The Avengers (TV Series) Second Sight (1963) User Reviews

Steed and Mrs Gale investigate an apparently revolutionary corneal transplant

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 27 May 2017]

Steed is brought in to investigate when Marten Halvarssen, a reclusive, blind millionaire, and his doctors request permission to bring corneas harvested from a patient in Switzerland into the UK to help restore Halvarssen's sight. There are plenty of questions to be asked; notably why they must come from Switzerland and why doesn't Halvarssen go to there for the treatment? It is explained that they are to be taken from a living donor, who is about to die but there is no real explanation why he can't go there; he just states that he can't. His Doctor's, Eve Hawn and Neil Anstice are just as secretive and soon get irritated with Steed's, and later Cathy's, questions. Cathy and another doctor accompany Drs Hawn and Anstice to the Swiss clinic and again Cathy is convinced that things aren't what they seem. Something that seems more obvious after the other doctors 'accidentally' falls off a balcony! It isn't until they return with the 'corneas' that we discover what was really going on.

This was a pretty solid episode; the plot was intriguing and even slightly disturbing… the possibility that corneas were being taken from unwilling live patients wasn't explicitly raised but one couldn't help thinking it was a possibility. The ultimate explanation was somewhat more mundane but not disappointing enough to spoil what went before. The cast does a solid job; notably 'Avengers' regular Peter Bowles who does a fine job as Anstice, the most obvious villain, and John Carson who excels as the Halvarssen, a far more ambiguous character. There is some decent action towards the end. Overall I rather enjoyed this episode.

The Clinic in Switzerland Caper

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 11 April 2023]

Steed is called in when someone in his office suspects something dodgy is going on regarding a pair of doctors wanting to bring medical transplant tissue into the country under extremely-secretive and secure fashion. Per his usual habits, he cons Cathy into helping, using her credentials as a "doctor" for a thinly-disguised cover, which mostly serves to annoy the people involved. It seems a very reclusive millionaire who lost his sight during WW2 is hoping to get it back via cornea transplants-- from a LIVE doner who is about to die. Taking Cathy's suggestion to "get a second opinion", Steed recruits an old collegue of his, Dr. Spender, who is cranky, arrogant, egotistical, and SEXIST as well. "Never thought I'd see YOU in a Whitehall job, Steed!" That's far more polite than he was to Cathy, as he feels women should "leave these things to the men." And what does it get him? An "accident" involving a balcony and an 800-FOOT sheer drop. If Steed wasn't suspicious before that, he sure was AFTER!

The technical tedium in this episode is simpler than most, and in some ways Martin Woodhouse's script reminds me of some of Leslie Stevens' writing on THE OUTER LIMITS-- taking an idea and stretching the audience's patience past their limits to try and convince them that what's going on is real and "authentic". But really, as was probably obvious from the start, things are NOT on the up-and-up-- and the drama that arises from it really stems from the millionaire being conned by the "professional" criminals he employed to pull off a "simple" smuggling scheme.

What a cast! John Carson is "Marten Halvarssen", the rich blind guy who masterminds the scheme. Despite his handicap, he's really handy with a GUN-- which comes in handy at the climax. I'll probably always remember him most from TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA.

Peter Bowles is "Neil Anstice", the smiling, laughing "professional" who plans to make off with the booty AND his boss' finacee. He's been a favorite of mine since I first saw TO THE MANOR BORN.

Ronald Adam is "Dr. Spender", a character who may know a lot, but has a terrible attitude about it and a worse way of dealing with other people. I've seen him in quite a few things, but the ones that stand out the most for me was his role as the Chief of Surgery in GREEN FOR DANGER (1946), the classic wartime hospital drama-soap opera-murder mystery; and, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964), where he played the Minister in the cemetery who told Verden Fell, speaking of Fell and his late wife, "You two must have MET IN HELL!" (And they wonder why so many people have stopped going to church.)

Once again, production designer Terry Green just about steals the episode with his outstanding set designs. The Swiss Clinic in particular, crazy enough, reminds me of the one seen decades later in the 007 film SPECTRE (2015). Watching these, it often feels the show is straining at the leash, impatiently waiting for FILM production and more-exciting scripts to arrive.

Less here than meets the eye

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 29 January 2011]

"Second Sight" begins well as a story about a corneal transplant designed to restore the sight of wealthy blind philanthropist Marten Halvarssen (John Carson), degenerating into an all-too-predictable tale of diamond smuggling. Most disappointing of all is the excellent Carson, previously seen in "A Chorus of Frogs," sadly given little to do until the climax. Always a fine villain, Peter Bowles makes his series debut here, making time with Halvarssen's sexy fiancée (Judy Bruce), returning in "Dial a Deadly Number," "Escape in Time," and "Get-A-Way!" Also on hand as a shady doctor is Steven Scott, who previously appeared in the lost episode "Dragonsfield," and would go on to do a silent villain in "Split!"