Series 3 — Episode 21
Build a Better Mousetrap

Production Schedule

Episode 63
Production Number : 3610
VTR/ABC/2930
Teddington Studio 1

Tuesday 27th August 1963

Wednesday 28th August 1963

Running time

Expected: 51′25″ excluding commercial breaks
Actual running time with bumpers: 51′30″

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 credits (normally 0′16″ with a 2″ fade) and closing credits (anywhere from 0′41″ to 1′20″, hard cut or 1″ fade or mix).

Equipment

Transmission

TV Times listing

Murders

Click a name to see the face

Continuity and trivia

Time codes here include the Studio Canal logo from the remastered 2010 set, which runs for 18 seconds.

1. 0:52–1:30 — telecine insert 1: the gang ride down the highway, towards the Vernon mill.
2. 1:30 — the long exterior of the Peck’s water mill is rather obviously a slide - especially when you notice the sign on the side which reads “W &H Atkinson Castle Mill Dorking” is back to front - Steed was quite right, it did become historic, and here’s a page of Surrey History where you can request information It is now a bed and breakfast. See also Anthony McKay’s excellent Guide to Avengerland.
3. 7:45 — some strange camerawork as the camera pans somewhat shakily and jerkily over to Harris, who is eavesdropping on Steed and Stigant. This episode sees a lot of Peter Hammond’s signature reflected shots and distortions through glassware but the cinematography doesn’t live up to the vision.
4. 10:30 — Dave calls one of the bikers “Pimples” instead of “Freckles” but later in the script Jessy mentions “Pimples” so maybe they switched the name because of where the extra was on set.
5. 15:23–15:46 & 15:54–16:06 & 16:15–16:27 & 17:55–18:07 — telecine inserts 2–5: the gang get on their motorcycles and ride off on the point to point; the ride along the country roads; Cathy takes a different road at the crossroads; Cathy abandons her broken-down motorbike.
6. 18:00 — Stigant said the range of the machine is a radius of about two miles, but Cathy breaks down 7 miles from Vernon. Even accounting for winding B roads, she couldn’t have been that far away. Plus, Steed marks her place on the map almost next to the township (18:42)... Hmmm, so maybe she was two miles away.
7. 16:27, 30:13 & 32:47 — the nighttime exteriors of the water mill are even more clearly painted drops
8. 17:14 — wouldn’t the professor’s mechanical jammer affect Ermyntrude’s sewing machine as well? The telegram (47:20) says it jams anything mechanical or electrical. It’s a treadle-powered machine, but it’s still mechanical, the electromagnetic field should stop it from working.
9. 19:00 and throughout - the end & start of act captions look a bit creased, probably due to the caption scanner being damaged.
10. 37:13 & 43:54 & 44:23 & 45:01 — Patrick Macnee is sweating profusely.
11. 38:43 — two lines are cut from the script at this point. Cathy says “I have to go out now.” Two of the gang barge past and she leaves, but in the original script, to heighten Jessy’s fears about Cathy and Dave, Jessy asks, “With Dave?” and Cathy replies, “Yes, with Dave.”
12. 38:52–39:00 — telecine insert 6 — Cathy and Wesker (disguised as Dave) get on their bikes and ride to the mill
13. 44:03 — the days before product placement: the hisky has a strip of tape on it obscuring the label
14. 44:27 — Caroline says “Silly old windmill” instead of “silly old watermill”. - A lot of her lines in this scene are ad libbed or altered in a late revision (or she just plain got them wrong and bumbled through) as they bear little resemblance to the original script, and there are many extra lines inserted.
15. 49:28 — some bad camerawork during the fight scene.
16. It may look like a lot of motorcycles in this episode, but there are in fact only five, or maybe six. Mostly BSAs, plus Cathy’s famous Triumph. Steed discusses Dave’s “Mercer Twin”, a fictitious marque, it’s actually a BSA.
17. Location shooting of the riders in action were filmed at Cobham Common, Surrey. The riders were members of the Riverhill Riders Club, who worked with Surbiton Police Station for charity events.
18. One of the biker girls - the blonde in the baggy cardigan - is Sheila Dunn, who appeared in a few Doctor Who stories. She married the famed director Douglas Camford in 1965.