Series 3 — Episode 25
Esprit De Corps
by Eric Paice
Designed by David Marshall
Directed by Don Leaver
Production No 3624, VTR/ABC/3481
Production completed: March 11 1964. First transmission: March 14 1964.
Production Schedule
Episode 77
Production Number : 3624
VTR/ABC/3481 + A,B,C,D,E,F,G
Teddington Studios 2 & 3
Tuesday, 10th March, 1964
| Camera rehearsal | 10.00–12.30 |
| Lunch break | 12.30–13.30 |
| Camera rehearsal | 13.30–17.00 |
| Turn Round to Studio 3 | 17.00–17.15 |
| Camera Rehearse Inserts | 17.15–18.00 |
| Supper break | 18.00–19.00 |
| Line Up | 19.00–19.30 |
| Cam. Reh. & VTR INSERTS B, C & G | 19.30–21.00 |
Wednesday, 11th March, 1964
| Camera rehearsal | 10.00–13.00 |
| Lunch break | 13.00–14.00 |
| Camera rehearsal | 14.00–15.20 |
| Tea break, line up, normal scan, make-up |
15.20–16.05 |
| Dress rehearsal | 16.05–17.20 |
| Notes | 17.20–17.50 |
| Line-up | 17.50–18.20 |
| VTR | 18.20–19.30 |
Running time
Expected: 51′25″ + 2 commercial breaks
Actual running time with bumpers: 51′47″
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
| Cameras: | 4 Pedestals (3 peds. in Studio 3) |
|---|---|
| Sound: | 3 booms (2 in Studio 3) Grams F/X (N.B. A short pre-reoording, sound only, to be done at some oonvenient time during Tuesday, 10th March) |
| Telecine: | Opening AVENGERS films |
| Caption Scanner: | Captions |
| Slide: | 1 — ABC Production slide |
| VTR: | 7 INSERTS — A, B, C, D, E, F, & G
Inserts are:
|
Transmission
| Broadcaster | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| ATV London | 14/03/1964 | 10.05pm |
| ABC Midlands | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| ABC North | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Anglia Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Border Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Channel Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Grampian Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Southern Television | 14/03/1964 | 10.05pm |
| Scottish Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Tyne Tees Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Ulster Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Westward Television | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Television Wales & West | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| Teledu Cymru (WWN) | 14/03/1964 | 9.10pm |
| ABN2 Sydney | 2/03/1965 | 8.00pm |
| ABV2 Melbourne | - | - |
This episode was already scheduled for broadcast, 3 days later, while being produced.
This episode was not shown in Melbourne as, finding themselves a year behind Sydney, they dropped a lot of episodes to catch up to series 4.
TV Times listing
9.10 The Avengers
starring
Patrick Macnee
Honor Blackman
in
Esprit de Corps
By Eric Paice
| Capt. Trench | John Thaw |
| Sgt. Marsh | Douglas Robinson |
| Pte. Jessop | Roy Kinnear |
| Major Gen. Sir Ian Stewart-Bollinger |
Duncan Macrae |
| John Steed | Patrick Macnee |
| Mrs. Craig | Pearl Catlin |
| Cathy Gale | Honor Blackman |
| Lady Dorothy Bollinger |
Joyce Heron |
| Pte. Asquith | Anthony Blackshaw |
| Admiral | Hugh Morton |
| Signaller | James Falkland |
Story Editor Richard Bates
Producer John Bryce
Directed by Don Leaver
In which Steed faces a firing squad and Cathy becomes Pretender to a Throne . . .
ABC Weekend Network Production
Murders
| Victim | Killer | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Corporal Craig | Soldier 1, Soldier 2, Soldier 3, & Private Jessop |
(firing squad) |
| Steed | Soldier 1, Soldier 2, Soldier 3, & Private Jessop |
(firing squad — faked) |
| Sergeant Marsh | Mrs. Gale | revolver |
| Captain Trench | Private Jessop | revolver |
Click a name to see the face
Continuity and trivia
- 00:17 — there’s a black spot centre right of the screen, it must be on the transfer plate as it remains after the titles finish (in fact, it gets darker and more obvious at 00:49, fading again at 01:51) and stays on screen until 02:09. There’s also a crescent-shaped smear on the camera lens, along the left edge, in this part of the VTR.
- 04:23 — Jessop raises his eyebrows at the frilly knickers in Steed’s laundry bag.
- 05:07 — Mrs. Craig had demonstrated clearly the first and second slots for the washing powder to Steed (03:26–03:44), but Jessop puts the powder in the second hole, not the first.
- 06:22–06:35 — intermittent distortion of the picture.
- 15:55 — Cathy says “The major objectives are these” just as she removes her coat and reveals her cleavage, and Steed quickly quips (15:59) “Highly desirable too.” Moments later (17:04), when he’s leaving, Cathy is lying on the couch and asks him, “Anything you’d like to draw from stores?”; he smiles wickedly and says, “Yes, but uh, I doubt if you’d issue it.” She chuckles in reply.
- 16:07 — Cathy hands Steed her fur coat and he chucks it carelessly into a cupboard.
- 16:11 — The boom microphone wanders into shot tat the top left of the screen.
- 16:30 — there’s a small smudge centre top of camera 1’s lens [we see it again 25:10, ~36:00, ~40:00 and throughout].
- 24:00 and throughout — there’s a small spot at top right.
- 25:39 — I used to think the scene with Admiral Barry, Bruce and Duncan was completely pointless, but it show what a reckless and authoritarian leader Bollinger is.
- 36:55 — more product placement, this time Veuve Cliquot (referred to as Chalons ’58). Kinnear places is as near the front of the set as he can and swivels the bottle to reduce glare to ensure it gets the best visibility.
- 38:58 — Jessop reveals that he weighs 15 stone and the window is electrified whe he sees Steed contemplating escape.
- 40:36 — there’s a jump in the picture as the vision switches to the pre-recorded VTR.
- 42:39 — there’s a smudge near the top left corner in the VTR for the MS of Jessop approaching Trench.
- 43:27 — Steed’s “best diamond tie pin” (as he describes it to Cathy at 46:52), which he has used to bribe Jessop, is worth 150 guineas.
- 44:59 — the camera runs into something just as we get the close-up of Cathy and the picture leaps up and down.
- 48:34 — Joe Robinson accidentally crashes into Honor Blackman after he’s ‘shot’ and she falls to the ground.
- 48:38 — a thread appear at the bottom of the screen, stuck in the transfer plate. It remains until the end of the episode.
- Captain Trench wears four medals, they appear to be:
[Military Cross][Korea Medal][UN Korean medal][General Service Medal]
Oddly, he wears four different medals when in full dress kit. - General Bollingers wears some impressive fruit salad:
[British Empire Medal][Distinguished Service Order]
[Military Cross][1939-1945 Star][Africa Star]
[Italy Star][France and Germany Star][Defence Medal][War Medal 1939–1945]
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