Third of the six episodes featuring nightclub singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens), again an improvement on its predecessor. In demonstrating his magic box, a shady magician (Ian Curry) makes his female assistant disappear, then reappear, murdered by a fatal gunshot. Curiously, when her replacement (April Olrich) meets the same fate, the magician escapes suspicion! Steed brings Venus Smith into the picture, performing at the same nightclub where the murders occurred (two songs this time), and she's more helpful this time around, hearing voices from inside the magic box, and visiting an old friend (Jane Barratt) whose wheelchair-bound father, General Sutherland (Maurice Hedley), holds the key to the solution (NATO security leaks). Steed goes undercover in two disguises, one a masseur for the ailing General, wisely ducking out when Venus shows up (she blew his cover in "The Removal Men"), and later as a hypochondriac millionaire visiting Dr. Gallam (Edgar Wreford), the General's less than inspiring physician. Steed and Venus finally work well as a team, but had only three more together; next up for Venus would be "School for Traitors."
5 Reviews
Death is a CABARET
profh-19 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A magician's assistant is shot dead during a stage performance, and whatta ya know, soon after, Steed, investigating NATO secrets being leaked, has managed to get his singer friend Venus working in the same nightclub. I never quite worked out HOW Steed connected the secrets TO the nightclub, but, once Venus is there (unsuspecting that Steed got her the job), one casual things leads to another, and before we know it, Venus is hearing voices, a 2nd girl is murdered, Steed is posing as a chiropractor for a disabled General, and a "quack" doctor who claims to have a "miracle cure" is really using electronics to steal and transmit military secrets.
It seems after a season-and-a-half, original series producer Leonard White departed to do ARMCHAIR THEATRE, and so longtime story editor John Bryce took over for the NEXT season-and-a-half, beginning with "Intercrime". For this 3rd "Venus Smith" episode, he decided to give her a bit of a makeover, having her hair cut very pixie-like short ("Vidal Sassoon", as Julie Stevens put it), she started singing bouncier tunes, and her personality got less "Sarah Jane" tough and more "Sandy Duncan" flighty. For years, I put this down to a natural progression of the character, as she'd already been involved in 2 situations with Steed, and so knew him enough by here to know that, whatever he was up to, he was an alright guy. I hadn't realized a change in producers was involved. While once again, Venus has NO real idea what's going on for most of the story, by the end, she HAS figured it out and can't stop rattling on to Steed, even suggesting how they could have used the spying gimmick to their own advantage to feed the bad guys FALSE information. Whatever the case, I found her adorable, and of all the AVENGERS girls, I'd rate her the one I'd most like to have asked out for dinner. (She's just the most approachable... and, I've always had a thing for singers.)
I've seen the "disappearing girl in the box" trick in at least 2 other TV stories-- the Tom Baker-Louise Jameson DOCTOR WHO story, "The Talons Of Weng-Chiang" (where a girl is casually murdered by the main villain in order to implicate his HENCHMAN, who he's grown tired of), and the Peter Davison CAMPION story, "Mystery Mile" (where Albert saves a man's life just before he's electrocuted).
My favorite scene in the story is when the wheelchair-bound General Sutherland point-blank suggests Steed "drop the pretense", as he suspects he's working undercover-- and Steed INSTANTLY admits it and produces his credentials. Steed then assures the older man his being forcibly retired is only a "coincidence", and I can only assume that by the end of the Steed's investigations, the General is fully cleared and reinstated. (I've worked as a home health aide with so far 3 different clients in wheelchairs, so I could really relate to this part of the episode.)
Of the 2 writers involved, Edward Rhodes spent most of his career as an actor and story editor, with this being 1 of only 2 actual writing credits. Peter Ling, meanwhile, was the creator of the series COMPACT, writing 176 out of 197 of its episodes!
On the 2009 Region 2 DVD, it was a joy to once again see Julie Stevens doing an introduction, where she describes this story featuring a "very different, yet the same" Venus from the 2 previous stories. The sound was excellent on this one, though the entire episode had horizontal bands on the video, and the picture went quite fuzzy during the climax. I guess we always have to be thankful we still have these episodes to see at all!
It seems after a season-and-a-half, original series producer Leonard White departed to do ARMCHAIR THEATRE, and so longtime story editor John Bryce took over for the NEXT season-and-a-half, beginning with "Intercrime". For this 3rd "Venus Smith" episode, he decided to give her a bit of a makeover, having her hair cut very pixie-like short ("Vidal Sassoon", as Julie Stevens put it), she started singing bouncier tunes, and her personality got less "Sarah Jane" tough and more "Sandy Duncan" flighty. For years, I put this down to a natural progression of the character, as she'd already been involved in 2 situations with Steed, and so knew him enough by here to know that, whatever he was up to, he was an alright guy. I hadn't realized a change in producers was involved. While once again, Venus has NO real idea what's going on for most of the story, by the end, she HAS figured it out and can't stop rattling on to Steed, even suggesting how they could have used the spying gimmick to their own advantage to feed the bad guys FALSE information. Whatever the case, I found her adorable, and of all the AVENGERS girls, I'd rate her the one I'd most like to have asked out for dinner. (She's just the most approachable... and, I've always had a thing for singers.)
I've seen the "disappearing girl in the box" trick in at least 2 other TV stories-- the Tom Baker-Louise Jameson DOCTOR WHO story, "The Talons Of Weng-Chiang" (where a girl is casually murdered by the main villain in order to implicate his HENCHMAN, who he's grown tired of), and the Peter Davison CAMPION story, "Mystery Mile" (where Albert saves a man's life just before he's electrocuted).
