User Reviews

Dr A. Jaeger has an unusual method of treating his patients; he believes the best way of dealing with anger towards ones colleagues… he has them repeatedly 'kill' the target of their anger; or at least a dummy version of that person. His secretary secretly calls Steed to alert him that a man is in great danger; Steed and Tara rush off, upsetting Lord Teddy Chilcott who was hoping to spend the evening with Tara, but get there just too late. The man is dead and his killer, who is acting like he is in a dream, jumps from the window and dies. The Killer was the man undergoing treatment with Jaeger and the victim the man whose dummy he killed. The two were part of the five man board of Acme Precision Combine and it isn't long before Jaeger is treating another member of the board. Once again Steed gets a warning and this time they get there on time… however the likely victim is unconcerned and sends them away… only to be killed moments later. The killer doesn't die this time and while being treated he mentions Jaeger. Steed pays a visit to Jaeger and soon finds himself the next target after Jaeger treats Chilcott… the man he blames for his failure to get anywhere with Tara.

This is an impressive episode which plays things fairly straight without totally abandoning the series trademark humour. Peter Vaughan is suitably sinister as Jaeger; an unqualified doctor whose 'aggresso-therapy' is clearly not working as advertised! Edward Fox is also good as Chilcott; one can't help feeling a little sorry for the character as he clearly has no chance of a relationship with Tara when she has Steed in her life… even if her relationship with Steed is purely professional. The murders are more brutal than usual; with victims being stabbed to death… although as with most TV of the era there is not a drop of blood to be seen which of course means this isn't unsuitable for younger viewers. The story is interesting with a nice twist involving the motives of the woman who kept contacting Steed; at first it looks as if her motives are good but it later emerges that she just wanted an unimpeachable witness to the murders. There is plenty of action; Linda Thorson is shaping up nicely as Tara and handles the action scenes particularly well. These action scenes include some of the episodes more amusing moments as she accidentally throws Chilcott when she mistakes him for an attacker. After a succession of episodes which ended with Tara being rescued it made a nice change to have her rushing to Steed's aid at the end.

At one time or another, haven't we all hated someone so much we've felt like killing them? It could be your boss, your G.P., your bank manager, your spouse, anyone. The villain in this Philip Levene-penned ( one of the last he was to write ) 'Avengers' story is 'Dr.A.Jaeger' ( Peter Vaughan' ), an 'aggresso-therapist' who encourages clients to live out their dreams of committing murder, usually involving repeatedly stabbing a dummy made up to look like their intended victims.

Frank Tobias ( Derek Godfrey ) is one such client, who longs to savage to death his boss, Aloysius Peregrine ( Hugh Moxey ) of the 'Acme Precision Combine'. Steed receives a call from 'Nurse Janet Owen' ( Susan Travers, later to play 'Arlette' in the first two seasons of I.T.V.'s 'Van Der Valk'; ) tipping him off about Peregrine's impending demise. When he and Tara show up at the wealthy man's flat, they find Tobias in the act of killing him. Jaeger's treatment has programmed the hapless Tobias into becoming an instrument of destruction. Panicking, Tobias runs - and falls out of the window. Steed is lined up for future treatment - he has a rival for Tara in the shape of 'Lord Teddy Chilcott' ( Edward Fox )...

Robert Fuest's stylish direction is matched perfectly by Robert Jones' sets, which must rank among the very best he did for the series. There is a room which has the word 'Observation' written in big letters across one wall, and Jaeger's surgery is awesome. The fight scene with Tara early on is eye popping. Also in the cast are Philip Madoc ( 'Slater' ) and John Savident ( 'Henry Winthrop ).

Due to the number of on screen stabbings, this was given a later time slot. It really is a tour de force, and makes one all the sadder that Levene died before he could contribute to 'The New Avengers'.

A man undergoing psycho-therapy is urged to MURDER someone who is holding him back at work. It's all "fantasy" acted out in the doctor's office. But soon, we see the man do it FOR REAL. Just before the murder happens, the doctor's nurse anonymously calls Steed to warn him-- but, too late. And the killer falls out a window to his death. Before long, it happens again. This time, Steed & Tara arrive before the murder, warn the intended victim, but as they're leaving, they see the killer arrive, and are AGAIN too late! But this time, the killer is still alive, and a ministry doctor is working hard to get the man out of whatever kind of drug-induced trance he's in.

Now... several times, I've seen writer Dennis Spooner do stories for this show where there is NO mystery, because by the time the story title appears onscreen, the audience already knows exactly what's going on, and have to sit through the heroes looking stupid as they try to figure it out. That's just what this LOOKS like. But, here, writer Philip Levine is trickier than that. I was wondering, WHY is the nurse calling Steed? Is she aware something bad is going on and wants to stop it? But if so, why do it anonymously, and, wait until the last second to warn him?

Then comes the shocking scene where Steed locates "Dr. Jaeger", who gleefully explains to Steed EXACTLY what he's doing, but stresses the 2 men he "helped" eliminate their stress came to him "too late", and he was distressed when he learned they actually went out and committed the murders for real. Steed leaves his office, and, like the audience, must be wondering, does this man have more nerve than anyone could believe-- or-- can he be telling the truth?

The fact that this story starts out appearing to have NO mystery about it, but in the 2nd half turns out to BE a mystery regarding who the actual villain of the piece is, sets it above several other similarly-structured stories. Assuming the 2015 Region 2 Blu-Ray set is mostly in PRODUCTION order, I'd have to rate this as the BEST Tara King story so far! How strange that when this was run in America, it was broadcast NEXT-TO-LAST, apparently, because of the violent nature of the murders (people being stabbed repeatedly with very large daggers). Censorship was ramping up in America in the late 60s, first going after Saturday morning kiddie shows (turning the 70s into a wasteland) and then going even further with Prime Time in the late 70s.

I can tell this is one of the "early" Tara episodes, because she's still wearing black wigs and driving that gorgeous maroon AC 428 convertible. Steed has now moved onto his huge white Rolls Royce (his previous green car finally having broken down once and for all), but "Mother" has yet to resurface as a regular.

Peter Vaughan is "Dr. Jaeger", a character who is so obviously sinister, it's quite jarring when you suddenly begin wondering, IS he really a bad guy-- OR NOT? I've seen him in so many things, including THE SAINT, RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED), MADIGAN: The Lisbon Beat, THE PROTECTORS, TIME BANDITS, BRAZIL, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE and most memorably, SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Boscombe Valley Mystery (with Jeremy Brett). It's no wonder his face was so familiar, I'm just surprised he was never on DOCTOR WHO.

Philip Madoc (DOCTOR WHO: The Brain Of Morbius) is "Slater", one of the people brainwashed by Jaeger, while Edward Fox (THE BIG SLEEP, FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE, THE MIRROR CRACK'D) is Freddy, a would-be suitor of Tara who's just too stupid to take "no" for an answer. (Given his situation, I wonder if his first name was inspired by Jeremy Brett's character in MY FAIR LADY?)

One of my favorite moments is when Tara is attacked in her apartment, and not for the first time, we see her flip someone over her shoulder, only this time, when his body slams into a wall, a SWORD that was hanging on it is knocked loose, falls, and impales the would-be killer, KILLING him. And some people say this episode wasn't funny!

The idea of people acting out their aggressive fantasies in safety was later reused by Jack Kirby in an issue of the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY comic-book (1977), as well as in the Sean Connery film WRONG IS RIGHT (1982).