Series 4 — Episode 17
The Girl From Auntie

Production

Production dates: 4–23/10/1965

Another Roger Marshall script that was happily accepted by Brian Tesler, Programme Controller for ABC, who described it as "fast, funny and furious". The casting of Liz Frazer seems to have shaken thnings up a bit, and the final script is funnier and more played for laughs than the occasionally downbeat original - Georgie makes jokes about the mounting pile of bodies rather than screaming at the sight of them, for instance. Marshall was apparently unhappy with the final result, feeling that Brian Clemens had taken too many liberties in revising the script. Roy Baker, on his last outing for The Avengers however loved it, thinking it the best of all the episodes he worked and his favourite.

There’s a brief visit to Dyrham Golf Club for the kidnapping of Emma Peel, a short sequence at the West London Air Terminal, now demolished, and several visits to the front of Highpoint 2, which represented the exterior of Mrs. Peel’s flat. There were also a few locations around Watford for the different offices that Steed and Georgie visit. Dyrham Golf Club had previously been a location for The Thirteenth Hole, which was produced a month before this one.

The rewrites injected a lot of in-jokes, both verbal and visual, and the cast seem to be having a hoot with it. Bernard Cribbins is a delight as the wacky Arkwright, who has a team of old ladies knitting him a bungalow. Some of Marshall’s more laboured sequences of dialogue were cut, making for a snappy, fun episode.

Shooting script changes

• sequence with Steed trying to bang on car roof cut
• The lines about how long her deception was supposed to last cut, and the reveal of Lamb’s body is played for laughs with Georgie making a joke rather than screaming
• Steed’s long conversation with Georgie in the taxi, about her audition, cut and replaced with the last two or three lines, but in Lamb’s office
• Steed doesn’t use the ‘ad lingo’ in Bates’ office, he just says he’s looking for clues
• Steed and Georgie’s lines swapped when they get back in the taxi
• break between act 1 & 2 moved
• The script has lost all the references to Aunt Hetty knitting warm clothing for the troops in the Crimea
• James Bond joke about the Double O needles removed when asking Hetty if she recognises the needles
• Steed’s joke about a Fairisle pullover is cut, as is Arkwright’s reference to the Olympics and another James Bond joke
• Steed overhearing the receptionist saying the fake Mrs. Peel has to be eliminated is cut; the receptionist’s lines are delivered after Steed leaves
• Ivanoff being worried about being posted to China has been cut
• Georgie saying she knitted at Rodean is cut, as is all the other snobby backstory for Georgie
• Some of the dialogue with the receptionist at Art Incorporated is cut
• Steed’s phone call to Ivanoff removed
• Taxi driver dropping snuff and sneezing uncontrollably removed
• Mrs Peel’s value reduced from $200,000 to $140,000 USD

Regional broadcasts

Broadcaster	Date	Time
Rediffusion London	21/01/1966	8:00pm
ABC Midlands	22/01/1966	9:05pm
ABC North	22/01/1966	9:05pm
Anglia Television	20/01/1966	8:00pm
Border Television	23/01/1966	9:35pm
Channel Television	22/01/1966	9:05pm
Grampian Television	21/01/1966	8:00pm
Southern Television	22/01/1966	8:55pm
Scottish Television	18/01/1966	8:00pm
Tyne Tees Television	21/01/1966	8:00pm
Ulster Television	21/01/1966	8:00pm
Westward Television	22/01/1966	9:05pm
Television Wales & West	22/01/1966	9:05pm

TV Times listing

International broadcasts

Broadcaster	Date	Time
ABN2 Sydney, Australia	14/06/1966	8:00pm
ABV2 Melbourne, Australia	21/06/1966	7:30pm
ABC New York, USA	6/06/1966	10:00pm
ORTF2 France	18/7/1991 FR3
Suisse Romande, Switzerland
French title	Maille à partir avec les taties
ZDF Germany
German title	Nadeln töten leiser / Mrs. Peel, zum Ersten, zum Zweiten, zum Dritten
KRO Netherlands	23/07/1968	9:10pm
Dutch title	Een rechts, twee averechts
Italy	24/11/80 C51
Italian title	Cercate ‘la vecchia’
Spain	31/07/1967	4:10pm
Spanish title	La muchacha de Aunty / La chica de auntie

