"Tunnel of Fear"

The Avengers episode

Episode no.

Season 1
Episode 20

Directed by

Guy Verney

Written by

John Kruse

Produced by

Leonard White

Featured music

John Dankworth (theme)

Production code

3417^[1]

Original air date

5 August 1961

Episode chronology

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List of episodes

"Tunnel of Fear" is the 20th episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner, and guest starring John Salew, Anthony Bate and Miranda Connell. It was recorded on 405-line monochrome videotape on 3 August 1961 and was first broadcast by ABC on 5 August 1961. It is one of the three known complete series 1 episodes to have survived being purged from the ABC archives and was rediscovered in 2016 when it was found in a private collection.^{[citation needed]} The episode was directed by Guy Verney and written by John Kruse.^[2]

Plot

Top secret information is leaking into Europe from a funfair somewhere in Southend, and Harry Black, a recent escapee from prison, is rumoured to have worked there. Closer examination reveals that the ghost train is more scary than it looks and the owner of the funfair, Jack Wickram, is arranging the kidnappings. Trick cigarettes allow Steed to bluff the enemy into submission and Harry Black is proved innocent as he was hypnotised and framed.

Cast

Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel
Patrick Macnee as John Steed
Ingrid Hafner as Carol Wilson
Anthony Bate as Harry Black
Miranda Connell as Claire
Doris Rogers as Mrs. Mary Black
John Salew as Jack Wickram
Douglas Muir as One-Ten
Douglas Rye as Billy
Stanley Platts as Maxie Lardner
Bill Maxam as George Milner
Nancy Roberts as Madame Zenobia
Morris Perry as Police Sergeant
Julie Samuel as Rosie
Juno as Puppy

Recovery

On 3 October 2016, it was announced that a pristine condition 16mm film telerecording of the episode had been recovered from a private collector and was later screened in London on 12 November.^[3] As of 2022 it is the latest known surviving episode to feature the character of David Keel.

References

^ Johnson, Piers. "Tunnel of Fear". The Avengers. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
^ "The Avengers : Series 1 : The Tunnel of Fear". dissolute.com.au.
^ "The Avengers (1961) – Lost Episode 'Tunnel Of Fear' From The Very First Series Rediscovered After 55 Years!". ianhendry.com.

The Avengers

Characters

Episodes

Series 1	"Hot Snow" "Crescent Moon" "Girl on the Trapeze" "Dance with Death" "The Frighteners" "Tunnel of Fear"
Series 2	"Mr. Teddy Bear" "Propellant 23" "The Decapod" "Bullseye" "Mission to Montreal" "The Removal Men" "The Mauritius Penny" "Death of a Great Dane" "The Sell Out" "Death on the Rocks" "Traitor in Zebra" "The Big Thinker" "Death Dispatch" "Dead on Course" "Intercrime" "Immortal Clay" "Box of Tricks" "Warlock" "The Golden Eggs" "School for Traitors" "The White Dwarf" "Man in the Mirror" "Conspiracy of Silence" "A Chorus of Frogs" "Six Hands Across a Table" "Killer Whale"
Series 3	"Brief for Murder" "The Undertakers" "Man with Two Shadows" "The Nutshell" "Death of a Batman" "November Five" "The Gilded Cage" "Second Sight" "The Medicine Men" "The Grandeur That Was Rome" "The Golden Fleece" "Don't Look Behind You" "Death a la Carte" "Dressed to Kill" "The White Elephant" "The Little Wonders" "The Wringer" "Mandrake" "The Secrets Broker" "Trojan Horse" "Build a Better Mousetrap" "The Outside-In Man" "The Charmers" "Concerto" "Esprit de Corps" "Lobster Quadrille"
Series 4	"The Town of No Return" "The Gravediggers" "The Cybernauts" "A Surfeit of H₂O" "The Hour That Never Was" "A Touch of Brimstone" "What the Butler Saw"
Series 5	"From Venus with Love" "The Fear Merchants" "Escape in Time" "The See-Through Man" "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" "The Winged Avenger" "The Living Dead" "The Hidden Tiger" "The Correct Way to Kill" "The Superlative Seven" "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station" "Death's Door"
Series 6	"The Forget-Me-Knot" "Have Guns — Will Haggle" "The Morning After"