Aspring beauty queen Susan Lewis ( Gina Warwick ) is sleeping in her room at her father's pub in the country village of Hambledown. Some time in the night, she is awoken by the sound of vehicles. Looking out of the window, she sees a searchlight and what appears to be the entire population of Hambledown getting into trucks, helped by men in protective suits. Before she can find out what is happening, the sleeping pills she had earlier taken kick in and she passes out on the duvet. She awakens the following morning to find Hambledown totally deserted...
One of my favourite 'Department S' episodes, this was also the first recorded. 'The Avengers' was a major influence, particularly the episodes 'The Hour That Never Was' and 'The Morning After'. The old 'where-has-everybody-gone' caper, as Max Smart might put it. The mystery deepens when a patch of land burned by sulphuric acid is discovered, along with a freshly painted gate, and Susan is tricked into having an examination by a bogus doctor who injects her with what turns out to be ordinary water.
The opening gives the game away, alas. Once we see those protective suits we know immediately what has happened. Still, old Richard Vernon ( 'Colonel Smithers' in the Bond movie 'Goldfinger' and the wonderfully-named 'Slartibartfast' in 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy' ) is good value as loopy 'Colonel Loring'. Not much action, but a nice little punch-up in an 'Avengers'-style country pub. You have to laugh though when Dr.Brogan ( Jeremy Young ) appears wearing a sticking plaster on his forehead that makes him look like Frankenstein's monster.
One of my favourite 'Department S' episodes, this was also the first recorded. 'The Avengers' was a major influence, particularly the episodes 'The Hour That Never Was' and 'The Morning After'. The old 'where-has-everybody-gone' caper, as Max Smart might put it. The mystery deepens when a patch of land burned by sulphuric acid is discovered, along with a freshly painted gate, and Susan is tricked into having an examination by a bogus doctor who injects her with what turns out to be ordinary water.
The opening gives the game away, alas. Once we see those protective suits we know immediately what has happened. Still, old Richard Vernon ( 'Colonel Smithers' in the Bond movie 'Goldfinger' and the wonderfully-named 'Slartibartfast' in 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy' ) is good value as loopy 'Colonel Loring'. Not much action, but a nice little punch-up in an 'Avengers'-style country pub. You have to laugh though when Dr.Brogan ( Jeremy Young ) appears wearing a sticking plaster on his forehead that makes him look like Frankenstein's monster.
