Series 5 — Episode 7
The Living Dead

Regional broadcasts

TV Times listing

International broadcasts

Episode Rating

A great deal of promise becomes mired in a flawed plot and a lacklustre script. Maybe it’s just Mandy that annoys me.

Steed’s been tampering with the traffic lights in order to tell Mrs. Peel she’s needed.
The ghost of Rupert, 15th Duke of Benedict, has arisen from his coffin and haunts the local church. Kermit the Hermit swears he didn’t see anything by the time they arrive, but he’s been got at by Masgard, the gamekeeper of the new Duke, who doesn’t seem to know any old English customs. It transpires the old Duke had escaped from a vast underground city that has been built below a local mine shaft. A foreign army is gathering there, awaiting a nuclear holocaust of Britain. Emma rescues Steed from the execution squad, and the Avengers escape with Rupert and his remaining companions, leaving the villains trapped below.
Mechanic Emma, in a scene from a Modern Pygmalion, tells Steed he has “ghosts in the engine” of his Bentley.

The Cars

Who’s Killing Whom?

Click a name to see the face

The Fashions

Continuity and trivia

1. 2:45 — It’s the same graveyard set as From Venus with Love - there’s even the headless angel.
2. 5:45 — Steed tells Emma the ghost was considered to be that of Montague Staplow, 6th Duke of Benedict, who died in 1698.
3. 5:54 — Rupert Staplow’s gravestone does not mark a grave, it’s a memorial to the men trapped in the Benedict Mine Disaster.
4. 6:53/25:33/32:59/47:09 — Stock footage of a coal mine is used for a lot of establishing shots.
5. 8:38/15:19/19:14 — Mandy Mackay has raided Mrs. Peel’s wardrobe (or visited the op shop near Highpoint 2) - she’s seen (8:38 and 19:14) wearing her black leather jacket (as seen in The Cybernauts) and (15:19) her "Chemin" black and white fur coat (as seen in The Thirteenth Hole) from Series 4.
6. 10:45 — When asked if he’s seen the sign reading “Keep out” Steed replies, “Yes! Very bright, clear lettering, easy to read. I’d have preferred a 4 point Doric myself but otherwise an excellent sign”. 4 point is very small type, that you might find used for legal disclaimers.
7. 11:00–14:00 — While investigating the house, Steed’s suit keeps changing - the giveaway is the shape of the wait pockets.
8. 13:34 — The sun tan lotion used by the troglodytes is manufactured by the unlikely sounding McC.T.Ltd. There’s not that much sunlight in Scotland, as Little Britain likes to remind us.
9. 22:19 — It’s broad daylight as Mandy runs from the chapel, isn’t it supposed to be the evening?
10. 23:22 — Mandy spills some brandy on herself.
11. 29:44 and throughout - The guards’ costumes (at least, the helmets) are left overs from “Fahrenheit 451”.
12. 34:50 — Julian Glover wrongly calls the publican ‘Hopper’ when he confronts him at the minehead.
13. 43:07 — Cyd Child does the stunt where she overpowers the guard and spins him around on her shoulders.
14. 43:54 — the spot lighting John Cater’s face sneaks into shot at the bottom righthand corner. John stares at it briefly at 43:56, he knows it’s in shot.
15. 45:52 — Steed clearly failed Classics at Eton; he claims ‘exit’ is from the Greek ‘exodus’ when any schoolboy (except Brian Clemens, I presume) knows it’s the third person present indicative of ‘exire’ in Latin (i.e. he/she/it goes out).
16. The underground city looks like a leftover from “The Shape of Things to Come” - the use of backdrops is subtly done and it looks absolutely enormous.
17. Running time: 49′19″