Understandably, Diana Rigg gets most of the praise and comments when
people recall THE AVENGERS ("the show with Mrs Peel, right? She was
cool"), but it's worth remembering how very good Patrick Macnee was. In
this episode, we get just a glimpse of a hard and ruthless side to
Steed. He was after all a top secret agent who routinely dealt with
killers and enemy spies. The increasingly goofy aspects of the show
caused these traits to lose emphasis but we see a bit of it here. These
black & white episodes are more thrillers with comic relief than the
cheerful spoofs of the next season.
Our avenging idols go to the University of St Bodes to deal with the
threat of a thesis on economics.(What? Yes.) A politician working on a
plan to unite Europe's resources ("Eurotopia" =96 ending poverty) is
murdered, in a characteristically bizarre opening scene =96 he is
stopped by masked students in Merry Men outfits, which demand money for
Rag Week. After he cheerfully complies and turns back to his car, twang
goes an arrow right into his back. Well, that's odd. (The little
heraldic fanfare is a nice touch.)
John Steed investigates and naturally asks Mrs Peel if she's interested
in furthering her education.
They arrive at St Bodes and begin digging around. Soon our heroes are
knee-deep in a good old-fashioned mystery. An unknown mastermind is
planning to disastrously disrupt European economics through an ingenious
scheme found in one of the college's theses.There are several professors
giving Steed and Emma suspicious stares after being asked pointed
questions, some rather nasty and irritating students, a secret society
with oaths sworn in blood and all that, and a few murders of likely
suspects just when things start seeming too clear. There is much
skulking and lurking in darkened corridors and shadowy rooms.It ends in
an elaborate costume party, where Mrs Peel makes quite an impression in
a Robin Hood outfit, and all is revealed (well, the murderer's plan,
that is, not Mrs Peel.)
Some eccentric characters turn up, as you might expect. (This is not
something new with THE AVENGERS, of course; detectives back to Raymond
Chandler's stories had been meeting whacky folks during their
investigations.) One professor is enthusiastically performing isometrics
everywhere, although he's doing them all wrong; another is for some
reason camped out in the nearby woods with a gypsy wagon (but no sign of
a horse?). Then there are the students.
I have to say the class we see at St Bode are an unlikeable lot. You
have to expect a certain amount of insolence and know-it-all pretensions
from college students =96 it's part of the process =96 but these kids
carry it without charm. Their ringleader is a hateful bully named
DuBoys. He is played by Patrick Gower with so much arrogance and
rudeness that I was really disappointed Emma didn't give him a thorough
thrashing.
Steed seems to be barely restraining his dislike when dealing with the
students. Surrounded by a circle of them in rubber masks (that Rag Week
business again), he then has DuBoys insultingly question his claim to be
an ex-alumnus. When DuBoys lays a hand against his chest, Steed says, "I
object to having my word doubted. I object very strongly," and seizes it
in a painful-looking lock under his own arm. Before releasing the young
thug, he gives the hand a vicious little twist to make his point. What
really makes an impression is how self-assured and firm Steed is during
this (and when later questioning another student). He keeps a slight
smile on his face. This would be much more unnerving than any fierce
scowling could match.
It all comes to the climax during the costume party ("Quite mad. A
rave*. Great fun"). Everyone is dressed in Merry Man-themed outfits.
(Steed is the Sheriff of Nottingham, with a rather disappointing prop
sword.) Emma wears a striking Robin Hood costume, notable because the
short jerkin reveals nearly all of her backside in what amounts to a
wide thong. I actually didn't think this outfit was all that flattering
to Diana Rigg. She was a lovely woman indeed, but I liked her best in
those soft catsuits which were sexy in a casual, unstressed way. Mrs
Peel doesn't get to accomplish all that much in this episode (aside from
shooting a sword out of someone's grip with an arrow...!). She spends
much of her time in the dusty archives, searching for the infamous
thesis. Every time she manages to bring some order out of chaos,
something makes a shambles out it again (much like efforts in my own
bookroom).
There are a few odd things here I'd like to mention. The university
seems almost deserted. The show had a limited budget, of course, and the
cast had to be kept to a minimum. But it does seem rather eerie how
quiet and abandoned the campus is, with none of the establishing shots
of crowds milling about we usually get in a story like this. One of the
characters fakes his death with the arrow in the back bit. It's one
thing to plant a substitute corpse in a burning car or explosion, where
the dead man's identity would be assumed, but this technique makes me
wonder how the fellow managed the autopsy, coroner's report, burial and
so forth so easily. Quite a trick.
Then there's the death of one of the students in the archives. A
bookcase is shoved over on him, but it's open (that is, there's no back
to it) and the space between shelves is wide enough to climb through.
There are not all that many books on it, either. A reasonably fit and
active young man would have plenty of time to get out of the way, block
the falling bookcase or at least protect himself with his arms. Yet he
just cries out,"Look out you fool!" and obligingly lets it bang down on
him. This could have been staged better. Maybe having the student
unaware of his danger until the shelves came down and hit him across the
neck? At least that would be convincing. It's a neat touch, though that
Steed feels a twinge of remorse at not preventing the death ("I should
never have let him go it alone").
_______
*This usage back in 1966 rather surprised me.
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