The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Honor BlackmanBrand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Black & White, Box set, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 728 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: AAE-70653
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product features:
- 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
Movie Reviews of The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
Movie Review: Mostly for Brit TV fans -- terrific! (all episode details)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a lengthy and detailed review, chiefly targeted at Avenger-philes but it will be equally informative for anyone who wishes to know what *The Avengers* television series was all about, at least during its genesis.
The show was essentially a 1960s mod-type version of weekly British spy thrillers, running in one-hour television slots, and just a little on the garish side in terms of plots. Few Americans found out about *The Avengers* prior to 1965, (the program's first season on American television.) That's when the producers spruced up the clunky jazzy soundtrack (as well as the budget) and that's additionally when we pretty much began our vicarious love affair with a youthful and sexy Diana Rigg as *Mrs. Peel*, able assistant to the program's long-term star, Patrick Macnee, (a man with a distinctive voice remarkably similar to that of Michael Caine), in his role as John Steed.
Here you get 14 black-and-white episodes (the entire second season) of early-period Avengers action, four separately-packaged discs [Volumes 1-4, 12 hours, 8 minutes total], all produced by Leonard White. Some of the episodes are a bit draggy and soap opera-ish at times, and occasionally even muffled a bit due mostly to age, but all make for worthwhile viewing. Various writers and directors contributed to the overall project during 1962 and I have them all listed herein along with the entire credited cast for each episode.
Steed had three very different sidekicks during the 1962 season, the most prevalent being Honor Blackman, and all three reappeared in 1963 as well:
-- Honor Blackman as Mrs. Catherine "Cathy" Gale
-- Jon Rollason as Dr. Martin King
-- Julie Stevens as Miss Venus Smith
There is one small glitch in the packaging and on the disc printing: *Traitor in Zebra* is on disc 3 and not disc 4 as listed. The menus on the respective discs display correctly. I have rated each of these episodes on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the best:
VOLUME ONE
*Mr. Teddy Bear* [8.0, Blackman] -- The most difficult targets are grist for Mr. Teddy Bear's mill -- and he commands appropriately top prices for his services. Cathy hires him to snuff Steed in an effort to learn his identity! Mr. Teddy Bear is clearly Steed's most shrewd adversary of the season and perhaps for all time. Blackman's role is an especially active one and she does a terrific job, benefitting largely from a strong script. Teleplay by Martin Woodhouse; Directed by Richmond Harding, and co-starring: Douglas Muir, Bernard Goldman, Tim Brinton, Kenneth Keeling, John Horsley, John Buddock, Michael Robbins, Michael Collins, and Sarah Maxwell.
*Propellant 23* [7.0, Blackman] -- A panicked man disrupts an airline flight to Marseilles when he receives a coded message which he interprets as a death threat. The pilot thinks he's just an old fruitcake until he's actually poisoned at the airport just after debarking. Then the man's possessions come up missing from the airport security office and the search is on by agents of multiple governments. This is a fun episode, on the lighter side, due in part to a gendarme who lifts a bottle of "hair restorer" from the dead man's briefcase for a fellow officer who's growing bald. Teleplay by Jon Manchip White; Directed by Jonathan Alwyn, and co-starring: Geoffrey Palmer, Justine Lord, Catherine Woodville, Ralph Nossek, Barry Wilsher, John Crocker, Trader Faulkner, John Dearth, Frederick Schiller, Nicholas Courtney, Michael Beint, John Gill, Graham Ashley, and Deanna Schenderey.
*The Decapod* [6.5, Stevens] -- The President of an Eastern European nation, a womanizer of the First Water, keeps losing staff members... to an assassin! The Decapod is a masked, caped killer, fairly ridiculous in appearance but with lots of brawn. Steed taps Venus on the shoulder for some help in protecting the Balkan President but this amorous playboy quickly becomes more than she can handle. This is sort of a goofy entry but fun in places. Unfortunately, Stevens' vocals against the cheesy jazz tunes badly date the episode. Teleplay by Eric Paice; Directed by Don Leaver, and co-starring: Paul Stassino, Philip Madoc, Wolfe Morris, Lynn Furlong, Raymond Adamson, Harvey Ashby, Pamela Conway, Stanley M. Ayers, Douglas Robinson, Valentine Musetti, Valerie Stanton, and The Dave Lee Trio.
*Bullseye* [6.5, Blackman] -- Cathy gets involved as a corporate shareholder in an arms corporation suspected of smuggling guns illegally into Africa. But her investigations soon cause her to be a prime suspect in the murder of a company magnate. The suspense builds as time gets short as the smugglers prepare to flee with weapons stolen from the factory. Teleplay by Eric Paice; Directed by Peter Hammond, and co-starring Ronald Radd, Charles Carson, Judy Parfitt, Felix Deebank, Mitzi Rogers, Robin Wentworth, Fred Ferris, Bernard Kay, Laurie Leigh, John Frawley, and Graeme Bruce.
