User Reviews

When birds start dying in the countryside, Steed and Mrs Peel discover a banned chemical called Silent Dust may be behind it.

Silent Dust is an average episode. As always, there's plenty of recognizable actors in the cast. The plot makes absolutely no sense, and Steed seems to make a miraculous recovery after being shot. Overall, it's entertaining enough.

One of the five black and white episodes that never aired in the US, "Silent Dust" begins very well, as happy chirping birds expire with great rapidity near a fearsome scarecrow (which is never seen again). The title refers to a new brand of fertilizer which does the opposite of what was intended, killing all earthworms, birds, and even plant life. Its creator has now died, but not before his notorious secret was stolen by a licensed cropduster, Peter Omrod (William Franklyn, later seen in "Killer"), who plots to use it for blackmailing purposes. His henchmen are a particularly nasty bunch, who think nothing of shooting intruders on sight, resulting in a wounded arm for an inquisitive Steed. Jack Watson, later seen in "The Living Dead," plays the sadistic Juggins, who delights in slitting throats (and gets to whip Mrs. Peel), Conrad Phillips plays the rifle-toting gamekeeper Oliver Mellors, Hilary Wontner, later seen in "The Winged Avenger," plays the Minister who introduces Steed to the effects of Silent Dust, and Charles Lloyd Pack, later seen in "You'll Catch Your Death," plays the scientist who worked with its creator. Isobel Black, lovely star of Hammer's "The Kiss of the Vampire" (1962) and "Twins of Evil" (1971), is sadly underused in a nothing part as the daughter of Silent Dust's creator, but Aubrey Morris is well served as a bird watcher who comes to a bad end. For such a deadly serious operation, the climax, a fox hunt on horseback, is almost entirely played for humor, a mistake. Surely such despicable characters deserved a more fitting finale, but there is the novelty of catching Steed astride a noble steed, and Emma, a fox among the drooling hounds. There is one dream sequence showing Diana Rigg in Western garb (1973's "Theater of Blood" still seven years away) that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the episode, but she's very funny, as always (removing a bullet the size of a golf ball from an injured Steed). We also get a gratuitous scene where Emma is posing for a bust wearing nothing but a sheet exposing her bare shoulders (apparently, Rigg watching was becoming a favorite pastime in Britain!).

Silent Dust is being used by a group of four criminals, who's plan is to hold the country to ransom.

A decent episode I thought, the beginning was excellent, and rather shocking, birds dropping out of the sky, what a chilling thought. The ending threw up several exciting moments.

Maybe the actual storyline wasn't a favourite, but the production and acting are so good, that it seems not to matter. What is good, however is the performance of Diana Rigg, who is very much the central focus here, and she's terrific.

Norman Bird, fine actor, but it's hard to disassociate him with comedy, that scene where he attacked Steed, was too funny.

Jack Watson was particularly good as thug Juggins, his whip cracking scene with Mrs Peel was perhaps the highlight.

Not a favourite, but I still enjoyed it, 7/10.

All the birds start dying in a remote part of Cornwall, and Steed is sent to investigate as the ministry suspects a link to a failed fertiliser. They find a link between the daughter of the fertiliser inventor and a local squire, Omrod, who has stockpiled the deadly chemical and plans to hold the country to ransom, destroying county after county until his demands are met.

A birdwatcher, martinets dropping dead, hunting and Steed and Mrs Peel traipsing around, getting to the bottom of things. Loved the countryside setting, some of the villains led William Franklyn are amusing and there's a hunting scene with Peel at the end of it. However, the second half is more lively than the first half.