Italy did not show this episode in the 1960s, the Italian titles are from the Tele Torino International broadcast in the 1980s, and DVD releases. Contemporary broadcasts in France, Switzerland, and Germany also did not include it.

Episode Rating

Subject	0–5
Direction	3½ stars
Music	3 stars
Humour	4 stars
Intros/tags	4 stars
Villains	3½ stars
Plot	3½ stars
Emma	4 stars
Sets/Props	3½ stars
Overall (0–10)	8 stars

Mrs. Peel takes an enforced holiday and Steed has an hilarious romp around London, trying to catch up with a murderous old lady. Despite Rigg’s absence – although when she’s on screen she sizzles – this is a great episode.

The Fashions

Emma’s Fashions

Steed’s Fashions

white mesh body stocking with feathers at neck and cuffs (leg and arm), feathers and flowers covering erogenous zones, flesh coloured knickers and white open-toe shoes – worn with the diagonally striped black and white" “Chemin” coat at the beginning and end of the episode

brown three-piece suit (2 vents, hard buttons, no pockets) with matching bowler and umbrella, white shirt (town collar) dark silk tie with diamond pin brown chelsea boots black pullover and black trousers, black shoes tuxedo with loose jacket (raglan sleeves, standard collar), white city shirt, black bow tie and black leather gloves, black dress shoes grey three-piece suit single button on jacket waist and cuffs, six buttons on waistcoat, white shirt, dark silk tie (4) with tan overcoat and dark bowler and umbrella

The Cars

Marque/Model/Type	Number Plate
MGB	-
Porche	-
Lotus Elan S2	HNK 999C
Ford Zephyr 4 MKIII	7547 BM
Riley Pathfinder	VXH 643
Singer Vogue	-
bicycle	-
Austin taxi	BGJ 193B
Austin taxi	VGF 345
Humber Super Snipe III	660 DXK
Messerschmitt KR201 cabriolet micro car	905 TPU
Lagonda S Type Special 6 (1934)	AYL 431

Who’s Killing Whom?

Victim	Killer	Method
Mr. Lamb	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Bates	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Marshall	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Barrett	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Barrett	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Wimpole	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
John Jacques	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Paul Jacques	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
George Jacques	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Fred Jacques	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle
Joseph Ivanoff V*	Old Lady/Man in disguise V*	knitting needle

Continuity and trivia

1. 
   
   1:10 — Recognise that gate? The same location is used at the beginning of The Girl From Auntie as the Town Hall, Pendley (the venue for this year’s MFU Charity Fancy Dress Ball) and in The Thirteenth Hole as Craigleigh Golf Club. It’s actually Dyrham Park Golf Club Gateway, Trotter’s Bottom.
2. 2:15 – it’s the stuntman in the old lady mask who does the tumble off the bicycle.
3. New
   
   Old
   
   2:49-4:00 — The mid-shot of the taxi leaving the airport (3:23) is of a 1964 Austin taxi with the licence plate BGJ 193B.

   However, the earlier closeup of Steed inside as the porter packs all his luggage into it (3:00) and later when it arrives at Mrs. Peel’s flat (3:45 onwards), it’s an earlier model Austin taxi with the licence plate VGF 345 (the same one that was used in Epic).

