FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER - THE VIXEN

Back in September, the focus for the Friday Hall of Famers was on soap opera characters.  But while we do give the main TVXOHOF showcase induction a Halloween/horror theme, I’m not wedded to that for the Friday Hall of Famers… for the most part.

For example – our new member inducted today.  When I read of the death of Fenella Fielding some weeks ago, it didn’t register with me.  I read about it in a post by one of my British FB friends, and many of the comments mentioned her work as a vampish vampire in one of the “Carry On” films.  I’ve avoided that movie franchise, even with the appearance of the legendary Phil Silvers in one of them, because one of the main actors grated on me like Jerry Lewis does in his comedy movies.  (I like his dramatic work in TV and in the movies.)

But then I learned that she was the voice of the Village loudspeaker in ‘The Prisoner’, a show that has enthralled me since I first saw it that summer of 1968 when it had its American debut.  (If all works out, I’ll have my post about the “missing link” I cobbled together for her “character” in the show posted this week.)

I didn’t think I’d be able to find a way to honor her in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, but surprise!  There was the first Vixen of the greater TV Universe….

From Wikipedia:
‘Uncle Jack’ was a children's TV show which aired on BBC1 in the early 1990s. [1990-93]

The plot centres around Jack Green an environmentalist and undercover agent for MI5, who with his family are on a mission to save the planet. Jack's nemesis was a criminal known only as "the Vixen" who would come up with diabolical schemes to rule the world.

The Vixen (Fenella Fielding) - Jack's nemesis, a notorious international crook whose sole purpose is to rule the world and steal wealth for herself.

As with Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes, it may seem as there was just the one series for the character, but ‘Uncle Jack’ was actually four series, each with its own self-contained storyline.  (The following summaries are from Wikipedia.)

‘Uncle Jack and Operation Green’
Episodes:
1. How it all Began..
2. The Plot Thickens
3. Carrying the Can
4. Oil
5. Kidnapped
6. All Tied Up

Uncle Jack accidentally gets hold of a formula for a lethal new gas being developed by the GasChem company, but MI5, the Russians and the Americans are after it and all request help from the World's smartest criminal, known only as the Vixen.

Series 2 (1991)
‘Uncle Jack and the Loch Noch Monster’
Episodes:
1. Sinister Happenings...
2. The Return of the Vixen
3. Operation Rescue
4. Terror In Edinburgh
5. Monsters Galore!
6. Countdown

Uncle Jack and his sister's family visit his cousin and his daughter, Tammy, in Scotland only to find that he has disappeared since he went fishing in his boat at Loch Noch and Tammy has been left at home on her own. Jack discovers that the marine base at the Loch is hiding something after also seeing a radioactive material that keeps appearing everywhere that ties in with the mystery of his cousin's disappearance. Meanwhile, the Vixen is up to her old tricks again and wants to use the radioactive material to terrorize the world.

Series 3 (1992)
‘Uncle Jack and the Dark Side of the Moon’
Episodes:
1. Evil Weather
2. Kidnapped
3. The Vixen Strikes
4. Escape 
5. The Vixen Has Landed 
6. Off With His Head

When Uncle Jack visits Kate at her new school, he discovers the weather around Brimley Crompton is changing from one extreme to another with heat waves, sudden blustery winds and rain, as if someone is controlling the weather. That someone just happens to be the Vixen from her base on the moon using a standing stone in the school grounds with the help of the school headmistress, Miss Bones and her brother.

Series 4 (1993)
‘Uncle Jack and Cleopatra's Mummy’
Episodes:
1. A Dig At El Ninny 
2. The Camel's Breath 
3. Meet The Mummy 
4. The Legend Comes Alive
5. The Tomb Of El Wadi Whant 
6. The Treasure Of Cleopatra!

Uncle Jack travels to Egypt with his niece Helen to find the lost treasure of Queen Cleopatra, but a mummy seems to be guarding it. The Vixen also wants the treasure and is determined to get to it first by any means necessary without anyone stopping her.

British TV works differently from American toob, so I do view these individual stories as being separate from each other.  The fact that each of them has a different title, rather than just an umbrella title like ‘Uncle Jack’, makes them feel as though they’re mini-series not one long series.

Anybody really could be inducted into the Hall then based on that, but we’re taking this chance to honor Ms. Fielding as the Vixen.  It’s a perfect fit for a Friday Hall of Famer since it doesn’t have the “oomph” needed to be a monthly showcase.  As such that’s how it will be should at least Uncle Jack gets inducted someday in the Future.

And because the Vixen is such a villain (with a secret base on the moon!), and because she was played by Fenella Fielding, I think she’s a perfect candidate for membership during October. 

Welcome to the Hall, Vixen!