One of the highlights of the color episodes with Diana Rigg. The story is not scary or somehow dramatic or new but the way it is exercised is very unusual and extremely surreal. The Avengers have left reality long before but here comes a new element into the storytelling. Every scenery already looks highly artificial, much more then in the monochrome episodes. Sheer absurdity is the only thing I can think of, when the people who want to disappear are send on a difficult way through small streets. They are handed along without a single word of dialog, and they have to wear a large crocodile... What more do you want?
12 Reviews
Escaping to the past
Tweekums10 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Somebody has set up an escape route for people on the run with their ill-gotten gains; the first agent to investigate is found dumped, shot dead by a musket; the second turns up at Steed's place dying from a would inflicted by a sword. He is carrying a clue though and this leads our duo to the next escapee; he is first seen carrying a cuddly toy in the shape of a crocodile; which he exchanges for other similar items as he is passed up the chain. Steed follows him while Mrs Peel follows the crocodile. Having lost the target Steed decides to try the escape route and finds himself at the house of Waldo Thyssen; a man who explains how he has the perfect way to escape the authorities; he will transport his wealth clients to the past! He even gives Steed a trial run; briefly sending him back to 1790; or so he claims. Mrs Peel is next to try the route but she is identified and Thyssen sends her to a dangerous past where she is threatened with torture and death; Steed will have to find the house again; not easy when he was blindfolded the first time.
This is a delightfully silly episode and the idea of time travel isn't the silliest thing about it! That honour goes to the escape route itself; people walking through backstreets that are obviously sets while carrying large cuddly toys! I found this all rather amusing although I can see some people finding it too silly. Peter Bowles does a decent job as Thyssen although he is better as the present day stammering Waldo than the menacing '16th Century' Matthew Thyssen. There are some dramatic moments most notably when Mrs Peel is chased by a huntsman on a motorbike and when Steed tries to find the house by recalling things he heard on the way there. Overall very silly but also rather fun.
This is a delightfully silly episode and the idea of time travel isn't the silliest thing about it! That honour goes to the escape route itself; people walking through backstreets that are obviously sets while carrying large cuddly toys! I found this all rather amusing although I can see some people finding it too silly. Peter Bowles does a decent job as Thyssen although he is better as the present day stammering Waldo than the menacing '16th Century' Matthew Thyssen. There are some dramatic moments most notably when Mrs Peel is chased by a huntsman on a motorbike and when Steed tries to find the house by recalling things he heard on the way there. Overall very silly but also rather fun.
Absurdly wonderful.
Sleepin_Dragon17 July 2022
A wealthy dabbler is offering people an escape from their current crimes and misdemeanours, a path do somewhere else.
Wow, this has to be the most surreal and trippy episode to date, absolutely bonkers, but it just works, it works incredibly well, it again shows that this was a show well and truly ahead of its time.
Peter Bowles hadn't long been seen on the show, but here he gets to have a lot more fun, he's brilliant here, showing a diverse range. Judy Parfitt and Nicholas Smith are fun in support.
Plenty of humour, plenty of action, plenty of intrigue, and it's the first time in a while that we get to see Mrs Peel in action.
It looks amazing, with some great sets and fabulous costumes, the budget wasn't stinted for this episode.
A nice reference to George Blake just outside The Barber's shop, that really was a nice touch.
Loved it, 9/10.
Wow, this has to be the most surreal and trippy episode to date, absolutely bonkers, but it just works, it works incredibly well, it again shows that this was a show well and truly ahead of its time.
Peter Bowles hadn't long been seen on the show, but here he gets to have a lot more fun, he's brilliant here, showing a diverse range. Judy Parfitt and Nicholas Smith are fun in support.
Plenty of humour, plenty of action, plenty of intrigue, and it's the first time in a while that we get to see Mrs Peel in action.
It looks amazing, with some great sets and fabulous costumes, the budget wasn't stinted for this episode.
A nice reference to George Blake just outside The Barber's shop, that really was a nice touch.
Loved it, 9/10.
One of the series' best episodes
Marta4 July 2010
I have a great fondness for "The Avengers." This episode is one of my favorites. Steed and Mrs. Peel go back in time to find notorious men who have made off with the money from their country's coffers. Ingenious casting helps this episode. The marvelous Peter Bowles plays multiple roles. There are many colorful incidental characters. The story zips along with restrained hilarity and definitely tongue-in-cheek. You can count on "The Avengers" to never get too gloomy. If you want to know the essence of the color Avengers episodes, and why they are still extremely popular today, this is the episode to watch. It's a joy from beginning to end.
