Noted scientist 'Anna Maria Martes' ( Frances Cuka ) is visiting her home land, the island of San Dios, when she is informed by the 'Commandante' ( the late Ronald Radd ) that she will not be allowed to return to the United States. Though divorced from her no-good husband 'Angel' ( the late Philip Madoc ), the San Dios government refuses to recognise the marriage as being over, and insists she is still his legally wedded wife. Martes had been on the verge of a major medical breakthrough, and the island's ruler 'el jefe' wants to share in the credit. NEMESIS dispatches the Champions to bring her home...
Ralph Smart's second and final script for this show ( the other being 'To Trap A Rat' ) has more than a passing resemblance to his 'Danger Man' work, one wonders if it did not start out as a left-over script. The premise is sound - other shows like 'Mission: Impossible' also used it - but the actual execution is poor. The trio does not get much of a chance to use their super-powers, other than a sequence in which they knock out a generator, plunging a police station into darkness, and grabbing Martes while everyone is temporarily blind. Sharron's main contribution is to crack the sump of their getaway car, causing Richard to quip: "Women drivers!".
The villains are not particularly menacing, either. We never see 'el jefe' and Radd's Commandante is as threatening as a department store Santa Claus. Eric Pohlmann - the 'Fat Man' from 1964's 'Carry On Spying' - has a small role as the 'Minister'. But by far the worst thing about this is the late Philip Madoc as 'Angel'. This normally fine actor has been given a black wig and a moustache which make him look like 'Borat', and - wait for it - he's been dubbed! It sounds like David Graham ( the voice of 'Brains' in 'Thunderbirds' ) doing a bad impression of an extra from a Sergio Leone picture. He does not say "Hokay, gringo!", but you expect him to. There is no suspense at all to be found in this episode, and there should be. When I added it to my book ( see my review of 'The Gilded Cage' to see what I mean ), I changed the ending so that hundreds of soldiers surrounded the house in which Martes was hiding, and a gun-battle ensued. A rip-off of the climax of the Morecambe & Wise picture 'The Magnificent Two', admittedly, but I was happy with it.
Ralph Smart's second and final script for this show ( the other being 'To Trap A Rat' ) has more than a passing resemblance to his 'Danger Man' work, one wonders if it did not start out as a left-over script. The premise is sound - other shows like 'Mission: Impossible' also used it - but the actual execution is poor. The trio does not get much of a chance to use their super-powers, other than a sequence in which they knock out a generator, plunging a police station into darkness, and grabbing Martes while everyone is temporarily blind. Sharron's main contribution is to crack the sump of their getaway car, causing Richard to quip: "Women drivers!".
The villains are not particularly menacing, either. We never see 'el jefe' and Radd's Commandante is as threatening as a department store Santa Claus. Eric Pohlmann - the 'Fat Man' from 1964's 'Carry On Spying' - has a small role as the 'Minister'. But by far the worst thing about this is the late Philip Madoc as 'Angel'. This normally fine actor has been given a black wig and a moustache which make him look like 'Borat', and - wait for it - he's been dubbed! It sounds like David Graham ( the voice of 'Brains' in 'Thunderbirds' ) doing a bad impression of an extra from a Sergio Leone picture. He does not say "Hokay, gringo!", but you expect him to. There is no suspense at all to be found in this episode, and there should be. When I added it to my book ( see my review of 'The Gilded Cage' to see what I mean ), I changed the ending so that hundreds of soldiers surrounded the house in which Martes was hiding, and a gun-battle ensued. A rip-off of the climax of the Morecambe & Wise picture 'The Magnificent Two', admittedly, but I was happy with it.