User Reviews

As this episode opens a corporal in the Highland Guards is shot by a firing squad. His death is reported as an accident while cleaning his weapon… this is soon disproved as he had three bullets in him from three different rifles! Steed wants to find out what really happened and why so he goes undercover claiming to be writing a book on the regiment's history while Mrs Gale enlists in a civil defence programme; she has also been given a good Highland lineage to make her fit in with the regiment's officers. As they investigate they uncover a plot by Brigadier General Sir Ian Stuart-Bollinger who believes that his adopted son is a direct descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie and is planning a coup to put him on the throne.

This is a pretty decent episode with an enjoyably silly plot. Duncan Macrae's performance as the slightly bonkers Brig Stuart-Bollinger is a lot of fun; he plays the role dead straight which is just what he is required. John Thaw also impresses as Captain Trench, an obvious wrongun, however the stand out performance comes from Roy Kinnear as Private Jessop, a soldier who's willingness to take a bribe saves Steed more than once. On the down side things get a bit silly when Mrs Gale's forged lineage suggests that she also has a claim to the Scottish crown in the eyes of Stuart-Bollinger. Overall a solid episode.

A highland soldier accidentally dies while cleaning his rifle. But when Steed looks into it, he discovers the man was shot with bullets from 3 separate guns. While posing as a veteran writing a book, Steed has Cathy infiltrate by signing up for an unarmed combat course-- I really got a laugh when I saw her walk into that room, I just knew what was coming! As things develop, it seems a retired officer, doing research into his family's lineage, has discovered his adopted son is actually in line for the Scottish throne-- and so hatches a wild scheme to overthrow the government! This sort of thing never quite makes sense to me, whether it's neo-Nazis or misguided Army regiments, but it does make for interesting drama, if nothing else. As usual, the guest cast really makes the episode.

Duncan Macrae is "Brigadier General Sir Ian Stuart-Bollinger", the man behind the plot. I've seen him in a number of things, including WHISKEY GALORE (1949), CASINO ROYALE (1967), and THE PRISONER: "Dance Of The Dead". He passed away at the age of 61, though he looked much older than that here.

John Thaw is "Captain Trench", the easily-angered 2nd-in-command who repeatedly gets on the wrong side of Cathy (or is that the other way round?). I've seen him in DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN, THE PROTECTORS, and the Jeremy Brett version of "The Sign Of Four". But he's probably most known for THE SWEENEY and INSPECTOR MORSE!

And then there's one of my longtime favorites, comic actoir Roy Kinnear, as "Private Jessop", the likable everyman who proves to be Steed's unexpected ally on the basis of his having a slightly-loose interpretation of regimental honor (translation: he's BRIBABLE). I've seen him in HEAVENS ABOVE! (1963), A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (1966), TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1970), THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973) and its sequel, THE ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER (1975), THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE (1977), 4 episodes of THE AVENGERS and several other things I'd frankly rather not mention (hey, they can't all be classics). But the film I'll always remember him for the most, is HELP! (1965), where he plays "Algernon", the dim-witted assistant to the not-quite-sane scientist Professor Foot, about whom he has one of the best lines in the film: "He's out to rule the world-- if he can get a government grant."

The 2010 Region 2 Studio Canal DVD has excellent picture-- but rather dodgy sound, causing it to be a bit difficult to make out some of the dialogue. Oh, if only they could find a way to fix that!