The Avengers (TV Series) Traitor in Zebra (1962) User Reviews

Steed and Cathy investigate a leak at a naval station

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 24 April 2017]

As this episode opens a Royal Navy officer is arrested for leaking information about a new tracking station that enables the enemy to jam it… something he denies. Not everybody believes he is guilty and soon Steed and Cathy are on the case; Steed posing as a navy psychiatrist sent to talk to the accused man and Cathy as a scientist working on the project. As the next test approaches the authorities hope for a success but we are shown how the information has been leaked. Those involved in the leak are also feeling the pressure and those who appear about to crack are soon eliminated.

This is an enjoyable episode that hints are some of the more surreal plots of the later seasons; this is largely due to the highly convoluted way the information is leaked… all those involved in the chain of people passing the stolen information know each other so they could easily cut out most of the chain without looking suspicious. We also see just about everybody discussing things in the pub without anybody seeming to notice! This may bother those who prefer things to be more realistic but I thought it was rather fun. The ending is pretty good; I particularly liked how it showed a somewhat darker side to Steed. The cast, which was somewhat larger than usual did a solid job making their characters fairly believable. Overall a decent episode.

The Radar Base Mystery

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 7 September 2022]

At a defense tracking station in Wales, signals are being jammed by foreign agents, and a junior officer is framed for passing on the formula required to do so. Steed poses as a military psychiatrist while Cathy infiltrates as a lab tech. A dart board at a local pub, an artist walking his doggie, a girl at a grocery store and a reporter on a local newspaper are all parts of a spy ring, some of whom are more murderous than others.

Steed gets to dress up in a Naval uniform years before James Bond did in "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" or "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME", and for once, gets into more physical altercations than Cathy. He also has one of his most ruthless moments when he confronts the ring-leader who's just planted a time-bomb, and locks the man in with it when he refuses to de-activate it!

Another very "technical" episode, hurt to some degree by the video source; the picture on the DVD is pretty clear, but I had trouble making out a LOT of the dialogue, especially when accents were involved.

Once again a brilliant guest-cast made this a favorite for me. John Sharp played an artist (I'd seen him on THE PRISONER as one of the Number Twos). Richard Leech as Franks the reporter who makes a romantic play for Cathy (he was also the main villain in the episode "Faces" with Purdey & Gambit, and, more outstanding, as "Gatherer Hade" in the Tom Baker-Louise Jameson DOCTOR WHO story, "The Sunmakers). Noel Coleman was base Commander Nash (he was one of the villains in the final Patrick Trougton DOCTOR WHO story, "The War Games"). June Murphy was Maggie the waitress (she was a military secretary in the Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story "The Sea Devils"). And William Gaunt was Graham, the one man who believed in the framed man's innocence and was getting very close to figuring out what really happened (one of the stars of THE CHAMPIONS, and also, one of my favorite characters on DOCTOR WHO, the professional assassin "Orcini" in the Colin Baker story "Revelation of the Daleks").

It continues to be a thrill to watch this show again on DVD after putting up with butchered copies from A&E in the 90s. I only wish they had better copies!

Addendum: the 2009 Region 2 DVD has somewhat sharper picture & sound than the 2006 disc, but the sound is a bit on the harsh side and is still rather hard to make out. I guess they did the best with what they had!

Steed is a naval psychiatrist, Gale works in a lab.

[tandlich1 · 6/10 · 14 January 2019]

Steed and Cathy Gale investigate who is selling information on Britain's tracking satellite at a naval base. Routine whodunit involving many townspeople and naval officers. Many red herrings, but it was obvious from the beginning that the accused was innocent and shortly thereafter, who the actual traitors were. Solid performances from the supporting cast, particularly Richard Leech (Franks) and William Gaunt (Gaunt). Good to see Steed in a navy officer's uniform.

My favorite Steed/Gale?

[hmoika · 9/10 · 13 December 2021]

I just love this episode.

As one reviewer wrote, the large cast does extremely well. My favorite is that of June Murphy as Maggie. She runs the pub with the greatest of ease. I had a crush on her the first time I watched this episode on my DVD, and would think of her every now and then over the course of a few years.

Then.....tonight i saw it again. Oh my.....I wish I were young again.

But all in all, it was a splendid episode!

Great episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 18 December 2023]

The Navy's brand new defense system is rendered useless by a traitor, who's giving its enemies the code, Steed and Cathy arrive on The Naval base to unmask The Traitor.

Favourite episode thus far, essentially a taut, nautical mystery, this one is intense, suspenseful and really intriguing, you'll be left wondering who, right up until the very end.

I loved the Welsh setting, there were a few Avengers episodes that were set in Wales, some great characters, the barmaid was great.

It benefits from a truly wonderful cast, Richard Leech, William Gaunt, Noel Coleman and many more, they're all fantastic.

How refreshing to see Noel Coleman playing a slightly different role, as soon as I saw him, I shouted 'that's the traitor,' you'll have to watch to see it it's him or not.

Favourite episode up until this point.

9/10.

The first Cathy Gale episode I ever saw

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 8 January 2011]

"Traitor in Zebra" begins with the arrest of Sub-Lieutenant Michael Crane (Danvers Walker), believed to be the traitor who has been leaking missile defense secrets to the enemy, for which he pleads his innocence (the setting is a naval base in Wales). Posing as a psychiatrist, Steed mingles with the other officers, one of whom, Sub-Lieutenant Ken Graham (Willaim Gaunt), is convinced of Crane's innocence, and has written a report of other ways the traitors could have leaked information, throwing the villains into a panic. Fairly routine entry featuring characters that are interchangeable, with John Sharp (later seen in "Murdersville" and "Bizarre") standing out as Rankin, an artist passing on messages by simply walking his dog. Other series veterans include Richard Leech ("Dressed to Kill" and "Murder ... Highly Improbable"), Ian Shand ("The Grandeur That Was Rome"), and Noel Coleman ("Return of the Cybernauts"). As a shop girl whose boredom leads to murder, Katy Wild had a brief career in horror films at the time, appearing in "The Evil of Frankenstein," "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," and "The Deadly Bees" (this was her only episode). Ending on a personal note, it was 1991 on A&E that I discovered the early AVENGERS episodes with Honor Blackman, and this was the very first time I had seen her as Cathy Gale (now of course I have them all).

Traitor in Zebra

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 30 June 2019]

Steed poses as a naval psychiatrist and Cathy Gayle as a scientist working on a naval tracking system.

The trouble is every time there are important tests; the unnamed enemy can jam it.

Sub-Lieutenant Michael Crane is under arrest for leaking the information.

Mrs Gayle and Steed meet in the local village pub. Also there are other naval officers and assorted members of the public.

When the next test takes place, it also gets jammed. This indicates Crane is innocent; after all he has been in custody the whole time. The fact that other people end up being dead should certainly point to his innocence.

The villains go through some elaborate ways to communicate with each other when they also seem to be hanging around the same pub.

This is not really a good episode, I thought it was let down by Mrs Gayle correcting Steed on wearing his officer's hat in the pub. I assumed Steed would had seen active service and would already know about such matters.