Sunday, January 22, 2012

Naive Avengersthon - 16. Traitor in Zebra

Captain Nash (Noel 'General Smythe' Coleman) commands the HMS Zebra land base, where a new detector system is under test. (It sounds like it uses a laser but they never actually say the word). But it's being jammed by an enemy who seems to know exactly how and when to do so. Steed and Cathy adopt undercover roles at the base to find out who's leaking the information.

A Welsh setting for this one. Cue a couple of girls (including June 'Maggie Harris/Jane Blythe' Murphy) with the all-too-typical ambition of getting the f**k out of Wales. Also some indifferent Welsh accents; Richard 'Gatherer Hade' Leech as the local newspaperman does the best one, and definitely looks like a mad Welshman when the pressure's on. It's the hair.

William 'Orcini/The Champions' Gaunt as a keen young officer murdered with poisoned beer.

Steed's cover is as a naval psychiatrist; it suits him, but Cathy has to tell him not to wear his hat indoors. (This puzzled me as Captain Nash was wearing his when sitting at his desk in the opening scene).

We aren't kept guessing long about who the conspirators are. In any case, they've adopted a ludicrously conspicuous method of passing messages, involving an unaccompanied dog running into a sweetshop with messages tucked into its collar. But the lack of suspense earlier on is made up for by a tense finale with the chief conspirator locked by Steed in a room with his own bomb.

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