• title card: white all caps text reading ‘LEGACY OF DEATH’ alongside some Chinese character superimposed on a close-up of the ‘Last Will and Testament’ held in Zoltan’s hand, the background is Farrer’s red coffin
  • Zoltan appears to threaten Steed with the ceremonial dagger and he bestows Farrer’s bequest
  • Sidney peers up out the window of their old-fashioned car while Humbert sits timidly beside him - they are dressed in 1940s linen suits and Panama hats
  • A trail of black cars blatantly follow Tara and Steed
  • The demon-masked and red robed Ho Lung attacks Tara, a green Chinese tapestry hangs behind him
  • Tara is strapped to a table as von Orlak tells her he will make her talk by using the Chinese water torture
  • Steed and Tara are excited as the model Spitfire aeroplane starts to zoom around his flat. He wears and ugly shirt while she wears a brief minidress with plunging neckline

Series 6 — Episode 8
Legacy of Death

Teleplay by Terry Nation
Directed by Don Chaffey

Production No E.67.9.14
Production completed: August 9 1968. First UK transmission: November 20 1968. First transmission (USA): November 4 1968.

Regional broadcasts

BroadcasterDateTime
Thames Television20/11/19688:00pm
ATV Midlands21/11/19687:00pm
Granada Television9/03/19698:25pm
Anglia Television21/11/19687:00pm
Border Television1/12/19688:10pm
Channel Television21/11/19687:00pm
Grampian Television20/11/19688:00pm
Southern Television29/01/19698:00pm
Scottish Television27/02/19698:00pm
Tyne Tees Television20/11/19688:00pm
Ulster Television21/11/19687:00pm
Westward Television21/11/19687:00pm
Harlech Television21/11/19687:00pm
Yorkshire Television22/11/19687:35pm

TV Times listing

TV Times listing for a 1980s repeat on Channel Four
Sydney Morning Herald listing for March 7 1969, 8pm
The Age listing for February 4 1969, 8.30pm

9.25
The Avengers

Patrick Macnee
Linda Thorson
Stratford Johns
Legacy of Death

By Terry Nation

Killers are on the way to deprive the elderly Henley Farrer of both an ornate dagger … and his life

Previously shown on ITV

John Steed Patrick Macnee
Tara King Linda Thorson
Sidney Stratford Johns
Humbert Ronald Lacey
Baron Von Orlak Ferdy Mayne
Dickens Kynaston Reeves
Farrer Richard Hurndall
Zoltan John Hollis
Ho Lung Leon Thau
Gorky Tutte Lemkow
Oppenheimer Peter Swanwick
Slattery Vic Wise
Winkler Teddy Kiss
Dr. Winter Michael Bilton

Designer Robert Jones Director Don Chaffey Producers Albert Fennell Brian Clemens Executive in Charge of Production Gordon L. T. Scott

ABC Television Network Production

The Age photo and short summary for this episode

International broadcasts

BroadcasterDateTime
ABN2 Sydney, Australia7/03/19698:00pm
ABV2 Melbourne, Australia4/02/19698:30pm
ABC New York, USA4/11/19687:30pm
ORTF2 France24/5/80 TF1
Suisse Romande, Switzerland12/08/19698:20pm
French titleLe legs
ZDF Germany
German titleDer Dolch der tausend Tode
KRO Netherlands3/03/19709:10pm
Dutch titleDe zeltzame dolk
TTI Italy28/11/1980 C51
Italian titleTestamento di morte
Spain30/03/197011:10pm
Spanish titleHerencia de muerte

This episode was not broadcast in Germany and would not screen there until 1999. Italy and France also didn’t see it until 1980.

USA: Chicago Tribune listing for November 4 1968, 6.30pm
USA: New York Times listing for November 4 1968, 7.30pm
Netherlands: Dagblad de Stem listing for March 3 1970, 9.10pm
Netherlands: Zierkzeesche Nieuwsbode highlights for March 3 1970
Spain: ABC Madrid listing for March 30 1970, 11.10pm
Switzerland: Journal de Genève listing for August 12 1969, 8.20pm
Switzerland: Journal de Jura episode summary for August 12 1969

Continuity & Trivia

  1. 1:53 — There’s a wire hanging down from the left corner of the top of the indoor pergola.
  2. 3:25–3:50 and throughout - You can see the wire supporting the top of the coffin.
  3. 5:30 — Steed knocks one of the wings off his toy aeroplane just before Zoltan arrives. He’s repaired it by the time Tara arrives (7:51) and he tells her (9:24) it’s for his nephew’s 10th birthday, which was three years ago; he complains that it takes a six year old three hours to build one.
  4. 10:16 — Macnee can’t help himself and glances at Tutte Lemkow, hiding in the alcove although he’s not supposed to know he’s there.
  5. 15:20 — Tutte Lemkow’s hands are moving, didn’t he die a moment ago?
  6. 26:00–26:50 — Linda Thorson does the entire fight.
  7. 28:52 — Steed’s bowler is steel-crowned and Tara uses it to knock out Kosher Klaus.
  8. 29:30 — The sound is a bit high-pitched in the back-projection driving scene.
  9. 30:33 (32:30) - Tara loses the convoy by driving into the driveway of George Benstead’s house from Dead Man’s Treasure.
  10. 31:25 (33:00) - a snippet of music from Something Nasty in the Nursery is played as they enter the summerhouse.
  11. 35:23 — Winkler uses chloroform to knock Tara out.
  12. 36:15 — The street set used in “The Saint”, “Danger Man” and, in a backstage view, in Killer.
  13. 36:38 — Tara is subjected to water torture, have US forces been watching this episode?
  14. 48:20 (50:23) - Steed must have had too much champagne earlier, as he gives most of the wine to Tara.
  15. Running time: 50′16″

The Transport

MarqueColourNumber
Ford Tudor Sedan 1940greyFLC 10
Lotus Europa S2 Pre-production [Type 54] 1968redPPW 999F
Land-Rover 109" Series II cherrypickeryellowHHM 903D
Porsche 911 CarerraIrish greenETK 8D
Humber Pullman Mk I 1945blackJLU 365
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Saloon HooperblackPLK 549
Mercedes-Benz 230 Lang Cabriolet B [W143] 1938blackFYF 8
Wolseley 6/110 Mk II 1965blackJUL 359D
Peugeot 404 Grand Tourisme 1963black?
Rolls-Royce 40/50 h.p. ‘Silver Ghost’ 1923 H.J.Mulliner tourer (chassis number 46LK)pale lemonKK 4976

Who’s Killing Whom?

VictimKillerMethod
Gorky Zoltan assault rifle
Oppenheimer Slattery shoot each other with pistols
Slattery Oppenheimer shoot each other with pistols
Gregor Tara falls on knife during fight
Dickens Zoltan assault rifle
Farrer John Steed revolver
Click a name to see the face

The Fashions

Tara Steed

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