Review DISCUSSION- CATWEAZLE: THE POWER OF ADAMCOS - Episode 08

[Doctor Omega]

Your thoughts on this episode....

Catweazle flees the woods in terror, he believes the spirits of the telling bone have brought Norman soldiers to the 20th century to kill him!
But no,... It's the locals in fancy dress for the historical pageant. However Catweazle has dropped his witch-knife, Adamcos, and must recover it or " the blood will drain from me . I will be doomed"

On to the next episode....

THE DEMI DEVIL

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/catweazle-the-demi-devil-episode-09.4619/


Back to the previous episode....

THE TELLING BONE

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/catweazle-the-telling-bone-episode-07.4610/#post-40492

 

[Doctor Omega]

A good episode.

I thought that the historical pageant was going to be the central focus of the tale, but instead we got pulled away on a side quest for Catweazle to locate Adamcos, his knife. Visiting a location to retrieve something of value has been used three times now. Photographs, Touchwood and now Adamcos. It's a neat storytelling device, and I suspect one we will continue to see more of.

As soon as Carrot's father got to the antique shop, with a name on the sign, my immediate thought was of which famous face we would see in charge of the shop. I was not expecting to see Aubrey Morris as a stereo-typically gay character, played very much in the gay comic-shorthand of the time.

It does, however, put me in the painful position of reconciling this episode with WICKER MAN continuity.





Is it even feasible that the bloke who crooned "Minister!? Minister!?" to Seargant Howie suddenly decided to quit that crazy island and move to a small rural area in sunny Britain, while embracing his true self at the same time?





I say yes. And it is a better sequel than THE WICKER TREE, at least.

One gets the sense from this episode that Carrot is fully used to Catweazle's hyper-reactions to everything now and the scene where he takes Catweazle's insults in his stride, while showing how fond he is of the irate wizard is quite well done.

I was surprised that Catweazle seems to be encountering his first mirror. Ever. Have none of the houses he has been to have one?

I laughed aloud at the tomb/mummy case thing sliding down and hitting the floor, knowing that Catweazle was in it. Maybe it's just me?

I think that the show is composed of moments like this. Charming and amusing moments.

And so the episode ends, as we knew it would, with all well and the knife retrieved.

I would say that, with this one, the show has found it's standard episode, using the above "retrieving something" plot.

I won't knock it for that.

And so it gets from me a standard, but respectable....

Grade B+

 

[Doctor Omega]

Also, as I am being pulled hopelessly off-topic, I would just like to point out that the dog on the right in THE WICKER MAN never quite worked for me, menace-wise.

 

[michaellevenson]

Another good episode where Catweazle gets his first taste of brandy and his first look at a mirror. He seemed not only confused about the mirror but also his reflection which I'm not sure he recognized. My first thought was that he'd seen his reflection before in water,i.e. a river, when he washed. But he probably never washes so maybe he doesn't know how he looks. Also he gets his thermal long johns making his appearance stepping out of the sarcophagi even more mummy like. In fact in series 2 he still is wearing them and they're now filthy black in colour. Obviously today you couldn't have Aubrey Morris's gay character played quite like that but it didn't bother me then nor now.
8/10

 

[Brimfin]

This week Catweazle’s got a reason to act weird – he sees two Normans in armor fighting it out with swords. He joyfully thinks he’s back home only to run through the woods and see that Castle Saburac is still there. Carrot clears it up for him – it was only Sam and some friends in costume for a play about their village through the years. But in his haste to flee the Normans and come home, CW dropped his precious knife Adamcos and now fears he will die by nightfall unless he finds it again. Carrot helps him retrace his steps and then spots it. But when he sees his Dad nearby he doesn’t run out and grab it quickly but hides instead. Sure enough, Dad finds the knife and pockets it himself.

Carrot goes back to the house with Cat, figuring his Dad left it there. When Catweazle begins to moan that he’s feeling chilled because death is getting closer, Carrot pours him a drink of his father’s brandy. Of course, he shouldn’t be dispensing his father’s expensive drinks like that. Further, though booze gives you a burning sensation at first alcohol actually cools your body temperature and isn’t recommended to heat you up when you’re cold. Oddly enough, it is Cat who refuses a second drink and doesn’t end up getting drunk, like we would have expected.

When they are looking around for the knife, Catweazle pulls out his familiar - the frog - and tries to use him like a divining rod to find Adamcos. The frog ribbits louder and louder until CW finds a covered object and pulls the cover off to reveal – the statue of a frog. “You lovesick loon,” he chides. Now that was a clever genuine belly laugh for me. I liked it.

