A13 – The Double Agent Affair by ©Ann Manwell

THReatened airline Strike- TRanSport difficulties – TRainS redirected
What does this all add up to? Arundel 13 a.k.a The Double Agent Affair a.k.a. the Triskaidekaphobia Affair
The thirteenth Arundel Affair was always going to be on the dark side but we didn’t expect quite so many obstacles to be put in the way of getting there – or, indeed, getting back. However we all managed to get to Arundel successfully and our fellow agents (especially Ruth with her tour of London based airports) were most helpful in getting those of us affected by disruption of the Sunday trains to the start of our journeys home
Strange goings on in the Comfort Inn
We knew it would be something different when we arrived and were given THRUSH badges. The theme for the weekend was entirely THRUSH related with the Double Agent Affair running throughout.
Blizzards in New York, London and Paris
And to think we thought it was global warming. Nope – all a dastardly THRUSH plot which was thwarted by the dynamic duo in the 1960s Pity the guys changed their careers to con man and M.E.
For the first time at a convention we watched a double episode, ‘The Concrete Overcoat Affair’. Lovely scenes throughout although I think the biggest laugh was when Illya was being pursued round the Chicago warehouse by the geriatric Mafia..Miss Diketon’s white dress with that ever so handy zip for easy access to the dagger also caused comment. In keeping with the THRUSH theme we also revisited Mother Fear in ‘TheChildren’s Day Affair’ and watched in amazement as Illya was overpowered by dough (!) and Napoleon played with trains. Finally there was ‘The THRUSH Roulette Affair’ where Illya got tortured – again. Hmmm. Third time in three episodes - Jac, are you sure the theme was THRUSH ????
THRUSH domination
The quiz this year was even more fiendish than usual. The code was really difficult to crack because the THRUSH villains were very obscure and the avian questions were very difficult as the only bird I watch is THRUSH.
Bridget’s session involved clips from various episodes and naming the THRUSH. I was surprised I could name so many of the episodes but the names of most villains escaped me. I seem to remember the actors rather than the characters.
Ruth’s THRUSH session was about how many episodes had THRUSH in them. I was really surprised at the results. Even more surprising was how many THRUSH episodes there were in later seasons after Sam Rolfe left. As far as I know he was the main user of bird names for villains. Full results here.

Bridget and her daughter wrote a short play about the murder of a courier. Scenes were played out during the day on Saturday . People who were not involved formed teams and asked three questions each after dinner to see if they could work out who ‘dun’it. To tell who the thesps were we either wore a scarf or baseball cap (very fetching Gavin) when we were in character. I had no idea who the murderer was and I am not sure how many people guessed correctly. Only one question remains – what was the significance of the Archers' theme? The winner was Rosie, who not only guessed who dunnit, but gave the best selection of clues in explaining her answer. (Bridget, having written it, was the only person who knew the answer.)

Double Agent Affair
Angela Fletcher	Ann Manwell
Jane Hickson	Bridget Calvert
Davina Frost	Anushka Smith
Hetty Rutlidge	Olwyn Hiles
Margaret Slone	Jac van de Poll
George Lindley	Gavin Llewellyn

 

 

 

 

And talking of music, the final session was ‘The Music of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ by John Burlingame. This was about the different composers and the different musical instruments used for the different seasons. I thought the intro music I remembered best was from S2 but it is actually S3.
Raffle
The raffle this year had an avian theme. As I said before I am no expert but there was debate over whether the silver bird was a pheasant or a peacock. If the winner takes it to the ‘Antiques Road Show’ we may find out – and wish we had chosen it.
Caption contest
The picture was one by the late talented Warren Oddson– this one was of the heads only – Illya in the centre – with Mr Waverly on one side and Napoleon on the other. I could not think of anything to write this year but there were plenty of entries. Won by Gwyn.
There were some references to IK having had too much to drink, one re Illya wearing his hair backwards(guess whose that was??) and one to Mount Rushmore. But the winner was Gwynn with Illya saying “Why can’t I just have a chip on my shoulder like any normal paranoid person”
One that wasn’t entered was ‘Hello, hello,hello’
And finally
As usual the service from the Comfort Inn was marvellous (although I realised just how spooked Jac was re a certain number when she reacted to the news there were 13 people from Tesco booked in. Thirteen ? she asked with a look of horror). The food was great too and I look forward to next year. I can’t remember what we used to discuss on Saturday evenings but for the last few years we have discussed the theme for the following year. Who’s got the paper hats ? As always thanks to everyone who took part and contributed but especially Jackie who even did our worrying for us about threatened airline strikes and disrupted rail travel. I hope it hasn’t driven her to the dark side – permanently.