Series 5 — Episode 18
Death’s Door
by Philip Levene
Directed by Sidney Hayers
Steed relives a nightmare
Emma sees daylight
Production No E.66.6.17
Production completed: June 13 1967. First transmission: October 4 1967.
TV Times summarySteed relives a nightmare and Emma sees daylight!
Plot summary
Government officials trying to attend a peace conference have been having disquieting dreams, which become reality with fatal results.
The Avengers are called in to ensure they do finally attend, but the next official tells Steed of a missing button on his butler jacket, and seeing a lion before he died, all of which come true. The Avengers babysit the next man to fill the post, but all three feel a sting on their necks and fall asleep, troubled by nightmares. It’s all a plan of Becker, an Eastern European observer at the conference, but Steed and Emma find the storage area where the delegates have been drugged and brainwashed. Stapley is exposed as the inside man, the bandaid on his cheek covering no wound and he dies by one of the of deaths predicted in the dreams — crushed by a chandelier.
Mrs. Peel predicts a visit to the theatre.
A crowd of foreign diplomats arrive for a peace conference but the French attaché, Pavret (Michael Faure) comments to his english counterpart, Stapley (William Lucas), that the English delegate is not among them. Stapley replies that a united Europe is Sir Andrew’s idea and he must be granted the vanity of a star entrance. Sir Andrew Boyd (Clifford Evans) appears, flanked by lackeys and his aide, Lord Melford (Allan Cuthbertson) but balks at going through the door and runs in horror.
John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) arrive and Melford tells them Sir Andrew’s
being attended to by his doctor, and that Stapley’s story about a
migraine was a cover-up. Stapley tells them his breed
specialise in half truths, and presents Melford with a follow-up
press release. Steed promises Melford he’ll deliver Sir Andrew
to the conference at 6 o’clock and greets Sir Andrew and his
doctor, Dr. Evans (Paul Dawkins). Dr. Evans says Sir Andrew will
be fine after a rest and fetches him some tablets, so Steed
arranges to return at 5:30. Evans returns to find Sir Andrew standing
at the window, rubbing an insect bite. He takes the pills
and the doctor leaves, also rubbing a bite.
Steed is about to leave when Sir Andrew, waking from a nightmare,
rings to warn Steed to “take it easy down Spout Hill”.
Sure enough, the brakes fail and Steed guides the careening Bentley
safely to rest in a copse at the foot of the hill.
He goes to collect Sir Andrew while Emma gets the car checked, and
Sir Andrew tells him he had a premonition Spout Hill, then dismisses
the idea, saying he had a crash there himself once. He is, however,
startled by an ashtray being out of place and manically checks
his butler, Dalby (William Lyon Brown), for missing buttons — even
more startled when Steed points out a missing button on his coat tail.
The chauffeur, Saunders (Peter Thomas), drives them to the
conference while Sir Andrew rustles through the paper, looking
for a story about an escaped lion. Steed perplexedly tells him he
hasn’t heard of one and is stunned when Sir Andrew announces it’ll
be the final sign — the last thing he’ll see before he dies is a lion.
At the conference hall entrance, he refuses to enter, saying he’ll
be killed — he turns and runs, only to be run down and killed by
a passing limousine driven by Jepson (Terry Maidment), and Steed
notices the marble lions at the entrance...
Steed disbelieves the premonitions, despite Mrs. Peel recounting
her horoscope for the day they met ("you’ll meet a tall, dark
stranger"). Meanwhile, Melford takes Sir Andrew’s place and Stapley
arranges accommodation at a nearby hotel which Steed and Emma check
for security. Melford retires, rubbing his neck, and has strange
nightmares about his impending death. The next morning, he is horrified
when his dream starts coming true — a wakeup call, Stapley’s face cut
by a razor, the lift broken and other events, culminating in him
running scared from the conference hall when a moustached man
from his dream offers to open the door for him.
Steed has the doctor tend and sedate him and Melford relates the dream.
Steed suspects the events were rigged, “But how do you rig a dream?”
cries Melford, still fearing death. That night, Steed guards Melford’s
room while Emma stays outside in the car, but she rubs her neck...
Next morning, Melford wakes from another nightmare and when a few of
the event happen, refuses to go to the conference. Steed and Emma decide
to follow his expected route in the official car and most of the events
happen — Steed has a brainwave and has the driver go around the block
so they turn up at the correct hour, and the last of the nightmare
events happens on cue, a white Jaguar splashing them with mud. Saunders
watches menacingly as they discuss investigating the ‘nightmares’ more
closely.
Melford is given photos of conference attendees to view and remembers
that it was Alfred Becker (Marne Maitland), an Eastern Bloc observer, who had opened the
door in his dream. Steed visits him, finding the white Jaguar parked
outside and Becker practicing on a rifle range. Steed questions him
obliquely, and when he says he’s discovered a plot to derail the
conference Becker asks him to replace the spent targets. Just as he does
so, he hears Becker cock the rifle and dives for cover. He manages to
kill Becker by firing a bullet he’d picked out of Becker’s ammo box, using
a steel peg and a rock to explode the charge and finds a key to a storehouse
on Becker’s body.
Emma meanwhile has checked the hotel and found a
slip of paper disabling the lift, she’s spotted and Jepson intercepts
her at Steed’s apartment, but she attacks him first and he’s killed in
the fight. She finds another key and reaches the warehouse first. When
Steed arrives, she demonstrates the props used to fabricate the dreams
and the sedative dart airgun used to knock out the victims.
Melford doesn’t believe them so Steed shoots him with the gun and they
take him to the warehouse where, being strongly conditioned, he launches
into a ‘nightmare’ without prompting. Melford finally recalls another
nightmare element they’d overlooked — Stapley’s shaving accident — and
the Avengers return to the conference hall. they confront Stapley and are
about to apprehend him when another aide, Haynes (Terry Yorke), pulls a gun
on them. So too does Stapley, but Emma kicks out and knocks the guns
flying and she launches herself on Haynes while Steed and Stapley fight.
Stapley’s gun damages the chandelier cable and he’s killed when it
crashes down on him.
Steed wakes from a dream — bound by silk cords in a harem, being beaten with a bunch of grapes — to find Mrs. Peel in evening wear, predicting a visit to the theatre, and correctly naming the show and seat numbers. Steed reaches in his pocket for the tickets, but she’s already holding them.
Production
Production dates: | 7/06/1967 | Drinks | |
---|---|---|---|
Transmission dates: | Foreign title |
coffee orange juice |
|
UK | 7/10/1967 | ||
Sydney | 24/10/1967 | ||
Melbourne | 23/10/1967 | ||
USA | 31/01/1968 | ||
Germany | 4/06/93? | (Der wahrgewordene Alptraum) | |
France | 30/09/87 | (La porte de la mort) | |
Italy | 7/12/1973 | (la porta della morte) | |
Spain | --- | (a las puertas de la muerte) | |
The Netherlands | 9/01/1968 | (De deur des doods) |