Sting in the Tail 

Noureddine assassinates the Shah of Assimi and Drake is brought in to get him to leave Beirut and travel to where he can be arrested. He does this by impersonating a struggling artist and befriending Noureddine's girlfriend.

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Philip Broadley, Ralph Smart (series devised by)

Stars:

Patrick McGoohan, Ronald Radd, Derren Nesbitt

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick McGoohan	...	John Drake
Ronald Radd	...	Alexandros
Derren Nesbitt	...	Rachid Noureddine
John Standing	...	James
Jeanne Roland	...	Marie Valedon
David Collings	...	Stephen Miller
Jeremy Spenser	...	Shah of Assimi
Julian Somers	...	Police Inspector
Andrew Laurence	...	Sir Alan
Mary Webster	...	Daphne Miller
Ernst Ulman	...	Bulack
Juliet Harmer	...	Michele
Christine Child	...	Model
Neville Becker	...	Messadi
Jose Berlinka	...	Cafe Owner

Storyline

Noureddine assassinates the Shah of Assimi and Drake is brought in to get him to leave Beirut and travel to where he can be arrested. He does this by impersonating a struggling artist and befriending Noureddine's girlfriend by presenting her with a portrait. The ruse works and Noureddine becomes very jealous of Drake. Drake now has to convince him that his girlfriend has left him and gone to Paris with Drake. There was just one small unforeseen difficulty.

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Plot Keywords:

television | 1960s | series | spy | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 1965 (USA)

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"You could do for me what the Gioconda did for Leonardo." The Mona Lisa is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

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Soundtracks

She's Not There
(French version "Te Voilà," lyric by Jacques Chaumelle)
Written by Rod Argent
Performed by Jeanne Roland

User Reviews

One of the best of the series.

"Sting in the Tail" is among the very best episodes of Patrick McGoohan's series "Secret Agent". It has everything going for it--a beautiful girl, a crazy-dangerous foe and a tense and unusually violent ending.

When the show begins, Noureddine (Derren Nesbitt) sneaks out of Beirut and assassinates a Shah. Drake's job is to go to Lebanon and get Noureddine to leave the country so that he can be brought to justice. Noureddine is a cool customer and his one weakness is his girlfriend, Marie Valedon (Jeanne Roland*). So, Drake's plan is to convince the killer that he and Marie have run off together--hoping that the hot- tempered Noureddine will follow them to Paris--and be arrested. However, the plan does not go as planned at all and it's up to an unusual ending to rid Drake of his problem.

One of the best things about this show was Jeanne Roland. While she was very convincing as a French-speaking woman, Jean Rollins (her real name) is very British as was simply smashing playing her character. Likewise, Darren Nesbitt was an unusual villain--cold, cruel and one scary guy. Together, they give McGoohan excellent support in this one and the writing is also tense and effective. Well worth seeing.