Brief for Murder

Steed goes undercover to discover how two elderly attorneys routinely get their obviously guilty clients acquitted, by plotting to have Mrs. Gale murdered. This is the first episode of series three and there is an updated opening theme as well as a marked improvement in the film and sound quality over the previous series, which gives the production value a more polished feel, although there are still the annoying extreme closeups. One of the best episodes of the Cathy Gale era, with a solid well paced plot and plenty of dark humor sprinkled throughout courtesy of stand out performances by John Laurie an d Harold Scott as the elderly defense attorneys. Humourous bit during the courtroom sequence where Steed is asked to try on an oversized bowler hat, presaging the OJ Simpson trial. It was good to see a predominently "dark" side of Steed for a change.