1.26 - Dragonsfield

[Allard]

LOST EPISODE - episode summary from The Avengers Dissolute website:

With work nearly completed on a new material to shield astronauts from radiation, saboteurs prepare for one final assault. Complicated inter-personal relationships within the team suggest a traitor and Saunders, from Security, tracks the gang. Meanwhile, Steed tracks Saunders and rescues him from being killed. With the saboteurs in custody, the traitor is unmasked as Susan Summers, Alford's assistant, and Steed neutralises this final threat.

[AnthonyDurrant]

The episodes involving technoterrorism, including Dragonsfield, have a special resonance for me in that l had to take computer courses in college to attain my multimedia certificate. One of these was abruptly canceled because our teacher had accepted a position at another school and no replacement could be found. The college put together a special course that l took for three Sundays that summer. I ended up with a D, though l don't know if it was for the canceled class or the special one.

[Frankymole]

The picture of "Morris Perry" on the cast list isn't him.



This is Morris Perry as Second Technician, from the Tele-Snaps. I'm not sure who the other fellow, above, is. If he's the guy killed (or severely harmed) at the start he may well be an uncredited extra.

[dissolute]

Thanks, I'll revise it.

[Frankymole]

Thanks, I'll revise it.

Great! The title card in the gallery at the top of the page also has a hover-over caption mentioning the second technician.

[dissolute]

I just stumbled across Herb Nelson's contract for this episode, which shows it was filmed as episode 23 in production order, on 13 September 1961.

This means every single published source about this and the other episodes screened in December 1961 is wrong!

[Frankymole]

What source did they use? Camera scripts?

[denis rigg]

Interesting case. Apparently Alan Hayes needs help here, who worked with materials.

In my opinion it looks like the error may be in the incorrect identification of production episodes 23 and 25, ie The Deadly Air and Dragonsfield.

We have the camera script for the episode A Change of Bait, so it is actually episode 24 in the production order. We have a rehearsal script for the last episode, Dead of Winter, based on that it also makes it obvious that this is number 26.

But what do we know about The Deadly Air and Dragonsfield?

According to Alan Hayes' books:

The Deadly Air

ABC Production Nimber: 3420

Surviving material: Synopses, Production photographs and Telesnaps.

Rehearsal dates are unknown! Camera rehearsed on 7 September 1961, recording - same day.


Dragonsfield

ABC Production Nimber: 3422

Surviving material: Synopses, Production photographs and Telesnaps.

Rehearsal dates are unknown! Camera rehearsed on 27 September 1961, recording - same day.



The result is the following:

Since the rehearsal dates for both episodes The Deadly Air and Dragonsfield are unknown, it looks like the recording dates could have been guesswork (that is, for example, if Alan had papers that episodes 23 and 25 were recorded on September 7 and 27, but these papers did not include the names of the episodes).

As for the ABC Production Nimbers, there could also be guesswork for The Deadly Air and Dragonsfield.

If so, we go to disclosure in the form of the following production order:

23. Dragonsfield
24. A Change of Bait
25. The Deadly Air
26. Dead of Winter

[dissolute]

Yes, that's my understanding. The production numbers are clear as we are only missing one and they are sequential. It's the tape numbers we don't know entirely as they are not sequential.

[denis rigg]

Yes, that's my understanding.

This is a very intriguing situation, I am looking forward to your research, Piers.