"Too Many Christmas Trees," a personal favorite of Patrick Macnee, was of course the 1965 Christmas broadcast for British audiences, while in the US, it ended up being shown the following August! One concession to the Americans is having the bearded one referred to as 'Santa Claus' rather than 'Father Christmas,' and it has to rank as a most unlikely holiday theme, a dark, brooding tale of terror more suited to the 80s than the 60s. Steed is suffering sleepless nights consumed by sinister images of Santa Claus, while the sympathetic Mrs. Peel tries to lighten the holiday festivities by inviting him to a Charles Dickens-themed house party at the estate of publisher Brandon Storey (Mervyn Johns, 1945's "Dead of Night"). Steed instantly realizes something's wrong as he knows exactly which turns to make on the way, and recognizes the house as one he saw in his dreams. Psychic warfare expertly conceived and executed, with such fine actors as Edwin Richfield, weasel-faced series veteran making his fourth appearance (the next would be "Dead Man's Treasure"), Alex Scott ("Square Root of Evil"), who returned for "Game," and Robert James, in the fourth of his five episodes (the next would be "Look (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers..."). Barry Warren, Hammer veteran of titles such as 1962's "The Kiss of the Vampire" and 1966's "Frankenstein Created Woman" (and who later appeared in "False Witness"), plays Jeremy Wade, an apparently close friend of Mrs. Peel, as he becomes the first character to call her 'Emma' (Steed only mentioned her first name when making introductions), and his reluctance to push through to the end results in one of the more horrifying images in the show's history. Mrs. Peel almost loses her good humor as she reads some of Steed's Christmas cards from a vast array of female admirers (Amy, Carlotta, Irma, 'Boofums?'), with special mention to one ("best wishes for the future") coming from 'Cathy': "Mrs. Gale, how nice of her to remember me! What can she be doing at Fort Knox?" The final scene presents our duo sharing some special time under the mistletoe, most appropriate. An episode that understandably tops the favorites list of many devoted fans.
Review of Too Many Christmas Trees