This is what makes the Avengers a show Aahead of its time
UK_Zombie15 September 2020
Time Out!
kevinolzak14 March 2011
"Escape in Time" is the essence of the color episodes, decent plot, played with lighthearted humor. Peter Bowles ("Second Sight," "Dial a Deadly Number," "Get-A-Way!") returns as the mastermind behind a scheme to use time as an ally in helping criminals escape detection in the present, provided they have sufficient funds to purchase the route into the past. Mrs. Peel feels that the Victorian era isn't suitable for her: "they would not be amused!" Other veterans include the underused Judy Parfitt ("Bullseye," "The White Elephant," "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?"), whose brief exchange with Steed is a scream, Geoffrey Bayldon (the lost episode "The Deadly Air"), Roger Booth ("The Hour That Never Was"), Nicholas Smith and Clifford Earl (both from "Super Secret Cypher Snatch"). Of all the odd characters, my favorite is the silent barber, played by Edward Caddick (guaranteed to deliver a close shave). This is our first view of Steed's new apartment, which would remain through the end of the original series.
FOLLOWING THE ROUTE OF TOYS
asalerno101 June 2022
Several unscrupulous businessmen who threatened their fortune through scams mysteriously disappear after arriving in London without leaving a trace. Emma and Steed start to investigate, apparently there is an organization that promises to transport them through a time machine to times where they can enjoy their fortunes without being persecuted by the authorities. This episode is quite atypical since instead of focusing on a string of murders like other chapters, it focuses on the mysterious, hilarious and bizarre escape route of the fujitives through the labyrinthine streets of a London neighborhood. The story has action, chases, a prisoner Emma in a sinister medieval castle and a revealing denouement.
Time Warp
rmax30482322 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
More whimsy bordering on the silly but more diverting than some others. If you were filthy rich -- a deposed dictator, say, or a successful thief, or some rapscallion of a banker -- where would you go with all your loot without having to fear discovery? Why back in time, of course. Fifteen seventy would be nice. You could pat little Billy Shakespeare on the head in Stratford-upon-Avon. Of course you'd have to keep an eye open for witch hunters and the like.
The episode follows a couple of miscreants who patronize an establishment that sends them back to 1570 or 1790 or 1895 or wherever -- and they do disappear.
Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate and each of them is given a demonstration trip with the aid of mirrors and knock-out gas. But the managers discover Mrs. Peel's real identity and, though she is dressed for 1790, they send her back to 1570 where she finds herself in a torture chamber. Is she rescued at the last moment by a resourceful John Steed? Of course not. She's subjected to the bastinado, branded with red hot irons, violated repeatedly, and then dies. Steed breaks into the room. Too late! He bursts into a torrent of sobs over Mrs. Peel's ravaged body, turns to the camera, announces the end of the series, and stumbles heartbroken off the set. Maybe her poor lifeless body wasn't ravaged. Maybe it was pillaged. Possibly both. Her remains had been so rudely, so unspeakably treated, it was impossible to tell from the perfunctory post mortem I was able to perform under such unfavorable conditions. Just kidding.
I've always like the notion of time travel because it illustrates so well the error of reasoning by analogy. Time is like a river, see? And because you can travel upstream on a river, you can also travel backward in time. But then naturally there's always the Grandfather Paradox to think of.
I enjoyed this episode quite a lot. Almost an excess of stylishness.
The episode follows a couple of miscreants who patronize an establishment that sends them back to 1570 or 1790 or 1895 or wherever -- and they do disappear.
Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate and each of them is given a demonstration trip with the aid of mirrors and knock-out gas. But the managers discover Mrs. Peel's real identity and, though she is dressed for 1790, they send her back to 1570 where she finds herself in a torture chamber. Is she rescued at the last moment by a resourceful John Steed? Of course not. She's subjected to the bastinado, branded with red hot irons, violated repeatedly, and then dies. Steed breaks into the room. Too late! He bursts into a torrent of sobs over Mrs. Peel's ravaged body, turns to the camera, announces the end of the series, and stumbles heartbroken off the set. Maybe her poor lifeless body wasn't ravaged. Maybe it was pillaged. Possibly both. Her remains had been so rudely, so unspeakably treated, it was impossible to tell from the perfunctory post mortem I was able to perform under such unfavorable conditions. Just kidding.
