Sometimes "The Avengers" tip their hands too early. Here, on the other hand, is a genuine puzzle. Scientists are disappearing in a hotel room. Well, not so much "disappearing" as checking in as one person and checking out as someone else, who then discards that identity.
At first it seems they're prisoners of the Red Chinese. But an escapee, who apparently underwent tortures (Peter Madden, a face familiar to "Danger Man" fans), made his way home to England when he can't even remember his name or his wife! Did he trek that far on his own? How did a man in his condition escape insular China, or cross the Gobi Desert or even the English Channel?
The puzzle's solution is presented in bits and bobs throughout the episode until, toward the end, it's all clear. What's not clear is the character played by the always dependable Peter Arne. He seems to have been added to the cast as a the typical "The Avengers" sacrificial lamb.
Peter Jeffrey (who would go on to "The Joker") is fine as Steed's baffled companion. Vernon Dobtcheff (who would go on to "The Living Dead") turns in one of his amusing performances (is he ever anything but funny or villainous?). Philip Latham overacts as usual (I love his extended miniseries "The Pallisers" and often wondered why he was chosen as the star; then I remembered his character was supposed to be a bore, which Latham is).
Sometimes "The Avengers" presents a cast that would be fine in a full-length movie. This is one of them. But with these people, all of whom are as expert in comedy as drama, would work together only in a spy spoof. This, however, is not one of the funnier episodes of "The Avengers" though it's chock full of quirky characters ("The Avengers" during the Mrs. Peel years does nothing better than present us a depth of kooks) and Steed has some lovely moments portraying a man famous for grading hotel cuisines.
At first it seems they're prisoners of the Red Chinese. But an escapee, who apparently underwent tortures (Peter Madden, a face familiar to "Danger Man" fans), made his way home to England when he can't even remember his name or his wife! Did he trek that far on his own? How did a man in his condition escape insular China, or cross the Gobi Desert or even the English Channel?
The puzzle's solution is presented in bits and bobs throughout the episode until, toward the end, it's all clear. What's not clear is the character played by the always dependable Peter Arne. He seems to have been added to the cast as a the typical "The Avengers" sacrificial lamb.
Peter Jeffrey (who would go on to "The Joker") is fine as Steed's baffled companion. Vernon Dobtcheff (who would go on to "The Living Dead") turns in one of his amusing performances (is he ever anything but funny or villainous?). Philip Latham overacts as usual (I love his extended miniseries "The Pallisers" and often wondered why he was chosen as the star; then I remembered his character was supposed to be a bore, which Latham is).
Sometimes "The Avengers" presents a cast that would be fine in a full-length movie. This is one of them. But with these people, all of whom are as expert in comedy as drama, would work together only in a spy spoof. This, however, is not one of the funnier episodes of "The Avengers" though it's chock full of quirky characters ("The Avengers" during the Mrs. Peel years does nothing better than present us a depth of kooks) and Steed has some lovely moments portraying a man famous for grading hotel cuisines.
