Steed and Tara must prevent anything from happening to an old school friend of Steed’s – who happens to be the president of an African country…

Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s turn to weave magic on the old TV Comic strips, in this case only using a few of the ideas that underpinned the strip that ran between September and November 1969. It’s a story that is very much of its time in the original with caricatured representations of people of colour that nobody would want to reproduce in any format today… but which has some neat ideas, such as the Avengers using an ice cream van to facilitate their actions.

As well as a good use of the late period Avengers (Mother’s location is a lovely touch), this feels as if it’s also paying homage to the original Mission: Impossible series – Khan and Salinsky use a couple of familiar tropes from that show in a clever way. They also set up counterparts for our heroes among the African nationals, with some fun repartee between the various pairings, and emphasise that Tara is very much Steed’s partner, just as Cathy Gale and Emma Peel were.

Julian Wadham and Emily Woodward continue to sparkle as the leads, with Christopher Benjamin’s gifts for comedy on display. Director Ken Bentley elicits strong guest performances by Edward Dede Miles, Natalie Simpson, Jude Owusu and Ewart James Walters while Steve Foxon’s sound design and Jamie Robertson’s music blend together well.

Verdict: Another classic Avengers tale. 9/10

Paul Simpson