Lost Scene: Sleeper

[Timeless A-Peel]

Sometime last year I picked up a photo on ebay thinking it was a behind-the-scenes shot from Sleeper, with the cast sampling the catering. But when I got it, the caption on the back revealed that it was, in fact, a short scene that was shot for the episode, following the sequence where Gambit, Purdey, and Steed watch the S-95 sleeping gas demo. All the characters go to a reception afterwards, and the bad guy (the fellow in the sunglasses), who is impersonating Professor Marco, almost gets caught out when Purdey speaks Spanish at him. He's saved when Steed decides to go out to dinner, and the S-95 inventor invites the fake Marco back to his flat to talk about the gas. Someone on the Avengers forum actually has an original Sleeper script with this scene in it, but he'd always assumed it was never filmed. Clearly it was! Makes you wonder what other bits of filming were cut out?

[Mara]

Fabulous - thank you for showing us this! I think you've showed us this picture before, but I always assumed it was just a break on the set, or some promotional event or whatever. I never realized this could be a snippet of a very rare outtake - if only we had some more video material! I bet Gareth and Joanna were jokin' around all the time.

[Timeless A-Peel]

Fabulous - thank you for showing us this! I think you've showed us this picture before, but I always assumed it was just a break on the set, or some promotional event or whatever. I never realized this could be a snippet of a very rare outtake - if only we had some more video material! I bet Gareth and Joanna were jokin' around all the time.

Me too! Especially since Gareth's checking out the buffet in the background (Gambit doesn't talk a lot in the scene, as far as I remember.) It wasn't until I got it and flipped it over that I saw the caption. They're actually filming there! Purdey's just finished speaking Spanish! Why would they cut Purdey speaking Spanish? Don't tell me you wouldn't have loved to have heard that?

[Philippa]

I remember you showing this picture before, and we weren't sure whether it was behind the scenes, or a scene that was cut. So now we know!
Definitely a shame that it was cut, I would loved to have heard Purdey speaking in Spanish. (Hey, if Cathy can do it )

[Timeless A-Peel]

I remember you showing this picture before, and we weren't sure whether it was behind the scenes, or a scene that was cut. So now we know!
Definitely a shame that it was cut, I would loved to have heard Purdey speaking in Spanish. (Hey, if Cathy can do it )

Hey, that's right, Cathy did speak Spanish (very well, too)! I'll bet Joanna would have done just as good a job.

So, yes, it's definitely a cut scene, not behind-the-scenes. I was very excited to figure it out--I didn't even see the caption until I went to frame it. All the other pictures I'd bought from that seller were reprints, so I got this original really cheap considering. There's something hilarious about Gambit checking out the buffet, though. I have no idea why, but it makes me grin.

[Mara]

I'm pretty sure that if Jo's able to speak French like that, she can do Spanish too. I'm thinking of the Pink Panther promotion she had to do back then - didn't she once wrote about her saying a few lines for the Spanish telly? I'd love to see that.

[Philippa]

Yeah she did some sort of introduction for it, on Spanish television. She was on straight after the news, so millions and millions of people were watching. Would loved to have seen that, or the cut scene. I'm sure she did brilliantly

And indeed, Cathy's Spanish was really good

[Timeless A-Peel]

Yeah she did some sort of introduction for it, on Spanish television. She was on straight after the news, so millions and millions of people were watching. Would loved to have seen that, or the cut scene. I'm sure she did brilliantly

I just heard her talk about that when I was listening to my audio NRFS. I remember she said something in Chinese or something, sang a little song for a TNA promo for the series that she had learned phonetically as a kid. She had no idea if anyone understood her or not.