The unnamed agency has discovered that several of their agents have died taking a previously safe route out of the Germanic section of Europe, the Corinthia Line. And they've discovered that another agent, Hal Anderson (Peter Sallis), has gone missing since tracking one of the dead agents. Desperate, the agency assigns Steed to find Anderson – if he is still alive. And to determine how this route has been compromised.
When Steed tells Mrs. Cathy Gale what his plans are, she becomes suspicious. Since Steed knew Anderson personally, it is breaking the agency rules (?) for a friend to mount a rescue mission. Steed – never one to follow the rules, anyway – isn't concerned that much. He's more concerned about Hal.
On a tip, Steed tracks Hal to a safe house (?) in Scotland. But when he finds his friend; Steed is accused of treason by Hal, who believes John killed those agents on the Corinthia Line. After an Inquiry, the agency agrees. They ship John off to a torture center, to be interrogated by the Wringer (Terrance Lodge).
Mrs. Gale, who was shut out of the proceedings begins an investigation of the agency itself, it's interrogation center, and any clues that will absolve her friend, John Steed.
This is pretty much a take-off of The Bourne Identity – not the anti-government conspiracy movie from the 2000's, but the original Robert Ludlum books from the 1960's. Hal Anderson suffers from amnesia and only remembers that he ran to Scotland to avoid some assassins. He tells Steed when they meet up that he can't trust anyone. In the next scene, he is holding a gun upon Steed, and levels his accusation.
The Wringer script was written by Martin Woodhouse. He had written Mr. Teddy Bear, which kicked off the Mrs. Cathy Gale era. He also wrote the best Venus Smith episode, A Chorus of Frogs. The Wringer is not on those levels. He mostly wrote novels that highlighted how successful man could be with science knowledge. The Wringer was his second to last script for television.
Pity, for there are a lot of glaring plot holes. If Cathy Gale knows very little about the agency, she shouldn't be giving main plot points about it. How did she know what the agency rules state? Where was the story editor or continuity editor during this time? Further, Woodhouse's diagramming of space leaves a lot to be desired. (Although, again that could be more the fault of the producers.) How Cathy gets around the Interrogation Center is pretty incredulous.
It seems that the producers and the cast took some liberties in rewriting the script on the fly. The scenes with The Wringer seemed to have suffered in dialogue unlike the scenes between Cathy and Charles (Paul Witsun-Jones), which had a lot of good exposition and action zingers. The Wringers lines seemed monotone and basic. It's quite possible that Cathy's scenes with Steed were also re-written by the cast on the fly.
On a further note, Don Leaver, the director, or Brian Cleamons the co-creator made a mistake in asking Terrance Lodge to play The Wringer as a scene-chewing villain. That would work better with Mrs. Emma Peel, but fall flat here. Cathy's storyline was predicated on the degrees of realism, not fantasy. Her villains create menace by being very focused and competent – not by reveling in their eccentricities. Mr. Teddy Bear, Helda Stern of Intercrime and Conniston of The White Elephant – a few examples of Cathy and Steed's villains – created more tension by being focused and competent. As the Wringer goes over the top, he works to distract from the story not add to it.
When Steed tells Mrs. Cathy Gale what his plans are, she becomes suspicious. Since Steed knew Anderson personally, it is breaking the agency rules (?) for a friend to mount a rescue mission. Steed – never one to follow the rules, anyway – isn't concerned that much. He's more concerned about Hal.
On a tip, Steed tracks Hal to a safe house (?) in Scotland. But when he finds his friend; Steed is accused of treason by Hal, who believes John killed those agents on the Corinthia Line. After an Inquiry, the agency agrees. They ship John off to a torture center, to be interrogated by the Wringer (Terrance Lodge).
Mrs. Gale, who was shut out of the proceedings begins an investigation of the agency itself, it's interrogation center, and any clues that will absolve her friend, John Steed.
This is pretty much a take-off of The Bourne Identity – not the anti-government conspiracy movie from the 2000's, but the original Robert Ludlum books from the 1960's. Hal Anderson suffers from amnesia and only remembers that he ran to Scotland to avoid some assassins. He tells Steed when they meet up that he can't trust anyone. In the next scene, he is holding a gun upon Steed, and levels his accusation.
The Wringer script was written by Martin Woodhouse. He had written Mr. Teddy Bear, which kicked off the Mrs. Cathy Gale era. He also wrote the best Venus Smith episode, A Chorus of Frogs. The Wringer is not on those levels. He mostly wrote novels that highlighted how successful man could be with science knowledge. The Wringer was his second to last script for television.
Pity, for there are a lot of glaring plot holes. If Cathy Gale knows very little about the agency, she shouldn't be giving main plot points about it. How did she know what the agency rules state? Where was the story editor or continuity editor during this time? Further, Woodhouse's diagramming of space leaves a lot to be desired. (Although, again that could be more the fault of the producers.) How Cathy gets around the Interrogation Center is pretty incredulous.
It seems that the producers and the cast took some liberties in rewriting the script on the fly. The scenes with The Wringer seemed to have suffered in dialogue unlike the scenes between Cathy and Charles (Paul Witsun-Jones), which had a lot of good exposition and action zingers. The Wringers lines seemed monotone and basic. It's quite possible that Cathy's scenes with Steed were also re-written by the cast on the fly.
On a further note, Don Leaver, the director, or Brian Cleamons the co-creator made a mistake in asking Terrance Lodge to play The Wringer as a scene-chewing villain. That would work better with Mrs. Emma Peel, but fall flat here. Cathy's storyline was predicated on the degrees of realism, not fantasy. Her villains create menace by being very focused and competent – not by reveling in their eccentricities. Mr. Teddy Bear, Helda Stern of Intercrime and Conniston of The White Elephant – a few examples of Cathy and Steed's villains – created more tension by being focused and competent. As the Wringer goes over the top, he works to distract from the story not add to it.