Product Details

• Actors: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Run Time: 312 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767010981
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,757 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #9 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Superheroes > Avengers
  #17 in	Video > Television > A&E Home Video > British Cult Television
  #31 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Television

• This is item 11 in The Avengers Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The long-running Avengers series added some extra gloss to its look and feel by filming in color starting in 1967, making the inimitable, eccentric atmosphere of the show complete. That production change coincided with some of the best writing the program ever enjoyed. So it makes sense that those late-1960s episodes of The Avengers have been packaged to help us forget the botched 1998 feature film version of the show. Set 1 includes a mystery about killer phobias, "The Fear Merchants"; the time-travel story "Escape in Time"; the feathery spy tale "The Bird Who Knew Too Much"; the invisible-villain yarn "The See-Through Man"; and the comic-book spoof "The Winged Avenger." --Tom Keogh

Product Description
Brace yourself for a riveting adventure replete with dry wit and deadly weapons, a dashing hero and a dazzling heroine. A smashingly sexy international sensation, THE AVENGERS was one of the most successful and influential British television exports in history. And now it’s back, better and bolder than ever! These digitally remastered 1967 colour episodes feature the exquisite Mrs. Emma Peel (Dianna Rigg) and the impeccable John Steed (Patrick Macnee) matching wits with the most twisted of villains. This collection includes the first six episodes aired on American television: FROM VENUS WITH LOVE: Steed is shot full of holes--and Emma sees stars. THE FEAR MERCHANTS: Steed puts out a light--and Emma takes fright. ESCAPE IN TIME: Steed visits the barber--and Emma has a close shave. THE SEE-THROUGH MAN: Steed makes a bomb--and Emma is put to sleep. THE BIRD WHO KNEW TOO MUCH: Steed fancies pigeons--and Emma gets the bird. THE WINGED AVENGER: Steed goes bird watching--and Emma does a comic strip.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great-but the best is yet to come, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

In 1966, The Avengers was at its height. After the successful sale of the first Black and white season to America, the profits made by the show kept on increasing. The new colour season had to be good. On display here are the earliest five episodes in their own production order. On the second volume in this collection is The Hidden Tiger, which was the height of the series. It was written by Philip Levene, who was the best writer of this season, and here there are three more examples of his work. It is he who created the image and atmosphere of the first colour season, and gave it such memorable qualities. In the last episode of this season, which he wrote himself, he even appeared on screen. The three Levene episodes here, The Fear Merchants, Escape in Time and The See-Through Man, are representative of his work, and of its high standard. Before I had this series permanently on video, I saw the episodes in 1995 on British TV, and I really wanted to see them again, but I had to wait for the commercial release. I was not disappointed. Escape in Time is the second best episode I have ever see. Everything about it, the scripting, the plot, the marvellous set pieces, Diana Rigg in stunning form and a superb villain, reminded me of the best qualities of the show. If is a five star episode. The time travel element clinched it for me. I had to see the rest of the season. A little more varied is The Fear Merchants, excellently directed by Gordon Flemyng. It is all a bit too grim for The Avengers, there are no really amusing characters, it all seems a bit too saidistic. Levene seems to be a little off-form as well, for the script is by no means as funny as Escape in Time. It gets three stars. The See-Through Man is Philip Levene's worst episode. The direction is lifeless, the plot just seems a little too thin, and Warren Mitchell delivers possibly the most irritating performance of the colour series. Diana Rigg does not seem particularly on form, either. It deserves only two. Another five star story is The Bird who Knew Too Much, directed by David Lean's protege, Roy Rossotti. He gives the story an air of artistry and care that is missing terribly from The See-Through Man, and he has a suitably absurd script to back up his talent. Brian Clemens, who wrote it, was also one of the producers and had worked on the show since its conception in 1960. Although there might not be many memorable lines in this one, this is more than made up for by some just plain silly acting, wonderful eccentrics and a good music score. Never was ornithology more fun. The Winged Avenger gets four stars. An obvious spoof of Batman, and the only contribution to the Diana Rigg series of famed TV writer Richard Harris, it just goes from mad, to surreal, when there is a fight on the ceiling at the end. Just what one wants to remember the show by. It is great that these episodes are being rereleased, they are some of the best television made, but the best episode is still in the next box set, The Hidden Tiger.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars for the Delightful Escape of Escape in Time, February 3, 2000

