Steed meets the ancestors. Emma is lost in time.

5 x 15-minute episodes
based on the television episode
Escape in Time (1967),
written by Philip Levene

Principal Cast:
Donald Monat as John Steed
Diane Appleby as Emma Peel
Hugh Rouse as The Narrator

Production:
Adapted and directed by Tony Jay
Produced by David Gooden

Transmission on Springbok Radio (7.15-7.30pm):
Episode 1 — Monday 3rd January 1972
Episode 2 — Tuesday 4th January 1972
Episode 3 — Wednesday 5th January 1972
Episode 4 — Thursday 6th January 1972
Episode 5 — Friday 7th January 1972
(first Avengers serial broadcast)

King Leer
Waldo Thyssen, a shifty-looking cove
and no mistake.

John Steed and Emma Peel investigate a series of mysterious disappearances by criminals, embezzlers and the political corrupt, wanted by the authorities in connection with their crimes. Our heroes follow a series of leads and find they end up in the distant past — as do Steed and Mrs Peel!

• This Avengers story was the first to be transmitted on Springbok Radio and sadly no recording of it is known to exist today.

• Escape in Time was later remade during Dennis Folbigge's tenure as adaptor-director. The second version has fared a little better than the original, with three of its episodes having been preserved. The main difference between Jay's original and Folbigge's remake was that the latter was rewritten to incorporate the character of 'Mother'. The character was a later invention and did not feature in The Avengers until the very last television adventure of Emma Peel, The Forget-Me-Knot. 

Alan Hayes