4. 3:30 — Mrs. Peel lived at Highpoint 2, Highgate. (You get a better view at 4:15 and 6:25).
5. 3:57 onwards — The backdrop behind Steed as he calls from the cab doesn’t match the location streetscape at all.
6. 7:20 & throughout – Is Laurie Johnson immitating Edwin Astley? There’s a thread of harpsichord music through the themes in this episode, making me think I’m watching “Danger Man” all the time (except it’s funny).
7. 7:20 — Pansard or Lamb??? – The close-up of the sign on the door reads Brian Pansard, Theatrical Agent, but the one Steed opens says J. H. Lamb, Theatrical Agent. WAs the close-up wrong, or were there Georgie said she was briefed by a Mr. Lamb, who promptly tumbles out of the cupboard with a knitting needle in his back.
8. 8:14 — The advertising firm of" “Bates and Marshall” is an Avengers in-joke, referring to John Bates (Ms Rigg’s wardrobe) and Roger Marshall (screenplay).
9. 8:57 — Barrett, Barrett & Wimpole, solicitors had their offices at 75 Clarendon Road, Watford (just up the road from the location of Art Incorporated, see below). It’s now Hamlin Knight House, the offices of a recruitment company.
10. 9:26-9.45 – this scene has stand-ins for Mary Merrall, Patrick Macnee and Liz Frazer until we reach the close-ups at 9.47.
11. 10:33 — it sounds like a redub when Georgie says “Fred” at the end of “John, Paul George and…” – but Fred is in the shooting script (PDF 13.4MB) so it can’t be, can it?
12. 10:33-10:40 — The outer door of the Jacques Brothers shop reads “Jacques Brothers – Theatrical costumiers – John Jacques, Paul Jacques, George Jacques, Fred Jacques” but the inner door reads “Starr Bros. Theatrical Costumiers”.
13. 11:56 – you can see the shadow of a crew member’s hands and hear a loud click as a piece of equipment, probably a flare guard, is altered.
14. 12:31 — There’s a dark torn-edged smudge at top of screen, it looks like a loose bit of plastic.
15. 13:40 — When Aunt Hetty is having tea with Georgie and Steed, Steed asks her if the Jacques Brothers were alone when she visited them. Aunt Hetty replies, “That could hardly be, there were four of them.” – but Sylvia Coleridge never moves her lips! It’s clearly dubbed in later, and the voice might have been someone imitating her to boot!
16. 14:19 — We can just glimpse Steed through the window – but it’s not Macnee! It’s a portly looking gentleman in a bowler hat.
17. Throughout the episode, the taxi driver amuses himself (at Steed’s direction), with the sporting gear Steed has brought back from holidays:
    • 4:11 — canoe paddle
    • 6:31 — diving mask
    • 17:11 — boxing gloves
    • 18:08 — fishing hat
18. 17:16 – there’s a thread caught in the gate at the bottom.
19. 17:40 and throughout – Melton House, 65–67 Clarendon Road Watford, is the location used for the offices of Art Incorporated and Arkwright’s Knitting Circle.
20. 18:03 – it’s that stand-in for Patrick Macnee again.
21. 18:25 – there’s a thread caught in the camera frame at top right.
22. 18:44–20:03 — Marshall’s scenes 43–5 have been rewritten – Steed never overhears the receptionist planning his demise (sc. 43/4) as he’s hit over the head (sc.45) straight after him finding the needles at the beginning of scene 43. Scene 44 is then shown after Steed leaves at the end of scene 45, and her line from the beginning of scene 45 (where is was heard through the grille) is part of the same scene. By the way, who did the casting? Yolande Turner doesn’t look forty years old, as described in scene 25, to me at all.
23. 19:46 – Yolande Turner is out of focus for almost the entirety of the remouted scene 44.
24. 
    20:18–20:58 — Georgie Price-Jones whiles away a quiet moment or two with books from Mrs. Peel’s bookshelf – first up is" “Basic Nuclear Physics” by L. R. Williams B.Sc. Ph.D., but more notably is “No Holds Barred”, a self-defence book written by Ray Austin – actually not a real book, Ray was stunt arranger, director, and frequent on-screen presence for The Avengers, but this is just the dust jacket and a cover sheet over a much larger hardback book as the book was fictitious.
