Customer Reviews

The Avengers '63, Set 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For all the fans of The Avengers familiar with the Emma Peel/Tara King era of the show, these early episodes featuring Cathy Gale and Venus Smith may come as something of a disappointment. In fact, fans of the later shows may find it hard to believe that they are even part of the same TV series!

After the initial run of 26 episodes featuring Police Surgeon David Keel and his cohort John Steed had aired in the UK in 1961/62, the producers of the program opted to bring Steed to the forefront of the action and give him a number of different "assistants." Thus, for season two, 26 further episodes were made and broadcast in 1962/63 featuring Steed abetted by Martin King, Venus Smith or Cathy Gale. Mrs. Gale turned out to be the most popular and successful foil for the suave agent, and the other characters did not return after season two. Unlike the later Peel/King stories which were all made on film, these studio based TV shows are much more reliant on dialogue and plot than visual elements, and can be somewhat heavy going as a result.

A&E is releasing these stories in a somewhat confusing order, and has started with season three. The first two sets released, Avengers 64 1 & 2, feature the LAST six episodes of season three. Next comes Avengers 63 sets 1 & 2 which comprises of the first half of the season. Next up in the release order is 63 sets 3 & 4 which precede 1 & 2 in running order and in fact feature the last seven stories from season two, plus the first from season three. Confused? Ultimately, it doesn't really matter, since thankfully there's no real reason to watch the stories in chronological order anyway.

What is interesting is the development of the production standards. 63 sets 3 & 4, featuring the latter stories from season two, are far more rudimentary in terms of production quality. The sets are extremely small and sparse; The direction very slap-hazard; Camera work shoddy; Sound is extremely poor; and the acting is negligible. With no budget for editing or reshooting, all the actor's fluffs and goofs stayed in. Steed's character is far less suave and sophisticated then he became later during his familiar role alongside Mrs. Peel, and the relationship with Mrs. Gale in particular is at first downright hostile with very little warmth between the two. He seems to get along much better with Miss Venus Smith, a night club singer who he engages at various gigs to act as his eyes and ears. Venus is a very odd character, and played strangely, but enthusiastically by Julie Stevens. She looks about 12, sings like she's forty, and dresses like anything in between. She also seems extremely naïve and it's hard to imagine why Steed engages her to help him at all. The far more intelligent and elegant Mrs. Gale does eventually warm up to Steed, and in the season three stories where she is the exclusive companion to him, their relationship develops nicely and they become much warmer and closer to each other.

The production values on season three are also much better than the earlier episodes. The sets became larger and more elaborate. The direction, lighting and sound improved greatly and the acting was much less wooden. Some editing was clearly allowed on these later stories, whereas the earlier ones clearly were broadcast as if they were live. There's a terrific blunder in "Six hands across a table," where Cathy is called "Ros" in one scene, and both actors realize the mistake, but keep going.

The quality of the DVD's is somewhat disappointing, even accounting for the age of the material and the production values mentioned above. It may not be the case, but it certainly appears that A&E have made no attempt whatsoever to re-master the original tapes, and the flaws, jumps, scratches and sound blips are too numerous to mention. Virtually every episode on 63 sets 3 & 4 are hampered by picture and sound flaws and defects. Things do improve for 63 1 & 2 and 64 1 & 2, but the quality is still disappointing. Mind you, it appears they have done nothing to clean up the Tara King episodes either!

As a big fan of the series, I wouldn't even consider not having these episodes in my collection, but if you're looking for the wacky camp humor and the tele-fantasy of the Peel/King eras, these stories may not be for you.

When A&E began to make available the almost legendary Cathy Gale episodes instead of the Tara King ones (for which I had voted), I found myself somewhat disappointed with them. The pace at which many of the episodes were performed during that 1964 season was often very slow before Honor Blackman went off to join James Bond and Diana Rigg became the pin-up queen of the world of undercover agents.

The six episodes of the <Avengers '63, Set 1> (AEE 70076) are considerably more interesting, if just a bit more difficult to hear due to slightly fuzzier sound and more primitive microphone techniques. And while in the '64 set A&E had let an intrusive fly get between the original tapes and the DVD copy, we have here in the last episode of this set some pretty bad "flag waving" at the top of the screen that should have been dealt with before release.

But as far as the programs themselves are concerned, things are a lot brighter. "The Undertakers" is a look ahead to the very last Avengers episode in which rich men are allowed to "die" and stay underground until the heat dies down. Here they seem to be brought to a rest home of sorts until the 5-year suicide clause in their insurance lapses. "Man With Two Shadows" pre-echoes "They Keep Killing Steed" from 1968; while "The Nutshell" has Steed a prime suspect just as he was going to be in "Who Was That Man I Saw You With?" in 1969. (Very different plots, but pretty much the same basic concept.)

