1.18 - Double Danger

[dissolute]

Ah, I think it was weirdly "parrot God" - because Brady had repeated Keel's words back at him.
Bloody awful line! I'm glad it was edited, but I wonder what it became.

It was probably "I'm waiting for an idiot to come to his senses and get this man to hospital" as Keel is very confrontational with Brady.

[Frankymole]

Heehee yes, Keel was quite brave and confrontational but he'd probably stop short of calling them man who had a gun on him a "twat" at least on-screen!

The McGinlay book has a list of major changes in two columns, old story and new story. It doesn't go down to individual lines there, but there are some in the appendix with the original script synopsis.

As the original writer considered the story unrecognisable, it's interesting how close they are in general terms, but it's all in the "polish", the dialogue and execution and some of the action, all of which were apparently cleverer in conception than what the producer eventually turned it into (I'm hesitant to blame Lucarotti because he was brought for a one-off job following his own script submission, to be directed by whoever commissioned him - it should really be the story editor's job, Bryce or De Rouen).

[Frankymole]

I'm trying to work out what this line would have been, it's not in Verner's version at all and seems to have been edited along the way:

KEEL: I 'm waiting for a t :,":',;, ,·t God to come to his senses and g%~:, this
man to hospital.

The second bit of scrubbed text has been changed to "get" but the first one is just two ts, surely it couldn't have been "twat"!
(Too many characters anyway, it looks like 3 characters have been rubbed out)

The usual term for a jumped-up arrogant person pretending to be a born leader is "tin god" or "little tin god", maybe they got mixed up with "tin pot dictator" and wrote "tin pot god"?

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... sh/tin-god

[mousemeat]

Series 1 gets a bad rap for being listless and standard hard-boiled thriller but it seems to have been anything but for the most part.

very true..I suppose the opinions, or 'bad raps' sorely depends on the person watching/ reviewing...others, might find that first season, to be interesting..etc

[dissolute]

I'm trying to work out what this line would have been, it's not in Verner's version at all and seems to have been edited along the way:

KEEL: I 'm waiting for a t :,":',;, ,·t God to come to his senses and g%~:, this
man to hospital.

The second bit of scrubbed text has been changed to "get" but the first one is just two ts, surely it couldn't have been "twat"!
(Too many characters anyway, it looks like 3 characters have been rubbed out)

The usual term for a jumped-up arrogant person pretending to be a born leader is "tin god" or "little tin god", maybe they got mixed up with "tin pot dictator" and wrote "tin pot god"?

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... sh/tin-god

Ah, thank you, I couldn't think what it could be. Reading both scripts as I go, I sometimes find the re-write better in Act I. As we get near the end of Act II it's starting to get ropey.

[dissolute]

DOUBLE DANGER
BY GERALD VERNER*
Production completed: 6 July 1961. First transmission: 8 July 1961

This episode summary is written from the original scripts and Leonard White's scrapbook of notes and Tele-Snaps as this episode is now lost. There may have been changes made during filming. As Gerald Verner's original script varies wildly with John Lucarotti's rewrite, I have noted all the differences in footnotes.

ACT I
Two men wait in a street alongside one of Her Majesty's Prisons - Mark Crawford (Charles Hodgson) paces up and down nervously, checking his watch, near a rope that is hanging down one wall while his cravat-wearing toff friend Harry Dew (Robert Mill) keeps the engine of their car purring at the corner of the street. A prisoner appears and scales down the rope quickly, then he and Crawford run to the car. Before they get there, another car cuts off their escape and two masked men leap out, firing their revolvers. Dew and Crawford duck for cover as the escapee Ted Mace (Howard Daley) is nabbed. Mace pulls down the mask of his assailant and stares into the cold, blue eyes of local gangster Al Brady (Peter Reynolds) before being bundled into the other car. A screech of tyres and they are gone before Mace's accomplices can do anything.

Some time later, Carol and Dr Keel are discussing Mr McCleary, an annoying patient who keeps trying to get medical certificates to get off work, as they close up the surgery for the night. Suddenly there's an urgent ringing of the doorbell. A woman in a headscarf comes in, saying her husband has cut himself badly and can the doctor come to help? Dr Keel goes to fetch his bag as she tells Carol her name and address - Mrs Marsden of Palmers Drive. Carol tells David she'll wait for his return as he goes out to the woman's car. They drive off into the night and arrive some time later at a houseboat on the Thames.1 Dr Keel is led below decks where his escape is blocked off by Brady's henchman, Bert Mills (Ron Pember). Brady greets Keel with his revolver and asks if he's the doctor. Keel glares at him and replies, "I see. I was just beginning to wonder how you got a boat into Palmer's Drive."

Brady returns fire, saying, "Very humorous. This way." and leads him to the cabin where Ted Mace lies on a bunk. "There's your patient, doctor. I'm afraid he stopped a bullet." Keel examines Mace quickly and says he needs to be taken to hospital but Brady refuses. Keel says the bullet needs to be removed immediately and Mace needs a blood transfusion. Brady simply tells him to do the best he can. When Keel protests he doesn't have the right instruments Brady organises for Keel to make a list and Mills will take it to the surgery. Brady checks the list and queries a couple of items, including "Fonum Equus", which Keel says is Latin for a sterilising solution.

Dew and Crawford are waiting in a dingy pawnshop cum antique store2 for their "princely employer" who Crawford declares will "do his tiny nut when he finds out that Mace was snitched from under our very noses". Dew reflects that he would have asked for twice the fee if he'd know they would be shot at. They have just decided to go and hide out from the boss to avoid any trouble with the cops when their employer arrives - it's Steed! He is most displeased to find that Mace isn't with them.

