The Avengers The Big Thinker (1961–1969) Online

"The Big Thinker" is a pleasant surprise, balancing a surplus of subplots centering on the attempted sabotage of a new super computer named 'Plato' (not to be confused with 'George Oblique Stroke XR40'). Anthony Booth plays Dr. James Kearns, the young genius looking after Plato, whose passion for poker gets him into trouble with Cathy Gale, posing as an anthropologist needing Plato's aid in studying dead languages. Working alone while Steed is supposedly off to the Middle East, Cathy keeps close to Dr. Kearns, as other members of the team fall victim to the unknown saboteur. The computer is not portrayed as a threatening presence, but does reveal the guilty party, whose final act results in his own electrocution (in effect, succeeding at the cost of his life). There is a welcome hint of jealousy as Steed discusses Kearns with Cathy, and a wonderful sequence where Cathy foils an attempt to cheat her out of 500 pounds by revealing how the villain shaved the card deck (Honor Blackman has a field day throughout). Steed inexplicably has a new dog named Sheba, which appeared in a total of five episodes (Freckles the Dalmatian was out after just two entries). Series veterans include David Garth ("How to Succeed....at Murder" and "Wish You Were Here"), Tenniel Evans ("Please Don't Feed the Animals," "The Golden Fleece," and "All Done with Mirrors"), Allan McClelland ("Build a Better Mousetrap"), and Ray Browne, previously seen as a murder victim in "The Sell-Out."

This episode sees Cathy Gale investigating people working on a computer system known as Plato. Something is clearly going on there; one of the team is found dead after an 'accident' with the computer's coolant system. She isn't there long before Dr Kearns, a young, rather brash scientist is inviting her to a poker night… he boasts that he can't lose but after his drink is spiked he loses rather heavily. Others present were clearly hoping to find a means of pressuring him but are somewhat disappointed when Cathy, with a little help from Steed, pays the debt. Not long afterwards the director of the facility tries to fire Kearns because of his rude behaviour and then it isn't long before he too is dead. Before the episode is over Cathy will be in real danger a few more times.

This is an enjoyable instalment even though Steed only has a fairly minimal role… mostly involving a running gag about missing his flights to the Middle East. This means Honor Blackman gets to take centre stage as Cathy Gale; a role she does a fine job in. She is ably supported by Anthony Booth who did an impressive job as Kearns, a less than charming character. There is a good sense of threat and a couple of inventive deaths. The depiction of supercomputer Plato was good although obviously a bit dated by today's standards! Overall another good episode that has a plenty of tension and suspects as well as a degree of humour.

Dr. Catherine Gale uses her credentials and contacts to go undercover at a research facility that's developing a supercomputer named Plato - a device that the British Government is hoping to use for its missile defense system. But her first day there, Cathy discovers that one of the scientists has been killed, and that there is a lot of intrigue over the project manager: the young, cocky and very foolish Dr. James Kearns (Anthony Booth).

Dr. Kearns is called the "boy wonder" by his colleagues, but a better nick-name might be "the boy menace". He hangs around with shady characters who try to compromise him. In fact, whatever James can do to endanger an already fragile project, he will do. He believes his mathematical abilities will see him through whatever troubles he manufactures. Dr. Gale splits her time between trying to keep Dr. Kearns out of trouble of his own making, and discovering who is trying to kill the Plato scientists.

This in media res episode is pretty much dominated by Dr. Cathy Gale. She fends off advances from Dr. Kearns and a crooked operator, named Broster (Allan McClelland); she knocks out henchmen, and she pretty much solves the mystery. Steed does appear between "flights" from the Middle East, but even Broster has more screen time.

It's a good Martin Woodhouse teleplay. Classify it as more science fiction than spy-fi. He does a great job in detailing the make-up of Plato, and provides top supporting characters. Dr. Kearns character is one of the best in the series, and the characters of Janet, Clarissa and Broster also have some meaty lines and scenes. Even the throwaway Dr. Farrow has an interesting background.

Kim Mills directs this piece, and she seems to have a very big budget on this one. Not only does she have the Plato set (Kudos to Jim Goddard, the Production Designer), but there seems to be a film camera involved in several shots. The tones and grayscale involved, as well as the depth of field and some rack shots show that although this might have been edited on tape, it was more than likely shot with a film camera. If it was shot on studio video cameras that were available at the time, then let me tip my hat - she did a much better job than anyone else could have done. (I tried tracking down who was the cameraman for this show - that would have instantly revealed if it was a video shoot or film shoot. But for some strange reason, no credit was given to the cameraman.) If there is a film camera involved in this, it was shot in the one camera style.

Another sign of the big budget is the wardrobe worn by Cathy Gale. I don't know if she was wearing runway clothing to appeal to Dr. Kearns (more than likely she was wearing them to attract a male audience), but she goes through maybe ten outfit changes and they are all very pricey. It was some pretty big tags for an anthropologist.

What detracts from the episode? The pacing is off - but that could be due to the production experimenting with a new camera. Also, for everything they put in the set of Plato, they really seemed to skimp in Cathy's apartment. (How did those expensive clothes end up in a dive like that?)