see the champions in the office at all hours, even when it's dark outside, which they'd done before and gives a sense of the passage of time and the importance of what they're doing. Richard uses the intercom on Tremayne's desk to ask his secretary where he is and she says she'll 'code' him. I don't know if that means he wears a buzzer, but she's quickly able to identify he's not in the building. Craig also used the intercom to notify internal security that he's been missing for five hours. This would have been the perfect episode to bring back Colin Blakely's security guy from 'The Interrogation' - maybe he could have worked with them this time.

Other approaches that make the episode a standout include bringing in some emotional weight, not something often done in this, or most, Sixties genre TV. We don't know George Brading at all, he's just some agent we've never met that becomes a killing machine when he pumps five rounds into Colonel Corston and is only subdued by three of his colleagues. It's impressive, even horrifying, but we don't care about him, not until his wife Loretta arrives tearfully on the scene. It's a good moment for Sharron, who tries to comfort the distraught woman, and when they see him die later, she's the one who volunteers to break the news. But Loretta is hard hit by what's happened even before his death and you get a strong sense of the normal daily life - no longer is George a name and a face, but he's part of other lives who care what happens to him beyond scientific curiosity. It was also necessary for a womanly touch to be there for Loretta as Dr. Amis was quite cold and removed, with no bedside manner to speak of. I couldn't decide if he was just so full of pity he had no comfort to give, or whether he was disdainful of her show of hysterics when he's used to dealing with hardbitten agent types. You could even read it as he's a bit sullen because George had given him a black eye - what a great way to introduce the character, too, as you're wondering why this doctor's wearing dark glasses inside, until he takes them off and shows evidence of George's violent tendencies!

Another great idea is how the champions are able to pick up the pieces and do some investigating with so little to go on. We don't see the drudge work of going through files or any of that, but we see them put their heads together and realise the connection with the briefcases. The killer is when Richard's wallet is stolen and Craig says it's just a miniature briefcase, so they know he's going to be the next target. They do use their powers, especially in one key way to be able to narrow down the 'one thousand streets and ten thousand buildings' they believe must be the extent of the target area, but much of it is brain work. The other truly great idea is pitching the two male champions against each other in hand-to-hand combat, a pitched battle in the ultimate contest. Who hasn't wondered which would win in a fight? What's great is that, although Richard starts off with the advantage of the knife, he soon loses it and it comes down to martial arts style fighting or throwing people or things around in the 'Smallville' school of fighting, and Sharron is the only thing that can tip the balance in Craig's favour and give him the upper hand - literally, as she holds Richard's head back and Craig, in great sorrow is forced to knock a couple of bells out of him, protectively holding him up immediately after. It's a really terrific fight with stakes and personal investment all over it, and brilliant that they saved it for the last episode.

A number of times you can tell it's the stunt players doubling for the champions in this episode, such as exterior shots of the Nemesis building when Craig and Sharron go to their car and drive off, but most visibly in the fight sequence because the stuntwoman that doubled for Sharron had a slightly different hairstyle and could always be spotted looking different to Bastedo. Not that it ruins the episode, it's just more noticeable than ever because of the level of action involved, such as Sharron being hurled over a desk by Barka! One other thing that's quite different to the norm was the use of first person view when Craig rescues Richard only for his friend to shoot his hands around his neck and begin to strangle him. It puts you right in the heart of the action as we see both of their viewpoints and the shock of his friend turning on him is powerfully written on his face. You do notice the absence of technology sometimes on the series, but especially in this episode where they don't have access to CCTV to be able to track the fake police car - there are obviously no cameras outside even the sensitive Nemesis building, nor the streets of Geneva, so it's down to their powers to save the day again.

The champions don't appear at all in the pre-credits sequence where Tremayne goes action hero, so the first example comes in the post-credits sequence - being the final one I'm so glad it matched the rest of the episode by being high quality and imaginative: they're having a party, and it's in the final appearance of the stairway set. It's fitting it should be all based around somewhere that featured so often through the stories. Sharron's carrying the canapes, while Richard passes round a tray of drinks, only to share a meaningful glance from a grateful young woman. The man who was talking to her takes jealous offence and trips Richard as he descends, leading to a dramatic flip where, although he doesn't end up on his feet, he still manages to keep hold of the drinks tray, not a drop spilt! A brilliant stunt that suited the episode down to the ground. The next example of champion prowess is against Tremayne, who angrily ignores the questions of his agents as he stalks into the office - I don't know why he didn't head straight for the medical room, but he wasn't thinking straight. So creepy the way he grunts and casts off the attentions of his agents like a caveman. Craig makes an almighty leap at him when he whips out the gun and starts firing at Dr. Amis, and both Richard and Sharron become involved with the struggle, Sharron tripping her boss and the men having to use all their strength to hold him down as he writhes on the floor.