By A Customer

Writer Philip Levene penned the wonderfully written Escape in time. "Miscreants are escaping to England." Steed and Emma find a slain enemy agent with a 300 year old bullet in him. The next expiring agent leaves a clue that they follow. The escape route involves stuffed animals, a mini mall of vendor/conspirators, and the usual quirky criminals. Emma is nearly run down by a man in a red riding habit on a motor cycle. Avengers wit is top notch. "I didn't know that you could sew," says Steed admiringly as Emma creates a stuffed animal so he can travel the route. "Our relationship hasn't been exactly- domestic- has it?" she retorts. Emma impulsively creates her own stuffed animal to go to Steed's rescue when he disappears. Since he was blindfolded Steed's clues are no help. "there are churches and hills all over," says his harassed colleague. Turkeys!" Steed recalls. "Well why didn't you say so?" Only the Avengers would have a clue to a turkey farm! winged Avenger by Richard Harris has ruthless businessmen who throw employees out of work being sent to their deaths- via an unseen force that climbs buildings and mauls them to death. Emma investigates a disgruntled author who had reason to dislike a murdered publisher. "See you downstairs for tea," he jauntily climbs out the window and slides down a rope. As an explorer Sir Lexius can't stop climbing. Terrific climax of to the death fight on a ceiling between Emma and a crazed villain who will kill anyone who get in his way. One of the wittiest, most surreal episodes of the 1967 series. See through Man is thinly plotted and sluggishly directed. Roy Kinnear as the inventor with the hamster, Bertha running her wheel, is the only humorous note. As the crank inventor whose inventions have been ignored for more than a decade he remains optimistic that he will one day get it right. Has he succeeded in making a man invisible? Clemons bird who Knew too Much has a daffy bird lover who wears a bird on his morterboard and teaches his parrots to recite Shakespeare among other things. Where is Captain Carusoe and why has someone resorted to theft and murder over a parrot? Delightful fight scenes and dangerous ones. Emma tangling with a sadistic killer on top of a diving board, and later with a baddie in a carriage inside an exhibition is great. Well directed. Fear Merchants spoofs psychiatry: one psychiatrist speaks with a Vienniese accent a la Sigmund Freud and the other has developed the most lethal consequences for answering a questionnaire truthfully! Super strong man splits boards with his arm, then is traumitized by a tiny mouse, another titan of industry by excessive speed in a car. Levene's rapid wit delights. Steed unwittingly sets Emma up to be murdered by claiming she is his only rival in business. Great fight scenes again- Steed turning the tables on the sadistic psychiatrist who has HIS own fear and Emma fighting villains while tied to a chair. From VEnus with Love offers the usual eccentrics, an aristocratic chimney sweep, a general who replicates battle sounds on 3 victrolas while dictating his memoirs. What mysterious sounding white flash of light is decimating members of the Venusian society and turning their hair white? Eerie chase as Emma pursues a ball of white light and Steed is nearly dispatched by it as he dives over tombstones. Fast paced and enjoyable. 1967 Set 1 had a much better mix of episodes witty, exciting, and fast paced than 1967 set 3 or 1967 set 4. Later in the year the writing deteriorates, most likely because first Roger Marshall, and later Phlip Levene, the two best writers left the show.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY GOOD, SOME OF THE BEST, October 14, 2002

A Kid's Review

This is a classic set. It has some great ones. Diana Rigg playing Mrs. Peel and Patrick Macnee playing John Steed are fabulous together. This is a humorous and fun series to watch. The set includes: From Venus with Love, The Fear Merchants, Escape In Time, The See-Through Man, The Bird Who Knew Too Much, and The Winged Avenger. This is a classic series.