The Avengers (TV Series) How to Succeed .... At Murder (1966) User Reviews

One way to get more women bosses!

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 6 February 2015]

This episode sees Steed and Mrs Peel investigating a series of murders involving business leaders. There is no obvious motive but in each case their secretary has had to take over from than due to a complicated filing system. Their only clue is the perfume smelt at the scene of one man's death, a sample of which was saved in a car tyre pump. Mrs Peels takes the sample to perfume maker J.J. Hooter who identifies the exclusive scent and promises to tell Mrs Peel who bought it… unfortunately for him he is killed before he can do so. Mrs Peel gets a job as a secretary for one of the newly promoted women and follows her after work; she goes to the same exercise class as the other promoted women. She joins the class and learns the shocking truth about the secretaries and the 'woman' who is leading them. While this has been going on Steed has employed a secretary of his own and in doing so has put his life in danger.

This was an enjoyable episode with two shocking revelations; first when we see who is giving the orders to the women then when we learn who is pulling their stings. One of the charms of the episode, if you'll forgive the pun, was the secretaries charm bracelets which incorporated a miniature radio, poison and even a tiny working gun amongst other things. There is a strong feminist message as the secretaries are shown to be just as capable as their late male bosses although I'm not sure feminists would approve of being shown as killers! Given the gender balance of the main guest actors it is a little surprising that the most memorable characters were male; namely Mr Hooter and the hen-pecked Henry Throgbottom; all the guest actors were pretty good though.

Yet another classic episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 12 July 2022]

Several top business executives have died, and their secretary has taken over, investigations lead Stead and Mrs Peel to an exercise class.

It's yet another great episode, it's so hard to imagine how they were able to maintain such a high standard throughout what was a very long third series, at no point did it feel tired or half hearted.

I love that we don't get to see Henrietta for so long, she's another villain behind the Fireside chair, her revelation comes as a real surprise.

Writer Brian Clemens definitely makes a point about the state of the nation at the time, I don't think I've seen many shows from the time where a woman is the boss of a business, I've certainly not seen a male secretary.

Christopher Benjamin was hilarious as Hooter, a wonderful character actor, so diverse, so talented, he reminded me of the shoe fitter.

I've really gotten into shows from the sixties and seventies, one thing I've really become aware of, Angela Browne, Diana Rigg is rightly regarded as a goddess, beautifully, ridiculously talented, I think I'd put Browne in that same group.

9/10.

J. J. Hooter reveals the splendid naked beast

[kevinolzak · 9/10 · 10 March 2011]

"How to Succeed....at Murder" is a real gem, with an odd series of deaths of corporate employers linked only by the fact that each man's secretary was promoted to replace them. One such death features a sweet scented aroma captured by a handy tire pump, which leads to one of the series' funniest characters. Christopher Benjamin (later seen in "Never, Never Say Die" and "Split!") portrays J. J. Hooter, a perfume manufacturer whose sensitive nostrils require him to wear a bandage over his famed proboscis. He introduces himself to Mrs. Peel: "I smell a great deal!" plus "I have smelled all over the world!" Kneeling in front of her, he takes one whiff of the scent, stands before her and cries out, "leap into my fervid arms!" (of course, that is the name of the perfume, one of his own creations). The murders are being committed by angry liberated women tired of being subjugated to men, who are granted their assignments through an exercise class run by Henry Throgbottom (Artro Morris, previously seen in "A Conspiracy of Silence"), on behalf of his wife Henrietta (voiced by Yolande Turner, from "The Girl from Auntie" and "The 50,000 Breakfast"). Angela Browne, last seen in "Intercrime," and Sarah Lawson (Mrs. Patrick Allen) head up the female cast, with various victims played by Jerome Willis ("Intercrime" and "The Rotters"), David Garth ("The Big Thinker" and "Wish You Were Here"), and Kevin Brennan ("Double Danger").

