The Avengers (TV Series) Bullseye (1962) User Reviews

Who is killing major shareholders in a small arms company?

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 21 April 2017]

The authorities are concerned that somebody is smuggling large quantities of British small arms to Africa to be used in various tribal wars. Suspicion falls of 'Anderson's' a weapon manufacturing company that is currently fighting off a hostile takeover bid and whose major shareholder has just 'committed suicide'. Using funding from Steed, Cathy acquires a twenty percent shareholding, and is soon nominated to be on the board. It isn't long before other shareholders are killed; the board say that they think it must be the work of Henry Cade, the man trying to buy the company and the police even suspect Cathy.

This was an impressive episode; it was good to see Cathy take centre stage while, for once, Steed takes a peripheral role. The central mystery of who is smuggling the guns and whether they are connected to the murders or the takeover bid is interesting and there are plenty of suspects. The most obvious suspect is Cade but there are also the surviving members of the board at Anderson's. There is a good sense of threat even if we ultimately know that Cathy must ultimately survive. Honor Blackman is on good form and showed that she is more than capable of taking the lead in an episode; the supporting cast are pretty good too. The ultimate revelation about who is behind the crimes is not a huge surprise but neither is it too obvious there is also a fun final scene after the case is solved. Overall a pretty good episode.

Steed and Cathy investigate illegal arms shipments.

[tandlich1 · 7/10 · 9 January 2019]

Steed and Cathy investigate a gun manufacturer that is involved in illegal gun running to Africa and whose Board members are being killed off. Nice combination of international espionage, corporate chicanery and an old fashioned whodunit that displays Honor Blackman's acting and physical talents. This is a Cathy Gale vehicle as Steed is shunted to the periphery for most of the episode. The plot was short on suspense as the murderers and their motives were obvious from the First Act, but a great supporting cast led by Ronald Radd as the corporate raider, Charles Carson as the stuffy Brigadier General, and Judy Parfitt, Felix Deebank and Bernard Kay as the corrupt corporate insiders.

A case of fraud and murder.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 7 December 2023]

A firearms manufacturer is suspected if illegally supplying guns to African nations, to discover what's happening, Steed acquires a 20% stake, and installs Cathy as a major shareholder, she's soon embroiled in fraud and murder.

What a stark contrast to the previous episode, Bullseye really does hit the mark, a really interesting storyline, and a commanding performance from Honor Blackman. Patrick Macnee was clearly a generous, non demanding actor.

I know I've watched this series back to front, but if all the early episodes I've seen so far, this is head and shoulders above the rest, more a thriller/mystery episode, one with plenty of pace, intrigue and action.

Great to see Cathy Gale as the lead character, Steed is something of a bit part player here, Blackman is excellent, I thought Judy Parfitt came across very strongly here, what a long, successful career she's had.

8/10.

Cathy Gale: Company Director

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 1 June 2011]

This is one of those talk-talk-talky episodes that was bit tough to get thru first time, but has continued to get better on subsequent viewings. To investigate possible irregularities at a weapons-manufacturing company (their product is somehow finding its way to African revolutionaries), Cathy (with behind-the-scenes help and prodding by Steed) finds herself first owning a large number of shares, then being voted to the firm's board of directors. Before you know it, board members begin dropping like flies, and the police wind up eyeing Cathy as a likely suspect!

Among the cast are Ronald Radd, who I always remember from THE PRISONER episode "Checkmate" as the man Number Six convinced he could be trusted. I've seen him on a number of AVENGERS and SAINT stories over the years, and here he plays a high-rolling investor determined to buy out the company so he can re-sell it at a profit-- and he always gets what he goes after. It's fascinating to watch when Cathy, suspecting HE may be the murderer, poses as a journalist to pump him for info, but soon a mutual admiration begins to grow between the two.

Far shadier is Bernard Kay, who I always remember from the overlong Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story, "COLONY IN SPACE", where as one of the unscrupulous Mining Company officers, he proved to have more scruples than his C.O. Here, his character is quite surprised when he tries to tackle Cathy and meets physical resistance he obviously didn't expect from a woman.

I'm guessing Patrick Macnee had most of the week off when they were doing this, as he only appears in a few scenes, giving Cathy info, then stealing her away from her new admirer at the end, warning her, "You've got to be careful, you never know WHERE you might end up with his type!" (At which point, she makes SURE to set a dinner date with the man. Take THAT, Steed!)

"Bullseye" really hits the target

[kevinolzak · 9/10 · 4 January 2011]

"Bullseye" was the first bonafide solo adventure for Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale, and clearly one of her best. A firearms firm is suspected of illegally supplying guns for African nations, so Steed purchases 20 percent of their stock and makes Cathy a major shareholder. Ronald Radd (later seen in "The Outside-In Man" and "Mission ... Highly Improbable") debuts as Henry Cade, whose every successful offer to buy shares in her company are foiled by the sudden deaths of the shareholders. Cathy easily carries the load while Steed handles things offscreen, and the whodunit aspects never fail to intrigue. The actors deliver strong characterizations, and director Peter Hammond occasionally dazzles with the camera, especially one dizzying back and forth encounter between Cathy and Cade, setting up the climactic showdown at the target range. The wonderful Bernard Kay is the shadowy figure in the background, who unfortunately, hasn't much to do (and never did another episode). Fred Ferris, as the Inspector who considers Cathy a suspect in the murders, also appeared in "Brief for Murder," while Judy Parfitt went on to do "The White Elephant," "Escape in Time," and "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" Previously, Mitzi Rogers did "Toy Trap," and John Frawley did "Mission to Montreal."

Bullseye

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 28 March 2019]

Anderson's is a firearms company involved in a hostile takeover from Henry Cade. It is reeling as its chairman has committed suicide.

Cathy Gayle becomes a director after Steed buys her a substantial shareholding. Concerns has bee raised with some financial irregularities and illegal shipments to Africa.

When other major shareholders end up dead, suspicion falls on Cade and even Cathy when one victim is found at the shooting range where Cathy was getting some target practice.

The episode is a case of corporate shenanigans and murder at the board level. Cathy Gayle is very much the main focus of this episode with Steed in the background.

Cade is an interesting character. An amoral corporate shark who finds that directors of a gun manufacturer being shot dead is rather poetic.