Series 3 — Episode 17
The Wringer
by Martin Woodhouse
Designed by Philip Harrison
Directed by Don Leaver
Production No 3618, VTR/ABC/3231
Production completed: December 20 1963. First transmission: January 18 1964.
Production Schedule
Episode 71
Production Number : 3618
VTR/ABC/3231
Teddington Studio 1
Thursday, 19th December, 1963
Camera rehearsal | 10.00–12.30 |
Lunch break | 12.30–13.30 |
Camera rehearsal | 13.30–18.00 |
Supper break | 18.00–19.00 |
Line-Up | 19.00–19.30 |
VTR Inserts 3231/A ) 3231/B ) |
19.30–21.00 |
VTR Inserts:
- 42:03–43:30 — Scene 43 & 4 (shots 189–190) — Steed and Cathy in the culvert & bushes, escaping the interrogation facility.
- 50:04–51:34 — Scene 51 (shots 248–251) — tag scene — Steed keeps fussing over Cathy trying to make the coffee with one hand while he’s being fitted by Lovell, her other in a sling, but it’s he who spills the coffee.
Taping was stopped for approximately 5 minutes between the scene in Lovell’s shop and the fire tower scene as they turned around the cameras:
BREAK — APP. 5′00″ CAM. 1 MOVE TO POS. C — EXT. FIRE TOWER CAM. 2 MOVE TO POS. E — INT. FIRE TOWER CAM. 3 MOVE TO POS. B — INT. FIRE TOWER CAM. 4 MOVE TO POS. D — INT. FIRE TOWER CAM. 5 MOVE TO POS. B — INT. FIRE TOWER CAM. 6 ON ROSTRUM — POS. A — INT. TOWER. BOOM A MOVE TO POS. 2 — M.I.5. OFFICE BOOM B MOVE TO POS. 2 — INT. FIRE TOWER BOOM C MOVE TO POS. 2 — INT. FIRE TOWER
Friday, 20th December, 1963
Camera rehearsal | 10.00–12.45 |
Lunch break | 12.45–13.45 |
Camera rehearsal | 13.45–15.20 |
Tea break, line up, normal scan, make-up |
15.20–16.05 |
Dress rehearsal | 16.05–17.25 |
Notes | 17.25–17.55 |
Line-up | 17.55–18.25 |
VTR | 18.25–19.30 |
Running time
Expected: 51′25″ excluding commercial breaks
Actual running time with bumpers: 51′58″
The bumpers between the acts are generally 10 seconds from fade in to the “End of Act” bumper to the end of audio before the commercial, a 10 second still without audio, then cut to the next act bumper. This would play with the theme for around 10 seconds. Accordingly, with the episodes being in 3 acts, the running time of the action is approximately a minute less than listed above, minus the opening credits (normally 0′16″ with a 2″ fade) and closing credits (anywhere from 0′41″ to 1′20″, hard cut or 1″ fade or mix).
Equipment
Cameras: | 6 Pedestals (1 permanently on rostrum) 1 Videcon |
---|---|
Sound: | 3 Booms Practical Telephone betvreen Telephone Box and M.I.5. Office. |
Telecine: | A.B.C. Symbol and Avengers Opening Titles 2 35 mm. clips Caption Scanner (2 mnahines) |
Moving B.P.: | |
Slides: | A.B.C. Production. |
Transmission
Broadcaster | Date | Time |
---|---|---|
ATV London | 18/01/1964 | 10.05pm |
ABC Midlands | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
ABC North | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Anglia Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Border Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Channel Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Grampian Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Southern Television | 18/01/1964 | 10.05pm |
Scottish Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Tyne Tees Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Ulster Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Westward Television | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Television Wales & West | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
Teledu Cymru (WWN) | 18/01/1964 | 9.10pm |
International broadcasts
Broadcaster | Date | Time |
---|---|---|
ABN2 Sydney | 26/01/1965 | 8.00pm |
ABQ2 Brisbane | 12/04/1965 | 7.30pm |
ABV2 Melbourne | 14/02/1966 | 8.00pm |
ABS2 Adelaide | 3/01/1966 | 8.00pm |
TV Times listing






10.5 The Avengers
starring
Patrick Macnee
Honor Blackman
in
The Wringer
By Martin Woodhouse
Cast
Hal Aderson | Peter Sallis |
Charles | Paul Whitsun-Jones |
Oliver | Barry Letts |
John Steed | Patrick Macnee |
Catherine Gale | Honor Blackman |
Lovell | Gerald Sim |
Bethune | Neil Robinson |
‘The Wringer’ | Terence Lodge |
Murdo | Douglas Cummings |
Directed by Don Leaver
Produced by John Bryce
In which Steed is sentenced as a traitor and Cathy helps to brainwash him
ABC Television Network Production
Murders
Victim | Killer | Method |
---|---|---|
Frederick Sempel | ? | shot (prior to episode) |
Arne Langstrom | ? | ? (prior to episode) |
George Arnold Meyer | ? | drowned (prior to episode) |
Ann Lisa Pravicz | ? | ? (prior to episode) |
Herman Ludner | ? | shot (prior to episode) |
Arthur Leacock | ? | ? (prior to episode) |

Continuity and trivia
- 1:57 — They don’t mention it on screen, but the script explicitly mentions Oliver and Charles briefing Steed at an M.I.5 Office.
