Danger Man (TV Series) The Vacation (1961) User Reviews

Don't you hate it when vacations go this way?!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 15 November 2013]

This is unusual. "The Vacation" is about an assassin and the previous episode ("Name, Date and Place") is all about assassins as well! I'm surprised they didn't show the episodes in a different order because of this.

When the episode begins, Drake (Patrick McGoohan) is leaving on a well-earned vacation. However, coincidentally, on the plane he notices that the guy sitting next to him is an assassin! Drake says nothing and behaves nonchalant. Later, Drake visits the man's room and decks him--then phones the police to collect the killer. Soon, there's a knock at the door--the client who's hired the assassin is there and when Drake opens the door, the guy thinks Drake is the killer. Drake plays along and is taken to a villa to learn more about his assignment. Hopefully, he can stop whatever it is they have planned. The problem is, determining who put out the contract turns out to be very difficult, as they are quite tricky and cautious.

This is clearly one of the better episodes--well thought out and original. While it relies on the ridiculous coincidence of meeting an assassin on the plane, it works well and is very clever.

Drake poses as an assassin

[bensonmum2 · 8/10 · 14 July 2015]

John Drake's Mission: While on vacation, Drake happens to cross paths with a man he recognizes as an assassin. Drake decides he must take action to stop this cold-blooded killer.

The Vacation is a top-notch Danger Man episode. The script is excellent and full of nice twists and turns. The Vacation cold have easily filed an hour timeslot. One element of the plot that really worked for me was watching Drake work "on the fly" unlike his normal cases. Drake wasn't prepared for this mission. Not only does Drake assume the identity of a man he knows nothing about, he also knows nothing of the intended target or the person who ordered the killing in the first place. Watching McGoohan blindly asking questions as he tries to figure out what's going on is very well done.

Not only did McGoohan star as Drake, but The Vacation is also his first directorial credit. He did an excellent job of crafting a well paced, entertaining episode.

Drake gets his vacation... or does he?

[NellsFlickers · 8/10 · 25 March 2020]

A good episode directed by Patrick McGoohan himself. After four years, Drake finally gets a vacation, but it is ruined when he finds himself sitting next to a hit-man on the airplane. He knows someone is to be killed, so he assumes the killer's identity to find out who and when. The whole "who is supposed to get whacked" plot is, at times, a little thin, but it isn't much of an issue in this one. Recommended.

Featuring Jacqueline Ellis

[TheFearmakers · 10/10 · 17 October 2022]

When it comes to 1960's British spy television, Patrick McGoohan is an icon in a rock-skipping fashion with DANGER MAN, playing agent John Drake, sustaining with SECRET AGENT and then THE PRISONER (more a spiritual than literal continuation), and in the first series, actress Jacqueline Ellis... usually cast as the good girl-next-door type for the overall crime genre... is the... um... well...

That's a spoiler because her character... the niece of a very rich fella sought by a professional hit man (Hugh McDermott, who'd play Ellis's husband on THE SAINT) that Drake's impersonating after recognizing and then knocking him out in an airplane... initially seems like the target, and whether she's practicing tennis or urgently warned by the always-intense McGoohan, she's cuter than ever in an excellently tight-knit, no-nonsense episode.

Danger man to the rescue

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 1 October 2021]

Drake -aka danger man - poses as an assassin who is hired to kill someone - an unnamed target, but Drake's going to find out in this fast-paced, well-plotted tale that lays on enough suspense till the end. Patrick Macgoohan, as always, is a treat to watch with his snappy, resourceful and intelligent depiction of Drake.