Sapphire & Steel: Assignment One- Escape Through a Crack in Time, Part 4

 "Well, I sank the real one, yes."

In some ways this fourth episode gives us spins on what we've already seen, not that this is a bad thing as the concepts have hardly lost their novelty. Hence we have last week's haunting cliffhanger resolved by Steel having frozen himself to absolute zero, returning Sapphire to reality somehow, and freezing the Roundheads. We have a new nursery rhyme at the end causing wind, well-directed chaos and more Roundheads. Again, we have a compelling piece of weird horror that doesn't place huge demands on the budget.

We also, this time, get some answers as to whom Sapphire and Steel are- although, as the best answers do, they only serve to give us further questions. So the oft-mentioned ship turns out to have been the Mary Celeste. And, as Sapphire tells Rob, there are 127beings like Steel and herself- only for Steel to reduce that number to 115 because the "Transuranics" are unstable. That still doesn't explain why Sapphire, Steel, and several other agents named in the opening monologue are not actually elements but never mind.

Of course, the episode is mostly about the appearance of Lead, a jolly giant with mysterious "insulation" powers. He's full of intriguing gossip, too- "Jet sends her love", and "Copper's having problems with Silver- again". I suspect al this will never be fully fleshed at, only hinted at like this- which is as it should be. I wonder how much more mythology will be let slip over the series.

This is still excellent stuff, pacing its six parts very well indeed.