I've always like the notion of time travel because it illustrates so well the error of reasoning by analogy. Time is like a river, see? And because you can travel upstream on a river, you can also travel backward in time. But then naturally there's always the Grandfather Paradox to think of.
I enjoyed this episode quite a lot. Almost an excess of stylishness.
Nice episode with a big problem
bobforapples-401463 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Look. In another ep Steed and Peel get small for real. It rhymes! And it was not a trick. In this ep they go through time -- and it is. The fact that the time machine of guest Bowles is not genuine will destroy the ep's worth a little. Takes it down two stars. Fortunately there are pretty girl guests to revive it all like a pretty lady playing an Indian(?) woman.
There is one to me unexplained element but they say a really good writer does not explain everything. Bowles has an archaic looking film of a guest who supposedly went back in time to Edwardian times (the dictator Josino). Where this footage came from ( trick photography?) is not explained.
There is one to me unexplained element but they say a really good writer does not explain everything. Bowles has an archaic looking film of a guest who supposedly went back in time to Edwardian times (the dictator Josino). Where this footage came from ( trick photography?) is not explained.
Escape in Time
guswhovian19 August 2020
When several important criminals disappear, Steed and Mrs Peel investigate a unusual escape route.
Writer Philip Levene pens his third consecutive episode, and this is especially evident in Escape in Time. The dialogue isn't too bad, but the plotting is terrible, with a twist you can see coming from a mile away.
Diana Rigg is excellent as always, and Peter Bowles and Geoffrey Bayldon are good in guest roles. Nicholas Smith appears in a brief part. Good fun overall, but badly written.
Writer Philip Levene pens his third consecutive episode, and this is especially evident in Escape in Time. The dialogue isn't too bad, but the plotting is terrible, with a twist you can see coming from a mile away.
Diana Rigg is excellent as always, and Peter Bowles and Geoffrey Bayldon are good in guest roles. Nicholas Smith appears in a brief part. Good fun overall, but badly written.
Escape in Time
coltras357 December 2023
Mrs Peel's Grand Hunt Ball invitation turns out to be a summons from Steed, and they set out to discover what's become of the world's most wanted criminals.
They're on the trail of Josino and follow him as he acquires a stuffed toy and a shaving cut. Steed takes the same path and ends up going back through time to 1790! Emma follows, much to the gang's surprise and confusion, and finds herself in the Tudor era after the mastermind cottons onto her. A leap across time saves Emma from the stocks and exposes Thyssen's fraud.
Another quirky and far out adventure for Mr Steed and Mrs Peel as they discover what is happening to world's top criminals - they end up in another century or do they? Grand set pieces, costumes and some neat chase of biker racing after Peel on the hill. The story is so balmy and is Peter Bowles' stammering character.
They're on the trail of Josino and follow him as he acquires a stuffed toy and a shaving cut. Steed takes the same path and ends up going back through time to 1790! Emma follows, much to the gang's surprise and confusion, and finds herself in the Tudor era after the mastermind cottons onto her. A leap across time saves Emma from the stocks and exposes Thyssen's fraud.
Another quirky and far out adventure for Mr Steed and Mrs Peel as they discover what is happening to world's top criminals - they end up in another century or do they? Grand set pieces, costumes and some neat chase of biker racing after Peel on the hill. The story is so balmy and is Peter Bowles' stammering character.
Escape from reason
mart-4524 February 2009
Were they on drugs? Were they naive? Were they just playing around and being plain silly? This episode seems to be written by a group of 10-year old kids who have the opportunity to write for TV and try to squeeze everything they deem exciting into one single episode. I have hard time believing that this was actually written by adults. The story is so utterly pointless and stupid it either entertains you immensely or makes you close your eyes in embarrassment. And I have to say, dear sweet Diana Rigg is even more irritating than usually. Her total inability to act her way out of a latex suit is especially painful in the torture chamber scene, where she still throws her head back whimsically and shoots casual, near-funny one-liners even though she is to be poked in the ar--se with red hot gridiron. She occasionally leaps at a frantic attempt to register fear, but since these attempts are stillborn, the editor wisely only shows us short glimpses at what she imagines to be fear, but what are merely the shots of Miss Rigg NOT throwing her head back whimsically. Patric Macnee has also long since given up his acting abilities for what I believe used to be called something like 'suave elegance'. Makes the viewer desperately yearn for some indication of real and plausible fear in their eyes.
By the way, they do have especially beautiful eye whites in this episode. I wonder if they flossed.
By the way, they do have especially beautiful eye whites in this episode. I wonder if they flossed.
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