My favorite scene in the story is when the wheelchair-bound General Sutherland point-blank suggests Steed "drop the pretense", as he suspects he's working undercover-- and Steed INSTANTLY admits it and produces his credentials. Steed then assures the older man his being forcibly retired is only a "coincidence", and I can only assume that by the end of the Steed's investigations, the General is fully cleared and reinstated. (I've worked as a home health aide with so far 3 different clients in wheelchairs, so I could really relate to this part of the episode.)
Of the 2 writers involved, Edward Rhodes spent most of his career as an actor and story editor, with this being 1 of only 2 actual writing credits. Peter Ling, meanwhile, was the creator of the series COMPACT, writing 176 out of 197 of its episodes!
On the 2009 Region 2 DVD, it was a joy to once again see Julie Stevens doing an introduction, where she describes this story featuring a "very different, yet the same" Venus from the 2 previous stories. The sound was excellent on this one, though the entire episode had horizontal bands on the video, and the picture went quite fuzzy during the climax. I guess we always have to be thankful we still have these episodes to see at all!
Decent, just lacking sparkle.
Sleepin_Dragon20 January 2024
Steed is on the hunt for missing papers, papers that are classified and of significant importance, he traces them to a night club, it just so happens that Venus is performing at.
Very watchable, but one of the more forgettable episodes.
I can't say I've loved the episodes that Julie Stevens has appeared in as Venus, no issues at all with the character, or her acting, I just don't think she's been particularly well served, this although not a classic by any stretch, was one of the better ones.
It's a little bit muddled in all honesty, I liked that business about the disappearing assistant, but the rest was just a little bit standard and rather forgettable.
Stevens delighted as Venus, although the music is horrendous, I quite liked Maurice Hedley as The General, he was good fun, sadly his story got a little lost.
Decent, sadly there's just nothing particular remarkable or standout about this episode.
6/10.
Very watchable, but one of the more forgettable episodes.
I can't say I've loved the episodes that Julie Stevens has appeared in as Venus, no issues at all with the character, or her acting, I just don't think she's been particularly well served, this although not a classic by any stretch, was one of the better ones.
It's a little bit muddled in all honesty, I liked that business about the disappearing assistant, but the rest was just a little bit standard and rather forgettable.
Stevens delighted as Venus, although the music is horrendous, I quite liked Maurice Hedley as The General, he was good fun, sadly his story got a little lost.
Decent, sadly there's just nothing particular remarkable or standout about this episode.
6/10.
Steed and Venus uncover a spying plot
Tweekums2 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This episode opens in the Gemini Club where a magic act is taking place; the magician's assistant steps into a box and as planned she disappears, then as he reopens the box for her to emerge her dead body falls out
shot! Steed starts asking a few questions, getting help from his friend Venus Smith, who works as a singer at the club. While investigating the magic box she hears what sounds like a military many discussing classified information. This fits in with recent leaks of NATO secrets linked to meetings attended by General Sutherland. Steed has been seeing the General, by posing as his masseur, and learns that his daughter is trying to get him to see an alternative therapist. The General refuses but she follows the therapist's advice and places a little box in her father's wheelchair believing it to provide some sort of healing radiation. If they are to stop the leaks Steed will have to discover just what the little box contains.
I rather enjoyed this episode; while Cathy Gale is probably the better partner for Steed Venus Smith makes a welcome change. Julie Stevens is a delight in the role; a fair more innocent character who believably gets a little out of her depth at times. The case itself is rather fun; nobody will be surprised when it emerges that the dodgy therapist is a wrong'un but there are still some surprises about who is involved. Patrick Macnee in on top form as Steed; I particularly liked his undercover guises where he pretends to be a masseur and later a hypochondriac hoping to be treated by the dodgy therapist. Overall this was a lighter episode than many this season but it was still a lot of fun.
I rather enjoyed this episode; while Cathy Gale is probably the better partner for Steed Venus Smith makes a welcome change. Julie Stevens is a delight in the role; a fair more innocent character who believably gets a little out of her depth at times. The case itself is rather fun; nobody will be surprised when it emerges that the dodgy therapist is a wrong'un but there are still some surprises about who is involved. Patrick Macnee in on top form as Steed; I particularly liked his undercover guises where he pretends to be a masseur and later a hypochondriac hoping to be treated by the dodgy therapist. Overall this was a lighter episode than many this season but it was still a lot of fun.
Box of Tricks
Prismark1011 October 2019
Another episode with nightclub singer Venus Smith and they tend to be the weakest ones. This one is more crime orientated.
The episode starts with a magician making his female assistant disappear in his box of tricks only for her to appear dead. The same thing happens again with the replacement assistant. You would think the magician would had given up by now.
Venus appears as a singer at the nightclub and is roped in by Steed to help out the magician. However she hears some kind of voices, maybe this led to the deaths of the two other assistants.
Steed also investigates the leaking of military secrets. It seems the magician is in cahoots with a therapist of a sick wheelchair bound military general. The general's daughter is used to place device in her father's wheelchair thinking the alternative therapy would help him but it is being used for more nefarious purposes.
Not a good or credible episode, the story is thin, so it has been stretched out. You know this as Venus sings two songs.
The episode starts with a magician making his female assistant disappear in his box of tricks only for her to appear dead. The same thing happens again with the replacement assistant. You would think the magician would had given up by now.
Venus appears as a singer at the nightclub and is roped in by Steed to help out the magician. However she hears some kind of voices, maybe this led to the deaths of the two other assistants.
Steed also investigates the leaking of military secrets. It seems the magician is in cahoots with a therapist of a sick wheelchair bound military general. The general's daughter is used to place device in her father's wheelchair thinking the alternative therapy would help him but it is being used for more nefarious purposes.
Not a good or credible episode, the story is thin, so it has been stretched out. You know this as Venus sings two songs.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