Awesome episode

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 25 February 2019]

There is actually nothing exceptional in this episode, except the ending when the villain is revealed and the empathy that the audience can feel for him. After all, he had his reasons to do this. That changes from all other stories of lunatics of all kinds or even spies. I thought this villain would kill people for the count of a criminal organization; but not at all. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS And the fact that this so "sympathetic" villain is killed by Steed simply by a gun shot, that's very unusual too. So far I don't remember Steed killing a villain with a gun. But I have not seen the first seasons with Honor Blackman. And we also can see in this episode some kind of criticism against any British movements for women's equal rights with men; because you have probably noticed that in nearly every episode of the series, a subject is more or less evoked, a social topic: British army, British rail net, government, advertisement, department stores....many social elements that could be mocked of.

Secretaries unite ... in offing their bosses

[coltras35 · 9/10 · 12 December 2023]

Executives all over Britain are being killed and their indispensable secretaries taking over. Emma follows the scent of a perfume to its maker but he is killed by his secretary before he can reveal anything. The plot now revealed, Emma enlists at one of the firms and follows the new head to a keep-fit class where the women are taught to hate men and take power - by a ventriloquist's dummy!

Secretaries offing their bosses, a perfume expert called mr J. J Hooter with a bandage over his nose to protect him from sinuses, a killer bracelet and a plan to cause ruination to all men, well mainly business men. The motive behind these murders, as you learn at the end is really good. Seeing Mrs Peel's expression when she meets the Henrietta - the leader of these band of secretaries- who is really a dummy is priceless. Actually the viewers gets a surprise when we finally see that Henrietta's a dummy. It's an excellent episode that with a great idea, a raging bizarreness and an avenging main villain.

Quite a hoot!

[robert3750 · 8/10 · 31 May 2023]

The scene with Hooter had me laughing out loud. His lines and the way he delivered them are hilarious. Steed and Peel are on the case of eleven businessmen who have been murdered. The group responsible are women working as secretaries who are being urged to destroy men and take over their businesses. I loved how Steed is up to the task of taking on two of the femme fatales, and Peel is positively superhuman in her ability to take on several of them. If I had seen this as a kid, I would have been very creeped out by the dummy who talks to the women. I was smart enough to guess the identity of the dummy's voice. Great fun.

"Ruination to all men!"

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 19 July 2023]

Several prominent businessmen have been murdered, and John Steed ( Patrick Macnee ) and 'Mrs. Emma Peel' are called in to investigate. The trail leads Emma to the office of one 'J. J. Hooter' ( Christopher Benjamin ) who wears a cover over his nose at all times because of its sensitivity. Hooter is later killed when his secretary ( Anne Cunningham ) puts poison in the nose cover. Behind the murders is a secret coven of secretaries who are killing their bosses and then replacing them. Their leader, Henrietta, turns out to be a ventriloquist's dummy ( voiced by Bridget Armstrong ).

Written by Brian Clemens and directed by Don Leaver, this is a good episode, mainly because of Benjamin's performance. Each secretary wears a charm bracelet which contains a multitude of death-dealing devices ( Derek Flint would be jealous ). Angela Browne, Sarah Lawson, Jerome Willis, Artro Morris, Zeph Gladstone are among the guest stars. The women think they are standing up for their own sex but it turns out they too are being manipulated., culminating in a fight in a gym. Compared to other way-out episodes such as 'The Cybernauts' and 'Man Eater Of Surrey Green', this is straight-forward stuff. I wonder if David Osborn and Liz Charles-Williams used it as inspiration iwhen writing the Bulldog Drummond thriller 'Some Girls Do' two years later.

How to Succeed....At Murder

[guswhovian · 7/10 · 12 August 2020]

When several businessmen are murdered, Steed and Mrs Peel investigate.

The scenario of prominent businessmen being rapidly bumped off is wearing a bit thin, having served as a plot point for at least three other episodes this season. However, this is an enjoyable enough episode. Christopher Benjamin's performance as perfume manufacturer J.J. Hooter is great.

The plot is pretty silly, and there's numerous inconsistencies. Brian Clemens spends most of the episode making the secretaries seem super smart, only to have them revealed to be really stupid at the end. Also, Steed and Mrs Peel don't appear until almost 10 minutes in!