Directors of a property company are being killed off, one by one, by a pair of old-style vaudeville entertainers. The only clue is the unique clown make-up of the principal assassin - so Tara has to visit the clown makeup registry, where each maquillage is recorded on an egg. I can see the logic of having a 3D record, but they wouldn't be fresh eggs would they? They'd go off. And they wouldn't be stored in a tiny room with a 1-foot wide passage between the flimsy shelves. The registrar is, incredibly, played by John Cleese. I thought at first it was Patrick O'Connell (Ashton in Dalek Invasion of Earth) who has a very similar voice. But it's definitely Cleese.
In proper Hitchcockian style, the eggs are duly all smashed, and the search moves to the crumpled paper-strewn room of gag writer Bernard Cribbins (returning from The Girl From Auntie). I kept flashing back to the 'Funniest joke in the world' sketch during these scenes. Amusingly, once Cribbins is killed, Steed has to search through the piles of paper for a vital clue, a bit like Liz in The Silurians.
There's a sad but funny scene where Tara has to guard remaining director Lord Dessington, and the poor old man tries vainly to converse with her about the Far East and camels. I thought it was a bit cruel of her to give him all those wide-eyed looks and displays of leg. When they do finally find something to talk about, he gets killed anyway.
The search eventually leads to Vauda Villa, home for variety artistes who are not presently in demand. The criminal mastermind is unmasked as the straightest of the company directors (John 'The Marshal' Woodvine returning from The Murder Market), though I would have appreciated an explanation of how he became an expert Punch & Judy man.
It's a stupid episode but a funny one. The assassins (Jimmy Jewel and Julian Chagrin) are excellent, they dance off-camera after each murder with that hat-waving routine that such entertainers used to do. (Who they're doing it to is another question). Steed and Tara do the same bit at the end, though they're not half so good. And in the closing gag Steed demonstrates his new mastery of the quick change, very like the Fourth Doctor trying out costumes in Robot.
Previously and also seen: Robert 'Lesterson' James making his third appearance. Talfryn 'Llanfairfach here' Thomas returning from A Surfeit of H20.
Also seen: Garry Marsh who's one of the prisoners in Convict 99. Johnny Vyvyan who was in many Hancocks, most notably as the professional marcher in The Oak Tree.
