A trio of ex-army officers running a military museum are involved in smuggling gold to an associate in Hong Kong. However, when one of their underlings steals 10,000 Pounds for his personal profit, it endangers the entire scheme.
This is slightly unusual for this period of the show, for while it's not one of the better-looking episodes, the writing raises it up to a much-higher level, making it almost feel far more modern than it is.
Cathy seems much friendlier than usual, but comments, "I've learned from experience that whenever you wine and dine me as well as this, it's always been the prelude to some hideous adventure." Before long, she's pissed off at Steed for bringing her into another one of his jobs, but not having the decency to tell her up-front what's going on. After tossing a pillow in his face, we see her laughing. Clearly, she likes and admires Steed, and enjoys helping him-- she just hates the WAY he does it, obviously not trusting her to know how to deal with some situations, despite them already working together for a whole year!
Later, he does it AGAIN, acting like Cathy getting a job cataloging the military museum is a surprise, when we learn HE was the one who set up the position FOR her. For a moment, I almost thought she was ahead of him for once, but I couldn't figure out how she got on to them... turns out, she hadn't.
What really sets this story apart is learning that the 3 officers involved are NOT doing it for their own profit, but to help out soldiers who were kicked out of the army without any warning, men with no savings, no education, no job skills, and many of whom on top of that were victims of investment frauds. This hit me personally to a degree, as my father was in the US Army during WW2, and afterward, was paid to go back to school. Apparently English soldiers did not have this advantage, which is downright criminal.
Barry Linehan is "Sgt. Major Wright", the low man on the ladder. Apart from 2 AVENGERS, I've also seen him in a DANGER MAN and 2 SAINTs.
Tenniel Evans is "Major Ruse", clearly a very moral man who's reasonable enough to stay the course despite difficulties. I've seen him in 3 AVENGERS, plus a SAINT, a RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED), and a Jeremy Brett SHERLOCK HOLMES; but what I most remember him for was a Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO ("Carnival Of Monsters").
Stealing the episode is Warren Mitchell as "Captain Jason", who clearly cares far more for the men and their families he's determined to help than for the money itself. It's one of those rare times in this series where your sympathies feel like they should be on the criminals, and it almost seems a shame that Steed was after them. I've seen him in so many outragious character roles, it's kind of a shock to see him playing such a "straight", serious role for a change.
Roger Marshall did 15 episodes between seasons 2-6, with most of his being in season 4! Seems a shame that, as far as I can tell, I've never seen any of his other work, because he was definitely one of the better writers on what I consider the BEST season this series ever had.
This was episode 56 in production but for some reason was held back to 63 in broadcast order. Oh well! The 2010 Region 2 Studio Canal DVD has decent picture, but the sound was rather muffled, and there were too many lines of dialogue I had trouble making out. AH well...
This is slightly unusual for this period of the show, for while it's not one of the better-looking episodes, the writing raises it up to a much-higher level, making it almost feel far more modern than it is.
Cathy seems much friendlier than usual, but comments, "I've learned from experience that whenever you wine and dine me as well as this, it's always been the prelude to some hideous adventure." Before long, she's pissed off at Steed for bringing her into another one of his jobs, but not having the decency to tell her up-front what's going on. After tossing a pillow in his face, we see her laughing. Clearly, she likes and admires Steed, and enjoys helping him-- she just hates the WAY he does it, obviously not trusting her to know how to deal with some situations, despite them already working together for a whole year!
Later, he does it AGAIN, acting like Cathy getting a job cataloging the military museum is a surprise, when we learn HE was the one who set up the position FOR her. For a moment, I almost thought she was ahead of him for once, but I couldn't figure out how she got on to them... turns out, she hadn't.
What really sets this story apart is learning that the 3 officers involved are NOT doing it for their own profit, but to help out soldiers who were kicked out of the army without any warning, men with no savings, no education, no job skills, and many of whom on top of that were victims of investment frauds. This hit me personally to a degree, as my father was in the US Army during WW2, and afterward, was paid to go back to school. Apparently English soldiers did not have this advantage, which is downright criminal.
Barry Linehan is "Sgt. Major Wright", the low man on the ladder. Apart from 2 AVENGERS, I've also seen him in a DANGER MAN and 2 SAINTs.
Tenniel Evans is "Major Ruse", clearly a very moral man who's reasonable enough to stay the course despite difficulties. I've seen him in 3 AVENGERS, plus a SAINT, a RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED), and a Jeremy Brett SHERLOCK HOLMES; but what I most remember him for was a Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO ("Carnival Of Monsters").
Stealing the episode is Warren Mitchell as "Captain Jason", who clearly cares far more for the men and their families he's determined to help than for the money itself. It's one of those rare times in this series where your sympathies feel like they should be on the criminals, and it almost seems a shame that Steed was after them. I've seen him in so many outragious character roles, it's kind of a shock to see him playing such a "straight", serious role for a change.
Roger Marshall did 15 episodes between seasons 2-6, with most of his being in season 4! Seems a shame that, as far as I can tell, I've never seen any of his other work, because he was definitely one of the better writers on what I consider the BEST season this series ever had.
This was episode 56 in production but for some reason was held back to 63 in broadcast order. Oh well! The 2010 Region 2 Studio Canal DVD has decent picture, but the sound was rather muffled, and there were too many lines of dialogue I had trouble making out. AH well...
