The Avengers (TV Series) Death of a Great Dane (1962) User Reviews

A dead dog and diamonds

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 20 April 2017]

As this episode opens a funeral is taking place; there is no immediate indication that it is in fact the funeral for a dog! We then see Steed introducing the latest case to Cathy; a man who was seriously injured in a car crash is found to have £50,000 in diamonds in his stomach; as he was heading the Switzerland it is assumed he is involved with a major outflow of currency. Steed learns that it could somehow be connected to a Mr Litoff, a very wealthy man who is linked to a number of charitable organisations. Steed goes to see Litoff, taking the diamonds and posing as a blackmailer, he is told that he can't see Litoff as he is ill. Steed tries to find out more by befriending Litoff's doctor; he is sure that somebody close to Litoff is up to no good but doesn't know who.

This is a decent story that was later remade during the 'Emma Peel' era… something I didn't realise while watching but explains why this felt so familiar. There are one or two twists before the truth is exposed; some more obvious than others. Patrick Macnee impresses as Steed; it was fun seeing him being slightly unpleasant even if it was just to persuade potential villains that he is a wrong 'un. Honor Blackman is solid enough as Cathy but doesn't really have that much to do in this story. The guest stars were pretty good; Frederick Jaeger was suitably unpleasant as Getz, the man who appears to be running Litoff's financial empire, John Laurie, who plays Litoff's doctor, a friendly wine loving character…. A far cry from his most famous role in 'Dad's Army' and Leslie French who is amusing as the polite butler who wants nothing more than to be very rude to people! Overall this isn't a classic but it is still pretty good.

A classic early episode, no wonder they remade it.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 12 December 2023]

A man named Miller dies in a car accident, the autopsy discovers £50,000 worth of diamonds in his stomach, Steed's enquiries lead him to wealthy businessman and philanthropist Mr Litoff.

It's a difficult one, because the later remake, The £50,000 breakfast, is probably one of my favourite episodes, and whilst it's a little more outrageous, it's a hugely entertaining episode, but i did enjoy this one, it deserves credit for being the original, and it's a really clever and engaging storyline.

Steed is great here, he and Cathy share some fine moments, best of all, Steed and The Good Doctor wine tasting.

Leslie French perhaps steals the show as Gregory, the excellent and clever butler, but John Laurie and Frederick Jaeger are both excellent, I'm such a fan of the latter, will never forget his role on Dr Who's Planet of Evil, that voice is so distinctive.

8/10.

Poor production values ruin this episode

[tandlich1 · 5/10 · 11 January 2019]

£50,000 in diamonds is found in the stomach of a victim of an auto accident. A pretty good plot about illegally transferring money overseas was ruined by poor production values, namely muffled dialogue that made following this story nearly impossible. I suppose this was a reason why it was remade nearly verbatim as The £50,000 Breakfast in season five with Diana Rigg/Emma Peel. This was mostly a Steed vehicle, Cathy Gale had little to do. Good performance by Leslie French as a seemingly bufoonish butler, Frederick Jaeger as the ambitious business manager and John Laurie as the doctor.

Later remade with Diana Rigg as "The 50,000 Breakfast"

[kevinolzak · 4/10 · 6 January 2011]

"Death of a Great Dane" was one of the sloppier entries from the second season, perhaps one of the reasons it was remade as a color episode with Diana Rigg, "The 50,000 Breakfast." 50,000 pounds worth of diamonds are found in the stomach of an auto crash victim, an entertainer employed by the Litoff organization, which has been liquidating its assets for the past six weeks. Steed gets most of the footage in this one, supported by the wonderful John Laurie, making his series debut (he went on to do "Brief for Murder," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station," and "Pandora"), Frederick Jaeger, remembered for playing Benson in "The Cybernauts" and "Return of the Cybernauts," Leslie French ("You Have Just Been Murdered"), and Anthony Baird ("Brief for Murder"). There were two dogs credited on screen, with Junia (the actual pet of Patrick Macnee) later appearing in "Concerto" (Steed even wonders how many weeks its been since the animal has had a decent tree!)

Death of a Great Dane

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 6 July 2019]

There is a big Great Dane in this episode. It opens with a funeral of another Great Dane though.

Steed is interested in a wealthy tycoon called Litoff. This is because a man is found with £50,000 worth of diamonds in his stomach after a car accident. He might be linked to Litoff.

Steed goes to the household looking for a kind of finders fees. He cannot get to see Litoff, he can only talk to his right hand man Getz who is wheeling and dealing on his boss's behalf.

Steed stumbles into a conspiracy where a small group of people have bumped off Litoff and are now liquidating his assets.

This could had been an interesting murder mystery, but came across as uneven but I did like the comedy. The standout in this episode is Gregory, the ever polite and charming butler.

Smuggling & High Finance

[profh-1 · 4/10 · 17 August 2022]

An accident victim is discovered with 50,000 pounds of diamonds in his stomach. Meanwhile, a philanthropic financier appears to be liquidating all of his assets in a hurry at quite a loss. Can there be any connection? Given what series this is, OF COURSE.

The guest cast includes Frederick Jaeger as a very intense financial genius frustrated by the anonymity of his longterm job. Apart from 4 AVENGERS episodes (1 with Cathy, 2 with Emma and 1 with Purdie) and a multitude of other things, I'll probably alway most remember him for a pair of DOCTOR WHO stories, "Planet Of Evil" (which combined "Forbidden Planet" with "Jekyll & Hyde"), and "The Invisible Enemy" (where he played the creator of "K-9").

Stealing the show is Leslie French as the delightfully-polite and friendly butler (and dog-walker). It surprises me that I've also seen him in bit parts in both "THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS" and DOCTOR WHO: "Silver Nemesis", more than 2 decades after this.

Stealing the story even more is John Laurie as the rich man's physician, who's also a keen wine-taster. Laurie's career goes back to the 30s, and has been in such things as "THE 39 STEPS" (1935), "TREASURE ISLAND" (1950), "DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS" (1954) and "THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES" (1971). These 2 characters prove to be in on the racket, but totally-unaware of how far their boss was willing to go to protect it.

This particular episode gets my vote as the least of the several that were later remade as color Emma Peel stories 3 years later. It's just too technical and talky for my tastes. Back in the 80s, it was apparently also the only Cathy episode that was available on commercial VHS (which Patrick Macnee later said was an "illegal bootleg"). When A&E ran seasons 2 & 3 in the mid-1990s, I was able to compare that tape with what was broadcast, and found the station was BUTCHERING every single episode they ran, by as much as 6-1/2 minutes.

I just compared the DVD with my uncut VHS. The VHS copy was badly damaged, scratches everywhere, and the picture jumped in at least one place. But oddly enough, by comparison, the picture quality (what you could see of it) was SHARPER than that on the otherwise-CLEAN DVD, which looked FUZZY. But moreso, the SOUND was MUCH CLEARER. Once I got past the initial "funeral" scene, I could hear every single word on the tape, while the ENTIRE soundtrack on the DVD was muffled. I guess A&E video were just unable to find a decent copy of this one. A shame.

The interplay between Steed, Cathy, the butler & the doctor make this one worth watching. I haven't decided which version I like better between this and "The L50,000 Breakfast", but I suspect this one might have the edge... that is, except for the poor quality of the (2 different) prints!