The Avengers : Mrs Peel, We're Needed! » show menu
site search
by freefind
Stars
Man in the Mirror John Steed, Esq.
Girl on the Trapeze Mrs Peel, you're needed!
Episodes
1960-1977: All Seasons
1960-1: The Far-Distant Dead Dr Keel
1962-3: A Change of Bait Venus, Martin & Cathy
1963-4: The Golden Fleece Cathy Gale
1965-8: The Tiger Awakes Emma Peel -
1968-9: The Morning After Tara King
1976-7: Three Handed Game Gambit & Purdey
Immortal Clay The best episodes
Guides
Dressed to Kill The stars' fashions, 1965-9
All Done with Mirrors Minutiæ of the episodes
Propellant 23 The transportation
A Chorus of Frogs Sounds like... The Avengers
The Little Wonders Websites, books and more
Site
Box of Tricks Search this site
The Nutshell What's new?
Who's Who??? Who's responsible?

Related websites

Support this site

If you've enjoyed reading this site, why not support us by making a PayPal payment?

Share this site

Use the icons in the top corner to share this site on your favourite social network.

Share

The Avengers

Series 2, 1962-3 - Episode 18


prologue © Canal+

epilogue © Canal+

Warlock

Teleplay by Doreen Montgomery
Directed by Peter Hammond

Production Schedule

Episode 31
Production Number : 3504
VTR/ABC/1854 & 1854A
Teddington Studio 2

Friday 6th July 1962

Camera rehearsal 10.00-12.30
Lunch break 12.30-13.30
Camera rehearsal 13.30-18.00
Supper break 18.00-19.00
Camera rehearsal 19.00-20.15
Line-up 20.15-20.45
VTR 1854A 20.45-21.00

Insert 1854A - Scene 30A, Steed and Cathy in her car outside the bookshop.

Telecine inserts -

Saturday 7th July 1962

Camera rehearsal 10.00-12.30
Lunch break 12.30-13.30
Camera rehearsal 13.30-15.30
Tea break, Lind-up (sic),
Normal scan, Make-up
15.30-16.15
Dress rehearsal 16.15-17.30
Notes 17.30-18.00
Line-up 18.00-18.30
VTR 18.30-19.30

Running time

Expected: 51'25" + 2 commercial breaks 2.30
Actual running time with bumpers: 51'12"

The bumpers between the acts are generally 10 seconds from fade in to the "End of Act" bumper to the end of audio before the commercial, a 10 second still without audio, then cut to the next act bumper. This would play with the theme for around 10 seconds. Accordingly, with the episodes being in 3 acts, the running time of the action is approximately a minute less than listed above, minus the opening and closing credits (normally 0'16", with a 2" fade, and anywhere from 0'41" to 1'20", hard cut or 1" fade or mix, respectively).

Transmission

London 26th January 1963

Equipment

VTR PRE-VTR
Cameras: 4 Pedestals 4 Pedestals
Sound: 3 booms, 3 pract. telephones (Suburban Living Room, Diamond Workshop and Ross's Office), 1 slung mic. for Wharf, echo, grams & tape. 1 boom
Telecine: ABC symbol and caption scanner only. 1 insert

Murders

Victim Killer Method
Peter Neville Markel punched
Mrs Dunning Markel strangled
Markel Cosmo Gallion voodoo doll???
Cosmo Gallion natural causes heart attack
click a name
to see the face

Transport

Marque/type Plate
Cathy's MGA RVB 115
Steed's Triumph Herald 7081 MK

Minutiæ

  1. This episode was the first filmed with Honor Blackman and originally had additional footage introducing Cathy. However, as broadcast was delayed until later in the season this material was cut from the final print and, to some extent, replaced with new footage. It's fairly clear that the first words between Cathy and Steed were chopped out at the 6:31 (6:25) mark, and new footage is inserted until there's another sharp cut at 8:43 (8:35) where they return to the original take. There's another cut at 48:47 (47:30) as they discuss the case in the pub. Honor says, "Thanks, I needed that" and Macnee chuckles in reply when the splice comes in. She then says, "Did you ever find out who Gallion was working for?" (however, this cut is less apparent in the restored footage, and may be because of distortion being cut in previous releases).
    Excerpts from the original script for these scenes are available here
  2. It's odd that it was rescheduled when it was, as it meant the guest star was Peter Arne two weeks in a row.
  3. 14:15 - Cosmo asks Neville, "What is the law, Neville?" and Neville replies, ritually, "Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law." Thisa is a reference to Alister Crowley's black magic rites from the 1930s.
  4. 16:49 - Pathologist's report on Neville:
    liver slight enlarged but not excessively, pancreas clear, unusually excessive acidity in the stomach tissues. He tells Steed he died of a coronary thrombosis, with the usual tearing of the artery.
  5. 19:48 - Gallion's previous victims were Watherson, the physicist who shot himself in 1959, and Marshall the engineer.
  6. 20:06 (19:38) - Macnee squirts some soda into his glass and it sprays everywhere.
  7. 22:59-23:01 - the cameraman loses focus when Steed and Cathy go behind the bookshelf
  8. 23:19 - how had they not noticed the dead Mrs Dunning for so long?
  9. 23:31 - a thread appears at the bottom of the screen and stays there until the end of the episode.
  10. 26:31 - Cathy says she was born on 5th October, 1930 - a Sunday - and claims it was on the stroke of midnight (although she's probably lieing to gain Gallion's interest); however, she gives the same birth date in The White Dwarf when Steed asks her what her birthday is.
  11. 35:03 - severe visual distortion
  12. 48:50 - Steed says Gallion was working for Mogom - of course, he should have said Markel, Mogom was Gallion's strong-arm man and one of his devotees, so Mogom worked for Gallion.
Times are from the re-mastered 2009 Optimum Releasing DVD set, any times in brackets are from the previously released DVD sets which had frames with interference or banding deleted, resulting in shorter running times.

main cast other script © Piers Johnson 2006-2011