TO THE BATPOLES podcast #096: As the “Ffogg” clears, we ask “Where's the Beef?”

[bat-rss]

In spite of having three whole episodes to tell the story of the Terrific Trio's visit to Londinium, the show nonetheless leaves plenty of plot threads hanging, important moments unshown, and basic villain motivations unexplained. As Batman and Robin don "beefeater" uniforms, a certain old Wendy's fast food tagline comes to mind…

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[BATWINGED HORNET]

Guys, well...the Londinium arc comes to its deserved end.

Regarding Lady Prudence, I do believe her behavior toward Robin was building a sort of Catwoman-to-Batman dynamic between the two, where Prudence--like Newmar's Catwoman, who placed Batman in many a death trap, but did not hide her interest in him. So, Prudence taunting Robin about the bee, followed by her "I can see why" line seems like the writer was setting her up to be a young villainess to play off Robin in a way Eeenie and Pussycat did not.

I think that's backed up by the scene after Prudence's arrest, where Batman softly gives a supportive pat on Robin's shoulder, as if he was aware Robin had some feeling for her. I don't recall him saying or acting in a "it will be alright, old chum" way about Catwoman's junior partners.

About Prudence having no moral compass...well, she was a villainess, so no its not as if anyone was expecting her to publish The Londinium Girl's Guide to Etiquette, but were caught off guard by her enjoying the bee business, or plotting against her elders....

In any case, Lyn Peters was--by far--the best thing about this arc. I would find season three a bit more tolerable if she had a return appearance.

Oh, by the way, Peters would go on to a mini-Batman villain reunion by joining the cast of the cruddy 1972 horror film, Grave of the Vampire, starring Michael Pataki (Amenophis Tewfik in "The Spell of Tut"/ "Tut's Case is Shut"), and William Smith (Adonis in "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires").

[High C]

Young brothers, your three-part Londinium podcast certainly surpassed the actual episodes in terms of entertainment value. Admittedly, that was not a high bar to vault over, but you cleared it with much room to spare.

Some observations about your observations:

The idea of Batman (reluctantly) and Robin declining to try to find out Batgirl's identity would have packed more of a punch if the writers had portrayed her in a better light, as opposed to gendering her every chance they got and making her the quintessential damsel in distress so often. She obviously doesn't contribute much here because she wasn't even in the original treatment, and Hoffman didn't know how to put her in the story and make her useful beyond a split-second in the fight when she holds the women at bay.

Speaking of Hoffman, as you've noted, there was too much labeling and too many heavy-handed jokes that don't land. The 'bragging grandfather' bit with the spectre of LBJ on the other end of the Commish's phone that you two pointed out isn't funny, and I'd add I don't understand the bit when Batman says he'd like to visit Texas in April but is told it's 'convention time.' What political conventions are held in April???

Similarly, as Tim said, the same Bat-gadget joke was done too many times as was the 'foggy' southern California, errr, Londinium bit.

You guys covered the idiocy of the 'death bee' well, and as Paul said, the fact that the sting and the cure both are administered off-camera is another sign of the laziness and ennui that had pervaded the entire production by that time in season 3.

I'd also add, Paul, that they used 'out of my skin' AGAIN in the climactic scene when Daisy (the redhead) says she's out of her skin for the crown jewels. Hoffman is nothing if not repetitive.

I wish they had continued to reverse the film on Ffogg's pipe so maybe we would've wound up back in season 1.

In any case, Lyn Peters was--by far--the best thing about this arc. I would find season three a bit more tolerable if she had a return appearance.

Oh, by the way, Peters would go on to a mini-Batman villain reunion by joining the cast of the cruddy 1972 horror film, Grave of the Vampire, starring Michael Pataki (Amenophis Tewfik in "The Spell of Tut"/ "Tut's Case is Shut"), and William Smith (Adonis in "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires").

Peters definitely was the best thing about the arc. Too bad she only had come to Hollywood a year earlier and thus didn't have enough cachet to be the main villainess here. An arc featuring here might not have been written any better, but it would have been more interesting. She certainly had a presence to her and her accent was, dare I say it, even more exquisite than that of Joan Collins. (Forgive me, Siren!)

[Dan E Kool]

Young brothers, your three-part Londinium podcast certainly surpassed the actual episodes in terms of entertainment value.

Agreed!

After possibly three hours (or more!) of discussing Londinium, I don't think there's much more that can be said that hasn't been already, whether by Tim and Paul, or by High C and Batwinged Hornet! At this point I think it's safe to say that Londinium Bridge is falling down... the Queen is dead... the tea is cold... and it's time to head back to Gotham City.

Even so, these have been some of my favorites. Thanks again for the entertainment!

[clavierankh]

I think that these episodes represent a lost opportunity for the show. I think the show would have been better served in the third season if it were serialized with stories going 3 or 4 episodes. With the budget of three or four shows but just a few sets the sets would have looked so much better and production values would have been higher.

Another problem was that I think Dozier wanted the episodes set up so a viewer could jump in at any point. THis precluded the dense plotting that could have been done with a three or four parter. That's why we don't see a good Lady Prudence plot thread and why FFogg and Peasou
p don't seem to have a coherent plan.

As far as being able to have more bit players. I know little about production but I suspect the henchmen were paid based on days on the set rather than by episode. You will notice a lot of FFogg's interaction with the henchmen was by phone. We see the henchman trying to eavesdrop on Barbara or in fight scenes. And Superintendant Watsons scenes are few and brief. Those scenes could have been fairly quickly.

[Dan E Kool]

About Prudence having no moral compass...well, she was a villainess, so no its not as if anyone was expecting her to publish The Londinium Girl's Guide to Etiquette, but were caught off guard by her enjoying the bee business, or plotting against her elders....

I think Tim and Paul were commenting on how the molls had changed by the third season. Paul in particular often pointed out that female characters in the first season were never irredeemable or completely evil to Batman, like their male counterparts were. The villains and their male henchmen were treated differently by Batman - other than maybe Mr Freeze and King Tut - because they were the Bad Guys (capital letters).

The women were different. The molls and even the villainesses were always "deluded" or "led astray" - often by bad men. If they would just turn themselves over to the Good Guy, Batman, they could be rehabilitated into a Poor But Honest Good Girl. I guess with all of the characters on screen in Season Three, there just isn't enough time for that kind of nuance (if you can call anything in Batman "nuanced")...

[bat-rss]

About Prudence having no moral compass...well, she was a villainess, so no its not as if anyone was expecting her to publish The Londinium Girl's Guide to Etiquette, but were caught off guard by her enjoying the bee business, or plotting against her elders....

I think Tim and Paul were commenting on how the molls had changed by the third season.

Exactly!

[artemisknab]

I realize this is an old episode but I just found your podcast and I'm catching up. I have to comment on what should have been yet another fireable offense for Gordon - in the Catwoman teaser at the end she steals all the policewomen's new mini uniforms that he was to approve. What is a mini uniform? And what exactly did he need to see before he would approve them?

I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were test-marketing a series of Gotham City Police dolls and he was reviewing them for accuracy.

[Mr. Glee]

Apparently Yvonne Craig paid a visit to the real Scotland Yard to promote this episode:

[bat-rss]

I'd have looked forward to it more if it'd been in season one, haha

That's really interesting! Thanks