VOLUME TWO
*Mission to Montreal* [8.5, Rollason] -- A neurotic actress possesses a secret microfilm -- when her stand-in is murdered she flees to Montreal on a passenger ship. Dr. Martin King suddenly appears on the ship in her regular physician's stead and Steed comes on board as a steward. Enemy agents and assassins are everywhere. This one is truly a superb tale of shipboard intrigue and it shares much in common with a terrific old Sherlock Holmes entry, Sherlock Holmes in Pursuit To Algiers. This one is a complex yet very comprehensible spy versus spy yarn. Teleplay by Lester Powell; Directed by Don Leaver, and co-starring: Patricia English, Iris Russell, Mark Eden, Gillian Muir, Harold Berens, Alan Curtiss, John Bennett, Gerald Sim, Eric McCaine, Allan Casley, John Frawley, Malcolm Taylor, Terence Woodfield, Leslie Pitt, Pamela Ann Davy, William Buck, Angela Thorne, Peter MacKriel, and William Swan.
*The Removal Men* [6.0, Stevens] -- A closely-knit gang of professional killers knock off high-end victims only. Steed goes to great effort to infiltrate them so that he can gather evidence and shut down the operation before more important targets are offed; however, Venus inadvertently gums up Steed's agenda. Again, Julie Stevens (as Venus) and The Dave Lee Trio egregiously date yet another episode here with their beat generation jazz motifs -- even though Stevens is a competent singer it's still all pretty unbearable. Teleplay by Roger Marshall and Jeremy Scott; Directed by Don Leaver, and co-starring Edwin Richfield, Reed de Rouen, Patricia Denys, George Roderick, Douglas Muir, Hira Talfrey, Edina Ronay, Donald Tandy, Ivor Dean, Hugo de Vernier, George Little, and The Dave Lee Trio.
*The Maritius Penny* [8.5, Blackman] -- An auction house for stamp collectors is a front for a Fascist group which is plotting to overthrow the British government. Macnee and Blackman exploit this superior script with equally strong performances. This episode exhibits the clear fingerprints of the great Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock (Story 92) writer (along with many other memorable *Dr. Who* episodes), Terrance Dicks. It's a strong script punctuated with shrewd sub-plots. Here's an episode you can sink your teeth into! Teleplay by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks; Directed by Richmond Harding, and co-starring Alfred Burke, David Langton, Richard Vernon, Sylva Langova, Edward Jewesbury, Harry Shacklock, Philip Guard, Alan Rolfe, Grace Arnold, Edward Higgins, Delia Corrie, Raymond Hodge, Edwin Brown, Anthony Blackshaw, Theodore Wilhelm, and Anthony Rogers.
VOLUME THREE:
*Death of A Great Dane* [5.0, Blackman] -- [The audio is a bit muffled on this episode at the start but it soon clears up]. This tale opens in a pet cemetery where a hermit-ish millionaire's K-9 was to be interred. Meanwhile, a man has crashed his car and his stomach was found to be engorged with diamonds... all of which belonged to the selfsame dog-owning millionaire. Steed goes in undercover for a closer look but murder intervenes before he gains control of the situation - pretty dull. This episode was re-made many years later as *The 50,000-Pound Breakfast* and turned out far superior to its predecessor. Teleplay by Roger Marshall and Jeremy Scott; Directed by Peter Hammond, and co-starring Frederick Jaeger, Leslie French, John Laurie, Clare Kelly, Dennis Edwards, Anthony Baird, Billy Milton, Eric Elliott, Roger Maxwell, Herbert Nelson, Michael Moyer, Frank Peters, Kevin Barry and, Junia and Heidi (the dogs.)
*The Sell-Out* [6.0, Rollason] -- International negotiations are being disrupted by saboteurs and assassins. Steed works with his bureau chief and Dr. King to ferret out a traitor within their organization -- Steed doesn't realize that he too is suspected. The dignitary under protection sees little need for the escalated security making Steed's work even more difficult. The easygoing and pragmatic Dr. Martin provides a good foil to Steed's unending sense of urgency. A so-so episode that suffers somewhat from a general lack of action. Teleplay by Anthony Terpiloff and Brandon Brady; Directed by Don Leaver, and co-starring: Frank Gatliff, Carleton Hobbs, Arthur Hewlett, Gillian Muir, Anne Godley, Michael Mellinger, Richard Klee, Storm Durr, Cyril Renison, Anthony Blackshaw, and Ray Browne.
