The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
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DVD details
Actor: Honor BlackmanBrand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Black & White, Box set, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 728 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
DVD Reviews of The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
DVD Review: Dr. King Avenged!
Summary: 5 Stars
BEWARE: SPOILERS CONTAINED HEREIN
"The Avengers" began in 1961 as a little-known British televison program, broadcast weekly and made cheeply on videotape. Based off a failed earlier series, "Police Surgeon" (1959), it's original main character was Dr. David Keel, played by Ian Hendry, who carried his basic character from "Police Surgeon" over to the new series. Accompanying him was the co-star of the previous series, Ingrid Hafner, who played Nurse Carol Wilson. While Nurse Carol would appear in a number of epsidoes (most notably in "Girl on the Trapeze"), for this first season Keel usually worked with a shady, cold, and manipulative agent named... John Steed (Patrick MacNee.)
Hendry left the series to pursue film work after the first season, and most of those episodes that had been made throughout 1961 were wiped (that is, erased, a common practice at the time that allowed costly videotape to be reused.) Hence, the material available in this collection, "Avengers '62", is 1/2 of the first completely preserved season of "The Avengers."*
The first fourteen episodes of season two see MacNee's returning Steed coupled with various alternating partners: Dr. Martin King, a hastily arranged substitute for Dr. Keel, played by Jon Rollason and featuring in productions of three left over season 1 scripts; jazz singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens),a somewhat enticing but naive and impressionable young woman more suited to her chosen profession to the several espionage incidents she gets mixed up in courtesy of Steed. And finally, Mrs. Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman, a widowed anthropologist Steed employs as a professional partner. Mrs. Gale is intelligent, sharp as knitting needles, lethal with a Judo kick, and an all-around easy match for Steed, in spite of being a specimen of the perceived Fairer Sex. Of all Steed's rotating partners in this batch of episodes, Mrs. Gale would be the longest-lived--remaininf until 1964-- and by far the most liked and remembered; Dr. King's character quietly exited the series following his three episodes featured here, while Venus Smith featured intermitently until the conclusion of this season in 1963 (see "The Avengers '63" sets.)
In general, the episodes on this collection are far "grittier" and more rooted in reality and traditional espionage than the more far-fetched, and sci-fi dabbling Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson) series. They have their decided merits, however. Not only are they interesting to own purely from a historical viewpoint, but there are some fine yarns among them. And, perhaps most importantly, this set avenges Jon Rollason's Dr. King. His only three episodes are featured here, and all are strong plots in their own right:
. "The Sell-Out" is pure espionage, as there is a traitor to the government on the loose, and the higher-ups suspect it is either Steed or another agent he has been working with. The plot takes many twists and turns before the traitor is revealed. Dr. King gets to take down a villain at one point, and Steed does the unexpected: opens fire on the traitor (who does threaten Dr. King's life to be fair.) Here Rollason's character is shown as a likeable everyman, who does not particularly want to get entangled in his acquaintance's government work, but finds himself drafted in on a number of occasions. One can't help but look on him with empathy. He's no Mrs. Peel (obviously) but he is a likeable guy.
. "Dead on Course" is the last episode and one of the highlights of the set. Strongly in the vein of later episodes, the evil doers are disguised as... pious nuns. Even though the brief fight choreography is lacking, it is a strong suspense piece with a great storyline.
."Mission to Montreal" sees Steed and King on the open seas, attempting to retrieve a micro-film from the luggage of a traveling tempermental film star before it is delievered to the enemy agents her husband works for. This was the first Dr. King episode to be screened, while the actress playing the film star is left go virtually balistic in a few scenes that portray a nervous disorder, the eccentric enemy agents are played very-well, and the whole thing comes off quite memorable with a nice bit of action at the end, and the added benefit of an attempt on King's life somewhere in the middle of the fray.
I would rate "Dead on Course" as the best King episode, and one of the very best on the set.
