User Reviews

As this episode opens we see a man walking down a corridor; he hears footsteps behind him but when he turns there is nobody there. This continues as he enters his office; he is knocked unconscious. Steed and Mrs Peel investigate and learn that documents have been stolen; these relate to an invention of one Prof Ernest Quilby; a crackpot who is always sending crazy inventions to the Ministry. The files relate to a formula that he claims can make a person invisible; it sounds crazy but perhaps it actually works. He says that he sold the formula to a pharmaceutical company which is a known enemy front. Steed goes to pay a visit to his 'friend' Ambassador Brodny who is desperate to hide the fact that an invisible agent is in the room with them!

This was a rather enjoyable episode with a twist in the tail. It is of course ridiculous and contains plenty of apparent plot holes… we see that the 'invisible man' wears visible clothes so is presumable meant to be naked when we can't see him at all but still we hear his noisy shoes. Strangely when we learn the truth this suddenly makes sense though… although it does raise other questions. Whether you enjoy this episode will be largely down to how much you enjoy the guest performances of Roy Kinnear, as Quilby, and Warren Mitchell, returning as Ambassador Brodny; both characters I found entertaining, in particular Mitchell, it is a pity Brodny only appeared in a couple of episodes.

When government secrets are stolen from the Ministry of Defense, Steed and Mrs Peel think it may be the work of an invisible man.

This was my favorite episode of this season so far. Warren Mitchell reprises his role as Ambassador Brodny, while Roy Kinnear is fun as an inventor. There's an unusual amount of location filming as well.

After the previous episode where Peter Bowles' time machine was revealed to be fake, it's pretty easy to guess the plot twist. It's still a good episode.

I've always loved to watch Steed and Mrs. Peel. I like them best together, they have such a wonderful rapport. But so often, as the old saying goes (and as with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in the contemporary US series "The Wild Wild West", they largely work together apart).

This time they're up against that old saw, the Invisible Man. Read H. G. Wells. They have a tacked on explanation for how the character became invisible, but ignore it. Just ignore it and enjoy the show for what it is. It's one of those "brain in neutral" shows you can enjoy without thinking.

Two good things: Moira Lister and Roy Kinnear. Roy's an old friend from lots of movies (including, unfortunately, Richard Lester's "Musketeer" franchise--the best "Musketeer" movies ever made, but they went a "Musketeer" too far and he was accidentally killed making "Return of the Musketeers." Moira Lister was nothing but a voice to me for a long time as I started listening to "Hancock's Half Hour" online at the BBC radio site. It's good to make that connection.

The bad: Not being English I know Warren Mitchell only from "The Avengers," "Danger Man (Secret Agent)," and other old English shows that traveled well. I've always found his performances annoying and too often over the top. Perhaps it's a cultural thing (they say England and the US are two countries separated by a single language) but I don't get him. His presence always makes me reluctant to revisit this episode (and the other "Avengers" episode he's in) but I drop in occasionally. Luckily this is not one of the top tier episodes. But I do enjoy the silly ones more, and this one's pretty silly.