Mills meanwhile turns up at the surgery and Carol goes to fill the list. She queries why Dr Keel would need the items requested for glass cuts, and then she notices the text "Fonum Equus". Realising it's code for "Phone Steed" she quickly collects what Keel has asked for and sends Mills on his way before calling Steed's number. She identifies herself but is disappointed to learn he's not there and worriedly declines to leave a message.3

Back at the houseboat a bit later, Keel starts operating on Mace, assisted by Lola. Brady receives a phone call from Bruton (Kevin Brennan), who asks how Mace is doing. He warns Brady that people sometimes talk when under anaesthetic so to stay with him and adds that Mace has to recover - but only long enough to tell them what they want to know! Keel extracts the bullet and observes that it mushroomed slightly, causing a nasty wound - it also seems to be the same calibre as Brady's gun but Brady cuts him off, warning that kind of remark is dangerous. Brady asks if Mace will recover and he and Keel argue when the doctor says he might - if he gets taken to hospital. Brady warns Keel that if Mace dies before telling him what he needs to know, he'll find himself "in the river with him".

At Keel's surgery, Carol shows Steed the list of items4 and he remarks, "'Fonus[sic] Equus'. Hardly Herodotus. 'Equus' means horse."5 and Carol gently points out it's not Latin at all but means "Phone Steed". Carol tells him Keel went out on an emergency for a Mrs Marsden but she's looked it up and there's no Mrs Marsden or Palmers Drive. She can't give a good description of Bert Mills and can only say "Nondescript, Cockney". Just then they hear a car pull up and through the window Carol sees it's Bert returning, Steed advises her to pretend no-one's in and slips out the back way to follow him. Waiting in the dark, Carol sees a letter appear as Bert slips it under the front door. She waits for him to drive off then turns on the light, opens it and reads it.6

Back at the houseboat a while later, Bert and Brady play cards while Lola frets over the situation. Keel is unsympathetic towards her but relents when he detects her concern for Mace7. Mace stirs and tries to sit up and Lola goes to fetch Brady. Mace looks at Dr Keel and says, "My ..." then "The plot... it's... John... John Batholemew's... plot". He sinks back onto the bunk then Brady enters. "She says he's conscious.." he starts, but Keel cuts him off - "She's wrong. He's dead", Keel intones as he covers Ted's face with the sheet.

ACT II
Mills returns to the houseboat, followed at a distance by Steed in his Rolls Royce8 Inside, Lola is arguing with Brady, saying Ted would have lived if they'd gone to the hospital instead9. Dr Keel sees his chance and grabs her pistol then aims it at them. He backs out of the cabin, towards the companion way but just as he reaches it, Mills appears and tackles him. They fight and Lola kicks the gun out of Keel's had and grabs it. "Alright, break it up!", she yells and Keel surrenders. Brady asks for the gun and is about to shoot Keel when Lola intervenes, she's sure she heard Ted mumble something to the doctor before he died. Brady demands to know what it was but Keel refuses to tell him. Mills suggests they "sweat it out of him" which raises the ire of the doctor who reminds them Mace would have lived if they'd done the right thing. Brady gives him ten seconds to speak and then Steed is heard outside, yelling, "Sergeant, bring your men up behind those trees, but keep back - one of them's got a gun".10 The crooks panic and Mills drops into the water to swim across to the car. Lola tries to lead Brady away the other direction as he wildly waves his gun at Keel, letting off two shots that the doctor dives to avoid.

Steed enters the houseboat and ascertains that Keel is okay. When Keel asks if he's going to let them get away, Steed drawls, "I am not fighting a revolver with an umbrella." Dr Keel tells him about the dead man in the cabin and Steed reveals it was he who helped him out of jail a few hours earlier. He tells the doctor about the Hatton Garden robbery four months earlier - Ted Mace was the expert safecracker who stole £200,000 worth of uncut diamonds from Lowenstein & Bruton11. Mace had a trademark style so they picked him up for it immediately but the diamonds were never found. Steed had sprung him from jail to track them down as the insurance company was unhappy with paying the claim. Keel tells him that Mace mentioned "John Bartholomew's plot" before he died but it means nothing to Steed.

Steed explains that Mace was shot during the ambush of the escape12, his troops were too green to know what to do and just sought cover - despite being "enlisted" rather than volunteers. He had wondered how his plans leaked out but now he knows - Mrs Mace, or Lola, as Keel knows her.

Bruton tells Brady off for running away like frightened rabbits and bemoans the loss of the diamonds now Mace is dead. Brady tells him Lola has gone home and Mills has gone back to the houseboat to see what he can find out. They argue and Brady adds that he'll find the diamonds - but only for a fifty-fifty split as he's taking all the risks. Brady tells him Mace said something to the doctor before he died and he has a plan how to get it out of him...

Back at the houseboat, the police have arrived and taken over. Steed offers Keel a lift and ribs him about having atrocious Latin but the idea was bright. He goes on to say Carol is brainy as well as beautiful which makes him think of Lola's tight skirt. That leads him to remember that Ted and Lola used to rent a cottage with a steep staircase and he decides to visit it on a hunch, telling Keel he had better take up the superintendent's offer of a lift after all as he's going to take a spin in the country13, saying, "I do all my best work at night". Mills follows Steed as he departs...14

Steed arrives at the cottage of an elderly man (Gordon Phillott) who is exceptionally deaf and doesn't hear when Steed asks his name. Steed learns that the old man used to rent the neighbouring cottage to the Maces. He says they were a bad lot and he'll have to check on Steed before he can let the property. Steed is baffled and asks instead if any letters for the Maces have arrived and the man says a letter arrived for a Lola something did; he points at it sitting on the mantlepiece. When Steed goes to pick it up, Mills tries to shoot him through the window but misses, smashing a vase. Steed dives for cover and asks the man his name again as he rushes for the door. The old man turns and says "Bartholomew" but Steed has gone. Bartholomew sees the broken vase vase and muses, "Wonder how that got smashed... Clumsy young fellow..."15

Carol answers the surgery phone and discovers it's Mr McCleary, still begging for a medical certificate. She rings off and answers the doorbell, finding Brady there. When he learns the doctor isn't in yet he enters, saying he'll wait and then pulls a gun on her, telling her to get her coat and orders her out the back way. Just as they leave, there's a knock on the front door and Steed enters. Finding the place empty, he uses the phone to report to One-Ten and asks him to search for John Bartholomew in connection with Ted Mace16.

