When Mrs Peel's childhood friend, Major Paul Croft returns to the country she accompanies him to his new house near the picturesque village of Little Storping. His old colleague Pvt Forbes has gone ahead and introduced himself to the locals at the village pub; when he goes to the house to start the unpacking two locals follow; he thinks they are going to help but they start smashing the major's property. When Mrs Peel and Paul arrive they see the smashed items but there is no sign of Forbes. Paul is furious; assuming he has got drunk he heads into town and goes to the pub. Meanwhile Mrs Peel finds Forbes
dead! Before she can do anything she is knocked out by an unseen assailant. She awakes in town with the locals telling her that she hit her head in a car crash. She knows they are lying but accompanies the doctor thinking he can be trusted; she soon learns he can't be and must flee from the villages
who have a helicopter!
As the 'Emma Peel period' of 'The Avengers' approaches its end it is nice to see her take the lead in a really good episode. The idea of a sleepy village where the locals are assassins is original and a lot of fun this was set up perfectly in the opening scene when two men playing dominoes don't bat an eyelid when somebody is gunned down just yards from them. The story mixes the series trademark humour with darker moments; in one seen we see a killer putting a silencer on his pistol as one can't make a noise in the library and then Mrs Peel learns of her friend's death and must flee from some genuinely threatening villagers. There are some flaws of course when she calls Steed it takes him a shockingly long time to cotton on that something is wrong despite her asking how they children are! Still it is an amusing scene so can be forgiven. The Hertfordshire village of Aldbury, renamed Little Storping in the show, is a great setting; it is hard to imaging such a charming village being a hotbed of murder which is what make it so perfect. Diana Rigg puts in a great performance as Mrs Peel; showing more emotion than usual as it is a friend of her characters who is killed. The guest actors who play the villagers are good too; some of the most menacing villains the series has had. Overall a top quality episode; Avengers at its best.
As the 'Emma Peel period' of 'The Avengers' approaches its end it is nice to see her take the lead in a really good episode. The idea of a sleepy village where the locals are assassins is original and a lot of fun this was set up perfectly in the opening scene when two men playing dominoes don't bat an eyelid when somebody is gunned down just yards from them. The story mixes the series trademark humour with darker moments; in one seen we see a killer putting a silencer on his pistol as one can't make a noise in the library and then Mrs Peel learns of her friend's death and must flee from some genuinely threatening villagers. There are some flaws of course when she calls Steed it takes him a shockingly long time to cotton on that something is wrong despite her asking how they children are! Still it is an amusing scene so can be forgiven. The Hertfordshire village of Aldbury, renamed Little Storping in the show, is a great setting; it is hard to imaging such a charming village being a hotbed of murder which is what make it so perfect. Diana Rigg puts in a great performance as Mrs Peel; showing more emotion than usual as it is a friend of her characters who is killed. The guest actors who play the villagers are good too; some of the most menacing villains the series has had. Overall a top quality episode; Avengers at its best.