The Avengers (TV Series) Get-A-Way! (1968) User Reviews

Monastery of mayhem!

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 5 April 2009]

As 'The Avengers' series developed, a repertory company of performers formed who would appear in the show time and time again, often playing villains. The roster included Peter Jeffrey, Julian Glover, Peter Wyngarde, Patrick Cargill, Garfield Morgan, William Franklyn, Patrick Allen, and Peter Bowles. The future 'Bounder' was in four episodes: 'Second Sight', 'Dial A Deadly Number', Escape In Time', and, of course, this.

British Intelligence have picked up three Russian agents in Britain, here on a mission to assassinate top British operatives, and are keeping them imprisoned in a base concealed in the Oldhill monastery. When two manage to escape from under the watchful eyes of the 'monks', and eliminate their designated targets, Steed is naturally worried. The third name on the hit list is his own...

Bowles plays 'Ezdorf', the last Russian to pull off a daring escape act worthy of Houdini, with a little help from a bottle of Lizard vodka. It contains a chemical which, when bathed in, gives one the ability of a chameleon. The Russians are able to fool their captors into thinking they have escaped. As soon as the cell doors are opened, they slip away.

The theme of invisible enemy agents had previously been explored in 'The See Through Man', also written by Philip Levene. The main difference is that here the invisibility is real! In the 1998 movie, Patrick Macnee provided an amusing cameo as 'Colonel I.Jones', a camouflage expert so good at his job he literally could not be seen!

Directed by Don Sharp, also responsible for 'Invasion Of The Earthmen'.

The escape of the invisible men

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 19 March 2015]

From the outside Oldhill Monastery looks like a religious establishment but it is actually a maximum security establishment holding three enemy agents and the monks are armed guards. As the guards look into the prisoners' cells it one of them can't be seen. When the guard enters the cell for a more thorough search the man jumps him out of nowhere and escapes. While this is going on Steed and Tara are entertaining a couple of fellow agents. As they leave one of them is gunned down by the escaped man. Steed goes to the monastery and talks to Ezdorf; the most senior of the inmates. He tells Steed that the other prisoner will soon escape and kill his target then Ezdorf himself will escape and kill his target. Steed contacts Tara and she goes to the targets house but is just too late; she gets there in time to hear the gunshots but there is no sign of the killer… just footprints which went right past where Tara had just been. Steed sees Ezdorf again and he boasts that he will soon escape and kill his target… Steed! There are few clues as to how the men escaped; just that each had been reading a natural history magazine with some pages removed and had a bottle of Lizard Vodka in his cell. The bottles are cleverly designed to contain both the vodka and a liquid which, when applied to a person and their clothes gives them chameleon like properties.

'The Avengers' frequently combined science fiction elements into a thriller story and this is a good example. The idea of a substance that gives a person chameleon like properties is rather fun although the way it works is rather too rapid… due to budget special effects. There are some gripping moments; especially at the end when Ezdorf goes to Steed's flat and captures Tara. Regular guest star Peter Bowles does a solid job as Ezdorf. Tara isn't used much in the action; relegated to questioning an expert on lizards and trying to get a copy of the magazine the men had been reading. The prison in a monastery is impressive and a rather fun idea. Overall this is a fairly standard episode; fun but not really a classic.

Lizard Vodka, stock me up.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 19 September 2022]

A brace of Prisoners, Russian spies, escape from their incarceration, and begin killing their original, intended targets, Steed and Tara are told that it was as if they were invisible.

After a run of straight up thrillers, it's a return to the more outlandish, science fiction style episode, a plot that would have sat better at the start of Tara's run.

If I'm completely honest, I saw this as something of a backward step, I felt that with the recent batch of episodes that the show had well and truly found its feet once again, Pandora was excellent, Take over was outstanding, this one sits a little uneasily in comparison.

A decent episode in its own right, it's imaginative, it contains some action, and the usual great visuals apply, who knows, maybe it's just a case of a changed pallet, expecting something a little different.

As for Peter Bowles, I'm not too sure, I think he was much better served in previous episodes, Escape in time showed his skills off way more effectively.

Decent, but a little off, 6/10.

Struggling to regain past glories

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 13 April 2011]

"Get-A-Way!" is indicative of the problem with the early Tara King episodes, in that a return to more 'realistic' plotting from earlier seasons means that any attempt to try to regain the sublime wit of the Emma Peel formula would prove to be difficult to recover. Although scripted by the prolific Philip Levene, author of the memorable Cybernaut entries, there is very little humor to be found, a far cry from the same writer's "The See-Through Man," another story depicting an invisible opponent. Captured enemy agents are able to escape (disappearing into thin air) and complete their assassinations of Ministry foes, while the ringleader, Ezdorf (Peter Bowles), bides his time in a cat and mouse game against Steed (the unusual climax makes everything worthwhile). Tara continues to be underused, working apart from Steed, as the new era struggles to find its way. Peter Bowles makes the last, and weakest, of his four episodes, after "Second Sight," "Dial a Deadly Number," and "Escape in Time," while Andrew Keir ("The Fear Merchants"), playing the prison warden, does a warmup for the same role in 1970's excellent "The Night Visitor." Also present are Peter Bayliss ("The Murder Market"), Neil Hallett ("Dead of Winter" and "The Winged Avenger"), Barry Linehan ("The Golden Fleece"), and James Belchamber ("Quick-Quick Slow Death").

The invisible man

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7/10 · 1 April 2019]

Well, for once I won't speak about this episode in particular, because I guess everything has already been told. I just want to talk about something which I think is important, and this also concerns other series such as for istance WILD WILD WEST, which I watch everyday, between two AVENGERS épisodes. I will always be amazed by the fact that nearly every villain of those TV shows find out so easily where their nemesis - our lead characters heroes - live. If you watch closely enough, pay real attention, you will notice that in - maybe not each episode - many ones, at one moment or another, and not necessarily the climax, our heroes have to face their enemies in their homes or headquarters. Speaking of THE AVENGERS, it is not rare that John Steed or his partners receive the visit of "uninvited" guests....And I am not sure that, as secret agents, their names and adresses are in the phone book. What do you think about it?

Invisible prisoners !!

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 7 May 2022]

The seemingly escape-proof monastery is no longer so when three captured Russian spies held there escape, and that by making themselves invisible, thanks to the contents of a bottle of Lizard vodka, and both of them succeed in eliminating their chosen victim. The third one is about to make his getaway. And his mark is Steed.

A fairly cleverly written and well-plotted episode adding invisibility as its subject. For a while Steed is really baffled over the mystery of the escaped prisoners. Peter Bowles also stars as one of the Russian spies.