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Usually any episode involving Marya (the wonderfully flambouyant Nita Talbot) is worth a peek. I love her. But this one is near the bottom of the barrel.

The Soviets were Hitler's allies at the beginning of World War II and they were carving Eastern Europe between them. Their flip-flop to the Allies is behind the suspicions Hogan holds about this crazy Russian lady who always seems to play both sides of the street. There may also be a sly wink at the unreliability of the Soviets in the Cold War.

In this episode she's supposedly at Stalag 13 with Goering. But what is she really up to and who is she with? It has a plot about stolen Nazi art, with a sly dig at the Soviets, who did the same thing.

Unfortunately, even the normally dependable Major Hochstetter, shouting to arrest everybody, can't salvage this one.

Disclaimer: I like comedy shows that are actually funny. That's why I like 1960s comedy shows. They were out there trying to make you laugh. I don't like comedies that deal with issues, that are touchy-feely, etc.

"Hogan's Heroes" was one of a long string of cleverly-set shows from the period, which included talking horses, genii, witches, desert islands, western forts, and lots of other imaginative settings, all designed with the sole purpose in mind of making the viewer . . . Well, at least smile. And what's more enjoyable, especially from the trouble they'd caused only twenty years early, than watching Nazis get their comeuppance? After all, if I want a serious dissertation about World War II POW camps I'll read a book about them.

Some "HH" shows are riotous from start to finish. Some (as with all comedies) just lay there. This one starts so slowly you scratch your head at what the laugh track is tittering about. But it builds so logically to a such ludicrous, hilarious climax it's one of my top ten episodes. As far as I'm concerned, the more ridiculous, the better, so long as I get a laugh. But to say what it builds to would spoil it. Let's just say it concerns the problem of how POWs can destroy a dam.

ACD's novel of a mysterious treasure and the weird folk seeking it could not have a better retelling.

We can take the exquisite performances of Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke for granted.

Ronald Lacy ("Raiders of the Lost Ark") perfectly captures the Sholto Brothers (yes, both) and his Thaddeus can't be beat.

Jenny Seagrove would not have been my first choice for Mary; but in retrospect she's a positive choice for what she became in the Holmes' canon. A flashier actress simply wouldn't have done. It's to my everlasting regret the producers didn't follow the novel's conclusion.

And I love seeing Gordon Gostelow in whatever he does. He's the perfect guardian of Toby.

Then there's John Thaw. He also played a fictional detective on TV but I can't recall which. My late father always liked the mysteries in modern dress while I preferred the historical ones (Holmes, Campion, Poirot, Marple, Wimsey, etc.)

This whole production reeks of class. It's what we knew the Brett/Holmes was capable of. It's too bad all the stories (especially in the last two series) couldn't have maintained this level of perfection. This is a high-water mark for the series.