Keel returns from a patient visit and is annoyed to find Steed has let himself in again. The phone rings - it's Brady, who tells Keel he has Carol. She's unharmed - at the moment and if he wants her to stay that way he will tell Brady what Mace said. Dr Keel, realising he has no choice, says, "Alright. He said: 'It's John Bartholomew's plot'." Brady rings off. Steed, who has overheard, says to leave it with him as he has an idea and he departs abruptly.
Brady meanwhile is telling Bruton what Keel just said but neither of them know Bartholomew. Bruton asks Brady where he's keeping Carol and Brady replies, "Never mind about the girl. What I've (sic) got to do is find this Bartholomew character. If there is such a person." Bruton become suspicious and accuses him of sending him on a wild goose chase while he pockets the stones. Brady gets angry and tells him to find Bartholomew and be quick about it.17

Steed returns to the antique store where Crawford and Dew are discussing Lola. Crawford give Steed her address and tells her that her boyfriend is Al Brady. Steed tells them to bring her in then adds sarcastically, "And by the way, boys, don't lose this one". Brady returns to his lockup where Mills is guarding Carol. Bert doesn't know Batholomew either, and doesn't think Bruton has the guts to double cross them. He has the bright idea that the doctor might have talked to Carol and they turn on her menacingly...18

ACT III
Bruton rings Lola, knowing that Brady isn't there, and says he has to speak to him urgently. Lola suggests he try the garage and tells him the address of the lock-up - 17A Hart Street. Bruton pretends the details had "slipped his mind" and rings off abruptly when Lola suggests Al is there with Bert and the girl.19 Steed meanwhile tells Dr Keel they found her - but he means Lola rather than Carol - and they leave to bring her in.20 Meanwhile, at the garage, Carol is wakened from a fitful doze by the sound of the garage door splintering and Bruton looms up before her.21

Steed interrogates Lola at the antique store, offering her as fair exchange for Carol but Lola says she doesn't know anything. Tiring of her stubbornness when she says he can't keep her there, he suggests they'll put her in the cellar below which is infested with very large rats. She tries to hold out as she's afraid Brady will kill her is she speaks. Steed says "Some species of rodent have two legs, some four. Take your pick" but she still refuses to tell. Dr Keel suggests they're less trigger happy than Brady and he doesn't want to have to take a bullet out of Carol so Lola relents, asking they keep her out of it.22

Back at the garage, Mills and Brady have returned to find Carol gone. Brady tells Mills off for leaving her but he protests that Bruton rang, saying Brady wanted him over there. They realise Bruton has double-crossed them but then Brady warns Mills to be quiet - someone is coming. Steed, Keel and Lola enter the garage.23 Steed is angered when Carol is not where Lola expected her to be and he asks her where Brady is.
Brady steps out of the shadows and angrily quips, "Somebody paging me? You double crossing little slut. Did you tell Bruton as well?"
Steed whistles, "Dear old Leonard Bruton. I always thought he must have rigged the job with Mace." but Brady shuts him up and waves his gun at them. Keel demands to know where Carol is and is surprised when Brady echoes his sentiment. Brady orders Mills to tie them all up as Lola pleads her innocence. "Then you can die with a clear conscience", he snarls, then coolly informs them he's going to start the engine of the car and forget to switch it off, killing them with carbon monoxide.

In Bruton's study, Carol tells him she's feeling better and asks if he's one of Steed's men. He is evasive, saying who he is is of no importance and asks her what the doctor told Brady over the phone. He adds it's terribly important that he knows what it was. He then asks if Brady mentioned John Bartholomew. Realising he's not there to help her, she rises, saying she has to go home, but he grabs her and snarls "I don't think so" - so Carol throws her tea in his face and flees the room.24

Back at the garage, Brady tells Mills to get a move on if they're going to find Bartholomew. Lola's ears prick up and she asks if he means John Bartholomew. She tells him they used to rent a cottage from him and Steed chuckles to himself at his own stupidity. Brady says "Now she tells me!" - then, to Lola's horror, orders Bert to gag her. Even giving him the information he needed will not save her. They turn on the car and leave to pay a visit to Bruton.25

When they get there, Bruton is still recovering from the hot tea in his eyes and tells them Carol got away. Brady orders Mills to go to the surgery and confronts Bruton who declares he was only wanted to check on the doctor, make sure he gave you the right message. Brady glares at him then confirms he found out about Bartholomew. Bruton asks is the fifty-fifty basis still holds, his eyes widen as Brady raises his gun and he hoarsely cries, "Brady, Brady, Seventy-five percent. That's fair." before Brady shoots him dead.26

Steed assists Keel in getting free by kicking the woodwork they're tied to and then they free each other. Keel then crawls towards the car, keeping low to avoid the poisonous fumes, and drags himself inside27. Meanwhile, Carol has been brought back to the surgery by a helpful taxi driver (Blaise Wyndham) but when she gets inside to fetch her purse to pay him, Bert is waiting for her. He's startled when she says she's been to the police but recovers and informs her that Keel is "Dead by now, I wouldn't wonder ... and the other geezer and I shouldn't be surprised if Bruton's bought it too". Carol calmly tells him the police know what he looks like and he's about to kill her when the taxi driver steps inside, turns off the lights, and fights Bert. They struggle until Bert takes flight. Carol asks him how much she owes him then bursts into tears. He smiles and says, "Don't worry about that now, miss. It's 9 & 6 on the clock, but we must get on to the police."28