There is much ado about selling and buying stocks in "Death of a Batman" (not a caped crusader, but a sort of valet to British officers) and about British politics (you must know what a backbench man is) in "November Five." "The Gilded Cage" is notable for the only role given in this series to a black actor until "Have Guns, Will Haggle" 4 years later.

There is seldom the sparks-go-flying chemistry between Gale and Steed as there was going to be between Peel and Steed; and the horrible percussion that inevitably accompanies the fights do not make them any more exciting--but at least we know that doubles are not being used and it was shot "live" after all. Further, Johnny Dankworth's music is somewhat repetitious and unimaginative; the scores by Laurie Johnson for the Rigg series will be witty and appropriate.

Still, it is not fair to judge this set by what was to come. So where I gave the '64 set four stars, I should but am not permitted to give this one 4 1/2. Therefore I will deduct a point for that flag waving and recommend this one as jolly good fun.

I own all 4 VHS sets with Honor Blackman. As a yuppy with only the knowledge of Mrs. Peel replayed over and over, it was hard to accept another partner for Steed. But the more I watch Mrs. Gayle, the more I like her. Mrs. Gayle is more real, and more of an adversary to the foe than Mrs. Peel. Mrs. Gayle fights men and wins. Mrs. Gayle isn't put in "cat-fights" with other women. Sometimes the show seems to have been taped live, but it's fun to catch the mistakes and how they worked around them. You can tell they're not in the correct order in the sets. If you can figure out the order they were aired, you should try to watch them in order. You can't watch just one.

`The Nutshell,' `The Gilded Cage,' `The Man with Two Shadows,' `The Undertakers,' `Death of a Batman' and `November Five' are the six reasons! `The Avengers" was a popular 1960's British fantasy-adventure series that focused on the exploits of a male-female duo in the service of the British government. The series underwent several changes of its female lead but its one constant male lead was John Steed always portrayed by the debonair Patrick Macnee (Originally the John Steed had two male partners but that format eventually changed). Kathy Gale portrayed by Honor Blackman became Steed's first female partner. However, when Honor Blackman departed the series and Diana Rigg entered as Mrs. Emma Peel, the show became an international sensation. Rigg brought sophistication, wit, charm and beauty, which hid her lethal and highly visual judo and karate abilities. Macnee and Rigg complemented each other beautifully with their carefree witty and charming exchange of dialogue. The show distinguished itself with bizarre and futuristic villains and fantastic plots. Popular at the height of the James Bond craze, the show was able to distinguish itself with its simply over-the-top visual style. Laurie Johnson's catchy and sophisticated main title theme matched the visuals of the show and still conjures up an image of the series when listened to today. When Diana Rigg left the series, Linda Thorson entered as John Steed's new partner Tara King. The series soon went off the air in the United States. It was a shame because the episodes with Tara King were quite good. The King episodes seemed to be a little more down to earth and contained some very good writing and intricate plotting. In any event series definitely left its mark amongst the finest. These DVD copies are gorgeous and they sound great in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.

This DVD set was my introduction to the Avengers TV series-- which I had heard much about, but had never seen. I didn't really know what to expect from it, but having just finished watching all six episodes from this, I have to say, "Wow!" What really impressed me about these shows was the fact that-- hmm, how to put this-- that they seem to have been written and produced with the assumption that the audience wasn't a bunch of morons. The plots are clever, subtle, filled with surprising turns, and are at times surprisingly complex, with multiple levels of deception and motivation taking place... and with 'the truth' not being resolved fully to the very end. Although the substance of the show isn't exactly intellectual (it's mostly a secret agent thriller but with a bit of a detective story thrown in) it's just done in a very smart manner and that require the viewer to pay attention to subtle details in dialogue, action, and visuals.

Really, this may be one of the best TV series I've ever seen. My only substantive complaint is that the fight scenes (both hand-to-hand and fireharms) often look a bit corny... but they're really just a small part of the shows, which tend to focus more on the 'intelligence' side of intelligence work... deception, buying people off, double-crossing, etc., than on physical action.

I am, however, mildly disappointed about the technical quality of the shows as they appear on the DVD. While it's perfectly watchable and listenable, I still can't help but be a bit saddenedin the slightly muddy-sound quality and the occasionally blurry visuals. Yeah, I know... this is a 40-year old show and one can't expect that it will look brand new, given the physical condition of the sources that the DVD was made from. (And who knows, maybe these things were never that great to begin with-- even back in 1963). Still, I can't help but wonder whether or not a bit more could have been done to 'clean things up' a bit more for the DVD release.

All in all, I give would give this a 5 stars in terms of its quality as a show, but I'm docking one star because of the slightly disappointing sound/image quality.