Craig does the same flying leap to prevent Barka from shooting him later in the episode, and it was almost a trademark (sadly no doors for he and Richard to jointly batter down this time, though someone does get captured!). One of the most impressive things he did was much more simple and showed resilience to pain: Barka furiously attempts to crush all the remaining vials of the drug, but Craig sees one surviving and clasps his hands over the top of it while all the considerable weight of Barka tries to crush his hands above it. It's up to Sharron to step in again and turn the tide, giving the big man a hearty punch in the back, then flinging him over the same desk she'd been thrown just previously in a satisfying reversal of fortune! Craig also gives both Jason and Klein a good going over beforehand, but apart from the fight between the two powered up agents, there isn't a lot of physical power on show. Most of the episode returns much more to their mental abilities, with characters often sensing important moments: when Barka bumps into Richard to lift his wallet Craig has a weird episode sensing something, but doesn't quite know what happened, and again when Klein, as the fake policeman, gives the wallet back to Richard. Richard's caught unawares by the surprise attack from Barka in his office, but Sharron senses his pain. Before that, Richard's able to send a picture of the 'Sector 13' sign to his colleagues since he can't speak while in the back of Klein's police car. Sharron is also susceptible to Richard's brainwashing, feeling what's happening to him.

The key use of their special powers is to be able to cast their minds back to when Tremayne was dropped off by the police before he tried to kill Amis, and from that are able to use their photographic memory to see the licence plate of the fake police car and track it down from there. I thought it might not be accurate as Craig was on the phone at the time, so how could he remember, but you do see him glancing out of the window. The only thing they really failed at was to answer Tremayne's questions about the who and the why - sure, they beat the villains, but they never learned (or shared it with us, anyway), who these people were beyond their names of 'Klein' and 'K. Barka' - Klein idly wonders what a twisted childhood his associate must have had, but we never find out the exact motivations behind their actions. I suppose it isn't essential, they were just highly motivated and had a deviousness (although you'd think Barka would have had one of the many fake police bump Richard for his wallet rather than doing it himself!), but it would have been good to find out more about them. I don't know if we knew Tremayne's initials, but if not, we certainly found out as we see his briefcase is marked as W.L.Tremayne.

The cast of guest characters was kept fairly compact, though there are some anomalies, as always. Eric Pohlman, so sinister and worrying as Barka, had previously portrayed a Minister in 'Get Me Out Of Here!' about halfway through the series' run, so they must have liked him, to remember to bring him back for the threenultimate episode filmed (if that were a word - third from last, I mean). Corston, Brading's target, is credited only as 'American Colonel,' and it's interesting that George was credited when he never spoke, although he did have an important role in the story, while both the Police Lieutenant and his Captain, both speaking roles, remain uncredited. The mechanic is credited for a tiny role, though his name, Pierre is missing and he's only marked as 'Mechanic.' It's great to have Paul Eddington as Klein, so beloved by those of us who love the Seventies comedy 'The Good Life,' and just as well known for his own comedies 'Yes, Minister' and 'Yes, Prime Minister.' Looking over the entire credits for the series I couldn't help but note that every letter of the alphabet is accounted for with surnames except for 'V' and 'X.' So there you go, it was worth making a list of them all just for that nugget…

Few sets are used in the episode, hence the joy at seeing the staircase in the post-credits, but the office gets good use and there's a bit of location shooting around the buildings or streets, which adds reality. I noticed that the warehouse room full of crates and straw where Barka does his brainwashing with the memorable large scale photos blown up on rotating poles, had elements that tied it to Nemesis: the colour scheme of the wall is the same (green with a darker green line), and the long, floor to ceiling curtain could have been right out of Tremayne's office, so either he was getting into the mind of Nemesis with the decor or they had to reuse the set and disguise it with all those boxes! I do wonder how he knew so much about Nemesis, for instance, the names of potential targets, or getting the pictures of Craig. Could he have had a mole? The same could be said about the mockup of the police station, though that would be easier to create as anyone can walk in. His chilling words that: "Nemesis will be destroyed by its own impeccably efficient agents," was a chilling statement of intent and what could be a bigger challenge than to take on the organisation upon which the series is based? If the series had come back for a second year it could have been fascinating if they'd chosen to practically scupper Nemesis and it had to be built up in the succeeding episodes, but they didn't think about things like that, and I think 'Department S' came along as the replacement, one reason I'm not enamoured of that series because I always wonder what might have been.

Again, as fitting as it was to have the final episode take place in Geneva, it's only right that it ends within the confines of Nemesis HQ, first with Craig and Sharron worriedly going to see Tremayne, finding that he's going to be alright, then going further in to the inner sanctum where Richard's resting. It represents the priorities of the series, with Tremayne part of the extended family so they needed a scene with him, but finally the special bond of the secret they share making the trio their own family, and being together, just the three of them in the final part of the scene felt right. I can't deny it would have been lovely to have them all in Tremayne's office to end the series as so many episodes ended, one last time, but there was plenty of coverage of them all in his office throughout the episode, so I can't complain. It's been a joy to rediscover the series again and view it in minute detail for the reviews. I can't say my views of individual episodes changed very much and my favourites of ten or fifteen years ago are pretty similar. My top ten, in order of best would be 'The Invisible Man,' 'The Survivors' and 'The Interrogation' equally in the top spot, followed by 'Autokill,' 'Happening,' 'To Trap A Rat,' 'Shadow of The Panther,' 'The Beginning,' 'The Fanatics' and 'A Case of Lemmings,' while 'The Experiment' and 'The Silent Enemy' just bubble under. The worst were 'The Night People' and 'Full Circle,' with 'Operation Deep-Freeze' and 'Get Me Out Of Here!' But even the worst are watchable for the most part, and it's a good series - there was some noise about a film version a few years ago, but it seem to have got stuck in development. Judging by the way other properties have been brought back with a 'modern' edge to them, that might be the best thing for it, but I'd love to see a TV series - you could have William Gaunt as Tremayne…

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