The Avengers How to Succeed ....At Murder (1961–1969) Online

This episode sees Steed and Mrs Peel investigating a series of murders involving business leaders. There is no obvious motive but in each case their secretary has had to take over from than due to a complicated filing system. Their only clue is the perfume smelt at the scene of one man's death, a sample of which was saved in a car tyre pump. Mrs Peels takes the sample to perfume maker J.J. Hooter who identifies the exclusive scent and promises to tell Mrs Peel who bought it… unfortunately for him he is killed before he can do so. Mrs Peel gets a job as a secretary for one of the newly promoted women and follows her after work; she goes to the same exercise class as the other promoted women. She joins the class and learns the shocking truth about the secretaries and the 'woman' who is leading them. While this has been going on Steed has employed a secretary of his own and in doing so has put his life in danger.

This was an enjoyable episode with two shocking revelations; first when we see who is giving the orders to the women then when we learn who is pulling their stings. One of the charms of the episode, if you'll forgive the pun, was the secretaries charm bracelets which incorporated a miniature radio, poison and even a tiny working gun amongst other things. There is a strong feminist message as the secretaries are shown to be just as capable as their late male bosses although I'm not sure feminists would approve of being shown as killers! Given the gender balance of the main guest actors it is a little surprising that the most memorable characters were male; namely Mr Hooter and the hen-pecked Henry Throgbottom; all the guest actors were pretty good though.

"How to Succeed....at Murder" is a real gem, with an odd series of deaths of corporate employers linked only by the fact that each man's secretary was promoted to replace them. One such death features a sweet scented aroma captured by a handy tire pump, which leads to one of the series' funniest characters. Christopher Benjamin (later seen in "Never, Never Say Die" and "Split!") portrays J. J. Hooter, a perfume manufacturer whose sensitive nostrils require him to wear a bandage over his famed proboscis. He introduces himself to Mrs. Peel: "I smell a great deal!" plus "I have smelled all over the world!" Kneeling in front of her, he takes one whiff of the scent, stands before her and cries out, "leap into my fervid arms!" (of course, that is the name of the perfume, one of his own creations). The murders are being committed by angry liberated women tired of being subjugated to men, who are granted their assignments through an exercise class run by Henry Throgbottom (Artro Morris, previously seen in "A Conspiracy of Silence"), on behalf of his wife Henrietta (voiced by Yolande Turner, from "The Girl from Auntie" and "The 50,000 Breakfast"). Angela Browne, last seen in "Intercrime," and Sarah Lawson (Mrs. Patrick Allen) head up the female cast, with various victims played by Jerome Willis ("Intercrime" and "The Rotters"), David Garth ("The Big Thinker" and "Wish You Were Here"), and Kevin Brennan ("Double Danger").

There is actually nothing exceptional in this episode, except the ending when the villain is revealed and the empathy that the audience can feel for him. After all, he had his reasons to do this. That changes from all other stories of lunatics of all kinds or even spies. I thought this villain would kill people for the count of a criminal organization; but not at all. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS And the fact that this so "sympathetic" villain is killed by Steed simply by a gun shot, that's very unusual too. So far I don't remember Steed killing a villain with a gun. But I have not seen the first seasons with Honor Blackman.