The title of this 1966 episode is obviously a reference to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a spy series that debuted in 1964. I watched most of the episodes a long time ago and, whilst it is far from clear in my memory, I don’t think this episode of The Avengers has much to do with it, other than the play on words. The episode was deliberately crafted to allow Diana Rigg to have a holiday from filming the show. As is so often the case, from limitations and adversity springs great ideas.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the openings to these fourth season episodes draw the viewer into the story magnificently. This is one of the best so far: a young lady in a bikini hugs a man with a pig’s head on, and then an old lady falls off her bike and attacks Emma with a hypodermic needle. How’s that for an attention-grabber?

With Emma written out for most of the episode, it is very much up to Steed to carry the narrative, and he’s of course equal to the task. A moment early on really indicates how capable he is, in any situation. He arrives at Emma’s flat to find an imposter has taken her place. In an instant he has adapted to the predicament he finds himself in, playing it cool, pretending to be just a friend of a friend, and even having the presence of mind to give the impression that he’s unfamiliar with the appartment. He’s remarkably quick thinking.

Emma’s replacement is the bubbly-natured Georgie Price-Jones, played by an actress who will be familiar to most viewers now and will surely have been familiar to everyone watching at the time: Liz Fraser. She was already famous from appearing in the Carry On film series, and she is a superb temporary replacement for Diana Rigg, immediately capturing the fun relationship between Georgie/Emma and Steed, and also supremely unfazed by anything, even when the bodies start piling up. In one entertaining sequence, she defends herself against an old lady with a knitting needle while looking for instructions from a self defence book. At times like this I found myself wondering if it was all a bit too silly or just the right amount of silly, but that’s a line this show now walks, and I’m having so much fun that I don’t really feel like complaining about it.

Liz Fraser isn’t the only Carry On star to appear in this episode. The magnificent Bernard Cribbins, surely one of the most likeable actors who ever lived, is great fun as knitting teacher Arkwright. It’s a disappointingly tangential role to the narrative, a bit of distraction from the main plot, but he does great things with the material he is given, marching around a circle of old ladies, talking in rhymes about knitting. It’s eccentric and wonderful.

And that really sums up this episode. We have a gang of criminals who claim they can source anything for anybody, to the extent that they are currently “working out ways to transport the Eiffel Tower”. They have already stolen the Mona Lisa (although it’s a shame they couldn’t have made it look more like wood rather than paper, when it gets smashed over somebody’s head (outrageously fun). Then when Mrs Peel finally appears, she’s Lot Number 17 in an auction, being kept prisoner in a giant birdcage, wearing not very much at all (a sight that I found slightly disturbing because it’s so demeaning, and there was no acknowledgement of that). Most gloriously of all, we have a murderous old lady, attacking people with knitting needles (the reveal of her true identity was awful, but you can’t have everything). Only The Avengers could climax with two women punching each other in the face, one of whom is an old lady who kills with her knitting. There’s no doubt about it: The Avengers is just the right amount of silly.   RP

The view from across the pond:

In 1964, American audiences were introduced to The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  It was a spy show starring David McCullum and Robert Vaughn.  I always felt it was America’s response to The Avengers.   So in 1966, Britain responded by giving audiences The Girl from AUNTIE.  I can safely say, Britain wins.  Between old ladies falling off bikes to silently inject our heroine, to sewing needles being wielded like throwing knives, to cameos from Doctor Who actors, this episode was 50 minutes of hilarity.  I’ve been so lukewarm about this series now for so long, I didn’t expect to like this episode.  The title was clearly a mockery of another show and yet the actors are clearly having so much fun that it shows throughout the episode.

When Emma Peel is kidnapped, Steed goes on the hunt.  He finds her being auctioned off and has to step in to save the day.  Scary when you consider a comedy episode basically about human trafficking, but the whole thing is done with style.  Steed is hilarious but also smart; he quickly pivots when he finds a replacement Emma Peel asking who sent her a gift.  “John Steed.  Small fat man with a grey mustache.”  Emma’s replacement for the episode, while having little of the magnetic qualities of Emma, has great presence.  Georgie Price-Jones (Liz Fraser) rolled with Steed’s quirks brilliantly, making me very hopeful that she’ll be back.  Even Steed’s silent cab driver brings a smile, trying out all the toys Steed throws in the cab as he waits for his fare.  We get two Doctor Who cameos: the great Bernard Cribbins as the knitting circle lead, Arkwright.  His words are poetry in this episode… literally.  Then we get Sylvia Coleridge (Amelia Ducat from that classic Tom Baker episode, The Seeds of Doom) playing a dotty old woman who pulls a gun on Georgie only to giggle and spray water from it.  She’s so dippy that when she finds her four nephews dead on the ground, she thinks they’re playing.

That’s another masterful triumph: the plot has Steed and Georgie following a trail of corpses like Theseus through the labyrinth, going from one yarned body to the next.  (John Steed: Six bodies in an hour and twenty minutes. What do you call that?  Georgie Price-Jones: A good first act.   She’s not wrong!)  When they arrive at one place, they encounter John, Paul, George and Rin… er, Fred.  Considering when this was filmed, the Beatles were just about the most popular group on Earth, so no surprise that the series would have some form of tribute to them!  There are flaws, of course, but none could derail this episode.  Coleridge answers Steed at one point without ever moving her mouth and later, Steed jumps over a banister and clearly almost kills himself – kudos to the stunt double for managing to land with catlike reflexes on his feet!

I have not loved an episode of The Avengers nearly as much as this one since the very start.  If someone asked me for a recommendation, it would be this one.  The mere use of an old lady to fight Steed and Georgie was inspired.  To later have to unmask that lady was even more bizarre and comical.  I confess to being bummed that an episode I really loved is one without Emma Peel, but she does appear.  Actually her appearance is still loads of fun and she has to be one of the most stunning women of 60s TV, so it’s not like she were missing altogether.  Her personality still shines through even when she’s barely speaking, which is a testament to the great Diana Rigg.  She was a class act all her acting days.  For the first time in four seasons, I was utterly delighted by this show.  I really hope that sense of fun continues.    ML

Read next in the Junkyard… The Avengers: The Thirteenth Hole