User Reviews

In an unusual outing for The Saint, our hero conspires with the aunt of a spoilt heiress to teach her petulant charge some good manners by forcing her to accompany him on a 10-day trek by foot across Spain. The ostensible reason for this act of altruism on Simon's part is that the heiress is betrothed to his best friend. The aim, evidently, is to reform the woman-child before she inflicts a lifetime of misery on her husband-to-be.

The heiress is an utterly obnoxious, self-entitled brat, continually throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She thoroughly deserves everything Simon metes out to her in this latter day Taming of the Shrew. Inevitably some critics will accuse the scriptwriters of sexism, misogyny, and a host of other gender crimes merely because the brat is a woman and her tormentor a man. I think that's humbug. If the shoe were on the other foot, and a stern matron was teaching a few home truths to a self-absorbed playboy, the same critics would be chortling with glee.

Not a bad episode, but it hardly ranks among the best. To me the biggest puzzle is what could have possessed Simon's friend to have proposed marriage to such a spoilt, narcissistic bimbo. He must have been hard up for cash or blinded by her feminine charms. In either case, he owes Simon more than he can know.

Essentially a Taming of the Shrew episode.

Belinda is a rich spoilt girl who is about to marry one of Simon Templar's friends.

While Belinda is in Spain, Simon conspires with her aunt to teach Belinda some manners.

He arranges a burglary and takes her passport. The now penniless Belinda has to hike with Simon to Torres which will take 10 days.

In that time Belinda bickers, complains and acts like a brat. Over time she comes to appreciate living rough.

The real question is why did Simon Templar's friend want to marry Belinda unless it was for her wealth?

This is meant to be comedic. It is certainly dated with its attitudes but let's be real. Men and women like Belinda exist even today. I doubt 10 days of living rough would cure them.

One of the less pleasing aspects of this as well as other UK series of the time like 'Danger Man' and even 'The Avengers,' was the strong vein of sexism that ran through them now and then. Misogynist behaviour was teemed to be mildly amusing as some 'silly young girls' got their comeuppance.

One of Simon's unseen best friends is getting married to a spoilt heiress, who 'needs' a lesson in manners. And the Saint takes it upon himself to do this. You'd think he would have better things to do but there you go...

The lesson takes the form of Simon conniving the wealthy girl to lose all her belongings and passport (stolen for the moment by Simon himself), so, that she has to accompany him on a long trek through the hills to the next town in Spain.

Along the way she learns how to do her share and enjoy sleeping beneath the stars and living the simple life. Thus reaching their destination a far better person than she started out.

So far, so good, not a bad thing to learn really. But Simon's casual cruelty and the over the knee spanking he administers, does leave a slightly bitter taste in the mouth with it's overt 'man is the superior animal' overtones.

Not one for the feminists to watch!

Simon is set to be Best Man for one of his closest friends, Jack. However, he's not very fond of the bride-to-be, Belinda (Erica Rogers). She's a spoiled, selfish, arrogant, entitled brat. Simon decides she needs to be taught a lesson in humility. Through some backhanded doings, Simon forces the ill-equipped Belinda to join him on a 100 mile trek through the mountains of Spain, with the wedding location as their destination.

Obviously, I'm not much of a fan of The Golden Journey. Because of the misogyny on display and the beyond ridiculous, but ultimately predictable plot, this episode doesn't work for me. First, to call Simon's treatment of Belinda cheavanistic and cruel would be a gross understatement. When he's not putting her over his knee to spank her (yes, spank her), he's either pushing or pulling her, yelling at her, and forcibly kissing her. Sure, she's a horrible human being, but no one deserves to be treated like that. Nice going, Simon. Second, I don't care how good of a friend the unseen Jack is, why would Simon want to go through all this trouble and bother? He gives up seven or so days of his life for an uncomfortably long journey with a woman he can't stand. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

One of the few highlights I'll mention is Erica Rogers. This is her second appearance in The Saint. While I didn't care for either of her characters, as an actress, she's outstanding. Even with the mistreatment her character suffers in The Golden Journey, she and Roger Moore have an undeniable screen chemistry.

4/10