The Little Wonders: Avengers (TV Episode)

Plot

When a country clergyman is found dead with a gun and a roll of microfilm in his possession, Steed poses as the man's replacement. This enables him to gain access to the venerable crime organization Bibliotek, at present locked in a power struggle. This episode marks the second time that The Avengers utilized a machine gun-wielding nun as a plot device. Written by Eric Paice, "The Little Wonders" first aired in England on January 11, 1964; American viewers finally caught up with the episode when it was shown on the A&E cable network on March 25, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

"The Little Wonders" is one of the highlights of the Honor Blackman-era Avengers episodes. It offers a crime drama conceit of almost Ian Fleming-like cleverness and invention, one of the most intriguing motifs in the series' run, and one that might well not have gotten on the air in the 21st century, at least not without a torrent of complaints from religious organizations; its central plot also includes one of the wittiest scenarios in the early run of the series. A pistol-toting bishop arrives in London, and a supposed vicar, the Rev. Harbuckle, is apprehended at customs trying to enter the country carrying a German Lugar hidden in his belongings and an antique German doll. Steed (Patrick Macnee) gets a line on Harbuckle as a reputed member of Bibliotek, a centuries-old mafia-like organization that preys on the states of the British Commonwealth. It appears that Bibliotek's leaders have been using the clergyman guise as a front (posing as deacons, reverends, and other officers of the church, with names like "Big Sid"), and are gathering for a "convocation" in London. Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) follows up on the doll and accidentally discovers a lead to a double-game that Harbuckle was playing. Meanwhile, Steed replaces the good reverend at the conference, which turns out to be a gathering called by their "Bishop" (David Bauer) to choose a new leader for the organization. There are several double games being played by everybody, including Sister Johnson (Lois Maxwell, of James Bond fame), the ailing bishop's attending nurse, who, at one point, blasts away with a machine gun in a scene worthy of one of Fleming's books. The double-crosses and triple-crosses in this episode are dazzling, nearing the complexities achieved in The Big Sleep; and the level of understated, tongue-in-cheek humor rises toward that achieved by the later Diana Rigg series. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi