[Avengers] "The Bird Who Knew Too Much". S05-E05

[Ubiquitous]

Directed by Roy Rossotti
based upon a story by Alan Pattillo

Steed fancies pigeons -
Emma gets the bird

Percy Danvers (Peter Brace) is pursued across some wasteland by
Robin (Clive Colin-Bowler). He slips on a towpath and drops his
pistol into the canal, whereupon Robin lets fly a volley of bullets
from his sub-machine gun. Danvers leaps a barbed wire fences and
races to a nearby fire warning tower to use the emergency phone.
While he's talking to Steed, Robin catches up and shoots him through
the floor and Danvers falls, spilling not blood, but bird seed.

Emma opens her living room curtains in the morning, only to have an
arrow shoot past her and slam, quivering, into the wall with a card
tied to the shaft reading "Mrs Peel We're Needed!". Steed appears at
the window and whisks her away to examine Danvers' corpse, and they
puzzle over the bird seed. That night, counter counter counter
espionage agent Frank Elrick slips a pigeon into the cage on the
back seat of an Austin parked at a building site, and takes a photo
of a missile base from the floor of the car. He's surprised by
Verret (Michael Coles) and makes his escape up some scaffolding,
pursued by Verret and Robin - who loosens some of the scaffold,
causing Elrick to plummet into a slab of recently-poured concrete.

Steed is at Emma's flat, meticulously checking seeds for hidden
transmitters or microdots when the pathological lab rings - they've
found Elrick's body at the construction site. He's chipped out of
the slab and Steed confirms it's Elrick and finds the aerial photo
of the Muswells Back base in Elrick's wallet. He's puzzled, as the
flying is prohibited near the base. He decides to visit Elrick's
partner, Mark Pearson who would know more about the case.
Pearson meanwhile is dressing for a date when a pigeon arrives in
his coop. It's not the one he's waiting for however, and moments
later he's shot by Verret, who spots Steed and Emma enter as he's
leaving. Pearson manages to gasp that the secrets are being
couriered by Captain Crusoe before dying while outside Verret
contacts his commander who tells him to kill Steed. Inside, Steed
rings headquarters to check the army and navy lists, and to have
Pearson's body removed while Emma goes to investigate Heathcliff
Hall, which she'd found mentioned in Person's papers. Steed finds a
musical triangle and some photos of a pretty blonde, who promptly
turns up and, after a brief tussle, introduces herself as Samantha
Slade (Ilona Rodgers), Mark's lunch date. Steed blusters about
Mark's absence and takes her to lunch himself.

At Heathcliff Hall, Emma finds herself in a room full of cages of
exotic birds where she is confronted by the acerbic Edgar Twitter
(John Wood) - she drops Captain Crusoe's name and Twitter offers to
introduce her, as the Captain is there. Sam and Steed are chatting
over lunch, but she clams up and leaves hurriedly when Steed
mentions Crusoe. At the Hall, Emma meets Twitter's assistant, George
Cunliffe (Anthony Valentine) and prepares to meet the captain, who
turns out to be "a king, an emperor among parrots" but the cage is
empty, much to their horror.
Steed escorts Sam to a studio where the photographer, Tom Savage
(Kenneth Cope) mistakes him for a model and presses him into mincing
for the camera. Steed subtly asks him about his darkroom gear, and
whether he does aerial photography, then prods Sam for more
information. Verret sneaks in and puts an impact grenade inside
Steed's brolly but our hero spots it when he leaves the studio and
hurls it to the ground while diving back inside. He emerges to find
the brolly obliterated and his bowler's crown torn.

Steed and Emma compare notes and realise the photo was taken from
bird height, so Steed waits at Pearson's flat, armed with caviar and
champagne (sound familiar?). Emma insinuates her way into Savage's
studio and Sam arrives with an important prop for her shoot -
Captain Crusoe! Robin and Verret meanwhile are near Muswells Back
with more pigeons - Robin notices that one flies West instead of
Northwest and they take off after it. The pigeon arrives at
Pearson's flat and Steed has just examined the miniature automatic
camera on its foot when Robin arrives and clobbers him.

Emma get a print of her with the parrot, but Twitter and Cunliffe
can't make a positive identification from a photo - Cunliffe notices
Savage's name on the print and she promises to get the bird. She
breaks in later but Verret and Robin ambush her in the darkroom and
tie her chloroformed body up. Steed regains consciousness and calls
her flat, and the three-hour old message about going to Savage's
studio send him hurrying to her aide. The villains need an alibi, so
they've tied Mrs Peel to a chair facing the door, attached to which
is a pistol which will be fired by the door opening. Fortunately,
Steed is devious and once again comes in the window. He takes her to
her flat and plies her with champagne to 'pick her up' for their
next effort - finding Captain Crusoe.

Emma returns to Heathcliff Hall and buttonholes Twitter about the
parrot's theft from the studio. Twitter reminds her that Cunliffe,
too, knew the bird was there, and Cunliffe chips in that Twitter had
told the bird's owner, Professor Jordan. Later, Verret gives Robin a
sniper rifle, telling him Mrs Peel has been causing trouble and he's
to kill her and Professor Jordan. In Jordan's house, Emma finds a
bird classroom, and sets the 'pupils' off when she backs into a
stand of triangles. The cacophony is silenced by Jordan striking the
triangles and he explains his training system of cueing the birds
with particular notes, while lamenting the loss of Captain Crusoe.
Crusoe could learn any phrase, and mimic the tone and intonation of
the person who taught it to him. Crusoe is cued with a top C, so
anyone can identify him with his triangle. They go to get the
triangle from Jordan's car and Robin opens fire on them. Jordan
keeps him busy with Emma's revolver while she sneak around behind
and overpowers him. Unfortunately, he can't tell her whose behind
the plot, but reveals that the bird is "back where he belongs".
Steed meanwhile interrogates Sam, who's turned up, claiming Mark
called her. Steed reveal that Mark is dead and she tells him that
she though Mark had stolen the parrot, which recited details about
the missile base deployments and technical details. "The parrot's
taking the information out!", Steed and Emma cry in unison as she
bursts in.

No human error, no papers, microphones or microdots - pigeons take
the pictures, which are described to the parrot. At Heathcliff Hall,
the Avengers find the parrot in the back room, and knock out Twitter
when he confronts them. Crusoe's triangle is struck in the struggle
and he starts talking - in Cunliffe's voice! Cunliffe appears with a
pistol and summons Verret to kill them, but the Avengers leap into
action, Emma fighting Verret and Steed taking on Cunliffe. The
villains dispatched, Captain Crusoe demands political asylum until
silenced by Emma striking the triangle.

Another arrow in Emma's wall from Steed at the window makes her wish
he'd get used to using the 'phone - "Ran out of small change", he
quips. He invites her to meet a bird - basted in red wine, but he
has to shoot it first. She dresses for open air motoring (a hideous
outfit!), but Steed can't get his veteran Vauxhall out of reverse
and they set off backwards...


--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.