7cb1d79195 A thief steals two gold-plated eggs from Dr. Ashe, not realizing they house a deadly virus. Even though the burglar becomes extremely ill, he refuses to reveal where he has hidden the eggs. "The Golden Eggs" is a potentially gripping story that doesn't quite make it, but still winds up as one of the second season's better episodes. Peter Arne (previously seen in "Warlock") once again portrays the villain, Julius Redfern, a low key, self absorbed madman who hires a petty thief (Gordon Whiting, "The Cybernauts") to steal a pair of gold-plated eggs containing a deadly infectious virus, without telling him how dangerous they are. The thief becomes ill, and his wife (Irene Bradshaw, "One for the Mortuary" and "Murdersville") has no idea where he has hidden the eggs, so Cathy Gale, basically working solo, becomes the one to find them and foil Redfern's plot to benefit from germ warfare. Donald Eccles plays Dr. Ashe, the creator of the virus, and Pauline Delany ("The 50,000 Breakfast") plays his assistant, secretly working for Redfern, until Cathy convinces her to turn against him in a climax worth waiting for. This episode opens with a burglar breaking into a private laboratory; after knocking out the scientist he steal two golden eggs. These aren't eggs made of gold though; they contain a highly contagious virus. It turns out that the thief was working for another man who didn't tell him and now he is very ill. Unwilling to hand over the eggs till he is treated he hides them.<br/><br/>Meanwhile Cathy goes to the lab posing as a magazine reporter to try to discover what was actually stolenĀ news reports said nothing was taken but the authorities aren't so certain. Once it is established what was taken it becomes vital that Cathy and Steed recover it before the man behind the robbery can find it and sell it to the highest bidder.<br/><br/>As this episode opened one could be forgiven that it was going to be lighter fare with its golden eggs that could have come straight from a pantomimeĀ it is actually fairly dark with its story of a stolen deadly virus. The threat is emphasised by comparing it to 'mixamatosis for humans'; given what the deliberate use of that disease against the British rabbit population in the '50s viewers at the time would know just how bad it was meant to be. The villain is suitable unpleasant even though he personally stays clear of the real nastiness; Peter Arne does a fine job in this understated role. There is a decent amount of action including a deliberately engineered crash. Overall this is a solid episode.
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