Burke (solid James Naughton) and Virdon (the equally sturdy Ron Harper) are captured by a human tribe who turn over their human prisoners to the apes to be used as slaves. Their sole chance for freedom is to convince their captors to rebel against the apes. Director Arnold Laven relates the gripping story at a brisk pace and maintains a serious tone throughout. Howard Dimsdale's compelling script offers a few nice touches of humor while addressing the weighty themes of blind unthinking subservience and the evils of slavery in a head-on provocative manner. Galen (Roddy McDowall in fine form) has several strong scenes in which he butts heads with fearsome and ruthless human tribe leader Brun (an impressively steely portrayal by John Ireland). Moreover, there are sound supporting performances by Ben Andrews as Brun's angry son Miro, Jennifer Ashley as sweet innocent Talia, and Peter G. Skinner as the recalcitrant Clim. A neat show.
3 Reviews
Captured by humans
Tweekums31 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
As this, the penultimate, episode opens we see a human village leader handing people to the apes to be used as slaves; one of them flees with two apes in pursuit. He is saved by Burke and Virdon and explains that it will be safe for them to return to the village as the apes will have taken somebody else to fill their quota of slaves but when they meet the villagers their reception is less than friendly; the escaped man is taken to be punished and Virdon and Burke are taken prisoner with the intention that they will be part of the next slave quota. Galen protests that they belong to him but they refuse to release them. If Burke and Virdon are to avoid ending up slaves they will have to persuade some of the villages to help them escape and that won't be easy as the only unguarded route is through the temple and anybody, other than the headman, who enters there dies!
While this is yet another 'village of the week' episode it proves to be one of the best. It makes a change to have a human threat rather than apes and Virdon and Burke don't use their superior knowledge to show the villagers how to improve the way they work. John Ireland does a solid job as Brun, the village leader whose motives aren't quite what they first appear and Ben Andrews is good as his son Miro. Throughout the episode there is a sense of threat as well as a mystery to be solved why do people who enter the temple drop dead yet the leader survives; surely the village belief that it is the 'will of the gods' can't be right. Overall a really good episode.
While this is yet another 'village of the week' episode it proves to be one of the best. It makes a change to have a human threat rather than apes and Virdon and Burke don't use their superior knowledge to show the villagers how to improve the way they work. John Ireland does a solid job as Brun, the village leader whose motives aren't quite what they first appear and Ben Andrews is good as his son Miro. Throughout the episode there is a sense of threat as well as a mystery to be solved why do people who enter the temple drop dead yet the leader survives; surely the village belief that it is the 'will of the gods' can't be right. Overall a really good episode.
The One That Got Away (With Reason)
TheFearmakers2 May 2024
The one episode never aired, and perhaps that's a good thing because it's a subpar outing, resembling a lesser STAR TREK episode with campy costumes and, like several other episodes, a lack of apes.
Centering almost completely on a group of villagers who punish their own by execution, we follow an Arian blonde fella and his dark haired girlfriend falling in love against the will of the village leader who won't let go of the past. Pretty boring, especially since our mainstays Virdon, Burke, and Galen serve very little in the dull proceedings. Seems like a failed attempt at some kind of spinoff that would have not lasted half a season.
Centering almost completely on a group of villagers who punish their own by execution, we follow an Arian blonde fella and his dark haired girlfriend falling in love against the will of the village leader who won't let go of the past. Pretty boring, especially since our mainstays Virdon, Burke, and Galen serve very little in the dull proceedings. Seems like a failed attempt at some kind of spinoff that would have not lasted half a season.
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