Box Populi Serious Spying And Spoof

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31091, 21 June 1966, Page 10

Box Populi Serious Spying And Spoof

It is too early for “Danger Man” to affect the city’s water supply or hold up a taxi service. But the first episodes suggest that Mr MeGoohan can follow in the footsteps of “The Avengers” without apologies, and overcome the handicap of being Patrick and John, not Macnee and Steed. Comparisons are inevitable when we lose the most popular programme in New Zealand since “The Plane Makers,” and. are given in its place a secret agent who drives a Mini, is earnest and unsentimental, not cynical and sardonic, and does business without benefit of an Emma Peel. John Steed was a secret agent, and so is John Drake. They have the same profession; the worlds in which they practise it are entirely different. “Danger Man” has no rela-

tion to the fearless fantasies of “The Avengers.” It is concerned with situations which are tough, exciting, and realistic. Some viewers may mourn the replacement of style and elegance by efficiency and realism; there are stil) fisticuffs and excitement, and the tough, intelligent Drake can be forgiven for his detachment from the ladies.

The title, “Danger Man,” is not unfamiliar to New Zealand viewers. An earlier halfhour series was screened here several years ago. But viewers who still regret the departure of John Steed and Emma Peel, and may subconsciously resent their successor, should not compare the original “Danger Man” with the new version. The original was a rather too slick thriller—an undisguised potboiler which was acceptable when TV was still something wonderful. “Danger Man” today is entirely different. It has been

expanded into an hour, and it is excellently cast, admirably acted, and most skilfully produced. “The Avengers” was off-beat from the start; its successor follows a feasible and direct story line, judging from the first episodes, and its primary purpose is to thrill, not to amuse. Patrick McGoohan may lack the urbanity and wit of John Steed. He is still a first-class actor, and his orthodox lonehand agent, John Drake, seems a little closer to the secret agents of real life than the many imitators of the Old Master, J. Bond. Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg as “The Avengers” were inclined to overshadow everyone else in the programme. “Danger Man” is distinguished by the excellence of its supporting cast. We have seen Robert Urquhart from “The Plane Makers,” and Sylvia Syms; in future episodes we will see Adrienne Corri, Mervyn Johns, Virginia Maskell, Finlay Currie, and Bernard Bresslaw.

Some viewers may not like John Drake’s concentration on the task at hand, and regret that he has no female helpmate. But there is only one Emma Peel—at least New Zealand viewers have only seen one—and “Danger Man” does not need her. As a thriller it is in a class by itself, even after only two episodes. When the N.Z.B.C. chose “Get Smart” to precede “Danger Man,” I thought it was being most unfair to viewers. It seemed wrong to start the week with a programme debunking secret agents, and then give us the genuine article. But John Drake has nothing to fear from Maxwell Smart, otherwise Secret Agent 86, and the imitation Emma Peel, Secret Agent 99. “Get Smart” does its spoofing with a heavy hand. The comedy is laid on with a large trowel, and the gim-

micks are likely to become less amusing the longer they are used.

Spoofing the spy stories is a popular TV pastime but it has to be done skilfully. “Get Smart” does it too obviously and emphatically. And the makers have made one mistake. Mr Smart’s Spy Dog is K-13 in the secret agent hierarchy. He should have been K-9. —ARGUS.