User Reviews

Steed is due to escort a scientist on a trip to the United States but when he turns up at his house his wife tells Steed that he has retired and is no longer seeing anybody. The man is apparently now at the Adelphi Park retirement home; when Steed goes there he is informed that only relatives are allowed to visit. Steed and Cathy investigate and discover an ingenious plan; the widows of wealthy men are employing the services of 'The Undertakers' to avoid exorbitant death duties which would see the tax man take eighty percent of their late husbands' estates. If their husbands sign over their estates before they die and live a further five years their widows get every penny… if they don't last five years then The Undertakers arrange for an actor to take their place at Adelphi Park for the required time… and if the wife can't wait for her husband to die The Undertakers can solve that problem too.

This episode is a fine hint of things to come as the series starts to move from state backed espionage to somewhat eccentric schemes by an organisation to help or target a certain group of people. Given the high death duties it isn't too implausible to think that some people might try to find a way to avoid them even if the method shown here is far-fetched in a way we'd expect from The Avengers. The guest cast goes a solid job; particularly Lally Bowers as the slightly batty Mrs. Renter; Lee Patterson, who plays an unpleasant American and Mandy Miller who plays the daughter of one of the men who are meant to be in Adelphi Park. As well as a fun main story there are some enjoyable exchanges between Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman as Steed and Cathy; the opening where Cathy ignores Steed and cleans an L1A1 rifle while he talks about going to New York and for once he is the one getting irritated. Overall another good episode.

Steed has the cushy job of escorting a top scientist who's just made a major breakthrough on a voyage to New York, and bids Cathy Gale a fond farewell. It's clear he was trying to invite her along, but she preferred having him out of her hair for awhile. But the scientist's wife informs Steed that her husband has suddenly decided to enter into "meditation" at an exclusive country rest-home, Adelphi Park, at which no one, apart from relatives, are ever allowed to visit. Thus begins a very twisted tale involving deception, doubles, marital infidelity, tax fraud on a massive scale, and a quaint funeral parlor whose specialty is MURDER!

As a series, THE AVENGERS continued to slowly evolve from beginning to end, and this episode marks another step in that. Apart from being shot on video, it looks and feels very much like a 4th-season episode with Mrs. Peel. You've got a mystery that slowly unfolds as the story progresses, some interesting locations, an unusual premise, and some very eccentric characters, especially the scientist's wife and the greedy funeral director.

While shot 61st in production order, it was moved up to 54th in broadcast order. As a result, this became the first time we saw Steed wearing a pin-stripe suit, making him more "Edwardian" than ever. The action climax, shot entirely outdoors on film, and the epilogue with Steed & Cathy drinking champagne, makes this feel almost more like a 4th season episode than a 3rd!

At its core, "THE UNDERTAKERS" is Malcolm Hulke's BRILLIANT satire (or vicious attack, take your pick) as the insanity of the British tax system. 15 years before Robert Holmes took aim at it in the DOCTOR WHO story "THE SUN MAKERS", Hulke points out how the Inland Revenue will take 80% of a millionaire's money when he dies-- UNLESS of course they give it away as a gift, but only if this is done at least 5 years before they die.

As Batman's nemesis The Joker once said, "And you SEE why I am FORCED to crime!" Frankly, if not for the various murders committed in order to keep the scheme a secret, I'd almost be on the side of the CROOKS in this one! The clue to the mystery first crops up when the scientist's wife tells Steed, "What with death duties, being rich hardly seems worth the trouble." It's well-known that many of England's richest have fled the country, in order to avoid high-income tax brackets. My attitude toward this has changed quite a bit in the last 12 years... In America, at least, "graduated scale" taxes are actually TOO LOW, and with "loopholes", those in the higher percentages tend to often pay NEARLY-NOTHING. A very real problem is when "the rich" are allowed to amass so much money that they actually destabilize governments & societies in general. I wonder what Malcolm Hulke would think of things as they are TODAY?

Pretty deep thinking for "light entertainment", HMM???

The 2010 Studio Canal Region 2 DVD has clear picture, but VERY fuzzy sound, making it difficult for me to hear a lot of the dialogue. I'm also beginning to wonder if some of these episodes may actually be running FAST when watched on a US player?