The Better Mousetrap

A typical Templar framed for jewellery theft episode is standard, yet entertaining with some interesting characters. Ronnie Barker as the inspector's assistant and his superior are quite amusing as the bumbling policemen, who grab the wrong person for the theft, so it's up to the Saint to do their job for them - there's plenty of balcony climbing, twists and turns - nice episode.

The Riviera is a magnet for jewel thieves and for the jewel owners this is bad news. Ronnie Barker provides some of the light hearted moments as Alfonse, the bumbling French bobby! The rest of the cast is strong, too, which keeps the rather silly story at least watchable. The attempts by the program makers to make this series (and particularly this episode) full of ritzy glamour are hit and miss, depending on which episode you watch. In this episode it's a fail. It looks like the color episodes didn't have the same budget as the black and white episodes.

One of the common reoccurring themes in the Saint stories, where he is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Here jewel thieves learn to their cost that it's not a wise move. A fairly standard episode with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting but with such a small cast,it's pretty easy to figure out who the mystery villain turns out to be. As it's set on the Riviera, there's a lot of 'azzents of ze 'Allo,Allo kind,' and with a young Ronnie Barker as a bumbling police sergeant,it does get somewhat Inspector Clouseau at times.

As a added bonus, there is the absolutely drop dead gorgeous Alexandra Stewart as Simon's confidante and love interest.