Series 6 — Episode 23
Homicide and Old Lace

Regional broadcasts

TV Times listing

International broadcasts

This episode was one of five that were left out of the initial run of series 6 in Melbourne, Australia, and was eventually rescreened in 1970 after the “Steed’s Choice” series of repeats of seven selected episode from series 5.

This episode was not broadcast in Switzerland.

This was the last episode of this series shown in Germany, replaced by “Department S”. Despite having only shown ten episodes out of thirty-two, ZDF did not return to the series.

Continuity & Trivia

1. Running time: 50′04″
2. 2:13 — Another dusty outing for the caption scanner, the opening credits are quite gritty.
3. 2:13 — The captions start with just the word ‘Homicide’, then expand to the full titles and finally are augmented after a second with a lace overlay on the screen.
   
4. 2:13 — the music under the opening titles is taken from the Mackiedockie Court sequences from ESCAPE
5. This episode is a cheapie! Half of it is recycled footage from Emma Peel episodes (the cast members and killings with the coloured background denote the recycled footage); the rest of it is recycled footage from the abandoned “The Great Great Britain Crime”, filmed in late 1967 under John Bryce’s production.

   We have:

   • 5:06 (5:02) - Elrick being chased by Verett and Robin across the scaffolding from The Bird Who Knew Too Much.
   • 5:46 — Repeat of footage from 5:29.
   • 6:27 (6:10) - Danvers being stalked by Robin from The Bird Who Knew Too Much.
   • 7:21 (6:56) - Hubert, Mickle, Wilson and Martin repeating their actions from Murdersville.
   • 15:51 (15:40) - Gilbert trying to kill Steed with a bulldozer, straight from The Fear Merchants.
   • 16:55 (16:24) - Professor Stone reiterating his murderous mechanical attack upon Steed from Never, Never Say Die
6. 8:19 — A word has been removed from Patrick Newell’s sentence “He would deliver it at Steed’s apartment --- personally”.
7. 9:49 — The driver of the van (maybe George Hilsdon) is not the man who was driving it up until around 9:04.
8. 10:30 — older footage from John Bryce’s shoots, colour shifted and dirty.
9. 13:50–14:10 — Brian Clemens pokes fun at John Bryce : Mother’s Aunt Harriet questions Tara being a blonde, “Just a minute. You made Tara King a blonde... I’ve seen her, she’s a brunette.” - Mother bluster a retort, “If I wish to make Tara sky blue, pink, I will!”
10. 14:29 — Even with the stocking over her head, it’s clearly Cyd Child & Paul Weston.
11. 14:57 — Steed’s calling card, dropped into the bucket, reads: 460–9618 / John Steed, 3 Stable Mews, City of London.
12. 15:25/15:35 — Freddie Cartwright is shot, mistaken for Steed as he’s wearing one of Steed’s suits - not only that, he’s also getting out of what was originally intended to be Steed’s car for the series, the maroon AC 428 Frua.
    I strongly suspect the original scene in “The Great Great Britain Crime” was of Steed being ambushed by Intercrime (or Murder-International, or whoever they are...) Strangely, Maxwell Craig also played Wilson, uncredited, in Murdersville and that footage was reused earlier in this episode at 7:21.
13. 15:49 — Some odd editing: cutting away in the middle of zooming in on Mother to a profile shot of his Aunts, then cutting back to the zoomed shot.
14. 16:38 — Product placement for Herbert Johnson & Sons.
15. 18:21 — The photo of Tara in the file is one of Linda Thorson’s standard promotional stills.
16. 18:22 — Is this the only outing of the Lotus 2+2?
17. 18:30 — That’s some fancy driving by Romo Gorrara in the green mini and Cyd Child in the Lotus.
18. 19:09 — Reused close-up of Fuller from 15:08.
19. 19:10 — Fuller tells Steed that Intercrime’s address is 199 Royal Avenue, SW7.
20. 19:33 — A piano version of the theme tune is played in the background.
21. 20:16 — Dunbar’s office looks like it’s part of the set of Emma Peel’s flat from Series Five.
22. 23:56 — Mother oddly says, “Dubios had opened the safe in 59 and point 15 seconds flat” - Flat is usually used to mean exactly, and there’s no fraction at all. Mother lates sys that Tara beats the time “at the proverbial last moment”, I assume that means 59.14 seconds.
23. 24:35 — Product placement for a Stadion 7 Jewels stopwatch.
24. 25:14 onwards - You can see the shadow of the boom microphone on the wall above the lift.
25. 26:25 — you can see the boom microphone in to top centre-right of the screen as we cut to Tara, having feigned a faint, in the chair.
26. 26:45 — Colonel Corf shows Steed his favourite painting, “The Monarch of the Glen”.
27. 27:22 — Product placement for Thomas Withers safes.
28. 30:35 — You can just see the boom microphone waver at the top of the screen above Macnee’s head when we cut to the long shot.
29. 37:28 — The driver starts moving before the henchman can get in and the scene is abruptly cut before it becomes apparent.
30. 37:50 — Obvious use of a still frame while Tara disposes of the scientist (over which terrible corny sound effects are played).
31. 40:16–40:50 — Classic padding: the aunts recap the entire plot of the episode so far.
32. 41:48/41:51/41:57 — CU of Mother is OOF
33. 44:24 and throughout - Colonel Corf’s medals are:
    British Empire Medal, Military Cross, 1939–45 Star
    Africa Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945
34. 46:45 - Steed’s killing of the African delegate with his sword stick has been cut from the final print.
35. 49:50 — Patrick Newell says “Gottle of Geer” while pretending to ventriloquise and Patrick Macnee and Rhonda Parker burst out laughing.
36. 49:52 — The closing credits start with the fanfare played by Izzy Pound in The Interrogators, then becomes a silent movie style soundtrack version of the theme tune, then bizarrely ends with the Series 5 fanfare.

The Transport

Who’s Killing Whom?

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The Fashions