At the start this seems to be a much more low-key almost domestic melodrama with no intriguing crime or mystery. It’s almost gritty – there’s a wake, tea, a range, northern accents. But despite the fact there are no real criminal masterminds (nor is the insider dealing especially notable) there are strong elements of Avengersland; in particular the wonderful Lady Cynthia (this week’s larger-than-life character) in whose darkened florist boutique an entertaining fight is staged between Steed and a thug. It’s all rather well realised, suitably tense, intriguing and amusing.
The dialogue is generally wonderful, but Lady Cynthia gets most of the best lines
“Cynthia please, no more scandals. That Scandinavian air steward was bad enough.”
“Spoilsport. All that blond hair. And all those open sandwiches.”
Philip Madoc returns again (after The Decapod and, very recently, Six Hands Across a Table) making him one of the most frequent returning guests at this stage (and with two more appliances to come). Andre Morell will be back in my favourite episode…
Steed has a dog in this one – but not only is it not Freckles, it’s not Sheeba either. This one’s called Katie.
No champagne, but once again there’s rather a lot of tea drinking in this one. Contrast Lord Teale’s lapsang souchong with lemon with Mrs Wrightson’s rather bog-standard brew.