5.20 - The £50,000 Breakfast

[mousemeat]

Tried to watch this again today and once more I struggled to reach the end. Such a tedious, unexciting episode, the worst of the colour Peel series by far. Comes a close second of the worst Peel episodes in the series run, narrowly pipped at the post by Two's A Crowd.

worst color Peel Episode ? I would say No....

[QueenOfSin]

I've just watched this episode and I must say it's grown on me. When I first saw it I wasn't too keen but on repeated viewings it's got much better and I'm enjoying it more and more. I didn't really understand the plot the first time I watched it but it's become a lot clearer on multiple views. There's one thing I can't work out though, just what was the unmentionable item that Emma hung on the school clock tower? My first thought was bra or knickers (a boy in my school did this with some girl's drawers only it was the top of a flagpole ) but it's mentioned that the sun could be seen glinting off it which you wouldn't get with fabric. So it's something shiny and presumably rude if it's unmentionable any guesses as to what the mystery object was?

[Frankymole]

Gold lamé knickers?

Too early for a Cybernaut's undercarriage.

The episode has a solid basis on which to be good, since the one it is a rewrite of (Death of a Great Dane) is one of the most solid stories of the Cathy Gale era.

[dissolute]

I've always understood 'unmentionables' to mean knickers, presumably they were silk or satin (Roedean is very posh!) for the sun to be glinting off them.

[frank]

I've always liked this episode and I feel it's an improvement on the original episode. Having the main villain now be a woman really intensifies the motivation for the crime. However oppressed or underappreciated Getz felt in Death of a Great Dane, it was 10x worse for Miss Peagram.

Also Cecil Parker and David Langton give better performances in their interpretation of their roles

Actually it wasn't our Emma who rung up those unmentionables up the pole

[Frankymole]

Long time since I've seen it, but isn't it Anneke Wills' character in the tie shop who misremembers Emma as being the pupil who did it? Emma is trying to elicit information, so plays along a bit but doesn't admit the crime

[frank]

Yup

[QueenOfSin]

Actually yes thinking about it she neither confirms nor denies it. Although climbing the clock tower would be very good practice for her future work . Would silk or satin knickers shine in the sun so brightly you could see them glinting?! Also she says 'I could see the sun glinting off it', but if they were knickers wouldn't she say 'off them'?

One thing that I noticed with this episode is how unconcerned the pair of them are, particularly Emma. When she's found out in her ruse as a kennel maid her 'oh well where's Steed' attitude sounds almost jokey as if they're playing hide and seek and she's been discovered rather than at the hands of some dangerous gun wielding criminals! She doesn't seem to be worried or take them seriously even though these people are actually so ruthless and deadly serious they've murdered at least two others and were even prepared to kill a harmless innocent dog just to stop it's hair being traced to them.

[frank]

Well recall Steed stated Emma didn't attend either school that Glover's niece attended

In fairness neither Glover nor the Doctor were aware of the murders. Miss Pegram and her goons were the vicious killers. I took Emma's reaction as more of resignation than jokey. Basically as someone who has played the spy game long enough to not get worked up at being held at gun point. Both she and Steed have exhibited that blase attitude from time to time in such situations.

I did like how they painted Miss Pegram as the anti-Mrs Peel. Someone who is just as bright, capable and skilled in combat yet who had to fight for every morsel of respect and accomplishment. While Emma inherited her position. It's not so surprising what extremes she was willing to resort to. If the money she was scamming the same as in Death of a Great Dane, we are talking about the equivalent of over 812 million today

[Frankymole]

Also she says 'I could see the sun glinting off it', but if they were knickers wouldn't she say 'off them'?

Is it stated as an unmentionable, singular, or unmentionables, plural? I don't want to watch the episode out of order...

I think the first time I heard it I assumed it was one of these:
https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-onli ... hamber-pot

(a "po", or chamberpot. Easy to put on top of a flagpole, and popular to put on statues' heads before traffic cones took over).