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.
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.