1.6 - Girl on a Trapeeze

So Girl on the Trapeze is the first full episode of The Avengers that exists and this is when we get to see how the show works. Unfortunately though it doesn’t feature Patrick MacNee so its just Keel so you could say that this is the first opportunity to see what Keel can do. When I watch these episodes then I try and see what Doctor Who links there are. First is the writer, Dennis Spooner who was script editor and writer on the show during 1965. Another is Edwin Richfield who plays Stefan in this and in Doctor Who appeared in the 1972 story The Sea Devils.

The bit where the blonde woman jumps off the bridge and is told by the police to get an ambulance but takes a ridiculously long amount of time in doing it. That said the mystery of the blonde woman is enough to get Keel’s interest and this leads to him trying to find out more about here and with no Steed to get help from he draws the services of Carol to be his sidekick.

From the moment that Keel goes behind the curtain at the circus its clear that he going into a rather dangerous place as everyone in the circus is trying to hide things and the moment that Keel gets too close he instantly finds himself in a world of trouble and we find out about the blonde woman and the truth that they thought she had become corrupt and was being sent home and obviously she didn’t want this and so decided to end it all.

The performances in this episode are quite good. Ian Hendry shows keeps the performance solid and comes across as a rather ordinary person that just happens to have stumbled into such a shady situation. Ingrid Hafner isn’t really allowed to do very much as Carol but is still able to keep up with Hendry in the performances stakes. I stand corrected, she does get to be a bit sneaky and convince someone that she’s someone else and overpowers them. Lewis becomes his connection with the law enforcement and is played rather entertainingly by Howard Goorney. The first appearance of Richfield is quite good because its rather understated. From that moment on he instantly becomes the leader of that group. He is pretty much in every scene from this point and I don’t mind that because his performance warrants it.

The episode builds up to a thrilling climax and I like how its been slowly building up the ending and it didn’t feel rushed or contrived. Whilst I stated earlier that it unfortunately doesn’t feature MacNee in this episode, I cant say that he was entirely missed in the story. I do think that there is something reserved in Ian Hendry’s performance but that along with the story means that it more than does enough to cover up Steed’s absence. Spooner’s track record in Doctor Who shows that he can write an engaging story and he has done that here.

I enjoyed this story and thought that everything worked quite well. Looking forward to more.