Back at the garage, Steed and Keel, having made sure Lola will recover, decide to head to Bartholomew's cottage, which Steed ruefully says he visited the night before, but the old man was as deaf as a post and he never got his name. Keel carries Lola to the car and they drive off. Brady and Mills have already reached the cottage just after nightfall and Brady demands to know where the diamonds are but the old man says he doesn't know. Mills has already searched Mace's old cottage and found nothing. Bartholomew is a tough old bird and stands up to Brady's threats, telling him to get out. Brady threatens to kill him and Bartholomew simply says he's too old to worry about dying, and reflects on how nice it will to be with Gladys. This confuses Brady until the old man says his wife has been gone fifteen years. He tells Brady to use his gun as they have their plot waiting for him and not a penny owing. That penny drops and Brady and Mills rush out to the nearby graveyard.29

In the graveyard they find the plot and Mills digs with his bare hands in some dead grass, unearthing a rusted tin. He struggles to open it so Brady takes it from him and prises it open, finding the diamonds within30. Just as they are in his grasp, Steed steps out and orders, "I'll take those, Brady." Keel goes to check on the old man as it starts to rain and Steed opens his umbrella.31 Mills goes to seek shelter and Steed barks, "Where are you going?" When Mills says it's raining, Steed smiles and replies, "Thank you for the information, but I find this keeps me quite dry, apart from anything else."32

1. Verner's original script had the gangsters in the car, and Brady forces Keel to wear a blindfold. When they get to the hideout, it's a bunglaow rather than a houseboat.
2. The original script has them as East End cockney thugs, spouting stereotypical phrases and dropping their aitches. The rewrite has them as public school toffs turned con men. Mark Crawford was originally named Lew Sleater. In the original they spend their time in the back room of a newsagency and tobacconists in Soho.
3. There's a scene cut from the orignal, where Sleater and Dew try to describe their assailants but are not very helpful. Steed ends the scene saying he has "a shrewd idea who was behind that snatch". 4. The original script has Carol call Steed's number again and learn that they had told him she'd called several times, just before he arrives at the surgery. She lets him in, saying, "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" and Steed smugly replies, "That's the sort of greeting I like from a pretty girl." She lets him in as he asks about why she's been calling all evening and she tells him she's worried as she doesn't know where Dr Keel has gone, then hands him the list.
5. The re-write oddly changes "Fonum" to "Fonus" here and Steed mentions Herodotus (a Greek rather than Latin writer), and no longer says "Floreat Etona!" - perhaps Lucarotti thought that wishing glory upon Eton College would not go down well with middle class viewers.
6. Steed and Carol had already left the surgery when Bert's car appears in the street in the original script, they watch him slip the letter under the door and Steed hides in the back seat of Mills car before he returns to it (rather than following in his own car) while Carol returns to the surgery to read the letter.
7. In the original, Mills has not returned yet and doesn't get there until the start of Act II. Lola is carrying a pistol and refuses to leave in case Mace says something. In the re-write she is more worried about Mace and Keel is correspondingly more sympathetic.
8. This makes no sense in the re-write as we saw Mills had already returned before Mace died. Has he popped out to the pub for a while?
9. In the original, Lola just says "He can't be..." and later says they didn't kill Mace.
10. The nadir of this episode, the old fake army cliché. In the original, Steed breaks in through a window as Keel puts Mills in a judo hold. Steed then uses his umbrella handle to knock over a vase to get Brady to come looking and trips him up with his umbrella. Lola comes in and he names her as Mrs Mace before she and Brady escape through the front door, Brady taking a pot shot with his revolver as he leaves.
11. In the original it's Lowenstein and Brune, so Bruton is not a duplicitous partner of the jewellers, but still a member of the firm, in that version of the story.
12. In the original, Steed thinks Mace was shot by accident by one of his men who shot at Brady's car - and Bruton's words a bit of later reinforce that. In the re-write he says, "Oh, the escape car I arranged was ambushed, Mace dragged out of it, shot up and pushed into another one before my men knew what was happening" - and Bruton later threatens Brady over having shot Mace.
13. The original script has Steed and Keel searching the bungalow as Steed didn't recognise Brady or Mills. Keel offers to contact the police as they part. The lines about going to the country, "I do all my best work at night" and the dialogue about Keel's Latin being atrocious and Carol being brainy as well as pretty are in the original script, but the order they're said is different.
14. There's a lengthy scene cut here where Dr Keel rings the surgery and tells Carol he's okay and what's going on, then tells her to go to bed. In the revised script, he rings the surgery and Carol answers the phone with "SLOane 0181". Dr Keel replies, "Oh, good heavens, you're still there. I am terribly sorry. I got rather tied up." Presumably with a wry smile while tugging at his tie.
15. This scene is more or less the same in the original except Bartholomew has given the letter back to the postman and when Steed leaves he angrily shouts after him that he's "not rentin' to 'im", and refers to himself as "Old John". The stage directions oddly refer to him as BYLES instead of BARTHOLOMEW even though the dialogue is marked correctly.
16. The original script has Brady pull a gun on Carol immediately and marches her out the front door to his car. Steed conducts his call to One-Ten from the newsagency. When Steed hangs up, Sleater has returned with Lola's address and says she's with Al Brady so Steed orders Sleater to bring her in without shooting anyone (this scene is moved to after the scene with Bruton). He then visits the surgery where Keel has returned to find Carol missing. There's a very long and wordy scene where they discuss what Mace said, where Carol could be, and the sticking plaster on Steed's forehead from Mills' attempt on his life.
17. This really makes no sense, the original script had Brady say "Never mind about that. You find Bartholomew." - the rest of the scene is more or less the same. After this scene in the original, Steed traces Brady's call to a public call box on Hart Street and Keel says Brady will ring again as he didn't believe what Keel said.
18. In the original script, Mills doesn't think of interrogating Carol and they instead discuss double-crossing Bruton and then getting rid of Carol, Dr Keel and Steed as they can identify them.
19. Lola is a bit more circumspect in the original, saying "Mills and - er - the other person" - and Bruton doesn't pretend he already knew about the garage.
20. There's a scene here in the original script where Sleater and Dew capture Lola which is completely missing in the re-write.
21. In the original script, Bruton says "It's all right. I'm here to help." as he unties her. This line is cut in the re-write.
22. Steed and Sleater conduct this interrogation in the original but most of the dialogue is more or less the same. Lola explicitly gives the garage address and Steed immediately breaks his word, ordering her to accompany him as he picks up Dr Keel on the way.
23. In the original script, Mills and Brady are at the public telephone in the street, trying to contact Keel when they see the others arrive and follow them into the garage. Most of the dialogue in the garage scene is along the same lines although Steed does a fair bit of exposition in the original. Happily, the re-write cuts Steed's rather forced dialogue: "But this is interesting old boy. Mace double crossed Bruton. And Mrs. Mace double crossed her husband. Then you double crossed Bruton. And Bruton double crossed you. It's almost as complicated as politics."
The rewrite about Bruton double-crossing them by drawing Mills away also makes very little sense. If Bruton didn't know about the garage, how did he contact Mills to draw him away? Did he ring the public call box?
24. In the original script, Bruton simply questions the references to Steed and when pressed says "I know the man". Carol realises he's one of the crooks when he mentions Brady, hurls her tea at him and runs for the door, locking it behind her. (The door locking may have happened in the final version but, as it's a camera script, the only direction in the script is to tighten in on Bruton).
25. Brady is even colder in the original, giving Lola false hope if he tells her about John Bartholomew then ordering Mills to gag her even though she told him everything.
26. In the original Brady says "One hundred percent, Bruton. That's my share. You're out of the running" before striking him a vicious blow with his gun. In both versions, he closes the door on the camera so the action is not shown.
27. In the original, Steed and Keel free each other but then Keel falls limp and Steed must turn off the car ignition and then open the doors. In the re-write it's not entirely clear but it seems that Keel takes care of the car while Steed does the doors (there are no directions in the script for Steed).
28. In the original, the taxi driver asks for his fare as he enters the surgery. Otherwise the scene is more or less the same except he fare is only 4/6. There's no direction for her bursting into tears but as the rest of the scene is so close to the original it seems likely.
29. In the original script, Steed realises the plot refers to a cemetery plot at the end of the garage scene. The scene at Bartholomew's cottage is similar, except he tells them the diamonds are behind a large, heavy cupboard just so he can see them struggle with it to no end as he's been meaning to clean behind for years. The scene also ends with Mills dissuading Brady from killing the old man, and doing a lot of obvious exposition about the diamonds being in the cemetery plot.
30. The original script had Brady pull a gun on Mills as he opened the tin so he could kill everyone involved and keep all the diamonds.
31. The bit about keeping dry is not in the original, which has Steed use his umbrella to trick Brady into surrendering as he prods it into Brady's back and says, "Drop it, Brady". Keel collects the gun and Steed reiterates his line about doing his best work at night then adds "Particularly with this." and waves the umbrella at Keel.
32. The last scene from the original script is cut completely - Dr Keel and Carol are in the surgery. She relates to him the incident with the taxi driver and he tells her to take the day off. They smile at each other and then he asks who's first on the list for the morning and is dismayed to hear it's McLeary again. Carol tells him the man has broken his arm and Keel says he'll have to give him that certificate at last, and they both laugh.

