The Avengers (TV Series) The Bird Who Knew Too Much (1967) User Reviews

The bird has flown or in this case been stolen

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 11 February 2015]

When an agent turns up carrying a large bag of bird seed it is thought the seed might contain some evidence but it doesn't. Steed and Mrs Peel are soon on the trail of one Captain Caruso not initially realising that the captain is a parrot. The villains of the story have been using homing pigeons to get aerial photographs of a top secret missile range and they intend to use the parrot to take the secrets out of the country. Along the way to solving the case Steed meets a beautiful blonde model and Mrs Peel meets a man named Twitter and is photographed apparently wearing nothing but a large union flag!

This episode enjoyably mixes the serious and the ridiculous. The bad guys are more menacing than usual; a pair a nasty psychopaths rather than the usual comic villains and the plot to steal military secrets is believable… however using pigeon-cams seems far-fetched and the idea of reciting the secrets to a parrot to get them out of the country rather than just smuggling them out or having a person learn them is just bonkers… amusingly bonkers. There is some good action including a fight on a scaffolding and Mrs Peel dealing with a bad guy on a diving board. We also see both of our heroes got the better of by the villains… temporarily. Overall this was a rather fun episode.

Well that was certainly very different.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 18 July 2022]

Who and where is Captain Caruso? A name linked to the passing of secrets, secrets about a secret missile base.

Somewhat of a mixed bag this one, but on the whole it was pretty good, best element for me, the thugs, they really were a nasty pair, ruthless and quite menacing, they could easily have fitted into The Persuaders.

It's one of the more absurd plots I think you could argue, it really is a mix of frivolous fun and gritty thriller, it's certainly very different.

Steed's photo shoot scene was fun, I think you could see that Macnee enjoyed making this one, Mrs Peel's shoot was another highlight.

Ron Moody is great fun once again, what a tremendously charismatic he was, another madcap part, we wild as the one from 'Honey for The Prince.'

Ilona Rodgers, Anthony Valentine and Kenneth Cope were great also I thought.

An interesting watch, 7/10.

Ron Moody and Anthony Valentine

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 16 March 2011]

"The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is probably a lesser entry, which is usually the case when the two stars are split up. In this one, Steed spends an inordinate amount of time with a model (Ilona Rodgers, "Six Hands Across a Table"), even posing with her for a photographer (Kenneth Cope, "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues"), while Mrs. Peel does more of the footwork, as avian agents feather their nests with aerial information translated for the mysterious Captain Crusoe, a remarkable talking parrot. Ron Moody's appearance is just as brief as his preceding episode, "Honey for the Prince," while Anthony Valentine made one further appearance in "Killer." Playing silent roles as murdered agents are John Lee ("The Forget-Me-Knot"), and an unbilled Frank Maher ("November Five," "Dressed to Kill," "The Little Wonders," "You Have Just Been Murdered").

The Bird Who Knew Too Much

[guswhovian · 7/10 · 21 August 2020]

Steed and Mrs Peel investigate when two agents are found dead, one with an aerial photography of a top-secret missile base. They discover someone named Captain Caruso is transporting the information to the other side, but they soon discover Caruso is a parrot with a photographic memory.

This is my favorite Avengers episode since A Touch of Brimstone. There's continuity issues and plot holes galore, but just sit back and enjoy the ride. The plot is quite ingenious, and Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg are charming as always. There's an especially good guest cast too: Ron Moody is delightful, while Kenneth Cope (Marty Hopkirk), Anthony Valentine (Toby Meres from Callan) and John Wood all appear

An Expected Assessment From Most Devotees Of The Series Will Be That This Episode Is Not Within The Top Rank.

[rsoonsa · 6/10 · 28 May 2009]

While the entertainment quality of this AVENGERS chapter, number five from its fifth season, is not up to the elegant standard established by the series, there is yet a sufficiency here to bring fond remembrance for admirers of the matchless John Steed (Patrck MacNee) and Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg). A weakness here is in the script that, albeit awash with incident, is somewhat unfocused as to narrative progression, additionally having a surfeit of rather fatuous acts of violence, while the most agreeable portion of any AVENGERS tale, that ineffable chemistry between the two leads, emphasised by their cultivated archness, is but infrequently upon display. As is their wont, Steed and Mrs. Peel remain jovial in spite of numerous attempts upon their lives, generally during this adventure at the hands of "counter counter counter espionage" agents, these knaves as well planning to steal a valuable parrot named Captain Crusoe that possesses keen mnemonic ability, especially upon the category of government secrets. This is, of course, a fantasy, the case with all installments of THE AVENGERS, and production designer Wilfred Shingleton, along with art director Fred Carter take every opportunity for the creation of resplendent pastel hued sets that visually match an outrageous plot. Continuity flaws are conspicuous, but when Rigg, ensconced within an Alun Hughes-designed jump suit, and MacNee, at the wheel of Steed's vintage Vauxhall roadster, focus their energies upon defeating the Forces of Evil, all is as it should be. The familiar score from Laurie Johnson is mixed smoothly, the opening credit sequence is a visceral joy as always, and when Steed's carte d'invitation to his partner:"Mrs. Peel, we're needed" appears here (delivered by arrow), we must simply sit back and enjoy what is coming. This episode is from the final season for Rigg as Mrs. Peel, as well as her first in colour, and she readily gathers in the acting laurels for this affair. As the foremost blackguard of the piece, Michael Coles is likewise very compelling.

DRONES WITH WINGS

[asalerno10 · 7/10 · 26 May 2022]

Emma and Steed investigate the leak of government secrets, several military bases are being observed in detail by enemy agents who use carrier pigeons with cameras to take aerial images without being discovered by the authorities. An episode that without being outstanding is interesting.

this issue stands out

[wvisser-leusden · 8/10 · 20 June 2013]

Out of the many Avenger's TV-series from the 19-Sixties, one should only select those featuring Diana Rigg. The reason for this is simple: the Rigg-series have become legendary, the other ones have not. Just as James Bond, the Avengers-with-Rigg never fail to turn up in any documentary about the 19-Sixties.

However, Diana Rigg's character goes considerably astray from the Bond-cult: Mrs. Emma Peel convincingly manages physical equality to any man, while keeping herself fully feminine at the same time. A novelty back then, and - as we know now - a sure trend setter for things to come.

Although the Avengers show more surrealistic, another resemblance between the two series is to be found in the stylish, sophisticated nonsense they both provide. All set in a fascinating spy-crime story, dressed up with futuristic high-tech gadgets.

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Starting in black and white and ending in color, the Avengers-with-Rigg progressed from being English (1965) to moving up closer to American taste (1967). This evolution clearly illustrates the series' extensive (commercial) success.

'The bird who knew too much' is from 1967. Although this issue offers all the usual tasty characteristics, it nevertheless stands out in one respect: Rigg has herself photographed with her body wrapped up in a large English flag. This scene makes a sure icon in itself, adding an extra bonus to these highly iconic TV-series.

The worst episode.

[DriftedSnowWhite · 1/10 · 15 November 2020]

I have repeatedly watched The Avengers for over 50 years. This episode strikes me as the writers taking discarded writing and patching them together to make Emma and Steed incompatible, awkward, and stupid. This is probably not the fault of the writers.

Another consumer reviewer remarks about the idiocy of the innuendo between Steed and the model, made more idiotic because that character has absolutely no business in this script.

I don't know how this episode happened. One last: I find the 'Robin' character terrifying, as one should when a character is psychotically gleeful in killing. Terrifying character, and, more objectively - that's all he is. Not the actor's fault. so - who to blame for this catastrophe? The director?