Some further early eco-concern with this one, first establishing the concept that a particular fertiliser can 'go wrong' and poison whole areas, then showing us a group of people intent on doing this in order to hold the country to ransom.
Unfortunately this is all defused by rampant silliness, in the shape of characters like a Simon Quinlank-esque ornithologist (Aubrey 'Nero in Dance of the Dead' Morris), a hunting, shooting and drawling posho and a gamekeeper called Mellors (Conrad 'briefly in The General' Phillips). To continue the DH Lawrence theme there's Juggins, an appalling brutish Northerner who wanders round with a jug of scrumpy, talking about slitting sows' throats. And the climactic scene is a slapstick chase where he gets poked up the arse with an anti-hunt placard, then has it smashed over his head.
One good thing about the preceding stuff is that by contrast it makes the buckshot-riddled Steed's hallucination of Mrs Peel as a redeye-addled Western doctor seem strangely charming.
All in all a disappointment. The early part of the episode is a steadily-paced, effective buildup to showing us the effects of the silent dust: but it's all wasted by the subsequent komedy.
Also seen: Norman 'Bakshi's Bilbo' Bird as an embittered rose grower.
