The Avengers Dossier, Page Three

And now, we take it's time for another brief look at a supporting player from the 1965/1966 season of "The Avengers".

CAROLINE BLAKISTON

In "The Gravediggers", Caroline Blakiston plays Miss Thirlwell, a nurse at a hospital that hides many secrets.

Born in 1933, Blakiston got her start as an actress on stage, but soon transitioned to television where she found success and a career that has spanned six decades. 

Among the many series she's had recurring or starring roles on are "Poledark" (2015-2018), "Brass" (1983-1990), The Ceasers (1968), "No Cloak, No Dagger" (1963), and "City Beneath the Sea" (1962). She was also regularly cast in parts large and small in various adaptations of Agatha Christie novels and stories during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as being cast as three different characters in three different episodes in both "The Avengers" (in 1961, 1965, and 1967) and "Midsomer Murders" (in 2005, 2009, and 2016).

 
Blakiston has also had roles in numerous television and big screen movies, including a small but important role as Mon Mothma in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" (1983).

The Avengers: The Gravediggers

The Gravediggers (1965)
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Ronald Fraser, Paul Masse, Caroline Blakiston, and Victor Platt
Director: Quentin Lawrence
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

In order to find the source of signals jamming Great Britain's early warning radar systems, secret agents John Steed (Macnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) trace mysterious malfunctions at Britain's early warning radar system must first unravel the secret that links a funeral home, a charitable hospital for railway workers, and an eccentric, train-loving nobleman (Fraser).

"The Gravediggers" features an intricate plot that may seem a little odd to anyone who doesn't remember the Cold War. The threat against the early warning system was perceived as an extremely dire one in the world of 1965, so the trouble the enemy agents go through to distribute their network of jammers. The clever way by which they fund and literally power their operation is also well-conceived, so long as one is able to buy into the comic book reality that The Avengers exist in.

As is the case with all the greatest episodes during the Patrick Macnee/Diana Rigg, the serious and the silly co-exist easily in the episode. The eccentric train obsessed nobleman with his sitting room done up to mimic a railcar in motion and the miniature train and tracks he has running throughout his property is amusing, but when it gets used as a send-up of silent movie melodrama (where maidens get tied to the train tracks) and old-time westerns (where the hero battles bad guys atop moving train cars), it becomes absolutely hilarious. Even better--despite the very intentionally ridiculous nature of the episode's climactic action, there is also a real sense that Peel and Steed are in danger of losing the fight and possibly even their lives. It is an expertly written and paced episode.

Adding to the value of this episode is some nice banter between Steed and Peel, as well as another example of Peel's versatility as an undercover operative. Here, she successfully passes for a nurse in order to infiltrate the hospital. 

"The Gravediggers" was the second episode to air in "The Avengers" Season Four, and it kept the momentum going from the debut.