• title card: white all caps text reading ‘THE MIDAS TOUCH BY BRIAN CLEMENS’ superimposed on a man in beige fatigues and a black woolen hat kicking in a door in a disused factory
  • Turner sits on his red and gold throne, a gold curtain behind him; he wears a gold shirt and tie, and wristwatch
  • Gambit’s red Jaguat XJS smashes through the crates of oranges at the markets under the flyover as he pursues Turner’s henchman
  • Close-up of a party guest wearing a pseudo African costume - leopardskin hat and jacket with feathers, face paint. The room is lit only with red and blue lights
  • A close-up of Midas, standing in Turner’s golden office and requesting Purdey as his prize
  • Turner lies against the red wall of the museum, slumped against a golden pedestal, the lesions from his contamination by Midas already blackening his face

The New Avengers, Series 1 — Episode 4
The Midas Touch

by Brian Clemens
Directed by Robert Fuest

Production details

Produced:April, 1976

Regional broadcasts

BroadcasterDateTime
Thames Television9/11/19768:00pm
ATV Midlands19/11/19768:00pm
Granada Television19/11/19768:00pm
Anglia Television9/11/19768:00pm
Border Television19/11/19768:00pm
Channel Television19/11/19768:00pm
Grampian Television19/11/19768:00pm
Southern Television19/11/19768:00pm
Scottish Television19/11/19768:00pm
Tyne Tees Television19/11/19768:00pm
Ulster Television19/11/19768:00pm
Westward Television19/11/19768:00pm
Harlech Television24/10/19767:50pm
Yorkshire Television12/11/19768:00pm

This episode was shown in the Netherlands before it was broadcast on any ITV region in the UK, see below.

TV Times listing

TV Times listing for November 9 1976, 8pm (London edition)
Sydney Morning Herald listing for February 16 1977, 8.30pm
The Age listing for February 16 1977, 8.30pm

8.0 The New Avengers
Patrick Macnee
Gareth Hunt
Joanna Lumley
in
The Midas Touch

with John Carson
Ed Devereaux

Meet a man who bleeds gold, a man whose merest touch spells death—and it’s Purdey he’s grabbing for. And Gambit fights a Chinese monster, while Steed saves a Princess from assassination.

John Steed Patrick Macnee
Mike Gambit Gareth Hunt
Purdey Joanna Lumley
Freddy John Carson
Vann Ed Devereaux
Hong Kong Harry Ronald Lacey
Turner David Swift
Lieutenant Jeremy Child
Curator Robert Mill
Garvin Ray Edwards
Midas Gilles Millinaire
Sing Pik-Sen Lim
Doctor Chris Tranchell
Tayman Lionel Guyett
Simpson Geoffrey Bateman

Writer Brian Clemens; Director Robert Fuest

International broadcasts

ABN2 Sydney, Australia16/02/19778:30pm
ABV2 Melbourne, Australia16/02/19778:30pm
ABC New York, USA1/12/197811:30pm
TF1 France28/12/19768:30pm
Suisse Romande, Switzerland23/11/19678:15pm
French titleLe Baiser de Midas
ZDF Germany29/06/19789:45pm
German titleGold
KRO Netherlands14/10/19768:25pm
Dutch titleMidas
Italy3/08/197810:05pm
Italian titleIl tocco di Mida
Spain28/04/8111:05pm
Spanish titleEl toque de Midas

This episode was shown in the Netherlands on October 14 1976, ten days before it was broadcast on any ITV region in the UK. Both this episode and House of Cards before it on October 7 1976 were broadcast before any ITV region showed any episodes of The New Avengers at all.

Netherlands: Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant summary for October 14 1976, 8.25pm
Switzerland: Le Nouvelliste listing for November 23 1976, 8.15pm, with photo
France: Gazette de Lausanne listing for December 28 1976, 8.30pm
Germany: Hamburg Abendblatt listing for June 29 1978, 9.45pm
Italy: La Stampa listing for August 3 1978, 10.05pm
Italy: Stampa Sera episode summary
Italy: Radiocorriere episode summary
USA: Chicago Tribune listing for December 1 1978, 10.30pm
USA: Toledo Blade listing for December 1 1978, 11.30pm
Spain: ABC Madrid listing for April 28 1981, 11.05pm with photo from House of Cards
Switzerland: L’Impartial episode summary for November 23 1976, but at 8.30pm

Continuity and trivia

At 12:11 the Aston Martin passes a green car, pursued by Gambit’s Jaguar and the scene is repeated from a different camera angle at 12:26.

The Transport

Marque Colour Number Plate
Land Rover LWB Series II open tray olive green ?
Land Rover LWB Series III Station olive green/off white MUD 564E
Gambit’s Jaguar XJ-S [XJ27] 1976 red NRW 875P
Aston Martin DBS V8 1968 yellow MCO 731P
Steed’s Rover 3500 SD1 Automatic 1976 lemon MOC 229P
Ford Anglia 1966 burgundy EYM 726L
Range Rover Series I 1976 white KXC 376L
Ford Escort van Mk I 1974 white W 1225

Who’s Killing Whom?

Victim Killer Method
Tayman (other henchmen) shot to prevent spead of infection
(lots of party guests) Midas infects punch bowl with his hands
Boz Purdey kicked off building
Freddy self/Midas drives off cliff after finding himself infected by Midas
Professor Turner Midas hit in face during struggle, and dies from infection
Click a name to see the face

The Fashions

Gambit’s fashions
  1. navy chalk stripe single-breasted suit with pale blue shirt and purple tie
  2. light brown checked single-breasted suit with flared trousers, light brown shirt, brown tie with diamond motif
Purdey’s fashions
  1. scallop necked cream with brown pattern blouse & shorts with sheer shawl and skirt, matching shoes
  2. yellow, orange and white crocheted coat, rollneck, hat and skirt, 2 long vert vents in front of skirt
  3. brown and green British Army camouflage jacket and trousers with khaki t-shirt
  4. lilac and white Catherine Buckley dress with looped buttons, scarf at neck
Steed’s fashions
  1. green velvet tuxedo with dress shirt and black bow tie
  2. dark blue single-breasted 3-piece suit with white shirt and blue paisley tie, later with chalk stripe overcoat
  3. grey single-breasted 3-piece suit with felted brown collar, slanted covere dwaist pockets, pale lemon shirt, brown tie

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