Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,640 
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Post by Confessor on Jun 10, 2016 13:15:15 GMT -5
You guys do know that the Hellfire Club was a real, historical thing in 18th century Britain, right? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_ClubThe "Hellfire Club" of Sir Francis Dashwood, which is mentioned in that Wiki article, used a set of caves in West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire (about a 15 minute drive from my house) for their debauched pagan rites, orgies and banqueting. You can go down into the caves today, which I've done on a number of occasions -- I was even present for an impromptu gig in them, back in the mid-90s.  More details about the caves here... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_CavesIt may just be my odd sense of humor, but I saw the phrase "debauched pagan rites, orgies and banqueting" and envisioned an evening of varied depravities, followed by a formal sit-down dinner at a long banquet table in the cave. Sometimes strange things amuse me. We like to do things properly over here in Britain.  |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jun 10, 2016 13:32:24 GMT -5
A mans gotta eat ! Don't forget the women (assuming there were any, I'm not here to judge). I would assume they'd worked up an appetite too. |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jun 10, 2016 13:34:00 GMT -5
It may just be my odd sense of humor, but I saw the phrase "debauched pagan rites, orgies and banqueting" and envisioned an evening of varied depravities, followed by a formal sit-down dinner at a long banquet table in the cave. Sometimes strange things amuse me. We like to do things properly over here in Britain. The proprieties must be observed. "Hey, you in the corner! Stop that! It's tea time!" |
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 3, 2017 18:05:38 GMT -5
Picture restored. Hee hee |
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Post by String on Nov 4, 2017 10:45:47 GMT -5
When Netflix still mailed DVDs to your house, I remember getting the disc for this episode just to watch after I heard that speculation about Claremont's inspiration. Very fun episode, Peter Wyngarde screaming 'Hellfire!' as they all smashed their wine glasses into the fireplace, loved it.
Sadly, these Avengers were aired very sporadically in my area when I was younger. I doubt that I've ever seen a full season of the show. Of what I saw though, Diana Rigg was certainly enchanting and witty. And say what you will about On Her Majesty's Secret Service, she was one of the highlights of the film indeed.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 4, 2017 21:21:05 GMT -5
One of the stories about the original is that Dashwood had his estate landscaped to appear to be a pair of breasts and other areas of the female anatomy, though that is mostly been debunked, I believe. If you haven't read the links, Jason Wyngarde is named for a combination of actor Peter Wyngarde (from the episode and Flash Gordon) and his tv character Jason King (from Department S and its spin-off, Jason King). Sebastian Shaw is based on actor Robert Shaw, Harry Leeland on Orson Welles (combining his Harry Lime and the name of his friend, in Citizen Kane, Jed Leland) and Donald Pierce is named for Donald Sutherland, who played Hawkeye Pierce in the movie version of MASH. Wyngarde did two great episode of the Avengers: "A Touch of Brimstone" and "Epic." In the latter, he is aging film star Stewart Kirby, who, along with his leading lady and director, try to drive Emma peel mad, at an abandoned studio, as part of a revenge plot. It's filled with ridiculous scenes of recreations of old movies and melodramas. Wyngarde is a hoot. I have both Department S and Jason King and the former is a great adventure series, which Wyngarde steals from his co-stars, which led to the latter, which is quite a bit campier and has some of the wildest 1970s fashions you will ever see. Author Kim Newman based his Richard Jeperson, an agent of the Diogenes Club, on a mixture of Jason King, John Steed and the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who. he has an assistant named Vanessa, who is his Emma Peel. The Diogenes Club are the descendants of Mycroft Homes' club, which is a front for a special department of the British secret service (as in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Billy Wilder), which is tasked with investigating weird events. I used to have a book about the original hellfire Club, which made for some very entertaining reading.  |
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