Venus, as previously stated, appears in episodes available on the 1963 set, so her episodes here are not as significant to the show's history. Nonetheless, she is an oft-forgotten character and Stevens, it can hardly be denied, plays the part quite well. Her musical numbers seem to be mainly a product of the writers and directors trying to take up timme, but they're good performances if not good songs.
"The Decapod" introduces Venus quite awkwardly, showing Steed a great deal more cold and manipulative than later on. Still it's a good story, largely well-acted, and the Decapod is a cool name for a wrestler, as well as for the character who ends up being the villain (not who you may at first think.) Sometimes, one is inclinded to think that the episode would have worked better with Mrs. Gale (see below) accompanying Steed, but it comes together in the end. The wrestling and the odd uniforms set the right tone, and the suspense is well-done, with thanks to director Peter Hammond.
Her other episode is "The Removal Men." If ever there were a perfect title for an episode of this series, here it is. The Men in question are actually members of a gang of assasins Steed is to infiltrate for information. Of course, things are complicated when Steed is suddenly assigned a job by the Removal Men, and Venus Smith turns up at a nightclub being run by one of the Men. Without giving too much away, a nice touch is a shoot-out at the end, with Steed using a gun yet again, something that would never occur in later episodes. It is not actually a bad plot-line, though it requires attention to the dialogue, and patience due to the fairly leisurely progression of the action.
Overall, Venus is my least favorite of Steed's assistance, and my least favorite regular of the entire series. She'd be a lot better if the writers would allow her to have a clue what's going on, but... maybe she'll grow on me when I get to watching the 1963 episodes that feature her. She's not inherently unsympathetic, just... oblivious. A sharp contrast to later, argubly superior "Avengers" women. There IS a funny moment in "Removal Men" where Venus gets to knee one of the villains in the groin, and I give the character points for that one.
Mrs. Gale features in a majority of the episodes:
."Mr. Teddy Bear" is her introduction; it is also low on action, high on suspense, and... Steed is shown brandishing a gun again. It's an Emma Peel-esque story in which the formidible Mrs. Gale is pivotal to a an operation to lure in a assasain known as Teddy Bear. Not bad, not one of the best.
."Propellant 23" is a favorite of mine. It features a young Jeffrey Palmer, known well in the UK, in the role of one of the villains and uses the original device of a vial of valuable rocket fuel to propell the action. The suspense is rendered thanks to the main plotline of Steed and Mrs. Gale battling enemy agents to get the vial first. There is a great scene where Gale takes down a large and intimidating enemy agent during a search for the vial. She is also vital to allowing Steed to regain control of the rocket fuel after Jeffries' character pulls a gun. It's a pretty good ending, though the rest of the episode is even better. There's even a sequence in a women's lingerie section, in which banter forshadows what is to come with Steed and Mrs. Peel. Definitely a recomended episode.
. "Bullseye" is great all-around, with a weapon smuggling ring being crushed at the same time as a murderer is being caught. This episode exemplifies the virtues of the earlier episodes: lots of suspense, more realistic plots, and more espionage.
."The Big Thinker" is dull, but "The Mauritius Penny" is great, even if the ending is brief. There's some nice action, but the villainous just announces that her organization's plans are postponed (huh?)
."Death on the Rocks" is fun with Steed and Cathy posing as husband and wife to stop a band of diamond smugglers. At the same time, I think "Death of a Great Dane", similar to the '67 Emma Peel episode "50,000 Pound Breakfast", is the superior episode with a lot of excitment and a satisfying ending.
On all the episodes, the acting among supporting casts varies (ham acting is occasionally an issue), the photography is low budget, with odd (but not unenjoyable) shots reflecting the limitations of sets, and plenty of grainy, dull stock footage inserted, particularly in "Death Dispatch", which is said to take place in Jamaica. But, as discussed earlier, the stories and screenwriting are generally strong, the episodes well-directed as far as suspense, excitment, and action go, and the principles play their parts well. Technically, picture quality reflects the fourty-five years or so the prints have been in the vaults, and the sound quality may require the volume to be turned up at times to hear all of the often vital dialogue.
