646f9e108c When an agent in diving gear is found dead in a Scottish loch yet substantially taller than he was whilst he was alive Steed and Mrs. Peel visit a remote castle owned by the feuding De&#39;ath cousins, Ian and Angus, to investigate the sinister goings-on. I love re-watching these old black and white episodes from my very early youth. This one, though stylish and haunting in parts, is riddled with plot holes.<br/><br/>1. Why on earth would an organisation plotting against its enemies invite not one but two total strangers into their midst? 2. Why, after the laird ordered the cellar door locked was it kept open? 3. Why was Mrs Peel allowed to carry on wandering around the castle after she was attacked by the bad guys? 4. Why did Angus appear to be briefly on the same sideSteed before suddenly trying to attack him? Despite all this I remembera child wishing that I could fish in that wonderful looking moat, I still do. When an agent is killed during a &#39;diving accident&#39; in the moat of a Scottish castle Mrs Peel heads north posingsomebody who can help the owners make money from the castle. It is clearly a suspicious death most people don&#39;t grow by several inches when they die! When Mrs Peel gets there we see Steed is already there; posinghistorian &#39;Jock McSteed&#39; and wearing a kilt! The castle belongs to Clan De&#39;ath and apparently it is haunted by the pipe-playing ghost of the infamous thirteenth laird who was bricked up in the castle walls after betraying the clan. Once settled in Steed goes fishing; in order to investigate the moat, while Mrs Peel investigates the dungeons where she discovers a variety of medieval torture devices. It soon becomes apparent that something is going on but it isn&#39;t obvious who is involved; the laird, Ian De&#39;ath, who doesn&#39;t want anybody in his castle; his cousin Angus, who is very keen to make more money; or members of the staff who run the estate when the cousins are away.<br/><br/>While this episode was filmed in Kent the creators used just about every Scottish stereotype short of a guest appearance by Nessie to make us believe we are in the highlands; all the main male characters wear kilts and it isn&#39;t long before we hear the skirl of the pipes. This would be laughable in most series but it seems to suit the somewhat surreal world of &#39;The Avengers&#39; it is almost worth watching just to see Steed in a kilt and Mrs Peel in a tight-fitting tartan costume! The plot is enjoyably far-fetchedis the secret route to the villains&#39; lair though an iron maiden in the basement a route that leads to the demise of the chief villain. The story was well told with a nice degree of threat and an air of mystery we know something is happening but exactly what the villains are doing isn&#39;t obvious until quite late in the story. Overall this is a fun story if not a classic.
Gatolethe Admin replied
363 weeks ago