The Golden Eggs

The episode starts off with the theft of some golden eggs in a scientist's laboratory.

Steed is not convinced that with Dr Ashe's claim that nothing has been stolen and he sends Cathy Gale to investigate.

When the burglar dies, it becomes clear that the golden eggs contained a deadly virus developed at the laboratory. The theft of the eggs were made to order by dastardly Redfern.

Stees is very much second fiddle to Cathy Gale in this one. You sense that some of the staff in the lab have something to hide.

A story with deadly viruses should had been more involving and dramatic than it is here.

A burglar steals two dazzling looking golden eggs, unfortunately for him he's unaware that the eggs contain a deadly virus, soon after taking them, he falls very ill, Cathy investigates.

I really enjoyed it, one of the stronger episodes of this series I thought. It's a highly imaginative and clever story, it's one that somehow seems way ahead of its time, there's a film at the back of my mind with a similar plot, but I can't quite place it.

There's more than a strong hint of realism about this one, weaponised viruses, chilling.

Post pandemic, I think this episode has a greater relevance somehow, a time where people were conditioned to be very wary about what they were handling and picking up, what an ingenious way of killing people.

It's very much a Steed light episode, most of the investigative work is done by Cathy, once again Honor Blackman shines through, she really did make this role her own.

8/10.

"The Golden Eggs" is a potentially gripping story that doesn't quite make it, but still winds up as one of the second season's better episodes. Peter Arne (previously seen in "Warlock") once again portrays the villain, Julius Redfern, a low key, self absorbed madman who hires a petty thief (Gordon Whiting, "The Cybernauts") to steal a pair of gold-plated eggs containing a deadly infectious virus, without telling him how dangerous they are. The thief becomes ill, and his wife (Irene Bradshaw, "One for the Mortuary" and "Murdersville") has no idea where he has hidden the eggs, so Cathy Gale, basically working solo, becomes the one to find them and foil Redfern's plot to benefit from germ warfare. Donald Eccles plays Dr. Ashe, the creator of the virus, and Pauline Delany ("The 50,000 Breakfast") plays his assistant, secretly working for Redfern, until Cathy convinces her to turn against him in a climax worth waiting for.