The Avengers (TV Series) The Thirteenth Hole (1966) User Reviews

Golf can be a dangerous game

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 29 January 2015]

This episode opens with two people playing a round of golf; a number two club to drive off, next a number four then a .303 rifle to deal with somebody snooping around the thirteenth hole! The man they shot was investigating Dr Adams a scientist who was apparently leaking secrets, so Steed and Mrs Peel are soon on the case. As part of their investigation they join the golf club and soon find some suspicious characters; most notably Frank Reed, the club professional, who is always paired with Dr Adams and always tees off at the same times each day. It turns out that this is because under the thirteenth green there is a communications bunker that is connecting to an enemy satellite twice a day. When he is paired with Steed for a competition things get dangerous as he will do anything to ensure their final transmission goes ahead as planned; including the use of a golf ball-gun and a mine in one of the holes!

This is and enjoyably silly story; we just have to accept that building a communications bunker on a golf course makes more sense than putting it somewhere more discreet! As usual Patrick MacNee is delightfully suave as Steed and Diana Rigg great as Mrs Peel. The bad guys are for the most part a little bland although Patrick Allen stands out as Frank Reed; a top quality bad guy with a suitable amount of nastiness. As one might expect there are plenty of amusing moments as well as a couple of rather cheeky ones directed at Mrs Peel. Overall a fun episode; not a classic but not bad either.

Steed is teed off, Emma plays with his balls

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 1 March 2011]

For those without a taste for golf, "The Thirteenth Hole" is not likely to change their opinion. Death by golf ball, coupled with the occasional bullet ("guaranteed to put a hole in one every time") are just two of the bigger obstacles on this unusual course. Patrick Allen ("Kill the King") easily stands out among some weak villains, but the big match showing off Steed's disconcerting game provides the highlight. Francis Matthews, veteran of Hammer's "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1958) and "Dracula-Prince of Darkness" (1965), returned for "Mission ... Highly Improbable," Peter Jones returned for "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues," and Hugh Manning returned for both "The Superlative Seven" and "Thingumajig." The camera just loves Diana Rigg as it begins with her shoes, moving up to a view from eye level, and Donald Hewlett gets the best ever line propositioning Mrs. Peel: "I wouldn't mind giving YOU a stroke or two, on or off the course!" (he also puts forth a golf joke about 'drinking and driving'). The show did have its own fashion line of course, and no wonder.

Not my favourite episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 8 July 2022]

Steed and Mrs Peel find themselves investigating s death by golf ball at The Craighleigh Golf Course.

I should make it clear at this stage, that I am not a gold lover, it generally is a sport that sends me to sleep, as did this episode. The only one I've seen so far, that I didn't enjoy, something was lacking, even the wonderful dynamic between Macnee and Rigg seemed to lack the usual sparkle.

Some of the least inspiring villains so far, none of them seemed to add anything, even Patrick Allen, who generally plays a villain with a degree of vigour, check him out in Sherlock Holmes for example, is just off colour somehow.

On the plus side, it looked great as usual, I loved the opening scenes, they did set up a real air of mystery and intrigue, and it was great to see a young Richard Marner playing the on screen scientist, he'd of course become well known for Allo Allo.

5/10.

The 13th hole

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 13 December 2023]

A Ministry agent is killed on a golf course and when the Avengers search his flat, they find none of his scorecards went past the 12th hole. The Avengers investigate the club and meet with a frosty reception. Out on the course, two other players vanish at the 13th hole - but turn up later at the club house as if nothing happened. The club president is killed by a golf ball when he's helping Mrs Peel investigate and then Mrs Peel helps Steed cheat so he wins against the suspect, Reed, foliing his plan to play against Dr Adams that afternoon - a Russian satellite will be passing over, and they plan to use it to broadcast government secrets to Russia.

Great idea to set intrigue on the golf course, but the intrigue is a little flat here, it's uneven, and not many interesting characters. It's quite dull. There's some nice scenery of the golf course, golf fans would appreciate this. Rod Allen, who usual plays a good villain, comes across as dull and going through the motions. Just another assignment for him. Steed and Mrs Peel keep things at least watchable.

St. Andrew Frowns.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 17 October 2008]

Steed and Mrs. Peel find that one of their colleagues has disappeared while playing golf. Investigating the club and its management, they find that there have been several other disappearances, all at the 13th hole. They discover that the 13th hole is rigged to explode when a stranger sinks his golf ball, in order for the hole to later extrude a TV antenna that bounces its signal off a passing communications satellite and allows the gang of spies who run the club to communicate by directed TV with the USSR scientists to whom they are passing scientific secrets. Got that? Good. I had a spot of bother myself.

Patrick MacNee, as Steed, is his usual nonchalant self. He smiles and wisecracks his way through the episode, wearing a hat lined with chain mail. His golf outfit looks like something Edwar VI might have worn. Diana Rigg, as Emma Peel, is criminally beautiful and sexy to boot. She finds herself the target of a couple of golf-oriented double entendres -- "Like to play? I'll give you a few strokes, on or off the course." Her response, as always, is never more than a cold glance.

Nothing is to be taken seriously, of course. When Steed and Mrs. Peel destroy the spies' laboratory, the villains flee but Steed knocks them all unconscious from a distance by driving golf balls at them.

There's nothing that marks this episode as unusual or outstanding in any way. It's all nonsense, along the lines of Maxwell Smart but with a rather more subdued wit, don't you know.

The Thirteenth Hole

[guswhovian · 5/10 · 31 July 2020]

When an agent is killed, Steed and Mrs Peel follow a lead to a golf club.

The Thirteenth Hole is an extremely disappointing episode. It's tedious, and even Macnee and Rigg can't save it. The usually reliable Patrick Allen is a dull villain; Francis Matthews is quite good, but his character gets bumped off halfway through.

The script is riddled with plot holes. The villains plan is really rather silly, and the production looks cheaper than usual. Just an example of the bad writing: in one scene, Waversham is heavily implied to be one of the baddies, but you never see his character again.

The "golf gun" idea is pretty neat though. However, this is definitely a low point for the series.