The Avengers (TV Series) Killer Whale (1963) User Reviews

Boxing and perfumery

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 11 May 2017]

Something is going on a boxing gym but Steed isn't sure exactly what. Then it emerges that Cathy Gale knows an amateur boxer, Joey Frazer; Steed offers to help him turn professional with Cathy being his manager. Joey goes to goes to the gym and as he prepares he borrows a bar of soap from one of the lockers; which infuriates club manager Sam "Pancho" Driver. The smell makes it apparent that it was no ordinary soap. Steed and Cathy investigate and it isn't too long before they establish that it was in fact ambergris, a valuable product used in the manufacture of perfume. It would appear that the gym is being used as part of a smuggling operation as Pancho sells the ambergris on to a perfume maker although he is having money problems. Cathy asks Joey if recalls the brand of soap so he goes to find the wrapper… something that puts him and later Cathy in danger.

This episode, the last in the second series, has a decent enough story but its execution is a little disappointing; the boxing gym never feels real as all we see is a couple of boxers having a bout and later one hitting a punch bag; it feels far too empty. The boxing scenes are good enough a TV production. The nature of the crime is novel; I'm sure most viewers will assume they are smuggling drugs when we are told a man has just returned from the Caribbean; the episode title and the fact that the product has an unusual smell may lead to viewers guessing what it is before it is explicitly stated… especially after we see Steed commenting on a perfume. The cast does a solid enough job. Overall this is a decent enough episode; not a classic but perfectly fine.

A disappointing end to the series.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 8 February 2024]

Cathy's gym is famed for training a prized fighter, but Steed is convinced that the gym is the base for a gang who deal in the illegal snuggling of Ambergris.

For anyone wondering, Ambergris produced by sperm whales, and is used by perfumers, it makes fragrances last longer, it is hugely valuable.

From the sublime, to the ridiculous, I loved the previous episode, I thought the series finale however, was something of a disappointment. I thought the story was a little messy, it somehow jarred, I thought Cathy was a little wasted.

Patrick Magee is rather wonderful as Pancho, but his performance alone isn't enough to save this episode.

A disappointing end to the series, a shame the previous episode wasn't used as the season finale.

5/10.

Patrick Magee makes his first appearance

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 16 January 2011]

"Killer Whale" was the last episode from the second season, another lackluster ringside plot, ala "The Decapod." The enigmatic Patrick Magee, a mainstay of low budget British horror films, makes a fine villain (soon to play another in "The Gilded Cage"), as Sam "Pancho" Driver, manager of a gymnasium where boxers train, and a little illicit smuggling occurs. Steed finally gets equal footage with Cathy, allowing her to manage a prospective young boxer at Pancho's gym, Joey Frazer (Kenneth Farrington), but when he washes up with a bar of soap discovered in another man's locker, it turns out to be a sample of ambergris smuggled in from the Caribbean, used in making perfumes. John Bailey ("A Change of Bait," "Dial a Deadly Number," and "Killer") plays Fernand, Pancho's partner in crime and owner of the couturier where Steed pretends to be a buyer of a complete new wardrobe for a fictitious niece, and while giving Fernand her 'measurements,' lasciviously eyes the smiling receptionist (Lyndall Goodman), who realizes that Steed's niece has the same figures! We are also intoduced to Cathy's new push button apartment, a main feature in season three. Among the series veterans are Morris Perry ("Tunnel of Fear" and "Dragonsfield"), John Tate ("Build a Better Mousetrap"), Robert Mill ("Double Danger"), and Fredric Abbot ("The Gilded Cage"). Credited as 'Models from the Kenneth Sweet Collection' are June Hodgson, Diane Keys, and Elaine Little.

The Boxing Game can be dangerous to your health!

[profh-1 · 5/10 · 10 January 2023]

Steed somehow suspects something dodgy is going on at a local gym training up-and-coming fighters, but has been unable to come up with anything... until he learns his friend Cathy knows an amateur fighter, and decides to use him as an "in". It's a dirty, sneaky playbook often imitated by U. N. C. L. E., but Steed was doing it first! Before long, he discovers the gym is a link in a chain involving valueable ambergris smuggled past the import duty agents, and a fashion designer who also doubles as a chemist creating an expensive brand of perfume. One man gets killed, and 2 more lives are at stake before it's all over. One thing you can bet on-- when Cathy shows up late in the story wearing leather, ACTION is just waiting in the wings!

The look and feel of the show has been slowly improving since John Bryce took over as producer in mid-season, though we're still getting some very talky and "technical" stories. This is far from the only time someone is trying to sneak one past the TAX men is at the bottom of a criminal plot. Cathy's high-tech apartment, which would be a steady feature in season 3, makes its debut here. As usual, the guest cast makes this episode.

Patrick Magee is "Pancho", the gym owner with a shady deal going on the side, who's absolutely ruthless when anyone gets in his way. I've seen him in many things, including DEMENTIA 13, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE SKULL, DIE MONSTER DIE!, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, ASYLUM, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS, TELEFON, and THE MONSTER CLUB.

Kenneth Farrington is "Joey", an amateur boxer who's unknowingly suckered into doing Steed's work for him (a bad habit later used by Napoleon Solo). I've also seen him in a SAINT and a SPACE PRECINCT.

John Tate is "Willie", the janitor, full of stories of the old days and completely innocent of the dark doings going on around him. I've also seen him in THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, a DANGER MAN, 3 SAINT episodes, and a 1968 Peter Cushing SHERLOCK HOLMES story, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", where he played an immigrant from Australia with a very shady past.

John Bailey is "Fernand", a man who splits his time between designing dresses and developing high-priced perfumes in a private lab. A very familiar face for me, I've seen him in a SAINT, 3 AVENGERS, a RETURN OF THE SAINT, and a bit part in "The Horns Of Nimon" on DOCTOR WHO.

Morris Perry is "Harry", the kind of murderous thug every bad guy should have on his payrole. He always stands out in my mind as the viscious "Captain Dent" in the Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story "Colony In Space", as well as the butler Barrymore in the Tom Baker HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.

At the end, Cathy turns down an invite to a vacation in the islands, in favor of attending a judo exhibition in Tokyo. "We've been over this before..." she tells Steed. Clearly, she prefers keeping her relationship with him on a "business" level. Smart girl. As one of his later colleagues once pointed out, he's "NO gentleman"!