Series 2 — Episode 22
Man in the Mirror

Plot summary

Steed sends Venus to a fun fair where she accidentally photographs a man believed dead in the Hall of Mirrors. The funfair manager, Strong, tries to retrieve the film and Mrs. Trevelyan tells Steed her husband has been kidnapped. Converging on the funfair, Steed and Venus are captured by the Trevelyans who leave them wired to a timed bomb. Betty rescues them after stabbing Strong, but Mr. and Mrs. Trevelyan have already escaped.

show full synopsis

show plot summary

Prologue

In a fun fair Ghost Tunnel, two men lay out a corpse (Alban Blakelock) then leave hurriedly, the corpse reflected in a mirror.

Act 1

One-Six (Michael Gover) is showing slides to his team of agents ¹ while outside John Steed (Patrick Macnee) greets Iris (Frieda Knorr) who is posing as a prostitute and enters the building while she remains outside, maintaining her cover by propositioning an old man.

Steed enters and is admonished for being late, One-Six saying he expects his team to attend briefings on time. Steed arrogantly tells him he’s been in the organisation for some time and has managed to keep ahead of the opposition so far. The agents are dismissed and One-Six asks Steed to look into the suicide of Victor Trevelyan, who apparently stepped in front of a train after his wife left him - Trevelyan was a cipher clerk who handled international codes so they need to make sure the suicide was genuine, or rewrite the codebook. Steed is surprised to learn he’ll be doing the office work for the case.

ONE-SIX: It’ll do you good to get in some paperwork, Steed. There are no lone wolves on my team.
STEED: Just old foxes.

Steed visits Mrs. Trevelyan (Rhoda Lewis) and discovers she’s going away - to Ireland to stay with her mother; she tells him Victor never brought any work home and there are no secret papers in the house. He shows her a ticket from the Wonderland fun fair found in her husband’s pocket but she claims to know nothing about it.

Venus Smith (Julie Stevens) arrives at the fun fair later on with Sheba and lets Sheba off the lead then takes a few photos, amusing herself by photographing her reflections in the hall of mirrors. A man peers out from a curtain behind her while she does so and his reflection is captured on film.

She goes ‘looking’ for Sheba and encounters Strong (Ray Barrett) who tells her she’s on private property. She claims her dog ran away and offers to pay admission then goes off to look for Sheba. Strong enters the Ghost Train, where the man tells him she took his picture and Strong promises to take care of her.

Venus heads off to a recording studio where she’s rehearsing with the Kenny Powell Trio to record a song - Betty (Daphne Anderson) enters her dressing room and steals the camera and a brooch - meanwhile, in the studio, the producer, Peter (David Graham), starts recording and they perform “There’s Nothing Like Love”.

Steed drops by and asks how her photography is going. She bites her lip when he claims the photos are for a friend who’s planning to open a sideshow near Manchester.

VENUS: All right, I believe you - thousands wouldn’t.

Steed seems a trifle unconcerned when they discover the camera has been stolen, until Venus says the film was still in it. She corrects herself and says it was a second flm, she’d already developed the photos of the fun fair, which she hands to him. He sorts through then and is surprised to see the man behind the curtain is the supposed suicide, Victor Trevelyan (Haydn Jones), and he tells Venus that the man died last week.

Betty returns to the fair and hands the camera over to Strong, who pulls the film out to expose it. She unsubtly admires the camera and he gives it to her, but tells her off for stealing a brooch as well. She protests that she had to make it worth her while and says he’d do a flit one day and leave them in a lurch. He tells her he plans to close the fair at the end of the month, but she can come with him to ‘places warm and interesting’.

She wonders what Mr. Brown will think, and as an answer Mike Brown (Julian Somers) emerges from one of the sideshows. Strong arrogantly says he didn’t hear him knock and is reminded that Brown owns the fair. Strong tells him firmly that Brown’s the one hiding Trevelyan and an accessory to a crime - the police will be tipped off if he doesn’t do what he’s told.

Steed and Venus visit the fair and realise Trevelyan had been in the Ghost Tunnel so they enter it. Steed enters the control room and when Brown bursts in and asks him what he’s doing, he blithely says he’s looking for Trevelyan and shows Brown a photo. Brown denies all knowledge and shoos him away; Steed meets back up with Venus, who says she’s had enough and they exit the tunnel.

Brown sees them leave and rushes off to find Strong and tells him what happened, saying Steed had a photo of Trevelyan. Strong is concerned and hands him a revolver, saying if he sees Steed again he’ll have to start earning his money. ²

Act 2

One-Six views the photo of Trevelyan and says it’s not much to go on. Steed concurs, but says he needs to discover if Mrs. Trevelyan is in on the deal as well, as she identified the body. Steed suggests they change all the codes just in case but is told it’s not that easy. One-Six gives him 24 hours and orders him to alert the ports so he doesn’t escape the country.

Steed revisits Mrs. Trevelyan and asks her about the identification of the body and asks if she were mistaken then shows her the photograph from the fair. She confesses she knew he was still alive and identified another man because she’d been told they’d kill Victor if she didn’t. She says she doesn’t know who they are, but after failing to bribe Victor they threatened him.

STEED: Why didn’t you go to the police?
JEAN: Mr. Steed, I lied to you when I told you I left him. We love each other very much. You see, I’d rather be married to a live traitor than a dead hero.

