Now this is the sort of thing I expected The Avengers to come up with - mysterious super-criminals delivering speeches through teddy bears and luring the protagonists into sinister pre-prepared environments. Very much the atmosphere of The Girl Who Was Death, a good few years earlier.
Michael 'Arthur/Richard Mace' Robbins as ill-fated henchman Henry. His character doesn't really fit with the otherwise super-competent nature of Mr Teddy Bear's plans. Though he does get to be entertained at Steed's flat and treated to the latter's suave 'talking insincerely while chuckling' technique.
Tim Brinton is very convincing as the interviewer - not surprisingly, since it turns out he was a newsreader as well as an actor and subsequently a Tory MP turned UKIP nutter. Notice the contemporary over-the-shoulder interviewer's address to camera as seen on Python.
Cathy seems rather more subdued and professional compared to her holiday mood in Propellant 23. She does a good gasp when Steed, who she thinks dead, suddenly appears behind her. Though her 'Why aren't you dead?' line unfortunately reminded me of Vyvyan saying the same thing in The Young Ones.
One of my favourite episodes so far, and the first one that I felt some genuine suspense while watching. Mr Teddy Bear's apparent omnipotence makes him a very menacing villain. (I was also reminded of the arch-criminal Demon Princes in Jack Vance's series of novels, which none of you will have read).
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