Overall, the materal is strong, but it is the historical value that really gets this DVD collection five stars from me. As a massive fan of the Peel and King years (and a moderate viewer of "The New Avengers"), this is *great* to have. 5/5
*The only material that predates this set known to be in existence are two full eps. of the '61 season ("The Frighteners" and "Girl on the Trapeze", which doesn't feature Steed), and the first fifteen minutes or thereabouts of the first EVER episode, "Hot Snow". The part of this episode preserved features only Dr. Keel and goes up to the point where his fiannce is killed by hereoine smugglers. The remainder of the episode would have shown Steed meeting Keel and the two banding together, each with their own motivaion, to bring down the smugglers. These episodes are on the bonus disc that comes with the Special Edition of the Emma Peel Megaset. The disc is also sold seperately. This material is definitely worth owning if you are a big fan of the series.
On another issue, Steed is more manipulative of others in these earlier episodes. My personal feeling is that Mrs. Gale "mellowed" him a good bit!
DVD Review: Great Avengers
Summary: 5 Stars
This Pre Emma Peel Avengers is in many ways superior although the Emma Peel set gets more attention,. The is more understated with and Honor Blackman is really a better actress than Diana RiggDVD Review: Simply Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, if you've made it through the other reviews here, then you already have a fair idea of what to expect. My personal opinion of these early era episodes of the Avengers is that they are in most ways far superiour to the later episodes after the show went to "color". When the show was re-geared towards us American Folk around 65' and the show went to color, something happened...someone apparently started dribbling "cheeze whiz" all over the scripts. To me, the stories and even the production values were much higher in the earlier episodes when the show was taken a little more seriously by a primarily British audience.
Honor Blackman's character Cathy Gale was (as has already been stated by others here) really the very first strong female character to grace TV...this woman kicked some -serious- butt! Even if you are familiar with the character of Cathy Gale, this particular season is well worth looking into as it also featured other "Steed sidekicks" such as Venus Smith and Dr. King...characters that even many Avengers fans had never heard of!
In any incarnation, this was a great show and I seriously doubt there will ever be another quite like it. Part of that greatness I would have to attribute to Patrick McKnee's character of John Steed and to Patrick himself for being willing to work with strong and often dominant woman at a time when that sort of thing was virtually unheard of. If you like the "corn ball" antics of the later episodes then this DVD set may not be for you, but if you enjoy the more serious side of the Avengers, this season is a must have!
DVD Review: Dismal
Summary: 2 Stars
If you've seen the superior Diana Rigg Megaset, these early shows might require a clothes pin on the nose. Poor quality (early video tape), poor story lines, little action, little suspense, little entertainment value. DVD Review: The Avengers '62
Summary: 5 Stars
I like getting the earlier shows. "Kathy Gale" was a nag. If she didn't want to go on the assignments, why did she? It has been interesting watching Steed evolve over the years.
Description of The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
Before Mrs. Emma Peel joined the team and before THE AVENGERS came to America Mr. Steed (Patrick Macnee) was a familiar figure on the British telly pursuing his crime-fighting career alongside a shifting cast of sidekicks.During THE AVENGERS' second season Steed was busy at work with Dr. Martin King a beguiling jazz singer named Venus Smith and the beautiful anthropologist Mrs. Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman). With Cathy onboard that elusive chemistry was just right and THE AVENGERS was well on its way to achieving cult phenomenon status.Go back to the beginning of THE AVENGERS with these 14 seminal episodes from the show's second season:Mr. Teddy Bear / Propellant 23 / The Decapod / Bullseye / Mission to Montreal / The Removal Men / The Mauritius Penny / Death of a Great Dane / The Sell-Out / Death on the Rocks / Traitor in Zebra / The Big Thinker / Death Dispatch / Dead On CourseSystem Requirements:Running Time 728 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?TELEVISION/CLASSICS UPC:?733961706536 Manufacturer No:?AAE-70653Superheroes DVDs
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