This is easily the most watchable these pre-Diana Rigg episodes will ever get, but technically they still aren't a patch on the 4th season on up. Cameras bashing into things, boom mikes not being lowered in time, fight scenes underlit, dead body shots edited too abruptly, etc. The stories themselves aren't too bad(except for the ones featuring the utterly useless Venus Smith, where everything stops dead whenever she sings),but require more of an attention span than needed for the Emma Peel eps. The biggest problem is that A&E mixes all the 1963 eps together on these sets, meaning that you'll find 2nd and 3rd season stories n the same DVDs, making strict sequential viewing difficult and expensive.

I am hooked on this series! Each season is special in its own way. The Honor Blackman episodes are really special; early televsion, flaws and all. If you want to see this sort of thing, you have it here. All the flowery words in the world won't do it justice. This is intelligent, witty, stylish stuff. Buy it.

Yes, let me say it again-short and sweet-unlike all the other reviewers who write pages and pages- This series -from start to finish- is a Work of Art! Own it!

I realize I'm in the minority here by not offering an optimistic review, but after having watched most of the episodes shot in 1965-1967 with Diana Rigg, I just simply couldn't get enthused about these older episodes. No, it isn't just because they are different and I don't like change...it is because they are inferior in every respect:

1. Technically, they are grainy, have poor lighting, and were clearly shot with lower production values and budgets. They are so bad that they have a feel almost like old B&W movies done in the 1930s. If you've ever watched an old Laurel & Hardy film, you get about the same level of technical sophistication here. It stuck me as at least 30 years behind state-of-the-art for the early 60s. The 1965-67 versions shown on US TV (ABC network) were done on film at ABC's insistence and the quality definitely shows. Watching this 1963 version I felt like I was watching something that was not 2 years older than 1965, but 30 years older. Yes, they were that poor technically.

2. Acting was just bad all the way around - worthy of daytime soaps with the amount of overacting I saw.

3. Steed's character in particular has a number of nuances that made him quite different...he gets flustered, appears to be an almost bungling sort of side-kick to the strong character of Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman), and seems to be a little too eager to romance her. It's a totally different, and far less appealing dynamic than what we later come to love in the Mrs. Peel years with Peel playing coy but not superior to the character of Steed. Here we find a well-dressed Steed as usual, but not quite as suave, debonair, and never-ruffled as we have come to expect from the Mrs. Peel years. In short, I don't like the old Steed very well, and I really don't care for Cathy Gale. I also didn't care for the fact that Gale smoked in the series. Her voice even sounds smokey. Yes, I know that Rigg is a voracious smoker, but her voice didn't belie that in the series and her character of Mrs. Peel didn't smoke. She was just somehow more wholesome and appealing than the Cathy Gale persona given by Blackman. My two cents worth.

4. The mystique isn't there. I can't quite describe what it was about the 65-67 series in terms of set design and overall mood that gave such a wonderful quirkiness and mystere, but it is almost totally absent here. These just felt like old, not-particularly-good soap operas with bad stunts, bad acting, and inferior production values.

5. The audio quality is poor, tying in with the overall poor production values noted in item #1 above. The audio fades of music, sound effects, dialog, and the overall mix is just poor - often abrupt and unnatural. Again, it feels like something made in the '30s - not the 1960s.

I got this DVD primarily to satisfy my curiosity as to what "The Avengers" was like before Diana Rigg's Mrs. Peel made the series so special and gave it that wonderful chemistry with Steed. In my opinion, I missed nothing by skipping these pre-1965 episodes. I'm glad I only rented this rather than purchased it. I couldn't even bring myself to watch the other 2 episodes on the DVD. I just sent it back to Blockbuster after watching a single episode.

If, like me, you are curious about what the series was like in "the early days" I suggest you rent rather than buy. If you like it - fine. You can find the series here on Amazon, eBay, and elsewhere. But if you are like me, simply nothing can compare to the 1965-1967 series which - in my mind - is the REAL Avengers that I've known and loved since my teenage years in the 1970s. As for me, I plan to purchase Avengers DVDs, but will limit my spending to the 1965-1967 megaset offered by A&E.

Again, I realize that hard-core Avengers fans will probably be compelled to check out every episode. However, consider my review here as an alternative viewpoint and instead of offering a glowing review I'm giving a caution that you rent before you buy. You may just thank me for allowing you to save your money for the truly great 65-67 years instead.

If you relish a series like "Honey West," "Peter Gunn" or "77 Sunset Strip" you no doubt know about the content of what you are getting. You are more likely concerned about the quality of the product. Like John Steed (Patrick Macnee) might say to Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), "You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back. Just watch the hat please." John and Cathy Gale are back and are here to stay via DVD technology. Being on DVD, the aesthetics about the actual episodes are not in question here. More appropriately one may ask how they look. They look good, very good.