- 5:10 — Cathy queries Anderson’s procedure and Steed replies, “You’ve been reading the official handbook again.”
- 5:50 — Steed describes Anderson: “He’s reliable. By all the books he shouldn’t be — lousy shot, can’t swim, writes poetry. But! He’s reliable”.
- 8:36 — Steed calls Primrose 0042 to speak to Cathy.
- 11:46 — Hal’s short wave radio is the same one that Newman was using at the beginning of the previously produced episode, Dressed To Kill.
- 14:00 (13:40) — Shades of The Prisoner, do you think Patrick Macgoohan watched this episode? When Steed tells fellow operator Anderson “Nobody retires, ever.”
- 19:25 — slight loss of focus on the change of shot to Steed sniffing the cup of coffee.
- 20:32 — the sound changes to echo and distort as Charles speaks, but it should have happened from the beginning of the scene. Also, (at 20:48) Charles looks at Steed rather than Hal when he asks, "Are these the allegations you have made?"
- 24:52–25:02, 26:52–55 (24:33) onwards — Return of The Fly : yet more remastering problems with flies in the Canal+ studios landing on the transfer box.
- 26:13, 33:35 — telecine insert on monitors — Steed in cage.
- 26:48 — Charles has something stuck to his bottom lip.
- The Wringer tries to brainwash Steed with:
- 24:50 — time dislocation, suggesting it’s much later than it really is.
- 27:22, 34:25 — film of a tropical beach.
- 28:18 — drugged coffee.
- 28:34, 34:05 — psychedelic swirling hypnosis patterns and loud white noise [Steed counters this (30:08) by focusing on his watch]
- 29:40 etc. — time dislocation (randomly resetting the clocks)
- 29:40 – 2:30 compared to 8:16
- 31:28 – 1.00 on both (but Steed lost his watch outside the cage just before this point so it may have been altered)
- at this point he’s given lunch, just one hour after breakfast
- 33:20 — The Wringer even tries time dislocation on Cathy when she arrives.
- 34:58 — they both say 4:25 (confirmed by Cathy)
- 30:48, 34:37 — film of WWII British artillery batteries, at very high volume.
- 32:17 — autosuggestion by voice over and sound effects.
- 34:09 — clock pendulums and the appropriate sound effects, mixed over the swirling patterns.
- 34:13 — photographs of faces, mixed with the pendulums and swirls.
- all of the above, mixed and faded in together.
- 34:43, 35:59 — telecine of Steed & Cathy in the cage on the monitors
- 36:02 — compression artefacts on a bad frame
- 37:51–38:03 — Douglas Cummings struggles with the lock and takes 8 seconds to open the gate to let Cathy out.
- 40:10 — the end of Steed’s cage is clearly missing, revealing the film screen, but Cathy still goes to open the door.
- 45:33 — small smudge up and left of centre in Charles’ medium shot
- 46:05 — £2 14/6 owing on the library book Proust that Steed lent Anderson
- Barry Letts (Oliver) is most famous for producing many, and directing several, of the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who stories; he did the BBC directors’ course shortly after this episode and subsequently moved to the other side of the camera.
- Peter Sallis (Hal Anderson) is best known these days as the voice of Wallace from the Nick Park “Wallace and Gromit” animated films.
- Douglas Cummings (Murdo) was last see as the sleazy Fatty Barker in The Gilded Cage.
9:04 — Between the scene at Lovell’s shop and the fire tower scene, all the cameras had to be turned for the new sets and there was a break of 5 minutes to do so. There’s a cut at the end of the shop scene and several lines were dropped:
LOVELL: I hope Anderson really is all right.
STEED: So do I.
LOVELL: Well, now. What about your next fitting?
STEED: Oh, you know me. I’ll drop by.