No Marks for Servility

No Marks for Servility is my hands down favorite. There is a truly wonderful review of this episode at culturecourt.com/F/TV/Danger_Man.htm. So I will say nothing more except to skip right to the spy gadgets.

I've been counting the various spyware devices that John Drake utilized as I go through both the 1960-61 1/2 hour series as well as the 1964-66 1 hour series.

The earlier series brought us two full on spy gadgets; A camera hidden in a whiskey flask (The Blue Veil), and a cigarette lighter doubling as a Radio receiver (The Brothers).

In this issue Drake uses an audio/video setup housed in an inconspicuous wine barrel. The equipment monitors various rooms in the house the main bad guy is residing in. Although I've not listed simple cameras placed in areas such as air vents as true spy gadgets, I am including this wine barrel rig, working on the premise that a true spy gadget serves two purposes; its apparent use (such as lighting a cigarette, and its surreptitious use.

With regards to the second series, leading up to this episode, No Marks for Servility, we have seen an electric shaver do double duty as a radio transmitter (Colony 3), and a camera hidden inside an alarm clock (Battle of the cameras).. again, the latter device fits the dual purpose motif.

Apparently I'm an outlier. I found this to be one of the poorest episodes of the entire series. There was no mystery whatsoever as to who the bad guy was. The action sequences were mediocre to say the least. The plot was slapdash to the point of opacity. And Drake, usually professional to a fault, loses himself to anger in the face of the buffoonish villain (crushing a whisky tumbler was both amateurish and silly). Also, can someone explain how all that sophisticated video equipment got smuggled into that massive wine cask unnoticed?

I'm sorry to differ with you sir, but this won't do at all.

Drake goes undercover as a butler to investigate crooked international financier Gregori.

No Marks for Servility is one of the best episodes of the series. Having Drake disguised as a butler was a great idea, and Patrick McGoohan pulls it off wonderfully. There's several great scenes throughout the episode, but the best is the confrontation between Drake and Gregori halfway through the episode. It's a tense scene, fantastically acted by McGoohan and Howard Marion-Crawford.

The beautiful Suzan Farmer is very good, and the great Francesca Annis has a supporting part. McGoohan and Annis have wonderful chemistry in the few scenes they have together.

The villain in this episode of "Secret Agent" is different than most. Gregori (Howard Marion-Crawford) is a nasty, spiteful jerk. His number one goal in life is to dominate others--to use his power to make them bend to his will. The British know he's up to something but aren't sure what--so they send in Drake to pose at Gregori's new butler. In this role, Drake is perfect--very attentive and professional. However, his new 'master' delights in breaking Drake's spirit and letting him know he is Gregori's inferior. These scenes are among the best in the show--very tense and delightfully nasty.

Eventually, Gregori's latest wicked scheme comes to light. He's an international financier and delights in using extortion to bleed countries dry. But in this case, the official won't give in--so Gregori has the man's daughter kidnapped. Drake makes it his mission to find the girl and bring Gregori to justice.

I loved this show because the villain was so darned hateful. And, at the same time, Drake was all business. A great clash of wills and a tense and exciting episode--especially when Drake has a very violent fight with some corrupt police. See this one.

I've watched many shows/movies with Patrick McGoohan...Danger Man (30 min. Version); Columbo (4 episodes), and Secret Agent (aka Danger Man). He is absolutely excellent in this role as he shifts his daring style as a secret agent to one of a 'servile' butler. The title hints at just how difficult this is for him. The bad guy deserves to be slapped down, but can't be...at least not in the beginning. The restraint shown during this episode is palpable. I most enjoyed the 'drowning the drink' encounter. Best episode of the lot!