The Avengers (TV Series) The Wringer (1964) User Reviews

MacNee at His Best

[ShelbyTMItchell · 8/10 · 18 December 2018]

Steed is called into investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent. And that of six agents dying in the mountains. And instead of being help as the lone survivor Agent Anderson, he calls John Steed that of in the murderous traitor.

And Steed is sent to a cage like location that tests him clearing his name and victimized by the Wringer the villain of the episode. As he is looking at prison and a possible death sentence for murder and treason, it is up to Cathy Gale to free him and clear his name.

Steed gets to be more emotional and more confused as Patrick MacNee should had been allowed to show more emotions throughout the run to show Steed as a human being, not just a talented top flight agent.

Cathy knows that the abuse and methods her friend and partner has to endure, putting also her to the test to clear his name and get him out of the clutches of the Wringer. Simply turning the tables on the tormentors there.

Really do not overlook the Gale episodes! They were great! But Peel is the tops of the show with Diana Rigg and Patrick M!

The Bourne Influence

[create · 6/10 · 20 September 2015]

The unnamed agency has discovered that several of their agents have died taking a previously safe route out of the Germanic section of Europe, the Corinthia Line. And they've discovered that another agent, Hal Anderson (Peter Sallis), has gone missing since tracking one of the dead agents. Desperate, the agency assigns Steed to find Anderson – if he is still alive. And to determine how this route has been compromised.

When Steed tells Mrs. Cathy Gale what his plans are, she becomes suspicious. Since Steed knew Anderson personally, it is breaking the agency rules (?) for a friend to mount a rescue mission. Steed – never one to follow the rules, anyway – isn't concerned that much. He's more concerned about Hal.

On a tip, Steed tracks Hal to a safe house (?) in Scotland. But when he finds his friend; Steed is accused of treason by Hal, who believes John killed those agents on the Corinthia Line. After an Inquiry, the agency agrees. They ship John off to a torture center, to be interrogated by the Wringer (Terrance Lodge).

Mrs. Gale, who was shut out of the proceedings begins an investigation of the agency itself, it's interrogation center, and any clues that will absolve her friend, John Steed.

This is pretty much a take-off of The Bourne Identity – not the anti-government conspiracy movie from the 2000's, but the original Robert Ludlum books from the 1960's. Hal Anderson suffers from amnesia and only remembers that he ran to Scotland to avoid some assassins. He tells Steed when they meet up that he can't trust anyone. In the next scene, he is holding a gun upon Steed, and levels his accusation.

The Wringer script was written by Martin Woodhouse. He had written Mr. Teddy Bear, which kicked off the Mrs. Cathy Gale era. He also wrote the best Venus Smith episode, A Chorus of Frogs. The Wringer is not on those levels. He mostly wrote novels that highlighted how successful man could be with science knowledge. The Wringer was his second to last script for television.

Pity, for there are a lot of glaring plot holes. If Cathy Gale knows very little about the agency, she shouldn't be giving main plot points about it. How did she know what the agency rules state? Where was the story editor or continuity editor during this time? Further, Woodhouse's diagramming of space leaves a lot to be desired. (Although, again that could be more the fault of the producers.) How Cathy gets around the Interrogation Center is pretty incredulous.

It seems that the producers and the cast took some liberties in rewriting the script on the fly. The scenes with The Wringer seemed to have suffered in dialogue unlike the scenes between Cathy and Charles (Paul Witsun-Jones), which had a lot of good exposition and action zingers. The Wringers lines seemed monotone and basic. It's quite possible that Cathy's scenes with Steed were also re-written by the cast on the fly.

On a further note, Don Leaver, the director, or Brian Cleamons the co-creator made a mistake in asking Terrance Lodge to play The Wringer as a scene-chewing villain. That would work better with Mrs. Emma Peel, but fall flat here. Cathy's storyline was predicated on the degrees of realism, not fantasy. Her villains create menace by being very focused and competent – not by reveling in their eccentricities. Mr. Teddy Bear, Helda Stern of Intercrime and Conniston of The White Elephant – a few examples of Cathy and Steed's villains – created more tension by being focused and competent. As the Wringer goes over the top, he works to distract from the story not add to it.

Terence Lodge in the title role

[kevinolzak · 8/10 · 11 February 2011]

"The Wringer" is one of the stronger entries, featuring the second and last appearance of Charles (Paul Whitsun-Jones), Steed's superior from "Man with Two Shadows," whose dreary office can't compare with the butcher shop occupied by Ronald Radd's Quilpie in "The Outside-In Man." Charles calls in Steed to investigate the disappearance of fellow agent Hal Anderson (Peter Sallis), who was assigned to find out how six agents died in a mountainous area of Eastern Europe. Both are surprised when Anderson turns up in Scotland and presents a timeline that portrays Steed as the murderous traitor, followed by a conviction that sends Steed off to a secret location for agents who have outlived their usefulness. This is where he is victimized by The Wringer (Terence Lodge, previously seen in "Man with Two Shadows"), who conducts techniques in brainwashing that worked on Anderson, but must contend with Cathy Gale if he hopes to succeed in doing the same to Steed. Peter Sallis was a Hammer veteran who appeared in 1961's "The Curse of the Werewolf" and 1969's "Taste the Blood of Dracula," and Gerald Sim, back for his third out of five episodes ("The Radioactive Man," "Mission to Montreal," "Dial a Deadly Number," "The Rotters"), went on to do Hammer's 1971 "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde," scripted by Brian Clemens. Douglas Cumming previously appeared in "The Gilded Cage," while Paul Whitsun-Jones returned playing different roles in "Room Without a View" and "Fog."

Steed is accused of treason

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 7 June 2017]

The 'Corinthian Pipeline' by which agents pass between Austria and the East appears to be leaking; five agents have been killed and a sixth has gone missing. That agent is Hal Anderson, a friend of Steeds. He was thought to be in Austria so Steed is surprised when he tracks him down to a remote part of Scotland. Anderson initially says that he has no memory of the previous two weeks then after seeing a file he says he can remember everything… and accuses Steed of being responsible for the deaths. Steed states that he was on holiday in Norway at the time but his superiors think he is guilty so send him to 'The Unit' where they intend to discover the truth… that is the theory at least. In fact the people running The Unit are unsupervised and seem to be brainwashing agents to sew discord in the agency for unstated motives. Mrs Gale doesn't believe that Steed is guilty so asks permission to see him; once at The Unit she is convinced that something is wrong.

This was a really good episode; it felt far grittier than most episodes. The scenes were those at The Unit attempt to brainwash Steed seem plausible with techniques like sleep deprivation and playing with his concept of time. Seeing the effects on Steed are surprising as he clearly comes close breaking. Patrick Macnee is on great form as Steed; the situation allowing him to show a greater range than usual. Peter Sallis impresses as Anderson; a performance made more poignant as he sadly died a few days before I watched the episode. Terence Lodge does a fine job as 'The Wringer' the man trying to break Steed. There are a few questions left unanswered, such has how Anderson ended up at The Unit, but these weren't enough to spoil my enjoyment. Overall a top notch episode.