Product Details

• Actors: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Honor Blackman, Linda Thorson, Ian Hendry
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 4, 1998
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767011538
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,708 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

THE AVENGERS featured Steed, the "top professional" and Mrs. Peel, the "talented amateur," avenging... what? British audiences apparently didn’t care. But when THE AVENGERS was introduced to American audiences, producers felt a job description was warranted: "Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents extraordinary." "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Station" First aired 22 March, 1967 When agents plan an assignation with assassination aboard a train, it takes quick engineering by THE AVENGERS to derail their nefarious plans. Watch for Steed’s vaunted facility with electronics. Directed by John Krish, Written by Brian Clemens. "Something Nasty In The Nursery" First aired 2 April, 1967 When terror toys and nasty nannies drive a slew of British nobles into their second childhoods, Steed and Mrs. Peel realise that if they spare the rod they could spoil the entire nation. Dream sequences and lethal playthings make this episode a fan favorite. Directed by James Hill, Written by Philip Levene.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny Thing Happened is Fast-paced and witty, January 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Avengers: The '67 Collection, Vol. 7 (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station / Something Nasty in the Nursery) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Roger Marshall, the writer who penned Silent Dust (1966), the witty Girl from A.U.N.T.I.E., and complex and witty Dial a Deadly Number, began this script. Due to creative differences he left and Brian Clemmens finished it.

Steed and Mrs. Peel set out to meet an agent. The only clue is his briefcase, left behind in the baggage car. The body count kept rising in 1967. The later episodes seem more violent than the black and white ones.

When Steed disappears Emma seeks the help of an elderly expert who dreams of buying abandoned railway stations. "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." (Steed's umbrella conceals a recording device.) There are the usual ruthless villains- a manaical machine gun firing groom, his ruthless bride. There are great fight scenes- Emma and two china throwing baddies in a dining car, the groom and Emma in to the death battle as he tries to push her out the door, and a great steam- filled battle among assassins and the avengers.

Something Nasty in the Nursery get 3 stars. Secrets are leaking out and each man has the same baffling dream - it involves his childhood nanny. Philip Levene wrote the script that involves a nonplused Steed "Proud fatherhood sits upon you!" proclaims the head of a school for nannies. There is a gun firing jack in the box and the usual dastardly villains but little humor

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny Thing Happened blends Peculiar and Humorous, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Avengers: The '67 Collection, Vol. 7 (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station / Something Nasty in the Nursery) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Steed and Emma investigate some sinister goings on at a deserted train station. When Steed disappears Emma seeks the help of an elderly railway enthusiast. "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." "Listen to the-"

The villains are a very killcrazy lot. There is a machine gun -toting murderer who goes about dressed as a groom, his "bride" and cokiller eager to dispatch others-

Humor abounds. Emma subdues the female assassin "A slight difference of opinion," she says breazily, having tossed the bride on the luggage rack.

Glorious fight scene in steam filled railway car, and a humorous dish throwing one in a dining car. Roger Marshall provided a good script. The later Avengers 67 scripts began to flatten out- less plot, no red herrings (unlike 65 scripts) and Emma and Steed seldom save anyone's life anymore. Something Nasty in the Nursery concerns ruthless killer spies, sinister toys - one gentle toy store owner is murdered by a shooting jack in the box. As the violence and body count escalated, the series lost much of its charm. Nasty does have a wonderful ending. Emma, masterfully played by Diana Rigg assumes a think accent as a fortune teller predicting their future adventures, "I see danger. We find a body." "It usually begins that way-" Steed murmurs. Emma "I see two- things." Steed "Do I take care of them?" "No, I do." Delightfully humorous ending after all the pitiless killings.

4.0 out of 5 stars Irony sparks "funny thing", January 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Avengers: The '67 Collection, Vol. 7 (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station / Something Nasty in the Nursery) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Roger Marshall wrote "A funny Thing happened on the way to the station" The title is ironic- meaning peculiar. A middle aged man is chased by 2 younger men- he seemingly outwits them, only to be tricked into getting off at a deserted stop and murdered. Using a sinister, machine gun toting groom is grotesque. This episode has little humor. Emma to eccentric railroad lover, "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." There is a china smashing battle in the dining car, and a marked deterioration in the 1967 scripts. No longer are there red herrings (Small Game, Murder Market, How to Succeed at Murder) the villains slay and slay. Perhaps the machine gun violence reflected too much of the violence of the 1960s. Something Nasty in the Nursery has a machine gun toting nanny, lethal toys- a jack in the box that fires a gun. AGain the villains kill and attack. One never has to wonder who the baddies are. The later episodes lack the wit and subtlety of earlier Philip Levene and Roger Marshall scripts. It is easy to understand Diana Rigg's observation that "Looking for Mr. Big wasn't very testing." Even the authors of The Avengers Dossier concede that when Brian Clemmens quarreled with writer Roger Marshall, who left, and then Philip Levene, who also quit writing the series became cartoonish and more shallow. Diana Rigg went on to make some quality films and star on Broadway and in London. The decline in scripts continues with the last batch: the redundant Murdersville, and You Have Just Been Murdered. As the writers killed off more and more characters it became off putting and boring. I preferred the 1965 scripts when Steed and Mrs. Peel actually saved lives: the economist in A Sense of History, accountant in How to Succeed at Murder. Stuffing the show with more and more murders made it less engrossing.