• title card: white text reading ‘Death Dispatch’ superimposed on Baxter’s body in his dressing gown lying on the floor, diagonally across screen, head near the French doors
  • Steed and One-Ten meet at the poolside
  • Rosas, foreground left, takes the call from Pasco while Monroe looks on from behind him and to his left
  • Steed and Cathy embrace to get rid of the maid
  • Conchita plays her guitar and sings for Cathy in the crowded bar
  • Steed hold a gun to Anna’s head, he and Cathy in the foreground, Anna between them. Rosas and Monroe behind him have no choice but to surrender

Series 2 — Episode 13
Death Dispatch

Teleplay by Leonard Fincham
Directed by Jonathan Alwyn

Read the script (PDF 4MB)

Production No 3503, VTR/ABC/1821
Production completed: June 23 1962. First transmission: December 22 1962.

Production details

Episode 30
Production Number : 3503
VTR/ABC/1821
Teddington Studio 2

Friday 22nd June 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 break 19.00–21.00

Saturday 23rd June 1962

Camera rehearsal 10.00–12.30
Lunch break 12.30–13.30
Camera rehearsal 13.30–15.30
Tea break, Line up,
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″
Actual running time with bumpers: 50′38″

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).

Regional broadcasts

BroadcasterDateTime
ATV London22/12/196210.05pm
ABC Midlands22/12/196210.05pm
ABC North22/12/196210.05pm
Anglia Television22/12/196210.05pm
Border Television22/12/196210.05pm
Channel Television22/12/196210.05pm
Grampian Television--
Southern Television22/12/196210.05pm
Scottish Television27/06/196310.45pm
Tyne Tees Television22/12/196210.05pm
Ulster Television22/12/196210.05pm
Westward Television22/12/196210.05pm
Television Wales & West22/12/196210.05pm
Teledu Cymru (WWN)22/12/196210.05pm
ABN2 Sydney3/02/19647.30pm
ABV2 Melbourne13/08/19647.30pm

TV Times listing

TV Times listing for December 22 1962, 10.30pm (London edition)
Sydney Morning Herald listing for February 3 1964, 7.30pm
The Age listing for August 13 1964, 7.30pm

10.5 The Avengers
starring
Patrick Macnee
in
Death Dispatch
Teleplay by Eric Paice
Also starring
Honor Blackman

Cast

Baxter Hedger Wallace
Pasco Alan Mason
John Steed Patrick Macnee
One-Ten Douglas Muir
Catherine Gale Honor Blackman
Thugs Geoff L’Cise
Arthur Griffiths
Miguel Rosas Richard Warner
Anna Rosas Valerie Sarruf
Monroe David Cargill
Chambermaid Bernice Rassin
Rico Michael Forrest
Singer Maria Andipa
Customer Jerry Jardin
Travers Gerald Harper

The Avengers theme composed and
played by Johnny Dankworth
Settings by Anne Spavin
Directed by Jonathan Alwyn
Producer Leonard White

A murder without reason? A diplomatic mission in jeopardy. Steed and Cathy travel 8,000 miles to find a clue

ABC Television Network Production

Episode availability

Murders

Victim Killer Method
Baxter Pasco throwing knife
Pasco Monroe stabbed
Click a name to see the face

Transport

Marque/type Plate
several aeroplanes

Continuity and trivia

  1. The draft for this episode had a German called Muller in place of the American Monroe, and the Rosas lived in Buenos Aires instead of Santiago - which makes sense, with the German presence in Argentina, and it being more noted than Chile for raising horses.
    Accordingly, Steed’s journey as courier was Bogota-Santiago-Buenos Aires instead of Bogota-Lima-Santiago.
  2. 1:21- Baxter calls Tim, the Governor’s secretary in Jamaica, on 26513.
  3. throughout - there’s a handle-shaped mark at the bottom of the screen for the entire episode, probably an out of focus thread stuck in the transfer plate.
  4. 11:08 — the close-up of Rosas is out of focus and badly framed, half of his head not visible for several seconds.
  5. 12:25 — the plane that lands is different to the one that was in the air.
  6. throughout - the backdrop from Rosas’ hacienda is clearly a painting.
  7. 25:29 — the close-up of Monroe is out of focus.
  8. 30:35 — Some of the stock footage is shown at the wrong point as a Lima street scene is shown for the arrival in Santiago.
  9. 4:33/30:40 — the polka-dot bikini girl from Jamaica is in Dos Pajaros café in Santiago, and many of the rest of the hotel crowd are there - they’re all there at Bogota airport as well!
Jamaica Bogota Santiago
  • 33:03 — Rico’s café “Dos Pajaros” is in a downtown district of Santiago called “Calle las Campañas”
  • 34:41 — Did Steed nearly swear? He says, “Sir Henry will be awfully sh- angry”.
  • 37:16 — has Chilean wine ever come in chianti bottles?
  • 40:54 — the boom mike descends into shot at top right just after Steed says, “Cheers!”
  • 42:40 — The Rosas’ number appears to be 343
  • 45:15 — Rosas is out of focus when he grabs Monroe’s fallen pistol, focus is restored at 45:18.
    • 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.

    fan forum Donate Become a Patron!