The Avengers (TV Series) November Five (1963) User Reviews

A nuclear warhead is stolen and Cathy stands for high office

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 29 May 2017]

This episode opens as the results of a by-election are being announced; moments after Michael Dyter is declared the victor he is shot… it looks as if he will be the shortest serving MP in British history! There is particular interest in finding out who was behind the shooting as Dyter had campaigned on the basis that once elected he will expose a scandal in the House of Commons. That scandal is that a nuclear warhead has been stolen and nobody is talking about it. Steed is determined to find the warhead before it can be sold to a foreign power or worse still, detonated! To that end he persuades Cathy Gale to stand in the by-election to find Dyter's replacement. She then starts attending a gym that is popular with MPs and their spouses and Steed looks into the PR firm that handled Dyter's campaign.

This is a decent enough episode but one can't help thinking it could have been a bit more thrilling given that a nuclear warhead has been stolen. While it never explicitly stated which party the two MPs who feature in the story anybody who knows anything about British politics will figure it out pretty quickly… one from either of the two main parties to avoid accusations of bias. The gym, as is often the case in relatively low budget TV shows is remarkably quiet; just a couple of staff and two or three other people; I was far more impressed with the design of the PR company's office with lots of '60s-modern objects. The story might not be the most thrilling of the series but it has some good moments, including a good twist which I won't spoil here. Overall not a classic episode but still worth watching.

Cathy Runs For Office; Steed Manages Her Campaign

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 13 September 2011]

You'd think a story about a stolen nuclear warhead would be really THRILLING, wouldn't you? Guess again!

It all starts with the results of a local bi-election (the sort of thing MONTY PYTHON liked to make fun of, except if they were involved, at least it would be more entertaining to watch). As results are read off, and one candidate congratulates the other, the winner begins to read his acceptance speech... when he's SHOT DEAD (in the face!!). Horrors. As the question of WHO will take his place in the run-off election is raised, the plot begins to thicken (and into a near-impenetrable mess).

As with several (many?) other AVENGERS episodes, "NOVEMBER FIVE" focuses on a particular field of endeavor. In this case, two-- politics, and marketing. The center of attention in the story turns out to be an advertising and marketing firm whose specialty is handling political campaigns. And trust me-- it's even more tedious than it sounds. Eric Paice, whose own specialty seems to be especially tedious stories (he penned 8 AVENGERS episodes, all within the first 3 seasons) somehow manages to take what should be a gripping mystery and turns it into the kind of thing that made a show like MONTY PYTHON almost a necessity.

As the plot progresses, it comes out that 3 very different motivations stem from the theft of the bomb. 1) One of the people who stole the bomb sends the government a blackmail note demanding a huge sum of money for its safe return (well, that was to be expected, right?). 2) Someone else decides to use the information about the theft to cause a scandal and BRING DOWN the current government, forcing them to resign in disgrace. 3) Another person involved in the theft has been offered another huge sum of money NOT to return the bomb, but rather, let it be DETONATED right in the House of Parliment! If you can work your way thru this morass, it follows that 1) and 3) cause a falling-out between the baddies.

As usual, it's characters who save the day... albeit, in this case, only barely. Arthur Dove (David Davies) proves to be the least corrupt of the characters involved, and actually comes across rather honest and charming, especially when he's flirting with Mrs. Gale while admitting he's bored to tears by his long-time wife, who's stuck with him thru thick and thin. And Mrs. Ellen Dove (Ruth Dunning) admits also being bored to tears by her husband, while mostly amused by it all, and winds up making friends with Cathy at the same time. When both Doves nearly fall victim to the story's REAL baddies, you can't help but be overcome with anxiety, hoping that somehow, rescue will come before it's too late. And sure enough, it does. In fact, my favorite moment in the story is when Mrs. Dove lays into one of the baddies while Cathy takes care of the other.

I can only imagine that once the show switched to film production, and Brian Clemens & Albert Fennell were in charge, stories like this were deemed "too cerebral" and were replaced with those containing more visuals, more action, more location filming, and more outrageousness. Speaking of visual, I'd say Production Designer Douglas James put in the best work in this story, as his "Ad Agency" set looked like it would have been right at home in one of the Diana Rigg episodes.

Cathy runs for office

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 28 January 2011]

"November Five" is an episode of its time, completed two months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The disappearance of a nuclear warhead is connected to the assassination of Michael Osborne Dyter (Gary Hope, "A Change of Bait," "The Superlative Seven"), the newly-elected MP of South East Anglia, who had made a promise to reveal the scandal once elected. The newly nominated Cathy Gale intends to reveal the scandal, especially now that the government is being blackmailed for 500,000 pounds for the safe return of the warhead, which Steed believes is hidden someplace in London. One need not be familiar with Parliament to enjoy this story, which could have fit in with Mrs. Peel. As the rifle-toting assassin, Frank Maher would go on to do "Dressed to Kill," "The Little Wonders," "The Bird Who Knew Too Much," "You Have Just Been Murdered," and "Bizarre," Aimee Delamain would return for "Who Was That Man I Saw You With?" while David Langton ("The Mauritius Penny") went on to do "The 50,000 Breakfast," and Iris Russell ("Mission to Montreal") would be back for "Stay Tuned."

Another ep that does the bad thing

[bobforapples-40146 · 4/10 · 2 September 2023]

Bad thing being failing to sustain your interest throughout. Another ep of this show did this as well. The story opens up with an election. The results between two candidates are given quickly. The victor candidate steps to make a speech and is then shot dead by an assassin.

The rest of the ep is about Mrs. Gale now trying to run for office. Honor Blackman has sexy scenes as Gale here and she is by and far the best thing about This loser ep. Watch her a little here and forget the rest of this otherwise forgettable entry!

BTW Benny Hill was considered funnier than Monty Python by two TV stations--WOR and WLVI. ( In voluntary response to what another poster said!)