"Brief for Murder" was the first episode produced out of the nine completed in time for the third season's broadcast debut on September 29 1963 (shot just three weeks after "Killer Whale"). It was also the long awaited return to the fold for writer Brian Clemens, who scripted "Brought to Book" and "One for the Mortuary," but was totally absent during the second year. Ronald Henry Wescott (Alec Ross, "Super Secret Cypher Snatch") is acquitted of treason because of the expertise of his elderly solicitors, Jasper Lakin (John Laurie, previously seen in "Death of a Great Dane") and his brother Miles (Harold Scott). The main reason behind the verdict was the prosecution's inability to confirm the identity of Jonno, an associate of Wescott's, which turns out to be Steed. Of course, the upright Cathy Gale is on to them, and there is a bitter confrontation in a pub, whereupon Steed decides to call on the Lakin brothers to engage their services on his behalf as he schemes to murder Mrs. Gale. Perhaps the best bit during Steed's trial is the moment when he is asked to put on the bowler hat he left behind at the shooting of Mrs. Gale, much too large for his cranium. Clemens shows the way with a script brimming with intrigue and subtle humor, and Honor Blackman shows off her shapely legs in a one piece leotard during a yoga class (Steed even describes her as a lively looking "corpus," and "very delecti"). Fred Ferris returns as an Inspector (the same role he played in "Bullseye"), Anthony Baird returns from "Death of a Great Dane," and the excellent Helen Lindsay returns from "Nightmare," a lost first season entry.
Review of Brief for Murder
