User Reviews

Steed and Tara are called in to investigate a series of rather strange murders. The victims are forced to play a game related to their fields of expertise; a game where to lose is to die. Each victim has several jigsaw pieces left with them; pieces that all come from the same puzzle. There is another clue; Steed knows the dead men from his time in the army; they were all part of a six man jury at courts martial during the war. Steed and Tara rush to try to stop the killer but he manages to get five of the men on the list before his attentions turn to number six; Major John Steed. The villain has something different planned for Steed; if he doesn't succeed in his game time will be up for Tara who has been placed in a giant hour glass… or in her case a six-minute glass.

There are no break-ins at secret bases or plots to bring down governments; just a man seeking revenge… and what a delightful method he chooses. The games the victims play nicely mirror their professions; the soldier's game was particularly entertaining as was the way Steed and Tara found him… propped up in a Land Rover driving towards them! Even his wasn't as good as game Steed is forced to play… a series of convoluted tasks to be solved before Tara potentially drowns in sand… all on a set that is simultaneously a bit cheap yet impressively creative. The story is classic 'Avengers' with bizarre murders and a sense of danger. Peter Jeffrey does a good job as the villain; simultaneously a threatening yet slightly pathetic character… he is now a successful businessman but still feels a need to get revenge on those he believed wronged him many years before. There are a few weak moments; the snake that kills one victim looks so fake it would have been better if the death took place off screen and the scene where a jigsaw specialist solves a rather simple puzzle where the film is clearly sped up is just silly… still a couple of small quibbles that don't spoil an overall fun episode.

'Game' is generally regarded fondly by almost all Avengers fans, with a majority agreeing that it is one of the very best episodes ever made. It often finds its way onto top ten lists, and its easy to see why.

Its the classic Avengers formula - a group of men are being systematically killed, by similar means. In this case, the killer uses childhood games as his inspiration. Steed and Tara King must find the connection between the men being killed and track down the killer, with only a handful of jigsaw pieces as a clue. This episode benefits from an excellent script and a great cast - the wonderful Peter Jeffries appears as perhaps the ultimate Avengers villain, just a year or so after turning in a similarly evil performance in the Emma Peel episode 'Joker'.

The episode is not perfect, however. The killings and kidnappings are wonderfully handled and the dialogue sharply threatening, but some hideous interiors really date this as a television piece and the sped up jigsaw scene is just awful. It shouldn't detract from the episode however, which is one of the most well remembered episodes among non-fans.

9/10

I would like to respond to the unfair criticism of the scene where the manager of 'Jig Creations' ( Desmond Walter-Ellis ) completes a jigsaw in record time. It would not be the first time speeded up film was featuired in the show. The final scene of 'The Hour That Never Was' has Steed and Mrs.Peel chasing each other around an airfield runway Benny Hill-style. The jigsaw scene is amusing and very much in keeping with the stle of the series. Less forgivable however is the daft-looking snake which causes a zoologist to fall off a ladder. Still, 'Game' is a cracking episode, one of the gems of the Thorson series.

'The Forget Me Knot' saw 'Mrs.Emma Peel' ( Diana Rigg ) leave Steed's side for good, to be replaced by energetic newcomer 'Tara King' ( Linda Thorson ). 'Game' was the first proper chance to see the new girl in action, although not the first 'King' episode recorded. It is a cracking story, containing the elements which made 'The Avengers' so great. If you only see one Thorson, make it this!

Five men are abducted in turn by a manservant ( Garfield Morgan ) in the service of insane games manufacturer 'Monty Bristow' ( Peter Jeffrey ). To survive, each must play a game based on his profession. Racing driver 'Cooty Gibson' ( Brian Badcoe ) takes part in a Grand Prix type race using a mock-up car. Zoologist 'Clive Dexter' ( Geoffrey Russell ) plays Snakes & Ladders - and is bitten by the snake! Financier 'Henry J.Averman' ( Alex Scott ) plays a game based on the Stock Market. 'Brigadier Wishforth-Brown' ( Anthony Newlands ) is given an army of toy soldiers to command and told to win a table-top battle, and English professor 'Witney' ( Aubrey Richards ) must make a word out of scrambled letters before the roof of the metal box he is sitting in closes on him! The games are, of course, rigged so that no-one can really win. Each time a player dies, his corpse is dumped in a park, clutching jigsaw pieces. Eventually, Steed has enough to complete the puzzle - a picture of Bristow's home. 'Bristow' is really 'Sergeant Daniel Edmond', who was tried and convicted of black market activities in the war. The five dead men comprised his jury. Edmond escaped from prison, changed his name and now wants revenge. The sixth juror was Steed. To ensure that Steed gets the message, Bristow has Tara kidnapped...

Richard Harris' script conforms to the classic 'Avengers' style - a series of bizarre murders, a diabolical mastermind, an eccentric ( Desmond Walter-Ellis' 'Jig Creations manager' ), and, of course, lots of action. The finale in which Tara is trapped in an hour glass with sand pouring over her as Steed plays 'Super Secret Agent' is eye popping!

A couple of flaws here and there - the snake that kills Dexter is hopelessly unconvincing, and Steed's slapping Tara's bottom is the kind of sexist macho behaviour we expect more from Bond. Still, Tara's got a nice bottom so perhaps its understandable.

Directed with panache by the talented Robert Fuest, who later made the 'Dr.Phibes' horror movies starring Vincent Price.