The Avengers (TV Series) Dial a Deadly Number (1965) User Reviews

Tough at the top.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 5 July 2022]

Top brass executives are dying, apparently of natural causes, Steed and Mrs Peel are have to hunt down a smart killer.

Another thoroughly enjoyable, well made episode. Once again they're going for the fat cat executives, the modus operandi when it's revealed, is absolutely brilliant, the story definitely holds your interest.

Once again, you'll see just how incredibly well produced this show was, it looks sumptuous yet again.

A couple of cornier than usual moments, the scene with the champagne cork was hilarious, but all of it was in keeping with the tone of the episode.

Mrs Peel seems to play the role of the damsel in distress a little more in this episode, but naturally she gives as good as she gets. She doesn't get so much of her tough and tumble here.

Clifford Evans and Anthony Newlands are both excellent, and it's really great to see a dashing young Peter Bowles, the acting from Macnee and Rigg is of course perfection.

8/10.

Making a killing on the markets

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 16 January 2015]

After a spate of apparently unrelated natural deaths involving city executives Steed and Mrs Peel start to investigate. At first there is no obvious motive; the shares in the dead men's companies all fell but there has been no attempt at a take-over. Then another motive appears; perhaps somebody is betting the shares will fall. As well as looking into the dead men's bankers they also look into a device the men owned; a beeper that alerted them when a number was called. Somebody has been tampering with the beepers and Steed and Mrs Peel's investigation is putting them in danger too.

This episode starts as an interesting mystery as we wonder who is behind the killings and why; we see a man switch the victim's beeper but initially don't know who is involved and who is likely to end up the next victim. Early on things are played fairly straight but they take a turn for the surreal when Steed is challenged to a wine tasting competition. Inevitably there are some fights and Steed is attacked by hoodlums on motorcycles; not that anybody will expect him to get hurt. There are some amusing moments too; Steed playing with his watch in front of people who believe it contains a bomb, they switched his watch but he realised. The shooting of the chief bad guy at the end using a champagne cork is a bit silly but the sort of fun fans of the series should expect. Overall a fun episode with a good balance of drama and humour.

About as good as they get.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 4 December 2008]

This is the one about big business and wine tasting.

The heavies are making a good deal of money by selling certain stocks short, then murdering the chairmen in such a way that it looks like a heart attack. With the chairmen dead, the price of the stocks falls, and the pounds roll in.

The trick is to get selected chairmen to wear a "bleeper", which we would now call a "beeper" in their shirt pockets, just over their hearts. At a given moment, a timer shoots a tiny capillary wire into the victim's heart and he dies.

I don't think it would be correct to call this "tightly plotted." What begins as a whimsical take on big business soon turns into an exploration of wine tasting and the snobbery that goes with it. I kind of enjoyed the diversion though. It's treated with a good deal of humor.

For what it's worth, I can't remember another episode in which Mrs. Peel looked so radiant.

Steed and Emma make a killing

[kmoh-1 · 26 March 2008]

The Avengers almost at their very best. All the ingredients are there. In the stock market, pre Big Bang era, we have all the bizarre English traditions. Company chairmen are being murdered, causing the stock of their companies to slump. Someone is making money out of all this, and Steed and Emma investigate. They soon find the common thread, but can they find out who is orchestrating what?

This is marvellous entertainment. The various pieces of the story don't quite hang together, with the villains distributed across a range of institutions and companies. But Steed is in his element, mixing with traditional city types, and practising his perfect wine-tasting ("it's from the Northern end of the vineyard"). The characters are gelling perfectly. Mrs Peel isn't served quite as well by the script, but it's Series 4 at its peak, and we are beginning to glimpse the glorious possibilities that Series 5 and colour would bring.

And, for those who are interested in that sort of thing, Mrs Peel is in her leathers.

Shocks on the stock market

[midbrowcontrarian · 10/10 · 6 November 2021]

For some of us the main attraction of The Avengers was Emma Peel. Before her The Avengers hadn't really got into its stride, after she left it ran out of steam. One could say the pre and post Peel eras lacked, how can I put it, appeal. That said, Steed is more prominent in this episode, and unlike one reviewer I love it precisely because of the financial aspects, having had a stockbroking career, albeit as a lowly clerk.