[dissolute]

SPECIAL BONUS - THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT'S SYNOPSIS
ACT I
Nighttime in a street alongside one of Her Majesty's Prisons - Harry Dew keeps the engine of their car purring as Lew Sleater paces up and down nervously and checks his watch, which reads 7 o'clock. Nearby a rope hangs down the wall. A prisoner appears on the top of the wall and scales down the rope quickly, then he and Sleater leap in the car. They drive off around the corner but another car comes out of a side street and cuts off their escape. Two masked men leap out, firing their revolvers and pull the escapee, Ted Mace, out of the car, shoot out the front tyres and bundle Mace into the other car. A screech of tyres and they are gone, Lew firing at the departing car.

Some time later, Carol and Dr Keel are discussing Mr McCleary, an annoying patient who keeps trying to get medical certificates to get off work, as they close up the surgery for the night. Suddenly there's an urgent ringing of the doorbell. An attractive woman is there, a car running in the street behind her. She says her husband has cut himself badly and can the doctor come to help? Dr Keel goes to fetch his bag as she tells Carol her name and address - Mrs Marsden of Palmers Drive. Carol tells David she'll wait for his return as he goes out to the woman's car. When he gets in he's surprised to find two other men. Bert Mills at the wheel and Brady, sitting next to him in the back, who orders him to put on a blindfold and they drive off into the night. They arrive some time later at a bungalow in a quiet suburb. Keel has his blindfold removed and he comments, "I suppose this isn't Palmer's Drive, you're name isn't Marsden and there has been no accident? The whole story was a fake?"

Brady simply replies, "Not entirely. In here." and leads him to a bedroom where Ted Mace lies on the bed, unconscious. Keel examines Mace quickly and discovers he's been shot and says he needs to be taken to hospital but Brady refuses. Keel says the bullet needs to be removed immediately. Brady simply tells him to do the best he can. When Keel protests he doesn't have the right instruments Brady organises for Keel to make a list and Mills will take it to the surgery. Brady checks the list and queries the last item, "Fonum Equus", which Keel says is Latin for a sterilising solution.

Dew and Sleater, two East End toughs, are waiting in the back of a newsagent and tobacconist shop in Soho. Sleater paces nervously and Dew tells him to stop - they're both on edge as they fear their boss. Sleater says "We were supposed to bring Mace here and he was snatched from under our flippin' noses. The boss ain't gonna like that." He wonders if their boss was behind the hold-up, saying "You never know what's at the back of 'is mind." Their employer arrives - it's Steed! He is most displeased to find that Mace isn't with them.

