Series 2 — Episode 10
Death on the Rocks

Production details

Episode 39
Production Number : 3512
VTR/ABC/2161 & 2161A
Teddington Studio 1

Wednesday 14th November 1962

Insert 2161A - Scene 24, Cathy is confronted by Liza and Daniels and a gun fight breaks out.

Thursday 15th November 1962

Equipment

Running time

Expected: 51′25″ + 2 commercial breaks 2.05
Actual running time with bumpers: 52′21″

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

This episode was broadcast in Italy on 10^th November 1965 (9:15pm, RAI 2) under the title of “Operazione diamanti”. It was one of a limited run of ten episodes from series 2 and 3 that were broadcast on RAI intermittently throughout 1965 and 1966 under the title “Agente speciale”.

TV Times listing

Episode availability

• Video - original footage held by Studio Canal, available on the Studio Canal series 1&2 DVD set
• Script - clean archive copy of the camera script and scene breakdown
• Publicity Stills - at least 22

Murders

Click a name to see the face

Transport

Continuity and trivia

1. 21:34 — severe distortion of the picture.
2. 14:08 & 45:47 — Fenton’s illicit auctions aren’t very successful. In the first, he sells a single parcel of diamonds for £26,400 to Mr. van Klee and then Van Berg interrupts just as he introduces the industrial diamonds.
   In the second, he sells a single lot to Mr. Sid Jacobs for £150,000 and then the auction is interrupted by Ross’ stand against Fenton.
   The same dealers are present at both auctions - van Klee, Jacobs and four others, with Ross and Daniels joining them for the second, along with Liza. Nicky, Fenton and Sid are of course at both.
3. 21:52 — Cathy asks Jackie, “Do come and meet my mother in law, she’s quite a character”; Steed reaction is priceless.
4. 25:50 — Cathy tries to back Nicky into a corner by getting him to repair a watch that appears illicit, but she reveals that she bought it in a customs auction.
5. 33:48 — Fenton expects to realise £200,000,000 a year once he’s gained control of the market.
6. 34:50 — Cathy is furious with Steed for withholding information and accuses him of setting her up as a clay pigeon for the smugglers to take shots at, as he knew from the start the dealers’ families were being used as leverage.
7. 35:27 — as Steed crosses the room, we briefly see the black studio ceiling and the flare from one of the arc lights.
8. 37:00 — Was Mrs. Daniels was killed by Fenton’s goon, mistaken for Cathy, or did Daniels arrange for the disposal of her to entrench his credentials?
9. 37:16 — a fly appears on screen and briefly walks around, it must have landed on the transfer plate when Studio Canal digitised the video.
10. 38:27 — the cameraman doesn’t both to keep focus as Steed and Daniels walk toward the back of the set and instead allows them to soften then sharpen abruptly when they reach the next mark.
11. 41:12 — theres a small speck of dust on the lens, top right.
12. 48:27 — the camera zooms in too close and when it swings around to favour Fenton, we can’t see all of him, and the operator has to track upwards to ge the right POV.
13. 49:00 — the zoom on Fenton as he’s taken away is slightly out of focus.
14. 50:00 — there’s a big smudge on the camera lens.
15. It doesn’t make any sense that Daniels was the ringleader - the smugglers would have behaved differently towards Steed and Cathy after Mrs. Daniels’ death as they showed their hand to him then.
16. 50:51 — when Steed pats the lion’s head he’s just mounted on the wall, it swivels slightly anticlockwise, and then mysteriously rights itself as he speaks. Moments later when he delivers the punchline, it spins.
17. 51:30 — there are three small spots in a triangle at the top left of the lens.
18. 51:31 — when Steed admonishes Cathy for taking a chance on Daniel’s having a six-chamber revlover instead of, say, an eight-chamber .38 she says, “You sound as if you care!”
    Steed smiles and replies, “My dear, for better or worse...”