The writers were evidently quite knowledgeable about stock markets, or they must have done a lot of boning up. Steed buttonholes Ben Jago (Anthony Newlands), reputedly the sharpest man in the City, to solicit some investment wisdom. Jago imparts the well worn maxims "buy when they're friendless" and "it's never wrong to take a profit" before wisely caveating that they're only half truths. I was even more impressed that the recondite investment vehicle of put options was correctly explained. The speculator buys the right to sell a share at a fixed price within an agreed time. Profit is made if the shares then fall: exercise the option to sell, then buy them back at the current, lower price. Put options, like their close relative short selling, tend to be popularly viewed with disfavour because they involve profiting from others' misfortune. But looked at logically it's no more immoral than buying shares you can't really afford with borrowed money.

One of many good moments was when Steed orders lunch in a City restaurant and the waiter offers to get quotes for his shares while he's waiting. He replies that it would take too long, typical Steed one-upmanship!

John Carson and Clifford Evans

[kevinolzak · 10/10 · 21 February 2011]

"Dial a Deadly Number" is one of the most indelible episodes, one that could have been done with Cathy Gale, but works so much better with Emma Peel. The death of a high finance executive is wrongfully diagnosed as heart failure, when it is revealed that a pen-shaped beeper lodged in his breast pocket is responsible for killing him, courtesy of a mysterious electronics genius named Fitch (John Carson). While Emma follows Fitch's trail, Steed looks to invest with the banking house of Henry Boardman (Clifford Evans), leading to a vast array of suspicious characters, all of whom seem to have their share of secrets to hide. Steed gets to flirt with all the women in this one, including a pretty secretary (Tina Packer) discussing "round figures!" One of the series' most suspenseful sequences involves Fitch's attempt to eliminate Steed by replacing his pocket watch with one booby trapped to kill when he opens it. There is an undeniable level of added sexual tension when the diabolical Fitch unzips part of Emma's leather costume, and indulges in a bit of fondling before the camera cuts away to Steed's predicament (aware that his watch is a deadly weapon, Emma is helpless to warn him). Jan Holden, last seen in "The Undertakers," is in smoldering form as the conniving wife of Henry Boardman (even Steed is intrigued by her, to Emma's apparent annoyance), while Peter Bowles, returning from "Second Sight," is barely noticeable (he'd be back in form for "Escape in Time and "Get-A-Way!") Also back are Norman Chappell, last seen in "The Gilded Cage" (he would return for "Murdersville"), John Bailey, last seen in "Killer Whale" (he would return for "Killer"), and Gerald Sim, last seen in "The Wringer" (he would return for "The Rotters"). In the last of his three series appearances, John Carson enjoys his meatiest role, while Clifford Evans, star of Hammer's "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961) and "The Kiss of the Vampire" (1962), is a standout in his first appearance, later to be seen in both "Death's Door" and "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" Two other newcomers would also return, Anthony Newlands in "Game," and Michael Trubshawe in "All Done with Mirrors."

What the bleep!?!

[graylittlewood · 9/10 · 16 August 2010]

The plot revolves around "bleepers" given to top businessmen, which kill them when they're dialled; it's a plausible plot and I think the story holds together well. My only problem is that it starts off a bit stuffily, a business background, lots of suits and talking – like a dry old Cathy Gale episode, (not that all Cathy Gale episodes are dry by any means) then something happens and several intriguing elements come in and transform the whole story. There's a dinner party with the baddies – Peter Bowles is his usual suave and unsettling self, turning in an excellent performance – and the party is so tense – you just don't know where it's going. Then there's the (now famous) wine tasting duel, which is also tense for some reason, but is so transfixing, so Avengers. There is the introduction of the unhinged clock collecting killer who stops a clock at the time of death for everyone he kills – this bit of characterisation isn't needed, but we get it anyway and it adds a new unsettling dimension to the character and lifts the story yet further. I found it particularly interesting as I'm fascinated by clocks and time – though I don't kill people. After the Avengers setting up the baddies there is a fight scene in the wine cellar – it's not the best fight scene, but it does the job. The end tag in a London taxi doing a bit of wine tasting is simple but rounds off this episode perfectly. I would suggest this was a Cathy Gale script which was polished up and given a bit of extra quirk and it's all the better for it. It almost deserves a ten, but there's a bit too much business chat near the beginning. 9 ½ out of a possible ten.

