If you thought Charlie Chan movies were an insult to Asian actors, it's trumped by this episode of NEW AVENGERS. The main Chinese character is played by a fat Anglo actor who looks more like a frat boy than a mandarin. Honestly, you couldn't have chosen a more Western-looking actor than this guy...even the lame attempt at eye makeup can't disguise him. He squints, uses an annoyingly false voice (although he avoids the usual Asian pronunciation stereotypes), and is in general a terrible actor. The auxiliary Asians are played by the usual mixture of Pacific Rim extras, without regard to country of origin. The script is also bad; one of the worst episodes of the series.
6 Reviews
A trap, yes, but mainly for the fans
searchanddestroy-11 June 2019
And also here the most terrible miscast of all times. Why choosing an Englaish actor to play a Chinese character? The other famous miscast in that matter was of course John Wayne for Dick Powell's THE CONQUEROR. But Terry Wood is not the Duke. And the Powell's feature was a powerful adventure yarn, though not very accurate about the history stuff détails, comparing to this tepid espionage flick, which has nothing to do in an AVENGERS episode. But that remains watchable, never boring.
"Strictly for New Avengers die-hards."
jamesraeburn200320 November 2006
An evil Oriental criminal called Soo Choy (Terry Wood) wants to join a big international syndicate of drug lords. In order to prove himself, he arranges for a consignment of illegal drugs worth $10,000,000 dollars to be dropped off in London for shipment overseas. Unfortunately, The Avengers aided by CIA agent Marty Brine (Stuart Damon) manage to intercept the drugs leaving Soo Choy furious and his colleagues mocking him at his incompetence. Soo Choy plots revenge by luring Steed, Gambit and Purdey to his estate in China where he will capture them and personally behead them to prove he isn't the incompetent bungler his fellow criminals perceive him to be.
A lazy effort all round is the best way to sum up this episode. The plotting is uninspired in that it is little more than a madman's revenge tale somewhere along the lines of one of the lackluster Fu Manchu movies of the sixties. The set design is sadly cheap and despite its Chinese setting, one can tell that it was really filmed in the home counties. The acting is good without being inspired, the chemistry between Macnee, Hunt and Lumley that made the series fun to watch is missing as they all seem to be going through the motions here and Wood is terribly miscast as Soo Choy. All in all, this one is strictly for the die-hard fans of The New Avengers as it seems to have been just quickly put together to pad out the second season, which incidentally, sadly deteriorated when they tried to go international filming episodes in France and Canada. Trivia buffs will recognise a cameo from Stuart Damon, the star of another cult series, The Champions as CIA man Marty Brine.
A lazy effort all round is the best way to sum up this episode. The plotting is uninspired in that it is little more than a madman's revenge tale somewhere along the lines of one of the lackluster Fu Manchu movies of the sixties. The set design is sadly cheap and despite its Chinese setting, one can tell that it was really filmed in the home counties. The acting is good without being inspired, the chemistry between Macnee, Hunt and Lumley that made the series fun to watch is missing as they all seem to be going through the motions here and Wood is terribly miscast as Soo Choy. All in all, this one is strictly for the die-hard fans of The New Avengers as it seems to have been just quickly put together to pad out the second season, which incidentally, sadly deteriorated when they tried to go international filming episodes in France and Canada. Trivia buffs will recognise a cameo from Stuart Damon, the star of another cult series, The Champions as CIA man Marty Brine.
This episodes is proof The New Avengers was not needed.
andrewjones88821 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A man about as oriental as a pearly king, terrible acting and atrocious plot....yep it's the new avengers alright. This episode makes you feel so sad for the classic black and white episodes. The trio have incurred the wrath of a powerful oriental drug Barron called Soo Choy ( a fat bad actor with eye make- up and a silly voice)
Soo Choy has them lured onto his country estate by way of a plane crash. Although the crash wasn't intended naturally Steed, Purdy and Gambit all survive (as you do when a jet aircraft plunges into woodland) Soo Choy then deploys his highly trained guards to track them down.... you can tell the how adroit they are at stalking people because of the expert way they all shout and scream orders as they comb the woodland..why not go the whole hog and play the trumpet too.
Lots of silly shots of Gambit playing action man and making weapons out of branches. Trust me it's toe curling.
Look out for Stuart Damon at the start of this episode but look fast because he's dead 3 minutes later. This might have something to do with the way they all just stroll over to a drug operation with "10 minutes to go"
Ps jamesraeburn2003 regarding your review. Did you not pay attention to the very start of this episode? Soo Choy had his estate in East Anglia not China. When Larry Lamb drove down the road in the Land rover he passed a huge sign with something like welcome to East Anglia and how it's one of the most beautiful counties or something. This was the same estate where the plane crashed.
