36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Final series makes it to DVD, April 23, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Avengers '68 Set 2 (DVD)
The final season of the original Avengers finally comes to DVD & VHS in region one. "The Forget me knot," the debut episode of Ms. Tara King played by Linda Thorson, was released back in 1998, but only now is the entire series seeing the light of day - and it's been well worth the wait.
There are many of course who do not rate these last adventures featuring the debonair John Steed as Britain's top government agent as highly as what had gone before, and it's easy to see why. Steed's pairing originally with Mrs Gale (Honor Blackman) and later Mrs Peel (Diana Rigg) had been an excellent match for his skills. With Mrs Peel leaving the show, the producers, Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell followed suit and John Bryce was brought back to the programme, following his stint producing the early Mrs Gale episodes.
The first thing Bryce did was to cast his girlfriend, twenty one year old Canadian Linda Thorson as Steed's new assistant, Miss Tara King. In order to complete the delivery of episodes to the US market, production was fairly rushed, and what came out of it was deemed substandard. Bryce was sacked and Fennell and Clemens brought back to rescue the production. Clemens was particularly unhappy about Linda Thorson's role, but it was too late in the day to do anything about it. They set about filming the initial block of 8 episodes (extended to 9), rehashing two of the abandoned Bryce episodes, and bringing back Mrs Peel for the one-off story "The forget me knot" to introduce the new character of Tara (although this "debut" was actually filmed third). Once these episodes were ready, they set about producing the final batch of 24.
There is a very significant shift in the character of Tara King between these two production blocks as Thorson began to gain confidence in the part. Also added as a regular into the later stories is Steed & Tara's boss, "Mother," played by Patrick Newell. Thorson's inexperience and the naivety of the character are often cited as the reason the show was cancelled after these episodes were transmitted. Personally, I think the inclusion of the very annoying "Mother" to be a far more valid reason. But it's all a matter of taste.
The stories are included on the discs in the order they were first transmitted in the UK. I would strongly recommend viewing them in PRODUCTION ORDER (easy to track on any Avengers website). There are several reasons for this. It's easier to warm to Miss King as you follow her character development. It also makes more sense to understand her constant hair changes and costume. She started as a blonde, moved to a be-wigged brunette, and only in the latter 24 episodes did we see Thorson's own hair. We can also see how the actress started in "slimmed down mode" (on the orders of the TV station) but regained her lost weight as the series moved along. The character also started out as a complete "spy" trainee, but by the second production block, had become one of the most experienced agents in Mother's department. I also enjoyed seeing the rehashed sets from episode to episode too. All these nuances are lost by following the stories strictly in disc order, and indeed the characterisation of the leads is actually confusing if you simply watch the shows in disc order.
As for the discs themselves, sadly A&E have once again neglected to include any extras at all. All there is are a few still photos, although it has to be said that the menus are at least very well done. The picture quality is certainly very sharp, but there are definitely flaws due to sparkle and dirt. Sadly, "You'll catch your death" has been transferred incorrectly, and the picture strobes and jumps throughout. Clearly no-one at A&E was paying much attention to the remastering process.
Clemens believes this batch of episodes to be the best of the entire run of The Avengers. He has stated that everything came together right in terms of production and scripts. I can't say I agree entirely. They are certainly as enjoyable as anything else, but the total fantasy nature of the stories and the weakness of Tara and Mother characters combine to take the edge away when compared to the earlier Peel episodes. Regardless, it's all camp and wacky fun and I still highly recommend this collection to any fan of the series as there is plenty here to enjoy.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What A Delight! What An Absolute Delight!, August 6, 2000
By A Customer
Two memories stand out more than any other from my childhood. One, the receipt of a new G.I. Joe -- any G.I. Joe, for any reason and at any occasion (at $5.00 each, which was money in the mid-60s). The other, watching episodes of "The Avengers" with my father. It was our favorite program. And how could it not be? Original, intelligent, loads and loads of fun. All made perfect by the magic of the charming, delightfully arrogant Patrick MacNee and the stupendous, mind-bogglingly stupendous, Diana Rigg. I must confess that I've always had a penchant for buxom blonde bombshells loaded with sin -- e.g., Jayne Mansfield. But no one has ever had more apPeel (sexual and otherwise) than Miss Rigg's Mrs. Peel. I recognized this even as a mere boy.
In this day of fatuous, vulgar entertainment, it is a genuine pleasure to be able to watch Steed and Mrs. Peel battle evil-doers with their incomparable panache. There's nothing on current television that can even hope to compare -- not even the excellent "X-Files," which (not coincidentally) owes so much to "The Avengers."
The episodes in this collection are exceptionally fine. If you have a heart condition, however, you may want to give "A Touch of Brimstone," with Mrs. Peel as the "Queen of Sin," a miss -- her outfit (with her in it, of course!) is heart-stopping.
Come and relive your childhood memories -- with the even more appreciative eye of an adult!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sense of history encapsulates libraries before computers!, November 11, 1999
By A Customer
A sense of history deals with some less than innocent high jinks & a hysterical professor who resorts to murder. When a brilliant economist is murdered, Steed persaudes Mrs. Peel to enroll at the university he had intended to visit. As usual Emma deals with a hostile villain (a college student) coolly tossing him over her shoulder. Sly humor abounds. Emma finally knocks out her would be assassin in the library. The title that falls on top of him "How to develop a winning personality"! The motive for murder- the villain felt slighted and unappreciated. "Who was Grindley? Only an archivist- a glorified librarian!" Note the paper, books, lack of computers. Pre-computer age library set. The usual banter & dead bodies. Why does some poor chump always offer to meet Steed "later" only to end up a corpse? Note that this plot device recurs in The Danger Makers Honey for the Prince is my favorite of all the 7 on this set. Diana Rigg's comedic talents as well as her sexuality were showcased in this one. Emma does a steamy "dance of the 6 veils" going undercover- not literally, if she can help it! to foil an assassin. The degraded status of women in the harem, Emma's outrage at this repressive situation are conveyed by Mrs. Peel's look of horror when she reads her name on the duty roster in the harem! The Butler one is pricelessly funny. Emma is instructed to engage the attention of the amorous Captain Miles. Rigg' dodging MIles atempted seduction- his living room is "rigged" with instantly closing curtains, dim light, collapsible sofa, pull out bar etc. is amusing. Steed's repeated interruptions (he is undercover as the butler), and feels that he has to "save" Emma , as well as Miles frustration at Steed's instrusions are great fun. Nevertheless the indomitable Mrs. Peel can always be counted on to be resourceful. although one elderly ex general in his 80s looks at her and observes of her "Most distracting!" This was a better mix than the last boxed set of 7 of the color episodes of Rigg and MacNee. Weaker scripts sometimes the last year( 1967). The black and white set was well worth the price. Honey for the Prince and What the Butler Saw I rank in the top ten. Note Stee'd's delight "The butler did it!" I rate both of them ahead of A touch of Brimstone.
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