She claims she can’t believe he would have been party to the murder and dressing of the ‘suicide’. She then says she had been instructed to wait at home until they tell her where Victor is and Steed says he hopes so, for all our sakes. Strong meanwhile receives a call and tells Brown the police aren’t satisfied Trevelyan is dead so they are going to lie low for the time being, which greatly annoys Brown, who can’t wait to see the back of him.

Venus cuts another song with the trio and heads off after finding a note in her dressing room, while Betty is wondering to Brown how much it would be worth to Trevelyan’s wife to be reunited with him. Brown warns her Strong will stop at nothing but she contacts Mrs. Trevelyan anyway - who tells Steed she’s to meet her with £500 cash at Wonderland at 9pm tomorrow, and she’s pleased when he says he’ll be there too.

Venus returns to the fair and enters the Ghost Tunnel just as Strong receives a call from his boss, and he orders Brown to get a car ready for 11:30 the next night - for three. Betty rebukes Strong, saying he’s not interested in her and he laughs then snarls that Brown won’t do anything if he’s got her.

Venus buys a cup of tea from Betty and notices she’s wearing the brooch stolen from her dressing room. Strong arrives and tells Venus she’s mistaken but blanches when Venus says she’ll go to the police. She turns to go but is caught by Brown and Strong sneers, “what are we going to do about you?”

Act 3

Steed finds Venus’ dressing room empty and enters the studio, where the producer tells him she didn’t turn up for the afternoon recording session and they both hope she’s all right.

Back at the fair, Betty revisits her plan to tell Mrs. Trevelyan and is again warned against it by Brown who says he’s been paid to keep quiet and she should do the same. He leaves and Steed saunters in and orders a coffee. He tells her he looking for a girl - and describes Venus. Betty excuses herself and tells Strong who identifies him as Mr. Steed, and tells her to carry on as if nothing’s happened. Steed has seen the curtain twitch, however, and when Betty returns he charms her by saying he’d give up his date with Venus for her.

Venus meanwhile is complaining to Trevelyan about the brooch, and being sent to take photos - at which he demands to know who sent her and she realises who he is, and tells him he’s dead. Strong enters via a secret door at the back of the control room and tells Trevelyan they’re taking him to Switzerland in a few hours, then on by rail. He won’t be recognised at customs because he’ll be travelling inside a coffin. Venus gulps:

VENUS: What about me?
STRONG: Oh, we’ll have one of those for you too.
(HE GRABS VENUS, WHO TRIES TO GET AWAY)

Steed finishes his coffee and bids Betty good night and hides around the corner, re-entering after she goes into the Hall of Mirrors. He searches the office and smiles when he sees Mrs. Trevelyan arrive. She enters the Hall where Betty greedily asks for the money, but Mrs. Trevelyan demands to see her husband first - Steed enters and supports Mrs. Trevelyan’s demand, and they’ve just come to terms when Brown enters.

He sends Betty and Jean to the office and tells Steed he’s in over his head. Steed sternly tells him Trevelyan was working on government secrets and Brown’s in a lot of trouble if he’s hiding him - but might get off lightly if he co-operates. Brown agrees when Steed says he’ll take care of Strong - who immediately appears and shoots Brown then goes after Steed, who eludes him and tackles him on the office stairs. Strong shoots himself as they struggle but fights on manfully.

Steed has just overcome him when Mrs. Trevelyan enters with her husband, picks up Strong’s revolver and points it at Steed. Trevelyan takes the gun from her and leads Steed away while Strong goes to tend his arm.

STEED: Congratulations, a couple of traitors in one family!

Betty tends Strong - and is shocked to learn that Brown is dead. Strong realises she was trying to give him the slip and goes to strangle her, but she grabs a knife and stabs him in revenge for Brown.

Venus is pleased to see Steed enter her quarters - until she notices Trevelyan with the revolver - and he says, “I would have got here sooner if I could”. Trevelyan starts to tie Steed up, and Jean says they’re doing it for the money, a miserable pension is nothing to look forward to. Victor sets up a bomb connected to a gramophone, giving them three minutes to get clear.

Meanwhile Betty is horrified to find herself crouching over the corpse of Strong with a bloody knife. She cleans herself up and hears the Trevelyans arrive, looking for Strong who has all the money and passports. Jean tells Victor she warned Strong about Betty and the packet didn’t really contain £500; Jean spots Strong’s body and Betty slips out the back door.

Venus hears her calling for Mike and they clamour for help and, after a bit of fumbling, she finds the door lever. Steed tells her to shut down the main power switch to stop the gramophone and she then cuts their ropes, Steed hurrying Venus so they can contact the police before the Trevelyans get too far. Betty rushes off again and finds Brown, wounded but still alive, and he tells her he’s going to be all right.

Venus is at the studio when Steed arrives with Sheba. She cuddles the dog and Steed tells her he’s retrieved his camera and she can borrow it anytime, at which she says she’s going to take up knitting. He laughs and gives her a brooch to replace the one Betty stole - a representation of the astrological sign for Venus.

---

1. One-Six refers to his team members as he goes through cases as Yorke, Williams, Smith, Pendleton, and Marks. It’s never clear which agent is which. ⭮
2. When Brown enters the office he tells Strong to get his feat off the desk, and Strong tells him he’s being paid £200 for the use of his fun fair for a aweek, no questions asked. When he hands him the gun, he tells him he may need to start earing the £200. ⭮