The Avengers: The Cybernauts
Episode written by: Philip LeveneReviewing an Episode which I'm calling E-Government, due to its concept of a power-bent CEO of some corporation intending to install its egovernment cybernauts (read: robots) in the government. This particular episode has more promise in it then the disastrous 1998 movie.
|
The episode starts out fairly simply with an investigation of companies involved in the sale of the first IC - integrated circuit - they call it the Japanese circuit which will replace the transistor, we know it better as an IC. We get to see Diana Riggs (Mrs Peel) doing some Judo and noting how strong a particular company director was, before he gets offed by the villain later on in the story. Several businessmen have shared the same fate. Soon only United Automation and its chairman Armstrong on a wheelchair are left alive. |
The best concept in the episode, apart from the Nestene-like (in appearance - the Nestenes were seen in Doctor Who) killer robots, the Cybernauts themselves, is the idea of replacing government ministers by plastic robot politicians, which the villain says will be inevitable. We've read about e-government nowadays, and some of the extreme descriptions of it would be quite similar. John Steed says: 'The electorate wouldn't accept it!'. Steed is given a radio-pen which actually is sending out its position, to a killer Cybernaut. While Steed manages to get away from captivity by banging on all the buttons of a control chair, he does not manage to warn Mrs Peel in time (she is carrying the radio-pen!). She gets to the United Automation building and is attacked by the Cybernaut, who cannot be stopped by gunfire. Steed gets on the scene but is attacked by Armstrong and another Cybernaut. He ducks and stealthly puts the radio-pen into the pocket of the second Cybernaut - thus the first Cybernaut attacks the second one. Armstrong dies trying to stop them fighting themselves, and only the first Cybernaut remains in a working condition. It then snaps the pen, disactivating itself. Emma checks whether the Cybernaut is completely inactive by pushing it with her finger. Emma exits in her Lotus while Steed ponders over a crossword puzzle in his Bentley car, without a pen of course!
Conclusion: Even though the episode's technology is outdated - input and output using punched cards - the talk about e-government, entrusting important tasks to machines, is still food for thought nowadays more than ever.
Last updated on : 30th June 2000, 13:29