A Touch of Brimstone

"**A Touch of Brimstone**"
"A Touch of Brimstone"
The Avengers episode
	Screen title
Episode no.	Season 4; Episode 21
Written by	Brian Clemens
Produced by	Brian Clemens and Julian Wintle
Featured music	Laurie Johnson
Production code	4-21
Original air date	9 February 1966
Guest appearances
	Peter Wyngarde; Colin Jeavons; Carol Cleveland; Robert Cawdron
Episode chronology
← Previous; ""	Next →; "What the Butler Saw"
	List of episodes

"A Touch of Brimstone" is the twenty-first episode of the fourth series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. It originally aired on ABC on 18 February 1966. The episode was directed by James Hill (known for A Study in Terror and Born Free) and written by Brian Clemens.

The episode is widely known for Diana Rigg's risqué "Queen of Sin" costume (which she designed herself), and was the most watched episode of The Avengers on its original showing. There is a publicity still of the "Queen of Sin" holding James Hill, the episode's director, on a leash.

Plot[]

Steed and Peel are investigating Cartney, who is suspected of involvement in pranks on high profile political and business figures. Through subterfuge, Peel affects a connection with Cartney, who is attracted to her. She overhears Darcy arriving and informs Cartney that he has arranged another prank. Steed infiltrates Darcy's residence and, after knocking out Cartney's housekeeper, Horace, finds a pair of rubber scissors. Real scissors are used on an electrified ribbon by an official opening the "International Friendship Club", killing him.

Darcy did not expect to be involved in murder and is distraught. Steed gets him drunk and, under the pretence of knowing him from a party, learns of the Hellfire Club, which is responsible for the pranks. Peel visits Cartney and discovers information that leads to the Club, an organization that engages in orgiastic rituals and which revels in "ultimate sins", replicating the historic Hellfire Club as closely as possible.

During a Club party, Darcy arrives and demands a meeting with the superiors on the "Circle of Justice", asking why they plotted a murder and implicated him. The centre of the circle opens as a trapdoor and Darcy is killed. On Peel's recommendation, Steed stands to join the Hellfire Club and is given two membership tests, firstly drinking a large amount of alcohol (which he does easily) and then removing a pea guarded by an axe-wielding member. Rather than trying to grab the pea, like another member who lost two fingers, Steed blows the pea away as the axe descends. Steed is welcomed by the group and overhears that the Club is planning a coup which will have the "whole country up in arms". The following day, Steed and Peel attend the next event, and spot a cache of explosives. Steed questions a drunk girl and deduces that the Club intend to blow up Culverston House, where three foreign leaders are staying. Peel re-enters in a "Queen of Sin" outfit, holding a snake. Cartney tells the group "She’s yours to do with as you will". Members carry Peel, throwing rose petals on her. As the revellers watch a fight, Horace recognizes Steed and exposes him as a spy. Steed wins the ensuing sword duel against the club expert. Peel defeats two members laying out explosives underground, before being attacked with a whip by Cartney, who drops to his death through the trapdoor when his whip catches the switch.

Cast[]

Patrick Macnee as John Steed
Diana Rigg as Emma Peel
Peter Wyngarde as The Honorable John Cleverly Cartney
Colin Jeavons as Lord Darcy
Carol Cleveland as Sara Bradley
Robert Cawdron as Horace
Michael Latimer as Roger Winthrop / Lord Lakeham
Jeremy Young as Willy Frant / Lord Castigan
Bill Wallis as Tubby Bunn / Lord Ragsland
Steve Plytas as Boris Kartovski
Art Thomas as Pierre
Alf Joint as Big Man
Bill Reed as Huge Man

Production[]

Production for the episode was completed from mid-late December 1965.^[1] The episode was directed by James Hill.

Reception and influence[]

The episode is best known for the scene in which Peel dons a revealing, kinky^[2] "Queen of Sin" costume (which Diana Rigg designed herself), complete with a dog collar with three-inch spikes, whalebone corset, and high leather boots, with a large snake.^[3]^[4] It is the Hellfire club members who dress her this way; she appears for less than ten minutes of show time in this manner, always demure, though ending with Cartney attacking her with a whip. As a result of this and other elements, the episode was not broadcast when The Avengers aired on American network television; it did air on British television, but with the whipping scene edited down to one crack of the whip, due to objections made by Associated-Rediffusion Television. James Chapman said of the episode, "With its visual references to sado-masochistic pornography, 'A Touch of Brimstone' unsurprisingly ran into censorship difficulties with the ITV network; it was not screened in America at all."^[5] The episode has been cited as one of Diana Rigg's finest.^[6] The members of the Hellfire Club have been described as engaging in "uninhibited debauchery".^[7]

This episode was Chris Claremont's inspiration for the Hellfire Club in Marvel Comics' "X-Men", and in particular the story arc in Uncanny X-Men #132-134. Hellfire Club member Jason Wyngarde's name and likeness is based on Peter Wyngarde (who was later known for the role of Jason King).^[8]

This episode inspired the band The Electric Hellfire Club's namesake; in addition, the episode is heavily sampled and used as audio cues/samples in several of EHC's songs, such as: Evil Genius (Queen of Sin) and HellFire!

References[]

^ "A Touch of Brimstone". The Avengers Forever!. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ Carruthers, Jo; Tate, Andrew (2010). Spiritual Identities: Literature and the Post-Secular Imagination. Peter Lang. p. 204. ISBN 978-3-03911-925-7.
^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video Games, Film, and Television. ABC-CLIO. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-313-37612-2.
^ White, Ellen Emerson (2007). Long May She Reign. Macmillan. p. 636. ISBN 978-0-312-36767-1.
^ Chapman, James (2002). Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s. I.B.Tauris. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-86064-753-6.
^ Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (2002). Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973. McFarland. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-7864-1194-8.
^ Pratt, Douglas (2004). Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!. UNET 2 Corporation. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-932916-00-3.
^ "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #44! | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources". Goodcomics.comicbookresources.com. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

External links[]

[1] "A Touch of Brimstone". The Avengers Forever!. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

[CarruthersTate2010-2] Carruthers, Jo; Tate, Andrew (2010). Spiritual Identities: Literature and the Post-Secular Imagination. Peter Lang. p. 204. ISBN 978-3-03911-925-7.

[Knight2010-3] Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video Games, Film, and Television. ABC-CLIO. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-313-37612-2.

[White2007-4] White, Ellen Emerson (2007). Long May She Reign. Macmillan. p. 636. ISBN 978-0-312-36767-1.

[Chapman2002-5] Chapman, James (2002). Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s. I.B.Tauris. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-86064-753-6.

[LisantiPaul2002-6] Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (2002). Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973. McFarland. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-7864-1194-8.

[Pratt2004-7] Pratt, Douglas (2004). Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!. UNET 2 Corporation. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-932916-00-3.

[8] "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #44! | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources". Goodcomics.comicbookresources.com. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

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