Carrot has to hitchhike to town as his Dad has already left. Sam’s car, which was in sorry state last week, has kicked the bucket for good apparently. Poor Sam. Carrot tries the old “pick up the sweet kid, and get stuck with his loony old friend too” bit but that doesn’t work; the potential ride heads for the hills. He finally does get a ride and spots his Dad going into a shop where the owner is making the costumes for the play. Naturally, since the owner Leslie works with costumes he’s gay – or at least sounds gay. When Mr. Bennet shows him the knife, he tells him it probably isn’t worth anything so Bennet just gives it to him. He leaves the shop and Carrot and Cat decide to sneak in, but there’s a closed sign on the door. CW does an incantation that Edward thinks will not do anything, but then the door is unlocked. Now was it really locked in the first place and Carrot just didn’t try it first? CW’s fans have been talking about “it is magic or just coincidence?” logic throughout the previous shows. Here, I can buy that. But in most earlier cases it was much too specific and seemingly just had to be magic.

They poke around the shop with Carrot telling Cat to be quiet and not to break anything. Naturally, he screams at the first statue he sees and nearly knocks something over. Leslie comes in the room and knowing Carrot asks him to watch the shop while he makes some deliveries. Unbeknownst to Carrot and Cat, Leslie was wearing Adamcos around his neck. Carrot finds CW some warm white long johns, promising to pay for them later. CW hides in an old mummy case, gets stuck and knocks it over. When the owner returns, he sees the case open up and Catweazle emerge from it and then he faints dead away. Carrot recovers the knife and Catweazle runs off happy. When Leslie awakes and asks Carrot if he saw anything, Edward tells him he must be working too hard (which he actually is – Carrot makes it sound like a compliment.) Back at Castle Saburac, CW thanks Carrot not only for finding his precious Adamcos, but for giving him the warm undies as well.

So, scorecard for the week: Catweazle didn’t break anything or steal anything. You could argue he stole his own knife back, but it was never Dad’s or Leslie’s to possess in the first place. And it’s not like Leslie paid money for it; it was free. Easy come, easy go. Besides, he’s got a nice story to tell about the coffin plus he made a sale as Edward promised to pay for the long johns later. And we did have that good belly laugh earlier. So I’ll give this one 6 mirrors, which Catweazle has apparently never seen before.

I also took notice this week of a bit of music that plays in the background when characters are moving around without talking. It was reminiscent of a ditty that plays on GILLIGAN’S ISLAND when the characters are walking around the island looking for something. Not that they sound the same, just that it’s the same concept.

 

[michaellevenson]

. The frog ribbits louder and louder until CW finds a covered object

Don't want to sound tetchy like Catweazle, but it's a toad!

 

[Cloister56]

Catweazle is trying to get his Telling Bone to work meanwhile two monty python extras are fighting away convincing Catweazle there is trouble with time.
I do like the two fighting and the end is pretty realistic. "Oww watch it"

I thought that the historical pageant was going to be the central focus of the tale, but instead we got pulled away on a side quest for Catweazle to locate Adamcos

I thought that too. I was quite looking forward to Catweazle thinking he had gone back in time again but I guess a lost dagger is just as good.

Sam's car finally turns out to be the lemon Carrot's dad predicted. Carrot sees Adamcos and the episode could have ended right there. Catweazle has to hide but why does Carrot? He could have grabbed the dagger and if seen hidden it or explain he found it. I guess his default reaction when Catweazle is present is to hide.

The frog ribbits louder and louder until CW finds a covered object and pulls the cover off to reveal – the statue of a frog. “You lovesick loon,” he chides. Now that was a clever genuine belly laugh for me. I liked it.

Don't want to sound tetchy like Catweazle, but it's a toad!

It is an interesting power that Touchwood has though, being able to detect things even he he does get distracted.

Obviously today you couldn't have Aubrey Morris's gay character played quite like that but it didn't bother me then nor now.

Naturally, since the owner Leslie works with costumes he’s gay – or at least sounds gay.

It is an interesting point. He is behaving camp but that doesn't necessarily make him gay. I personally don't think it is offensive, there are plenty of people with a similar character.

I did find amusing the lifting of the box after Catweazle had left, the over exaggerated lift was very funny.

Also he gets his thermal long johns making his appearance stepping out of the sarcophagi even more mummy like. In fact in series 2 he still is wearing them and they're now filthy black in colour.

That's a nice bit of continuity, I shall look out for that.

There is a nice final moment as Catweazle and Carrot enjoy bananas which Catweazle now knows how to open and eat.

This felt like a very quick episode, here and gone in a flash. I do wish they had gone with the pageant but I guess next weeks episode might do that.

6 sets of beads for Carrot to carefully remove from around Leslie's neck, out of 10.

LOL! Gosh, even Leo, my cat, knows it's his reflection in the mirror and never falls for the "who's that cat" trick I try to pull. I guess not all cats are that smart.

I would definitely try to pull that on a cat if I owned one.

 

[Doctor Omega]

"Catweazle" The Power of Adamcos (TV Episode 1970) ⭐ 7.9 | Adventure, Comedy, Family

24m

www.imdb.com