Soo Choy has them lured onto his country estate by way of a plane crash. Although the crash wasn't intended naturally Steed, Purdy and Gambit all survive (as you do when a jet aircraft plunges into woodland) Soo Choy then deploys his highly trained guards to track them down.... you can tell the how adroit they are at stalking people because of the expert way they all shout and scream orders as they comb the woodland..why not go the whole hog and play the trumpet too.
Lots of silly shots of Gambit playing action man and making weapons out of branches. Trust me it's toe curling.
Look out for Stuart Damon at the start of this episode but look fast because he's dead 3 minutes later. This might have something to do with the way they all just stroll over to a drug operation with "10 minutes to go"
Ps jamesraeburn2003 regarding your review. Did you not pay attention to the very start of this episode? Soo Choy had his estate in East Anglia not China. When Larry Lamb drove down the road in the Land rover he passed a huge sign with something like welcome to East Anglia and how it's one of the most beautiful counties or something. This was the same estate where the plane crashed.
The series was definitely on the wane by this point
trevorwomble10 August 2018
Oh dear, after the fun of series 1 and earlier series 2 episodes the writers obviously ran out of ideas by this point as the script is awful as is the horrific casting and production. Everything is wrong here, the Chinese villain for one is so obviously not a Chinese actor but a 6 ft overweight Englishman with a strange accent and who dresses like a character from a pantomime of Aladdin.
Another anomaly is the bizarre mixture of guns the so-called Chinese army use, with everything from an American M16 to a British Army L1A1 that was standard issue in the 1970s. It also has to be noted that the parts of the film set in the Chinese countryside look suspiciously like the English countryside too.
At this point in the series production the budget problems were starting to bite and it is evident here. Although the two parter story after this episode was actually quite a decent one the fact that the last 4 episodes were hurriedly filmed in Canada necessitating last minute script rewrites, the fact of the matter is that the series was by now in trouble and evidence of that can be seen here and epitomised in all the above observations.
Another anomaly is the bizarre mixture of guns the so-called Chinese army use, with everything from an American M16 to a British Army L1A1 that was standard issue in the 1970s. It also has to be noted that the parts of the film set in the Chinese countryside look suspiciously like the English countryside too.
At this point in the series production the budget problems were starting to bite and it is evident here. Although the two parter story after this episode was actually quite a decent one the fact that the last 4 episodes were hurriedly filmed in Canada necessitating last minute script rewrites, the fact of the matter is that the series was by now in trouble and evidence of that can be seen here and epitomised in all the above observations.
The New Avengers was needed, and here's the proof
Yonilikka-223 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
'Trap' is not your usual 'New Avengers' episode. In fact it seems at times like a dry run for Brian Clemens' later 'Professionals' series. No bad thing. Our heroes intercept a drugs shipment, infuriating Asian gangster 'Soo Choy' ( the late Terry Wood ) who then initiates a plan of revenge. Activating an emergency code, he lures the New Avengers onto a plane and tries to gas them. It crashes, leaving them stranded in the middle of Red China.
Wood's performance as 'Soo Choy' has predictably caused this episode to be excoriated by the politically correct brigade. I do not know why. This is 'The New Avengers' after all, not 'Play For Today'. Racial stereotyping was commonplace in both this and the original series. Nobody complained when Wood played a Russian in the previous season's 'The Three-Handed Game'. Perhaps Soo Choy was half-Chinese, half-English. Had Burt Kwouk been cast instead, reality would have intruded and then it would have been spoiled. 'The Avengers', whether it be old or new, is escapist entertainment, and should be treated as such.
With Stuart Damon of 'The Champions' in a small role, and the likes of Bruce Boa and Ferdy Mayne around, 'Trap' is a nice change from the regular 'Avengers' format. No eccentric professors or robot men or anything like that. It is a solid vehicle for the regular trio of Macnee, Hunt and Lumley and it gets a hearty thumbs-up from me.
Wood's performance as 'Soo Choy' has predictably caused this episode to be excoriated by the politically correct brigade. I do not know why. This is 'The New Avengers' after all, not 'Play For Today'. Racial stereotyping was commonplace in both this and the original series. Nobody complained when Wood played a Russian in the previous season's 'The Three-Handed Game'. Perhaps Soo Choy was half-Chinese, half-English. Had Burt Kwouk been cast instead, reality would have intruded and then it would have been spoiled. 'The Avengers', whether it be old or new, is escapist entertainment, and should be treated as such.
With Stuart Damon of 'The Champions' in a small role, and the likes of Bruce Boa and Ferdy Mayne around, 'Trap' is a nice change from the regular 'Avengers' format. No eccentric professors or robot men or anything like that. It is a solid vehicle for the regular trio of Macnee, Hunt and Lumley and it gets a hearty thumbs-up from me.
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