The Avengers Dossier, Page Nineteen

Many British actors and actresses familiar to lovers of classic spy- and action-movies appeared on "The Avengers". Here's a brief look at one of them.

EUNICE GAYSON

In "Quick Quick, Slow Death", Eunice Gayson is one of several eccentric individuals operating a dance school that doubles as a matchmaking service... and possibly more sinister activities.

Eunice Gayson was born in Surrey in 1928 where she also grew up. She initially trained as an opera singer, but by the late 1940s, she mostly left music and the stage behind for an acting career in movies and British television.

Throughout the 1950s, Gayson was busy with roles in dramas, thrillers, and comedies, including being a recurring cast member in anthology series "Rheingold Theatre" and "BBC Sunday Night Theatre".  On the big screen, she even made a foray into horror with a key role in the very excellent "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (1957).

As the 1960s dawned, Gayson settled into a successful groove as a character actress, but not before appearing in the role she is perhaps best remembered for: She played Sylvia Trent in the first two big screen Bond adventures, "Dr. No" (1962) and "From Russia With Love" (1963). The character had been originally conceived as a recurring "lady friend" for 007, but the idea was abandoned after those two films.

Among Gayson's credits during the 1960s include several appearances on espionage adventure series "The Saint", "Secret Agent, and, of course, "The Avengers." She also had small parts in a handful of comedy series, including a recurring part in the period comedy "Albert and Victoria" (1970). 

"Albert and Victoria" was one of Gayson's last appearances on screen. She essentially retired from acting  to focus on raising her daughter, Kate, who was born in 1971. Gayson did perform on stage every so often from from the late 1980s and into the1990s. 

Eunice Gayson passed away at the age of 90 in 2018.

The Avengers: Quick-Quick Slow Death

Qiuck-Quick Slow Death (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Eunice Gayson, Maurice Kaufman, James Belchamber, David Kernen, and Larry Cross
Director: James Hill
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A bizarre accident puts government agents John Steed (Mcnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) onto a dance school that's serving as a conduit for infiltrating enemy spies into Great Britain. The pair set out to unravel the operation with some infiltrating (and dancing) of their own.

"Quick-Quick, Slow Death" is one of the funniest and overall comedy-oriented episodes of "The Avengers" that I've watched yet. It's crammed full of bizarre characters and even more bizarre situations and it gets goofier and goofier as it unfolds

In fact, it's so goofy that this episode is best enjoyed if one doesn't think too much about the hows and whys of the plot and the complicated scheme being executed by the bad guys, nor the clues that Steed and Peel uncover or how they're delivered (although that tattooed garlic sausage has got to be a highwater mark for comedic absurdity). For all those reasons, I'm keeping this review short, as I think this episode is one that's best experienced cold. 

I will say that Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg are at the top of their comedic game, with their deadpan or droll reactions to the various bizarre characters and situations that Steed and Peel are confronted with as the episode unfolds. Although Macnee gets to be the comedic center in a couple of scenes, it's the way he and Rigg serve as "straight men" to other performers that make this episode that much more fun. I think that's also one of the reasons that the climactic ballroom scene with dancers and partners being switched around works when it really shouldn't have: Macnee and Rigg are pitch-perfect in every scene throughout.

Speaking of dancing, the little comedy tag at the end of this episode is possibly also one of the best so far, with the fictional characters of John Steed and Emma Peel twirling across the dance floor and fading away as the end credits begin.