Chain of Events

At last, PERSUADERS series provides an espionage plot. It takes place in the British countryside instead the South of France and the villain is Peter Vaughan, the same year the was shown in Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. Good episode with unusual camera work, angles - escape in the forest - and of course much humor. I also loved the James Bond saga tribute which was put in this story; never forget that director Peter Hunt offered us one of the best James Bond film, ON HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE, despite the absence of Sean Connery. So, this espionage adventure belongs to the best of the whole PERSUADERS series. I recommend it.

Danny (Tony Curtis) finds himself chained to a briefcase that literally dropped from the blue. And the woods are filled with ruthless people who want it.

I don't usually like episodes where the boys blunder into trouble rather than being handed assignments by the judge, but this episode is so much fun it's become one of my favorites.

Curtis' efforts to rid himself of the briefcase before one of the many parties looking for it kills him are most enjoyable. And Moore is always at his best when he plays to his strengths in comedy/suspense.

Co-starring as a villain is Peter Vaughan, that almost ubiquitous English actor right up to Maester Aemon in "Game of Thrones."

Suzanna Leigh has a plum role as a character similar to Mrs. Gale in "The Avengers" . . . Played by Honor Blackman, who left that part to become James Bond's main squeeze in "Goldfinger." Leigh looks and acts a lot like Blackman. Coincidence?

Episodes of "The Persuaders!" are hit-and-miss, but despite the extreme stretch of credibility, this one is a palpable hit.

Danny and Brett are enjoying a spot of glamping in the English countryside... what could possibly go wrong? Their rural idyll is soon disturbed by an unfortunate and improbable twist of events that leave Danny literally chained to a mysterious attache case - and on the run from various parties who it seems will stop at nothing (and even kill) to retrieve the precious cargo.

This has always been one of my favorite episodes, and zips long in fine style as Danny and Brett are caught up in a cat and mouse game with their deadly antagonists. As always, they run into unexpected difficulties along the way - but accept their plight in good humor, as they desperately try seek a way to part Danny from his unwanted hand luggage.

There's great support from the likes of Peter Vaughan and George Baker, but it's Suzanna Leigh who steals the show as the lively and glamorous Emily Major - whose charms Danny finds difficult to resist as she finds her own methods of attempting to prise the case from his person.

Lots of good outdoor filming, fun and action make this a very memorable and entertaining episode that gives Brett and Danny a case they'll never forget!

A trip to the country inevitably goes west for our intrepid duo as a stroll by Danny ends up with him encountering a British agent who's parachuted into a tree and who before he expires, attaches an important attaché case to his wrist without giving him the key. Naturally the case is in demand, not only from British intelligence who have a team on the spot looking for it, but also a crack, let's call him Russian agent, at least judging by Peter Vaughn's attempted accent, who goes by the unlikely codename of Schubert.

In due course, Brett catches up with his chum and they both go on the run from Schubert and his recruits with matters becoming more confusing when the baddies don police uniforms and even set up one of their own with a dummy case to throw MI5 off the case, no pun intended.

Danny hooks up, almost as you'd expect, with a pretty young female agent, coincidentally a childhood girlfriend of Brett's, whose doctor father's country practice is handily close by where the boys go to use his X-ray equipment to learn what's in the case.

This leads to an amusing scene when the girl bursts in on Danny trying to take a shower still attached to the case and it all ends up in a face-off or should that be case-off between the secret service and Schubert and the explosive conclusion about the case contents is revealed.

A light, fun outing here for Messrs Curtis and Moore in this Terry Nation scripted episode which takes the old Hitchcock idea of setting up the audience with a McGuffin and literally running with it.