Customer Reviews

Avengers '65: Vol. 1

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is a pleasure to relive these great episodes and to appreciate again how intelligent they assumed their audience to be. After all, any line like "Lady Bracknell, your handbag" is not designed for the high school dropout. Shot at a lower budget, these black and whites use exterior shots a lot more than do the more studio-bound color series. Some episodes ("The Hour That Never Was" for example) are a little slow-moving compared with gems like "The Return of the Cybernauts" and "Death at Bargain Prices." My only negative comment is Death to Whoever tried to glamorize Rigg with all that horrible lip rouge about half way into the series. And while we are at it, since A&E nicely fit three episodes onto a single reel in Vol. 6, why do all the others have only two? But at any price, these tapes are unbeatable for sophisticated wit and tongue-in-cheek adventure. Er, A&E, what about the Tara King series?

The Avengers was one of the hippest shows of its day, and manages to stand the test of time pretty well. It achieved its maximum popularity in 1965-66, when streamlined for exportation to America, which was when Diana Rigg was hired to replace the departing Honor Blackman. Prior, The Avengers was essentially a weekly live crime melodrama a la Agatha Christie, interspersed with some occasional spy hijinks. Once Rigg was brought aboard, the show's budget increased, it was transferred to film with more location shooting, the music got jazzier and the approach sexier (Emma Peel's name was contracted from "M"an-Appeal), and the stories grew to be more laced with science-fiction. It proved at least as popular in the States as it was in its parent Britain, and a legend was born.

The show was never better than in Rigg's first year, the '65-'66 season, the first six episodes of which comprise this set. "The Cybernauts" - first episode aired in the States (third, in England) - set the tone extremely well for what was to follow in episodes to come. Our hero and heroine, Steed and Mrs. Peel, foil a mad industrialist's plan to create a cybernetic police state, by deactivating his earliest experiment: a killer robot. The English debut episode - first on this set of tapes - is "The Town Of No Return," a fifth-column invasion story of typically (for this series) bizarre means. "Death At Bargain Prices" finds the British supersleuths investigating the disappearance of an atomic scientist in a lavish department store. "The Gravediggers" is about a radar-jamming outfit connected to a local cemetery (and an eccentric's life-size model train collection). "Castle De'ath" is where a foreign power utilizes a secret submarine base to disturb the local ecology, and thus its economy. "The Master Minds" are a MENSA-esque high-I.Q. club who recruit the best brains in Britain to devise top-secret sabotages and burglaries.

The Avengers is long overdue for a renaissance, and thanks to these tapes, its comeback time is here. Whether your tastes run to noir melodrama, spy stories, unusual crime, sci-fi, or even just light comedy, you'll find what you're looking for in The Avengers.

Diana Rigg makes "The Avengers," a campily scripted and shot television series from the sixties, a fascination to behold. In practically every scene she adds some extra bit of business that compels today's viewer to helplessly hit the rewind button again and again with something approaching awe, especially since television is always shot so quickly that embroidering one's characterization is unfortunately quite rare.

Somewhat less campy than the color episodes, these episodes still show traces of the earlier, straight spy-show AVENGERS (with Honor Blackman). I love the inventive, surreal use of real locations, as opposed to the more studio-bound color series. The rapport between MacNee and Rigg was apparent from the beginning, but Mrs. Peel is a little too much the sidekick here for my taste.

Great set! Most of the b/w Avengers episodes are better than the color ones. "Death at Bargain Prices" and "The Cybernauts" are true classics. (probably the Cybernauts were at least slightly the inspiration of The Cybermen from Dr. Who). Definitely worth the purchase!

More classic Avengers. In the Master Minds both Steed and Mrs Peel have to join an elite organisation for people with a high IQ. We all know Mrs Peel is smart but what about Steed? Steed "how is your IQ", Mrs Peel "well above average", Steed "better than mine", Mrs Peel "about the same but that is hardly surprising since I did your test for you"

This is a wonderful old British TV series but buy the TWO volume set for a better deal:

Avengers '67 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2

(It doesn't say so at the top but this set IS "Set 1".)

You can check out my full review of each episode there as well as my other more general comments about the series.

Also, be aware that when you buy the TWO volume set, it comes with an additional cardboard (very nice) packaging to hold together the two Plastic DVD cases in one unit. This cardboard packaging has all the details of both DVDs on the outside.

Although somewhat campy at times, The Avengers was an intellectual show, featuring puzzling mysteries, witty dialogue, bits of comedy, and an incredibly suave, cool agent in John Steed. With the introduction of Emma Peel, this great show became a phenomenon sure to remain a part of our culture for decades to come. Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel is mesmerizing. Here we have a beautiful woman who is a brilliant scientist, a martial arts master, a great detective, and a special agent second to none. While most female television characters of the time tended to their families, Mrs. Peel busied herself in safeguarding her nation. Steed himself is no match for her in terms of intellect, but together they make an unbeatable team, with a magical chemistry that is readily apparent from the very start.

This set contains the first six Emma Peel episodes. Mrs. Peel quickly evolves from Steed's helper to Steed's equal. It took a little while to flesh out the new character, I believe; thus, these episodes seem to get progressively better as they go along. "The Town of No Return" is rather a weak story to my mind, but Mrs. Peel does show us her combat skills, which at this point seem rather contrived. "The Gravediggers" is much more interesting, witty, and satisfying. It is in fact one of my favorite episodes. Beginning with problems with the nation's defense system, the story features cemeteries, doctors of an uncommon sort, and a brilliantly funny eccentric old gentleman with an overpowering love of trains--the train ride he shares with the visiting John Steed is priceless; it ends with Mrs. Peel tied up to a railroad track and almost killed by a miniature locomotive. This is The Avengers at its best. "The Cybernauts," while good, is of great importance because it is the first episode ever shown in the USA and because it spawned two later "sequels." "Death at Bargain Prices" features some of the best dialogue between Steed and Mrs. Peel, full of the sexual tension many reviewers like to point to. Only The Avengers could take the idea of a department store in London housing a nuclear bomb and make it work for audiences. "Castle De'ath" is a dark tale of history, treachery, and dungeon torture. Although the true purpose of the bad guys did not make complete sense to me, the story is very strong , succeeding in disproving my own suspicions (as well as Mrs. Peels') as to the identify of the culprit. Finally, "The Master Minds" rounds out this set with the story of an intellectual society whose members are unwittingly prompted to commit crimes against the Crown.

Mrs. Peel really comes into her own in these last two tales. In the final episode, it is her intellect that allows Steed to penetrate the secretive society and learn its secrets (although Mrs. Peel finds herself participating--albeit without conscious knowledge--in the nefarious plans of the master mind); it is also her slyness that essentially saves Steed's life in the end. However, "Castle De'ath" speaks volumes in my mind in terms of Mrs. Peel's position in the society of the 1960s. All of the men in the episode, include John "McSteed" all wear traditional Scottish kilts. While this is nothing unusual for the locale in which the story takes place, nevertheless the fact remains that the only character who wears pants is Emma Peel. By this time, Mrs. Peel has shed any vestiges of being Steed's helper and has become his unchallengeable equal. The Avengers is intelligent, humorous, decidedly "cool" television that towers above just about everything on the air today.

The Avengers (John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel) were always at the right place at the right time and Mrs. Emma Peel could put an unwanted karate chop on your noggin. This series of videos has a lot of action and caper comedy.

This was a great TV series. `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.