YOU NEXT TELEPHONE CALL, COULD BE YOUR LAST

[duncanbrown-76733 · 10/10 · 6 November 2021]

What I like about this episode, it has got similarities to the Honor Blackman series of The Avengers. There are no evil masterminds trying to take over the world. Instead it is a good sinister thriller with a lot of the gimmicks that was used when Miss Blackman was in the series.

It has got a very strong and heavyweight cast that gives it a harder edge to story. From the main dominant characters to the other characters who just have cameo appearances.

The actor who dominates this episode the most with all the best lines, is John Carson as the evil and very aloof Finch.

Making his second appearance, and playing the villain yet again in the series, is a young Peter Bowles.

This episode is set in the financial world of London, with all the latest gadgety, that can kill.

A another excellent script written by Roger Marshall.

Highly recommend.

The Deadly Pagers -or- Carry On Banking!

[profh-1 · 7/10 · 8 August 2023]

A series of company board members all die of heart attacks, leading Steed & Mrs. Peel to investigate the world of investment banking. Before it's over, they also delve into electronic pocket communicators, and fanatically-obsessive wine-tasting. Oh yes, and a former Military Intelligence gadget-man who fears there's not enough opportunities to kill people during peace-time. Yes, where but on this show?

During seasons 2 & 3, this is one I'd refer to as one of the "technical", talky stories. They've grown on me over the years, and it's easy to see this as one of those handled in the more expansive shot-on-film style. For the first time, I've been watching season 4 in production order, and it's really struck me that it was a slow, ongoing evolution before the series really got into the more "visual" stories. (This is actually only the 4th Diana Rigg episode!) Even Mrs. Peel doesn't get to do much fighting here. When in the last act she turned up in leather, I thought, usually, when we see Cathy Gale dressed that way, it means someone's about to have their head handed to them! NOT quite here, though (heh).

There had been a wine-tasting segment in "Death Of A Great Dane", but this episode takes it to a whole new level. When someone says, "It's from the northern end of the vinyard", I wondered if they hadn't just been sitting through Roger Corman's TALES OF TERROR, where Vincent Price accepted Peter Lorre's challenge!

Once again, an astonishing guest-cast really makes this one. There's Clifford Evans (THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER, KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, THE PRISONER: "Do Not Forsake me Oh My Darling") as "Henry Boardman", president of the bank who doesn't realize his wife is cheating him in more ways than one. Jan Holden (HORROR HOUSE) is "Ruth Boardman", said wife. There's also Anthony Newlands (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN), John Carson (TASTE OF THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER), Peter Bowles (TO THE MANOR BORN) and Gerald Sim (also TO THE MANOR BORN, and 5 different AVENGERS episodes).

What this one may lack in excitement, it more than makes up for in character and STYLE. It's completely unforgivable, however, that the 2002 A&E DVDs are missing the pre-title intros. To me, this run was financed in America, and that intro should be on ALL prints-- but especially, in America!

Dial a Deadly Number

[guswhovian · 6/10 · 17 July 2020]

When several important company chairmen start dying, Steed and Mrs Peel investigate a banker who may be involved.

Dial a Deadly Number would be much more interesting if the plot focused on the method the villains used to kill people. Instead, it's filled with a bunch of stock market and business shenanigans I couldn't care less about. By far the most interesting part of the episode was the scene were Fitch (John Carson) kidnaps Mrs Peel, where seems for a second he might assault Mrs Peel. It's an excellent scene, and Fitch really is brilliantly played by John Carson. It's a shame he doesn't have more screen time.

However, this is my least favorite episode of this season so far. The guest cast is great though, and familiar faces just continue to pop up throughout the episode: Clifford Evans, Jan Holden, John Carson, Peter Bowles, Anthony Newlands, Gerald Sim, Michael Trubshawe, John Bailey, Edward Cast, Michael Barrington...

Dial a deadly number

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 5 December 2023]

City gents are dropping dead of sudden heart attacks and someone's making a killing on the market and of the market. Steed poses as a millionaire and Emma a new investor and they discover all the victims were using a paging device promoted by the banker, Boardman. Steed is attacked after they dine with the Boardmans - but survives- for now...

Ok episode, however not too great as I found the pacing a little off and apart from Steed almost getting run over by bikers, there isn't much in the way of action. There's a good performance by John Carson, who is a killer. Nice idea of the killer device- typical of this series. Jan Holden as the slinky vixen of a wife is really good.