The Desperate Diplomat

Templar teams up with a diplomat's daughter (Suzan Farmer) to discover why her father, Simon's old friend, stole from his beloved country. But others -headed by rather nasty Robert Hardy- are after the money, and the climax ends in an old house. It's quite an action-packed episode with some nice twist and turns - Simon Templar is his usual resourceful self. Suzan Farmer co-stars.

Robert Hardy plays a chilling kidnapper made colder by his use of "old boy" slang. Simon must rescue an abducted woman (Susan Farmer) and locate her father.

Some people think the Saint wound down towards its end but I think it only got better. Most of my favorite episodes include and follow "The Miracle Tea Party," and many, but by no means all, fall within Simon Templar's color period, including the final episode.

I like Susan Farmer. "The Saint" usually reserves repeat performers like Sylvia Syms and Anette Andre for special episodes. Justine Lord also has a way of finding herself in good episodes; but, good or bad, she livens everything she's in. Suzanne Lloyd also made some good episodes but she's such a poor actress I dread to see her coming.

Susan Farmer got stuck in some dogs. My favorite episode with her is " The Convenient Monster." She does well in this tawdry kidnap plot, but is overshadowed by Robert Hardy. It may be the best performance I've seen from Hardy, who was loveable but not much more in "All Creatures Great and Small." I'm reminded of an episode of the BBC radio show "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again," where Bill Oddie announces that someone's appalling acting "wins tonight's Robert Hardy Award."

Nevertheless, the show is called "The Saint," not "The Robert Hardy Show" and Hardy steals every scene he's in while Roger Moore (an actor I like, even in Bond) seems to be phoning his performance in, when he is in.

This episode contains the twists and "Uh-oh" moments we've come to love about the show, but it's not a fun ride. If you like Susan Farmer, as I do, it's worth enduring.

It's always a bit sad to see a favorite tv series on its last legs.

The 6th season has been a tad, um, dusty and tired. This episode was not an exception. "The Saint" by the numbers......

I was determined to give this one no more than 6 stars; until I remembered it had Robert Hardy and Suzan Farmer. Two of my favorites.

I could say that I gave it an extra star for the show's stellar entertainment for so many seasons.

Thank you, Roger Moore.