Mills meanwhile turns up at the surgery and Carol goes to fill the list. She queries why Dr Keel would need the items requested for glass cuts, and then she notices the text "Fonum Equus". Realising it's code for "Phone Steed" she quickly collects what Keel has asked for and sends Mills on his way before calling Steed's number. She identifies herself but is disappointed to learn he's not there and worriedly declines to leave a message.

Back at the newsagency, Sleater and Dew are telling Steed about their assailants but are not very helpful. Steed thinks for a moment and says he has a shrewd idea who was behind it... At that moment, a stout middle-aged man called Bruton in phoning Brady from a public call box. He asks how Mace is doing and warns Brady that people sometimes talk when under anaesthetic so to stay with him. He adds that Mace has to recover - but only long enough to tell them what they want to know! Keel extracts the bullet and observes that it mushroomed slightly, causing a nasty wound. Brady asks if Mace will recover and he and Keel argue when the doctor says he might - if he gets taken to hospital for a blood transfusion. Brady refuses and says he'll stay until Mace recovers - they'll send a plausible note to the surgery to explain his absence.

At Keel's surgery, Carol calls Steed's number again and learn that they had told him she'd called several times, just before he arrives at the surgery. She lets him in, saying, "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" and Steed smugly replies, "That's the sort of greeting I like from a pretty girl." She lets him in as he asks about why she's been calling all evening and she tells him she's worried as she doesn't know where Dr Keel has gone, then hands him the list, pointing out the last item. He remarks, "What? 'Fonum Equus'. This is supposed to be Latin?" then adds "Floreat Etona! 'Equus' means horse but 'fonum'...?" Carol gently points out it's not Latin at all but means "Phone Steed". Carol tells him Keel went out on an emergency for a Mrs Marsden but she's looked it up and there's no Mrs Marsden in Palmer's Drive. She can't give a good description of Bert Mills and can only say "short and thin". Steed offers to take Carol home and they leave the surgery moments before Bert's car appears in the street. Carol recognises when he stops at the surgery and they watch him approach the front door. Steed climbs into the back seat of Mills' car while he is slipping a letter under the door. She waits for Mills to drive off then returns to the surgery, opens the letter and reads it.

Back at the bungalow, Lola frets over the situation. Keel is unsympathetic towards her and says he'll prescribe the treatment. Mace stirs and tries to sit up and Lola goes to fetch Brady. Mace looks at Dr Keel and says, "My back..." then "The plot... (chokes slightly) it's... John... John Batholemew's... plot". He sinks back onto the bed, dead, as Brady and Lola enter. "She says he's conscious.." Brady starts, but Keel cuts him off - "She's wrong. He's dead", Keel declares as he covers Ted's face with the sheet.

ACT II
Mills returns to the bungalow and Steed creeps out of the back of his car and approaches the bungalow cautiously, looking for an open door or window. Inside, Lola and Brady are surprised that Mace is dead. Dr Keel sees his chance and grabs her pistol then aims it at them. He says thatas the no longer have anything in common, they'll do what he says for a change. He backs out of the room but appears behind him and tackles him. They fight and Lola kicks the gun out of Keel's had and grabs it. "Alright, break it up!", she yells and Keel surrenders. Brady asks for the gun and is about to shoot Keel when Lola intervenes, she's sure she heard Ted mumble something to the doctor before he died. Brady demands to know what it was but Keel refuses to tell him. Brady waves his gun at Keel which raises the ire of the doctor who reminds them Mace would have lived if they'd done the right thing. Brady gives him ten seconds to speak and Keel responds by putting Mills in a judo lock ,between him and Brady. Steed by now had made his way into the bungalow and smiles as he hears Keel gaining the upper hand. He reaches out with his umbrella handle and pulls a table and vase over with a crash. Brady comes to investigate the noise and Steed trips him up with his umbrella handle but Lola gets in between them, preventing Steed from overpowering Brady. Brady orders them to release Mills or he'll kill Steed and they acquiesce. Keel shout they'll get away and Steed replies curtly, "I am not fighting a Webley with an umbrella." Brady reappears and takes a parting shot at Keel that the doctor dives to avoid then the crooks are gone.

Dr Keel tells Steed about the dead man in the cabin and Steed reveals it was he who helped him out of jail a few hours earlier. He tells the doctor about the Hatton Garden robbery four months earlier - Ted Mace was the expert safecracker who stole £200,000 worth of uncut diamonds from Lowenstein & Brune. Mace had a trademark style so they picked him up for it immediately but the diamonds were never found. Steed had sprung him from jail to track them down as the insurance company was unhappy with paying the claim. Keel tells him that Mace mentioned "John Bartholomew's plot" before he died but it means nothing to Steed.

Steed explains that Mace was shot during the ambush of the escape - probably by one of his men. He had wondered how his plans leaked out but now he knows - Mrs Mace, or Lola, as Keel knows her.

Bruton tells Brady off for running away like "scare schoolboys robbing an orchard" and bemoans the loss of the diamonds now Mace is dead. Brady tells him Lola has gone home and Mills has gone back to the house to see what he can find out. They argue and Brady adds that he'll find the diamonds - but only for a fifty-fifty split as he's taking all the risks. Brady tells him Mace said something to the doctor before he died and he has a plan how to get it out of him...

Back at the bungalow, Steed and Keel search the bungalow as Steed didn't recognise Brady or Mills. Keel says he'd better go to the police and Steed asks him to keep his name out of it. Steed says he's off to the countryside saying, "I do all my best work at night". He ribs Keel about having atrocious Latin but the idea was good. He goes on to say Carol is brainy as well as pretty. He goes outside and walks away, Mills emrging from the shadows to tail him. Inside, Dr Keel is about to dial 999 but stops and rings the surgery instead. She says she saw the note and he tells her to forget it, he'll be back in the morning. He tells her to go home and get some sleep, he'll explain everything in the morning. He then calls the police.

