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A Very Dangerous Game  [View Series 2 Episodes]

They told me you had 3,000 years’ experience in this game. As humble beginner, would be grateful for enlightenment WRITTEN BY: David Stone Ralph Smart DIRECTED BY: Don Chaffey FIRST BROADCAST: 07/10/1965 CAST: John Drake  ............   Patrick McGoohan Lisa Lee  ............   Yvonne Furneaux Chi Ling  ............   Peter Arne Suzy  ............   Poulet Tu Simpson  ............   Anthony Dawson Khim  ............   Burt Kwouk Dickinson  ............   Geoffrey Bayldon Comdr Corbett  ............   Dennis Ramsden George  ............   Charles Carson British Controller  ............   Mike Pratt Pauline  ............   Norma West Questioner  ............   Anthony Chinn Wardrobe Master  ............   Cyril Chamberlain Arthur  ............   Christopher Sandford Watcher  ............   Cecil Cheng Gunman  ............   Paul Tann Hostess  ............   Mona Chong Young Man in Bar  ............   Harry Brookes Second Hostess  ............   Yu-Ling Barman  ............   Tommy Yapp Manservant  ............   Donald Chan EPISODE DETAILS: ‘A Very Dangerous Game’ was the 27th second series episode and was the first Danger Man episode to be filmed at the new base of Shepperton Studios between Monday 26th April and Friday 7th May 1965. Written by David Stone and Ralph Smart ‘The Most Dangerous Game’, as it was originally called, sees Drake taking on the guise of Peter Simpson a drunken, seedy, discontented man who defects to the east. Drake’s mission is to undercover the spy network into which he has defected. The episode emphasises the power of implication. There is a scene where a British spy is lured back to the glamorous Lisa Lee’s apartment, however it’s a honey trap and contains a concealed room which acts as a torture chamber. This obliquely makes the connection between sex and sadism, through vicious looking knives housed on the walls and a bench with restraining devices. A deceptively straight-forward narrative built around the Cold War staple of the double agent, ‘A Very Dangerous Game’ has some interesting things to say about the emerging disparities of 1960’s society: The Beatles and Vaughan Williams both get a mention in relation to capitalism. The only thing that dates it as a production is using British actors to play Chinese characters, forgivable, as Arne and Furneaux are both so good. Actress Norma West recalls that her part as a glamorous M9 agent was her first big break into television. “Don Chaffey was a great supporter of the local repertory theatre where I performed and he and his wife were always mixing with the cast and crew. When the small part in Danger Man came along, he was gracious enough to offer it to me and after that I didn’t look back.” Chaffey would cast West again when he moved onto production of The Prisoner employing her in the central role of the Observer/Girl Bo-Peep in the highly surreal episode ‘Dance of the Dead.’

Episode Titles: TV Magazine Listings: Anglia Edition Oct 2nd - 8th 1965 Colour Stills: Filming Locations: There are no known locations for this episode

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