This is probably one of the better Avengers episodes. British officers involved in military intelligence disappear for a few days, then their contacts are assassinated. The officers involved turn up, but refuse to explain their disappearance. Steed and King investigate the suspicious disappearances but run into a dead end. Then Ms. King is ordered by Colonel Mannering (Christopher Lee) of Inter-Departmental Security to attend a Test of Human Endurance course to test her resolve under interrogation to check whether she is a security risk. The facility, Centre #53, is a remodeled British manor house. The subjects are "checked in" to their cells, where they are relentlessly tortured by uniformed British enlisted men assisted by orientals in Communist Bloc uniforms. After the sessions, however, they are free to have a few drinks in the facility pub, engage in sports, or play a few hands at cards...with the knowledge that they could be whisked away at any moment to their cell. The irony is that the IDS uses the very nature of the British officers to capture and break them. They obey orders without question, trust their superiors and the authorities, and have a naive bravado and sense of fair play. The question becomes who does IDS really work for? And should The Avengers stop them? The paranoid tone of the episode makes it seem more like a Danger Man / Secret Agent episode by Markstein. It also has a surprisingly realistic view of torture techniques for such a fantasy show. The highlight, though, is Christopher Lee as the quintessential British officer.
Review of The Interrogators