Steed arrives at the cottage of an elderly man who is exceptionally deaf and doesn't hear when Steed asks his name. Steed learns that the old man used to rent the neighbouring cottage to the Maces. He says they were a bad lot and he'll have to check on Steed before he can let the property. Steed is baffled and asks instead if any letters for the Maces have arrived and the man says a letter arrived for a Lola something did but he gave it back to the postman. At that moment, Mills tries to shoot Steed through the window, smashing the glass, but misses. Steed dives for cover and rushes for the door as Mills fires two more times. The old man yells after him, "Not rentin' to 'im I'm not. Just like them Maces up to no good! Well, Old John's not bein' 'had again. He can't 'ave the place-!"

Carol answers the surgery phone and discovers it's Mr McCleary, still begging for a medical certificate. She rings off and answers the doorbell, finding Brady there. He pulls a gun on her and says he saw the doctor leave and to get her coat then orders her to get in his car.

Steed is alone in the back of the newsagency. He uses the phone to report to One-Ten and asks him to search for John Bartholomew in connection with Ted Mace. Sleater enters and tells him he has Lola's address and informs him she has a "steady" - Al Brady who is a rough lot. Steed orders him to bring Lola in then adds, "And Sleater - be a good chap. Don't shoot this one!"

Keel returns from a patient visit and is surprised to find Carol isn't there. Steed arrives and they discuss the case, what Mace saud, and even the sticking plaster on Steed's forehead, courtesy of Mills' bullet. The phone rings - it's Brady, who tells Keel he has Carol. She's unharmed - at the moment and if he wants her to stay that way he will tell Brady what Mace said. Dr Keel, realising he has no choice, says, "All right. This is what he said. It's John Bartholomew's plot." Brady doesn't believe him and says he half an hour to think it over and rings off. Steed, who has heard it all, rings a number to get the call traced.
Brady meanwhile has left the call box and turned to Bruton who was waiting outside. He tells him what Keel just said but neither of them know Bartholomew. Bruton asks Brady where he's keeping Carol and Brady replies, "Never mind about the girl. You find Bartholomew." Bruton become suspicious and accuses him of sending him on a wild goose chase while he pockets the stones. Brady gets angry and tells him to find Bartholomew and be quick about it.

Steed gets off the phone, saying the call was traced to a public call box in Hart Street. Keel observes he'll ring again as Brady didn't believe him which leads Steed to conclude that means Brady doesn't know Batholomew either.

Brady returns to his lockup where Mills is guarding Carol. Bert doesn't know Batholomew either, and Brady indicated Bruton doesn't either - but he doesn't trust him. They discuss double-crossing Bruton and then getting rid of Carol, Dr Keel and Steed as they can identify them.

ACT III
Bruton rings Lola, knowing that Brady isn't there, and says he has to speak to him urgently. Lola suggests he try the garage and tells him the address of the lock-up - 17A Hart Street. Bruton delightedly writes down the details hand rings off abruptly when Lola suggests Al is there with Bert and "the other person". Just as she hangs up, there's a knock at the door. She goes to answer it, expecting Al but it's sleater, who barges his way in, pointing a gun at her, and tells her she's "going visitin'" Meanwhile, at the garage, Carol is wakened from a fitful doze by the sound of the garage door splintering and Bruton looms up before her. A look of fear crosses her face and he says, "It's all right. I'm here to help".

Steed interrogates Lola at the newsagency, offering her as fair exchange for Carol but Lola says she doesn't know anything. Tiring of her stubbornness when she says she doesn't mind waiting, he suggests they'll put her in the cellar below which is infested with very large rats. She tries to hold out as she's afraid Brady will kill her is she speaks. Steed says "Dearie - some rats have two legs, some have four legs - make your choice" but she still refuses to tell. Lola finally relents, asking they keep her out of it. Lola gives the garage address and Steed immediately breaks his word, ordering her to accompany him - "I can't let you out of my sight. I promised you protection." He tells Sleater to stay at the shop, h'es going to pick up Dr Keel on the way.

Mills and Brady are at the public telephone in the street, trying to contact Keel but there's no answer. Mills complains that "Everyone's scarpered today" - referring to Bruton and their failure to find Batholomew. He then spots Steed and Keel arrive with Lola and enter the garage, alerting Brady. Brady observes that they've saved him the cost of a phone call as they approach the garage themselves. Inside, Steed is angered when Carol is not in the garage and he asks Lola where Brady is.
Brady steps through the door and says, "Here!" and they swing around to see him pointing an automatic at them. Mills notices Carol has gone and Brady snarls "Bruton -!" - he sees Lola react and yells at her, "Did you tell Bruton - as well?" She pleads with him that Bruton called for Brady urgently, tricking her
Steed observes, "And old Leonard Bruton too-. I suppose he had Mace steal the diamonds from the company safe." Brady tells him to shut up but he adds, "But this is interesting old boy. Mace double crossed Bruton. And Mrs. Mace double crossed her husband. Then you double crossed Bruton. And Bruton double crossed you. It's almost as complicated as politics." Brady shouts, "Shut up!" again (and fair enough really). Brady orders Mills to tie them all up as Lola pleads her innocence. "Then you can die with a clear conscience", he snarls, then coolly informs them he's going to back their car into the garage and forget to switch it off, killing them with carbon monoxide.

In Bruton's study, Carol tells him she's feeling better and asks if he's one of Steed's men. He queries "Steed?" then adds "Who I am is of no importance". Carol doubts him when he asks who Steed is. Bruton asks what the doctor told Brady over the phone, saying it's terribly important that he knows what it was. He then asks if Brady mentioned John Bartholomew. Carol recalls that Brady said "Bruton doesn't know him either" - and when he reacts to his own name Carol throws her tea in his face and flees the room, locking the door behind her.

