A stamp collector is murdered after he discovers an extremely rare penny stamp being offered for sale on the open market. Cathy takes a job in the stamp collectors store to gather more information, but is unable to prevent a murder in an auction room. Never let it be said that "entertainment" can't be educational. It's thanks to this episode some years ago I first heard about the island Republic of Mauritius, which is off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. (I had to look it up myself; if that fact was mentioned anywhere in the episode itself, it must be somewhere in the 8-1/2 minutes CUT by A&E when they ran it in the early 90's.) <br/><br/>Another "talky" and technical episode, this one involving the rare stamp market. Apart from trying even my patience in a few spots (and I used to COLLECT stamps decades ago!), the major flaw I found in this story was giving away the big mystery in only the 3rd scene! This is the sort of thing that ruined several otherwise terrific episodes of THE NEW AVENGERS, and it's unfortunate to see it crop up this early in the show's history. When the audience knows too much too early, it makes the heroes look slow-witted by comparison.<br/><br/>It's surprising seeing this sort of thing from Malcolm Hulke AND Terrence Dicks, as they were each among the best writers DOCTOR WHO ever had (Hulke having written some 54 episodes of that show, while Dicks acted as script editor for 5 whole years). Terrence Dicks wrote a similar scenario for Tom Baker's very 1st DOCTOR WHO story, "Robot", but in there, had the sense to hold back the intended "takeover" plot until the 2nd half of the story! <br/><br/>Steed really takes a beating in this one. First he's overpowered in his flat by two thugs posing as officers from the Criminal Investigation Division, later he's knocked out in a dentist's office while posing as a patient. As expected, he makes up for it by the end.<br/><br/>Rare stamps prove to be another of Mrs. Gale's interests, and I was frankly surprised when Steed went to the shop himself early-on instead of getting her to do it. Later, a big mistake is made when he does convince her to take a job at the same store, but only AFTER she's been very visible at a stamp auction. Maybe Steed should have considered occasionally working with a slightly bigger "team"? <br/><br/>Among the cast are David Langton, who, 21 years later, played Sir Henry Baskerville in the Ian Richardson big-budget version of HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and Richard Vernon, who I've seen in THE SATANIC RITES OF Dracula, UFO ("The Sound Of Silence"), GOLDFINGER (which, of course, also featured Honor Blackman, but not in any scenes together), THE TOMB OF LIEGIA (as Elisabeth Sheppard's father), THE SAINT ("The Elusive Ellshaw"), and the man on the train in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT ("I've been traveling on this line for 20 years!"). Among the best of Cathy Gale, "The Mauritius Penny" paired Honor Blackman and Richard Vernon two years before they both appeared in "Goldfinger." The title refers to a rare stamp, only two in existence, whose sudden unauthorized appearance leads to a rash of murders perpetrated by a Nazi-type organization targeting not just England, but all the capital cities in Western Europe. The Avengers find themselves surrounded by a multitude of villains, led by Alfred Burke (from "Dragonsfield" and "The Girl from Auntie"), the first assassin knocked out by a judo blow from Cathy Gale, and Sylva Langova (also from "Dragonsfield"), as a less-than-trustworthy dentist (no Novocaine!). Other series veterans included Anthony Blackshaw (previously seen in "The Sell-Out"), David Langton ("November Five" and "The 50,000 Breakfast"), Harry Shacklock ("A Change of Bait," "Man-Eater of Surrey Green," and "Thingumajig"), Edward Higgins ("The Forget-Me-Not"), and Edwin Brown ("The Nutshell"). This was the second appearance of Steed's Dalmatian Freckles, left unharmed when her master gets knocked unconscious by intruders posing as police investigators.
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