"Dance with Death" | |
---|---|
The Avengers episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 12 |
Directed by | Don Leaver |
Written by | Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward |
Featured music | John Dankworth (theme) |
Production code | 3376 [1] |
Original air date | 15 April 1961 |
Guest appearances | |
"Dance with Death" is the twelfth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers , starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee and guest starring Caroline Blakiston, Angela Douglas and Geoffrey Palmer. It was first broadcast by ABC on 15 April 1961. The episode is considered to be lost. The episode was directed by Don Leaver, designed by James Goddard, and written by Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward. [2]
Dr. Keel saves a dancing instructor from dying from gas asphyxiation. The woman is later discovered strangled with Keel's scarf and he is framed for the murder. Steed suspects the pianist at the woman's dancing school who is accused of numerous murders to be responsible. The killer's trademark is to kill his victims by tossing a radio into the bathtub and electrocuting them. Keel is vindicated by Steed and arrives in the nick of time to stop the killer who has married a young woman and is about to murder her and steal her large cache of diamonds.
Production for the episode was completed on 13 April 1961. [3]
On 11 April 1961 ABC (Iris Productions) producer and director Dennis Vance - who had directed the previous Avengers episode "Please Don't Feed the Animals" - stabbed his colleague Janice Willett in the shoulder during filming for the episode at ABC's Teddington Studios. [4] Vance, who had experienced a mental breakdown the previous year, was charged with grievous bodily harm later the same day after giving himself up to police. [5] At his subsequent trial, held at the Old Bailey on 27 April, Vance was found guilty due to diminished responsibility and sentenced to three years' probation. He was ordered to spend twelve months of this sentence as a patient at London's St Luke's Hospital. [6]
Daniel Patrick Macnee was a British-American actor, best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series The Avengers (1961–1969). Starting out as the assistant to David Keel, he became the lead when Hendry left after the first series, and was subsequently partnered with a succession of female assistants. He later reprised the role in The New Avengers (1976–1977).
The Avengers is a British espionage television series that aired from 7 January 1961 to 21 April 1969. It initially focused on David Keel, aided by John Steed. Ian Hendry left after the first series; Steed then became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish, and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, and Tara King. Dresses and suits for the series were made by Pierre Cardin.
Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed usually known as John Steed, is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the 1960s British spy series The Avengers and its 1970s sequel The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee in both; by Donald Monat in the South-African radio series adaptation of The Avengers; by Ralph Fiennes in the 1998 film of the same name and by Julian Wadham in various audio adventures from Big Finish Productions.
Ian Mackendrick Hendry was an English actor. He worked on several British TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, including the lead in the first series of The Avengers and The Lotus Eaters, and played roles in the films The Hill (1965), Repulsion (1965), Get Carter (1971), and Theatre of Blood (1973).
"Hot Snow" is the debut episode of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee. It originally aired on ABC on 7 January 1961. Only about 15 minutes, the first of three acts, remain. The episode was directed by Don Leaver and generally acknowledged to have been written by Ray Rigby, but Brian Clemens claimed to have written it.
"The Frighteners" is the fifteenth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee. It was directed by Peter Hammond, designed by Robert Fuest, written by Berkely Mather and first broadcast by ABC on 27 May 1961.
"Crescent Moon" is the fifth episode of the first series of the 1960s British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner, and guest starring Patience Collier, Roger Delgado, Harold Kasket, and Bandana Das Gupta. It was performed and aired live on ABC on 4 February 1961, and is one of many Season 1 episodes that as of 2012 is considered lost. The episode was directed by John Knight, and written by Geoffrey Bellman and John Whitney.
"Immortal Clay" is the sixteenth episode of the second series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast in the Teledu Cymru region of the ITV network on Friday 11 January 1963. ABC Weekend TV, who produced the show for ITV, broadcast it the next day in its own regions. The episode was directed by Richmond Harding and written by James Mitchell.
"Intercrime" is the fifteenth episode of the second series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 6 January 1963. The episode was directed by Jonathan Alwyn and written by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke.
"Mission to Montreal" is the fifth episode of the second series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee. It was first broadcast by ABC on 27 October 1962. The episode was directed by Don Leaver and written by Lester Powell.
"Propellant 23" is the second episode of the second series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 6 October 1962. The episode was directed by Jonathan Alwyn and written by Jon Manchip White.
"Man with Two Shadows" is the third episode of the third series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 12 October 1963. The episode was directed by Don Leaver and written by James Mitchell.
"Death of a Batman" is the fifth episode of the third series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 26 October 1963. The episode was directed by Kim Mills and written by Roger Marshall.
"The Grandeur That Was Rome" is the tenth episode of the third series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 30 November 1963. The episode was directed by Kim Mills and written by Rex Edwards.
"Esprit de Corps" is the twenty-fifth episode of the third series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman. It was first broadcast by ABC on 14 March 1964. The episode was directed by Don Leaver and written by Eric Paice.
"Girl on the Trapeze" is the sixth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Ingrid Hafner, and guest starring Mia Karam, Howard Goorney, and Kenneth J. Warren. It was performed and aired live on ABC on 11 February 1961, and is one of only three series 1 episodes which are currently known to exist, complete. The episode was directed by Don Leaver, and written by Dennis Spooner.
"The Gravediggers" is the second episode of the fourth series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. It was first broadcast by Scottish Television on Tuesday 5 October 1965. ABC Weekend Television, who commissioned the show, broadcast it in its own regions four days later on Saturday 9 October. The episode was directed by Quentin Lawrence, and written by Malcolm Hulke.
"Escape in Time" is the third episode of the fifth series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, and guest starring Peter Bowles, Geoffrey Bayldon, Judy Parfitt, and Imogen Hassall. It was first broadcast in the Southern region of the ITV network on Monday 23 January 1967. ABC Weekend Television, who commissioned the show for ITV, broadcast it in its own regions five days later on Saturday 28 January. The episode was directed by John Krish, and written by Philip Levene.
"Tunnel of Fear" is the 20th episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner, and guest starring John Salew, Anthony Bate and Miranda Connell. It was recorded on 405-line monochrome videotape on 3 August 1961 and was first broadcast by ABC on 5 August 1961. It is one of the three known complete series 1 episodes to have survived being purged from the ABC archives and was rediscovered in 2016 when it was found in a private collection. The episode was directed by Guy Verney and written by John Kruse.