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EPISODE FOUR: RED HORSE, RED RIDER
Original UK transmission: 19th October 1966
Filmed: August 1965
Screenplay by Terry Nation
Directed by John Moxey
Synopsis: The Baron's evening is interrupted by a surprise visitor from the Khakanian Embassy in London. In his hand, the injured man holds a cipher telegram in his hand from an elderly Khakanian rebel leader, Olmira (Harold Goldblatt), who states that he needs The Baron's help. In order to fund the rebel cause within Khakania, he feels forced to sell his statuette of the Kronheim Horsemen, worth over a million dollars. However, since Arko (John Bryans), the Khakanian ambassador in London has already intercepted the message, he has no intention of letting The Baron leave the country with the artefact in order to pay for 'undesirable' warfare. His plan, therefore, is to watch Olmira hand the statuette over to John Mannering, and arrest him as he attempts to flee the country with it. He informs the Khakanian chief of secret police, Shamir (Edward Brayshaw), who has been watching Olmira for months, and is only too glad to have a chance to finally catch him in the act. However, Arko and Shamir had not counted on the assistance of Olmira's grand-daughter Savannah (Jane Merrow) and Miros (Frank Wolff), who manage to help The Baron evade road blocks, train hi-jacks and armed soldiers, before finally getting him to an abandoned smallholding near the Khakanian border. However, at the last minute Miros turns the tables on Mannering, and tries to kill him. The Baron refuses to go down without a fight, however, and finally putting Miros in his place, Savannah and he make it safely across the border with the statuette.
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General observations: A peculiar hybrid between an episode of The Saint and a John Wayne western, Red Horse, Red Rider nevertheless starts off very well indeed, and does contain some surprisingly well-paced action. Chief among these is a well-directed gunfight at a border post (filmed on the usual Elstree studios backlot set), after which follows an interesting chase sequence on a genuine railway line. However, the cracks in this story do, unfortunately, eventually show through. Terry Nation does not seem to have been absolutely sure of what he wanted to happen in the episode, as it culminates in a rather long and drawn out sequence at the abandoned smallholding when Frank Wolff turns the tables on Steve Forrest, but the whole episode is virtually inconsequential, as all three make it to the border in any case. (Except they do not quite, as this is never shown on the episode.) There are also some rather terrible accents and rather two dimensional performances in this episode (for a series which thrived on pretend locations and the stock of old faithful ITC actors, this is saying something), and this pretty much ruins its chances of being anything other than an also-ran effort. The rather lovely Chevrolet Bel-Air and the ever reliable Jane Merrow are worthwhile inclusions in what unfortunately turns out to be a rather average episode in the end.
"The Baron" Copyright 1966-67 ITC Entertainment
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