*Death on the Rocks* [6.5, Blackman] -- When individual highly regulated diamond dealers fail to play ball with a coercive hustler, their family members get snuffed. Steed poses as a dealer to uncover the plot, unbeknownst to the regulatory agent. Cathy Gale comes on board as Steed's wife, a role within a role which she doesn't precisely savor. Blackman doesn't have a huge chunk of script here but it is one of her better performances. Teleplay by Eric Paice; Directed by Jonathan Alwyn, and co-starring: Meier Tzelniker, Gerald Cross, Ellen McIntosh, Naomi Chance, Hamilton Dyce, David Sumner, Richard Clarke, Toni Gilpin, Douglas Robinson, Annette Kerr, Haydn Ward, Jack Grossman, and Vincent Charles.
*Traitor in Zebra* [9.5, Blackman] -- (The title doesn't show up on the case or the disc but it does appear on the disc menu - it's supposed to be on Volume 4.) A British Naval radar tracking system is being jammed by enemy agents. A young Naval officer has been framed as the traitor who supposedly fed information to enemy agents but Steed, brought in as a Naval psychiatrist to examine the suspected junior officer, believes in his innocence. Cathy Gale is placed within the radar lab staff as a researcher to feed inside information to Steed. Then a series of local murders is clearly linked to the sabotage. This is a rock-solid story with spot-on casting. The atmosphere of the officers' lounge and the local pub respectively serves to launch this terrific entry as the best episode of the entire season -- the Director deserves notable kudos. Teleplay by John Gilbert; Directed by Richmond Harding, and co-starring John Sharp, Richard Leech, Noel Coleman, Jack Stewart, Ian Shand, William Gaunt, June Murphy, Kathy Wild, Danvers Walker, Richard Pescud, and Michael Browning.
VOLUME FOUR
*The Big Thinker* [6.5, Blackman] -- A super-computer is sabotaged and a boisterous young genius (played by Anthony Booth who grossly over-dramatizes his every movement) is immediately suspected of the jamming of the works. Of course, murder ensues. Cathy Gale sports a heinous hairdo in this one... sort of a greasy-looking bouffant crowned with a cow-pattie; however, she is somewhat redeemed when a female adversary emerges with an even more egregious mop! The conclusion is rather anti-climactic, probably attributable to the Director. Teleplay by Martin Woodhouse; Directed by Kim Mills, and co-starring Clive Baxter, Tenniel Evans, Allan McClelland, Penelope Lee, Walter Hudd, David Garth, Marina Martin, Ray Browne, and Anthony Booth.
*Death Dispatch* [6.5, Blackman] -- A British Embassy agent carrying routine dispatches is murdered in Jamaica. Steed stands in as a decoy courier and Cathy Gale serves as his cover. A ruthless Chilean fascist is behind the scheme to pull off a quick government coup. Cathy's new hairstyle is slightly better than it was in the previous episode but still, it's hardly her best look. On the positive side, her attire is pure `60s art. Teleplay by Leonard Fincham; Directed by Jonathan Alwyn, co-starring David Cargill, Valerie Sarruf, Douglas Muir, Gerald Harper, Hedger Wallace, Michael Forrest, Maria Andipa, Alan Mason, Geoff L'Cise, Arthur Griffiths, Bernice Rassin, and Jerry Jardin.
*Dead on Course* [7.5, Rollason] -- Aircraft are being electronically baited into crashing on the Irish coast. Steed is sent in to determine the motive and to collar the guilty parties for these heinous acts of apparent terrorism. Dr. King is called in by Steed to examine the corpses, all of which are transported to a local Catholic Convent... but it's soon discovered that one person has survived the crash! As the plot becomes ever more diaphanous, the Convent and its staff seem ever more suspicious. A dandy episode! Teleplay by Eric Paice; Directed by Richmond Harding, and co-starring John McLaren, Liam Gaffney, Donal Donnelly, Peggy Marshall, Elisabeth Murray, Janet Hargreaves, Nigel Arkwright, Bruce Boa, Margo Jenkins, Trevor Reid, Edward Kelsey, Molly Maureen, Denis Cleary, and Wilfred Grove.
Quite honestly, if you are new to *The Avengers*, I would recommend that you first watch Avengers '67 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2 because, that way, you get the color episodes which still star Diana Rigg (she departed in '68.) There's little question that Rigg was the most popular of Steed's sidekicks but I have enjoyed them all for the duration of the series, including the chirpy, giggling, and often incompetent Venus Smith (Julie Stevens.)
Highly recommended to fans of *The Avengers* or to those who simply enjoy older British television shows.
Summary 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-70653Similar DVD Movies
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