Series 1 — Episode 24
The Deadly Air

Production details

VTR: Wednesday, 4th October 1961 18.00 — 19.00 (unverified)*
Camera Rehearsal: Tuesday, 3rd October 1961, and Wednesday 4th October 1961 (unverified)*
Studio details: Teddington Two
Production No. 3422
Tape No. unknown
Transmission: 16th December 1961, 10 p.m.

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Schedule

Unknown

Regional broadcasts

ITV Broadcaster	Date	Time
ABC Midlands	16/12/1961	10.00pm
ABC North	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Anglia Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
ATV	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Southern Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Tyne Tees Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Television Wales & West	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Ulster Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Westward Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Scottish Television	-	-
Border Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm
Grampian Television	16/12/1961	10.00pm

TV Times listing

The London edition ended with ABC Weekend Network Production as usual, and also has a publicity photo of Ian Hendry above his name while the Northern edition has a photo with the caption “Patrick Macnee, right, and Anthony Cundell in a scene from The Deadly Air at 10.0”.

Episode availability

• Video - no original footage is known to exist; a video reconstruction is available on the Studio Canal series 1&2 DVD set
• Audio - reconstruction in The Lost Episodes vol. 7, by Big Finish
• Script - none
• Publicity Stills - 98 plus 12 images on a contact sheet, one was reprinted in TV Times
• Tele-Snaps - 78, 10 repeated at a larger size

Continuity and trivia

1. Lester Powell’s script for The Deadly Air has a lot in common with his earlier script entitled Night of the Plague which had been produced for both NBC and CBC in 1957. It seems likely he adapted it for use in The Avengers. The Canadian production featured Patrick Macnee in the cast and Sydney Newman was CBC’s Head of Drama at the time.
2. This is the second of the episodes to run in the delayed broadcast slot in December, 1961. At this point, Don Leaver had been in contact with Canadian Steamships, preparing to make the next episode which would go to air in January 1962. However, the Actors’ Equity strike continued until April 1962 and that episode was eventually made, starring Jon Rollason, as Mission to Montreal.
3. This was the highest rating episode of the first series, being watched by 5,054,000 households. It was also the first episode to be in the National Top Ten of television broadcasts.
4. One for the Mortuary also features an embittered scientist trying to discredit someone else’s research and then steal their invention and sell it themselves.
5. Dragonsfield has a similar plot of sabotage at a research laboratory - and probably used a lot of the same props and sets. Dragonsfield was filmed before this episode as this appears to have originally been episode 25 and Dragonsfiled was number 23 (see below).
6. * I have found no paperwork for this episode in the archives but have had to change the dates based on recent research. Two Against the Underworld by McGinlay, Hayes & Hayes (Hidden Tiger/Lulu hardback, 2015, p. 414) give the rehearsal and recording dates of September 6–7 1961 but these dates are covered by Herbert Nelson’s contract for Dragonsfield. Dave Rogers in The Ultimate Avengers (Boxtree first impression paperback 1995, pp. 41–3) give the 7 September date to Dead of Winter, this episode on September 20 1961, A Change of Bait on September 27 1961, and Dragonsfield on October 18 1961. Dave seems to have assumed the recording order was the same as transmission order and had see a list of scheduled recording dates for the last four episode but wrongly assigned them. We know the dates for Dead of Winter (18 October) and A Change of Bait (20 September) as the scripts have been found, and 6–13 September for Dragonsfield from Herbert Nelson’s contract - so that leaves dates between 20 September and 18 October for this episode. Mike Richardson in Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots (Telos Publishing 2014 paperback, pp. 554–555) agrees with the dates in Two Against the Underworld. I have indicated they are unverified. I think 4th October the most likely date for this episode, in line with the last four episodes being recorded on Wednesdays.