Variations On A Theme

Director: Cyril Frankel

Original broadcast date: October 20th, 1971.
Screenplay: Philip Broadley.

During a trip to Vienna, Jason finds himself the bait in a trap to catch a double agent.

Cast
PETER WYNGARDE Jason King
MAGDA KONOPKA Greta Weiss
JULIAN GLOVER John

MICHAEL DAVID Dischev
JANOS KURUCZ Balenov
ALEXANDRA BASTEDO Alexandra
RALPH BATES Keeble
ERIC PJOLMANN Kolkov

WALTER HERTNER Hoffman
BASIL DIGNAM Viney
SEBASTIAN BREAKS Hazell
COLIN VANCAO Croupier
WILL KNIGHTLY Waiter
ADRIAN HALL Bell Boy

Original ITC Synopsis (contains spoilers)

Vienna - city of song. But the song has a sinister note for Jason King when rival factions seek to use him as bait to trap a double-agent.

Alan Keeble is dead. Or so his girl-friend Greta Weiss (MAGDA KONOPKA) believes. His friend of years back, Jason King (PETER WYNGARDE), also believes that the man who became a double-agent has met his death - until he receives a message from Greta asking him to go to Vienna. Keeble has communicated with her, asking her to contact Jason because he needs his help.

Double Agents lead dangerous lives, and both the British and the Russians suspect that Keeble is still alive. Both have reasons to believe that he is heading for Vienna. And both want him.

Jason King is therefore the subject of close interest. The British, headed by John (JULIAN GLOVER) and the Russians, headed by Dischev (MICHAEL DAVID) and Balenkov (JANOS KURUCZ), both use ruses to keep Jason in Vienna until Keeble turns up, and their ruses are identical. They warn him to get out of Vienna, which is a sure way of keeping him there!

The Russians also send one of their most glamorous secret agents, Alexandra (ALEXANDRA BASTEDO), to Vienna, knowing Jason's susceptibility to the opposite sex. She poses as a Swedish journalist who wants to interview him. She also bugs his telephone so that any conversations he might have with Greta will be tape-recorded.

Jason arranges one meeting after another with Greta, but she senses danger and fails to keep the appointments until they manage to meet at last in a casino, where they arrange a code. And at last he receives the coded message that Keeble (RALPH BATES) has arrived and a rendezvous is fixed.

Keeble is close to desperation. His greatest hope lies in a little black book which is full of vital information. Can Jason arrange with the British to guarantee him immunity in exchange for this book?

Jason goes to the British agent, John, who at first tries to persuade him to double-cross Keeble, then agrees to make a deal. But Jason doesn't trust him. What shall he say when he sees Keeble again - that the answer is "Yes" or "No"?