25. 21:22 — Mary Merrall is substituted by a stuntman in a mask
26. 22:18-22:24 – it’s that stand-in for Patrick Macnee again, and for Mary Merrall as well.
27. 22:57 — Georgie smashes a vase over Steed’s head and then explains she though he was an old lady with a veil and knitting needles, to which he replies, “They do say I take after granny”.
28. 23:36 — Steed sends Georgie in to see if she can spot her assailant at the Knitting Circle and tells her, “I take a size 9 3/4 in socks and nothing too garish”. As he does so, the boom microphone swings past in the top righthand corner of the screen.
29. 
    24:34 — This bird sculpture, which turns up in Series 5 in Mrs. Peel’s apartment and Tom Savage’s photo studio, turns up here at the offices of Art Incorporated, on the table in front of Steed.
30. 24:45 — The receptionist asks Steed’s name and he sorts through a pile of cards until he arrives at one for “Wayne Pennyfeather ffitch”.
31. 25:42 – Roger Marshall repeats his Mellors joke from Silent Dust in the script, with Steed querying “That THE Lady Bracknell?” – asking if a character is a famous fictional character – but the line was cut from the episode. In Oscar Wilde’s society farce “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Lady Bracknell discovers that the suitor for her daughter had as a baby been left in a handbag at Victoria Station and is later revealed to be her long lost nephew.
32. 28:09 – Steed’s card says his name is Wayne Pennyfeather L. ffitch and he lives at 21, Grade St. London, W.1.
33. 28:43 — Steed has borrowed Goya’s Doña Isabelle from The National Gallery, a painting that was famously stolen in the early Sixties – and a joke that was also used in Dr. No.
34. 29:17 onwards — All of Mary Merrall’s lines sound like a man imitating an old lady’s voice – have they been overdubbed? She certainly sounds different in Homicide and Old Lace.
35. 33:20 — the sign reading Lot 65, which had been in the bottom left corner of the Mona Lisa (32:38–32:58) is now in the bottom right corner.
36. 36:45 — Steed leaves without his gentleman thief’s kit.
37. 37:06 and throughout – it’s the same basement set as in Castle De’Ath.
38. 37:22 — Diana Rigg returns from holiday to sit in a cage for a bit. We haven’t seen her since about the 2:00 mark and she doesn’t do much until 45:00.
39. 39:45 — Ivanoff is reading Pravda when Steed arrives. The headline is трудовая вахта миллионов but I haven’t discovered the edition.
40. 40:20 — Stunt doubles for the fight – Rocky Taylor playing Steed and Joe Farrer playing David Bauer.
41. 46:35 — Auntie describes Mrs. Peel as “this outstanding example of British pulchritude”, which raises her eyebrows.
42. 47:29 — Steed seems to be standing somewhere completely different on the change of shot.
43. 48:03–48:44 — The stuntman is wearing the old lady mask in the long shots, and of course the unmasking scene, but it’s Mary Merrall in the close-ups.
44. 48:48 — Steed asks Arkwright what the old ladies are knitting and he replies, deadpan, “A bungalow”.
45. 
    50:25 — The Avengers leave in an unusual fashion in this episode – Georgie Price-Jones drives off in Steed’s Bentley, while Mrs. Peel and Steed are crammed into a tiny Messerschmitt KR201 cabriolet micro car.
46. 50:50 — Double entendre? Steed describes Georgie as a “charming lady” and Emma replies, “I wonder if she’s going our way” – then Georgie blows them a kiss.
47. Running time: 51′56″ (The 1966 dialogue sheets record it as 4,731 feet of film which is 52′34″, including Avengers I.D. cards at the beginning and end of the commercial breaks). The Studio Canal blu-ray is 52′16″ but that includes 20 seconds of Studio Canal ident.