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In "What the Butler Saw," one of two black-and-white episodes from the fourth season of The Avengers, someone is leaking defense secrets to "the other side."While gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee) goes undercover as a butler to locate the culprit, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) launches "Operation Fascination" to attract the attention of the womanizing prime suspect, Captain Miles. About to meet him for drinks, she is memorably advised by Steed, "Don't do anything I would do." Two notable bits: for security purposes, three defense officials zip themselves up in a ridiculous giant plastic body bag that anticipates Get Smart's Cone of Silence; and Emma flees from a pursuer through a succession of doors used to train butlers, a scene echoed in Sam Raimi's Crimewave. "The House That Jack Built" is one of Rigg's finest hours, and a rare chance to see the usually nonplussed Mrs. Peel totally plussed. She is in for "the fright of [her] life" when she is held prisoner in a house rigged by a vengeful techno-obsessed madman bent on driving her insane. Rooms that move and labyrinthian mazes are mere prologue to "the exhibition dedicated to the late Emma Peel." This volume is also available in The Avengers '66, Set 2. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Emma Inherits A Haunted House - Steed Butlers One
This is a very odd pair of episodes, "What the Butler Saw" being essentially a very British comedy and "The House That Jack Built" an intense sci-fi melodrama.

"Butler" is a deliberately more comedic re-telling of an earlier Honor Blackman story, in which very faithful military men appear to be leaking important state secrets. To get to the bottom of it, Emma becomes the seducer of a ladies' man, and Steed first impersonates top-ranking members of each armed service and then turns to butlering to keep a close eye on the suspects. The humor is English farce, not so amusing to American audiences. Probably the funniest thing in the episode is Steed's variety of facial hair disguises while cozying up to the Army, Navy, and Air Force officers. There's also a fairly amusing chase in the finale, with Emma pursued through a series of opening and shutting doors, one after another, all in a straight line and only a few feet apart from each other.

"House" is the better piece of the two, an often genuinely creepy and very atmospheric haunted house story of another color. A nonexistent dead uncle bequeathes Emma his house in the country - which turns out to be an eerie automated prison, designed to become her tomb by a madman with a grudge. Two things especially stand out in this one: the surrealistic sets of the mechanized haunted house, which are really unsettling, and Diana Rigg's virtual one-woman performance as the mouse caught in the trap.

Can you take me now for a quick scrape and a hot towel ..?
Somebody is selling top British defense secrets to the enemy. The talented British agent Steed contacts the double-agent barber. They whisper, but not quiet enough. The barber is killed. The list of potential traitors includes three high ranking officers. They have weaknesses: drunkeness (leading to headaches), gambling (to the extent of neglecting official duties), and womanizing. They also have butlers. Steed decides to join a butling (gentlemen's) school. The action becomes more heated with Mrs. Peel joining the force as an officer's girlfriend. At the end Steed and Mrs. Peel are saved by a retired, senile, patriotic, but not really demented general.

Best episode of the avengers
this is one of my favorite avengers episodes ever. I have seen almost all of them and out of them all this one is one of the most suspensful ones. I have liked this one since i was 9 years old. This movie...[is good] if u have to pick one take this one.

House that jack built holds up better 33 years later.
I viewed the house that Jack built over 30 years ago. The commericals destroyed the unity and made it seem less interesting. On video the suspense builds and the menace of odd camera angles,and rooms that appear to move, make it sinister and fresh. What is appealing is the that the heroine, using her brain and skills, rescues herself ! ... Read more

Description

Part lawyer, part detective, Horace Rumpole is one of the most colorful characters ever to approach the bench.With his brilliant mind and sly sense of humor, Rumpole's adventures behind the scenes and center stage in the British legal system are a delightful mix of comedy, mystery, and courtroom drama.Justice has never been served with such style and wit. ... Read more