Gone to seed

Two thieves snatch Jane Bedfordshire's bag in an Italian square; they look like they are getting away on a motorbike, heading straight past Alex. Alex hurls bird seed all over them, which attracts hundreds of pigeons, causing the bike to crash head first into a fountain.

Pole position

While trying to follow a motor launch in Venice, Alex grabs a passing gondolier's oar and pole-vaults onto a departing water bus in order not to lose sight of the boat.

Rising damp

Nile locks Alex in an underground room in the Widow's Palace. As the tide rises in the canal, the room starts to flood, and Alex is in danger of drowning. Alex manages to make a hole in the floorboards big enough to squeeze through, and escapes. He has to hold his breath for a long time, which he is able to do because of his diving experience. Eventually he surfaces in the Grand Canal.

Ace of BASE

The only way into the heavily guarded Consanto Enterprises complex is to jump off the cliff behind it, and free-fall before parachuting the rest - a technique known as BASE jumping. Jerry Harris is able to lend Alex the equipment and talks Alex through the jump. BASE stands for the four categories of objects that can be jumped from: Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges) and Earth (usually, cliffs.)

Hit and run

A fake car accident is orchestrated by MI6 in order to allow Alex to "escape" from MI6 custody and return to Scorpia without arousing suspicion. The car with Alex in it, under guard, apparently loses control on the Westway leading out of London. At least a dozen other cars are involved, including a Fiat Uno and a BMW, and a van full of flowers. A taxi, trying to avoid the chaos, hits a crash barrier and catapults over the edge, smashing into the upstairs window of a house. No one is killed, although a dozen people are rushed to hospital, apparently injured. This staged event makes the six o'clock news. The road is then closed. Witnesses claim to see a boy (Alex) in the front car get out and disappear through traffic.

Hot air

Alex grabs hold of one of the ropes hanging from Scorpia's rising hot-air balloon and climbs up to the plastic platform holding the terahertz dishes to try to disconnect them. He eventually uses one of Nile's samurai swords to slash through the rubber pipes feeding the burner. When the platform breaks away from the balloon, Alex clings onto the balloon fabric with one hand, and a rope with the other, and is carried over London, until he drifts down to land safely on edge of Hyde Park.