Tunnel of Fear

Keel and Steed are made aware of a case of espionage by desperate man on the run Harry Black.

Underneath a show of bowler hats and scantily clad lovelies is a cracking story, a very well crafted tale of stolen secrets and espionage. The fairground setting adds to the mystery, and in fairness looks pretty great.

I loved how it played out, it was well paced and intriguing. Each character had a part to play, nobody felt there to make the numbers up.

How wonderful that this rare gem was discovered, how incredible would it be if a few more were found, we can all live in hope.

I'm surprised by how big a part Keel has played in these early episodes, I was really expecting The Steed show, and here it's mainly Keel that drives the story, with Steed naturally playing a vital part.

Anthony Bate plays the man on the run incredibly well, he was a wonderful actor, charismatic, handsome, and versatile, in his later years he was regularly cast as lords and upper class grandeurs, here we see a more down to Earth character, he's excellent.

Class, 8/10.

Episode 20, "Tunnel of Fear" now joins "Girl on the Trapeze" and "The Frighteners" as the only complete entries from season 1 to have survived, along with the opening reel of "Hot Snow," first discovered in 2016 and issued on DVD in April 2018. Happily, star Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel is joined by Patrick Macnee's mysterious Steed on a case involving an injured prison escapee (Anthony Bate, later seen in "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues") seeking answers as to who framed him for the Southend funfair payroll some months back. Ingrid Hafner's Carol Wilson exits 10 minutes in, while it's the only time this season we get to see Douglas Muir's One-Ten, Steed's superior (the other four missing, five more next season), plus the second and final appearance from Steed's puppy Juno, from "Ashes of Ashes" (first of three for Morris Perry). It's unfortunate that the villains are such a colorless and obvious lot, but there are two familiar faces among the onlookers in Steed's harem tent (himself disguised as the new barker), Nicky Henson and Julian Holloway. It's a fairly even split between Keel and Steed; the doctor spends most of his time with the escaped convict trying to reenact the crime when not evading the cops, while Steed's masquerade as harem barker is wholly successful, right down to getting knocked unconscious for his overly flirtatious nature. Here's hoping more hidden nuggets turn up again someday.