Back at the garage, Brady gives Lola one last chance and asks if she knows John Bartholomew. Almost crying with relief, she tells him they used to rent a cottage from Bartholomew. Brady smiles "Isn't that interesting. Lola, you're a darling, I'll never forget this." - then, to Lola's horror, orders Bert to gag her anyway. Even giving him the information he needed will not save her. Mills then goes to start the car.

When Brady and Mills arrive at Bruton's house, Bruton is still recovering from the hot tea in his eyes. He struggles with the locked door and calls for help, but is horrified when he finds it's Brady who has opened the door. Bruton tells them Carol got away and Brady and Mills laugh at him for being defeated by Carol. Brady orders Mills to go to the surgery and confronts Bruton who declares he was only wanted to check on the doctor and make sure he gave Brady the right message. Brady glares at him then confirms he found out about Bartholomew. Bruton offers, "All right. You can have seventy-five percent. Eh? Seventy-five percent. That's fair." Brady just shakes his head and says "One hundred percent, Bruton. That's my share. You're out of the running." before closing the door and striking him a vicious blow with his gun.

Steed and Keel assist each other in getting free, Keel falling limp after freeing Steed's hands. Steed then crawls towards the car, keeping low to avoid the poisonous fumes, and drags himself inside and turns off the ignition. He slides out of the car and then drags himself towards the garage doors...

Meanwhile, Carol has been brought back to the surgery by a helpful taxi driver but when she gets inside to fetch her purse to pay him, Bert is waiting for her. He's startled when she says she's been to the police but recovers and informs her that Keel is "Dead by now, I wouldn't wonder ... and the other geezer. And Bruton. You're the only one what's left-". Carol calmly tells him the police know what he looks like and he's about to kill her when the taxi driver steps inside, asking for his fare. Mills is startled and Carol warns the driver he has a gun. The driver turns off the lights and tries Bert who escapes through the door, dropping his gun. Carol reappears from behind Dr Keel's desk where she'd taken shelter and asks him how much she owes him . He says "Four and six on the clock, miss" then Carol bursts into tears and he comforts her.

Back at the garage, Steed and Keel, having made sure Lola will recover, decide to head to Bartholomew's cottage, which Steed ruefully says he visited the night before, but the old man was as deaf as a post and he never got his name. Steed explains that Batholomew must be one hundred and ten so how could he be involved? Dr Keel observes, "All I can tell you is that Mace said 'It's John Bartholomew's plot' - and one hundred and ten or not - he darned nearly put us all in the nearest cemetery". Steed has an epiphany and realises the "plot" is a cemetery plot. Keel carries Lola to the car and they drive off.

Brady and Mills have already searched the cottage, finding nothing, and Brady demands to know where the diamonds are but the old man says he doesn't know. Brady threatens to kill him and Bartholomew suggests that the diamonds are hidden behind a large cupboard. Brady and Mills struggle to move it as a smile plays across the old man's face. They finally move it away from the wall and Mills scramble behind it but reports there's nothing there. Brady is livid when he sees the old man is laughing. He raises his gun and is confused when the old man simply says it will to be with Gladys again. The old man adds his wife has been gone fifteen years and tells Brady to use his gun as they have their plot waiting for him and not a penny owing. Brady aims his gun but Mills points out the importance of what the man had just said and they rush out to the nearby graveyard. After they've gone, Bartholomew fetches a broom and smiles. "Been wantin' to sweep behind this these last ten years - "

In the graveyard they find the empty plot next to Gladys' grave and Mills digs with his bare hands in some dead grass, unearthing a rusted tin. He opens it, finding the diamonds within. Brady asks him if he took care of the girl. Mill lies and says he did, at which Brady points his gun at him saying, "Good. That only leaves you." Mills is astonished at the betrayal but is saved by Steed who steps up and prods his umbrella into Brady's back. "Drop it, Brady.", he orders, and Dr Keel steps in to pick up his revolver. Steed steps around Brady, jauntily swinging his umbrella and says, "I'll take those." and confiscates the box from Mills. Steed tells Keel "I told you I did my best work at night, old boy. Particularly with this", and waves his umbrella at Keel.

Some time later, Dr Keel and Carol are in the surgery. She tells him about the incident with the taxi driver and he tells her to take the day off. They smile at each other and then he asks who's first on the list for the morning and is dismayed to hear it's McLeary again. Carol tells him the man has broken his arm falling down stairs and Keel says he'll have to give him that certificate at last, and they both laugh.

[Frankymole]

Ooh wonderful!! More to read! Thank you for your in-depth work.

I love this bit "In the revised script, he rings the surgery and Carol answers the phone with "SLOane 0181". Dr Keel replies, "Oh, good heavens, you're still there. I am terribly sorry. I got rather tied up." Presumably with a wry smile while tugging at his tie." Wry indeed!

Strangely, in the later seasons/series - might be TNA - Steed has an "oldest friend" (or is one an enemy?) called Mark Crawford and another one called Mark Crayford. So Clemens clearly heard and liked the sound of the name. A bit like the two Boris Kartovskys and George Cowleys...

[dissolute]

Ian Fleming used to name characters in his books after friends from his club or colleagues, maybe Clemens was doing the same.

By the way, the rehearsal script does list John Lucarotti as Story Editor so Patrick and Reed seem to have not been responsible for the changes.

Reading both scripts, Verner's has better dialogue, but there too much of it, and too much obvious exposition - Lucarotti has gone with a snappier, action-based script that loses some gems as a consequence, but also loses a lot of waffle. It's a shame he made those continuity errors in his rewrite, it's baffling.

[Frankymole]

Possibly the errors were due to it being edited in a rush - certainly the author seemed unavailable to discuss/rewrite, as the changes came as an unwelcome surprise to him. Without dates on the scripts it's hard to judge. The fact they farmed out the editing to a jobbing writer might seem to indicate time was short.