The Avengers-1967 Collection (1967)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio Gallery-Photo-7
Rating
Year Of Production	1967
Running Time	1232:36
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (7)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Robert Day James Hill Robert Asher Gordon Flemyng
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Diana Rigg Patrick Macnee
Case	?
RPI	$99.95	Music	Laurie Johnson

    Nostalgia! Ah, nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

    Time was, you'd talk to your friends about what was on TV last night, and tease them if they missed it, knowing that they'd have a long wait before it was re-run. And you'd talk about old episodes of a series you liked, wondering if they'd ever be re-run. The Avengers was the subject of a lot of conversations. It was a very popular show, and it saw more than its fair share of re-runs. I missed the original run, mainly through being a child at the time — it was not a children's show. I've seen episodes from this season many times, though, because it has been re-run more than other seasons.

    The Avengers took off with Patrick Macnee playing John Steed, and Honor Blackman playing Dr Cathy Gale (there was apparently one season before Honor Blackman's arrival, but I've never spoken to anyone who remembers it, and reportedly most of the episodes are gone forever). Honor Blackman left the series (and we saw her as "Pussy" Galore in Goldfinger) in 1964. Her replacement was Mrs Emma Peel, played with great panache by Diana Rigg. The Avengers had its most successful years with Emma Peel. When Diana Rigg left at the end of 1967 they introduced Linda Thorson as Tara King, Steed's new partner, but the series had lost its edge, and died away. So it is not surprising that the first season we get on DVD is this one. This is 1967, the last season of Emma Peel and the first season in colour — it even opens with a full frame title "The Avengers in Color" (including the annoying American spelling!).

    The series has a relatively simple setup. It was set in contemporary times, but those were the times when it was made, the 1960s. The Cold War was at its height. Spies, we are led to believe, were everywhere (judging by the number of spies / agents in this series, fully a quarter of Britain's population must have been spying for someone!). And the competition between British agents and others (generally the opposition was not named, but they seemed to have mostly Eastern European names...) meant that sometimes agents died. When an agent died, his death had to be investigated, and possibly avenged, hence The Avengers. The vengeance part faded as the series progressed, and it became more a case of them (Steed and partner) investigating the death of an agent, or sometimes people who weren't agents but were important for some reason or other (such as Dusty Rhodes in The £50000 Breakfast). Most episodes followed a pattern: we'd have the credits, then someone we had never seen before would be chased, and injured or killed. If they were only injured they might make their way to Steed's place, there to gasp out a cryptic clue before expiring. Then we'd see the title of the episode, usually followed by a tag (Steed something, Emma something), and then we're off into the episode proper. This was very much episodic television, with nothing significant in the way of longer story arcs. That's not a bad thing when the episodes are as good as most of these. And speaking of episodes, the episodes in this set are:

1. From Venus With Love  49:18  Director: Robert Day. Writer: Philip Levene.  Steed is shot full of holes; Emma sees stars!
   Something is killing amateur astronomers gazing at the planet Venus
2. The Fear Merchants  49:24  Director: Gordon Flemyng. Writer Philip Levene.  Steed puts out a light; Emma takes fright
   Ceramics manufacturers are being driven mad from terror
3. Escape in Time  49:24  Director John Krish. Writer Philip Levene.  Steed visits the barber; Emma has a close shave
   Rich fugitives are disappearing without trace
4. The See-Through Man   49:11  Director Robert Asher. Writer Philip Levene.  Steed makes a bomb; Emma is put to sleep!
   A formula for invisibility has been stolen, and is being sold to a foreign power
5. The Bird Who Knew Too Much  49:21  Director Roy Rossotti. Writer Brian Clemens.  Steed fancies pigeons; Emma gets the bird
   Secret information (obtained by mysterious means) is being smuggled out of the country
6. The Winged Avenger  49:24  Director Gordon Flemyng. Writer Richard Harris. Steed goes bird watching; Emma does a comic strip
   A comic book hero seems to be attacking and mauling selected people
7. The Living Dead  49:21  Director John Krish. Writer Brian Clemens. Steed finds a mine of information; Emma goes underground
   A group of men lost in a mining disaster are manifesting as ghosts.
8. The Hidden Tiger  49:08  Director Sidney Hayers. Writer Philip Levene. Steed hunts a big cat; Emma is badly scratched
   There seems to be a tiger on the loose in the English countryside.
9. The Correct Way to Kill  49:24  Director Charles Crichton. Writer Brian Clemens. Steed changes partners; Emma joins the enemy
   Steed and Emma team up with the "opposition" to discover who is killing all "their" agents
10. Never Never Say Die  49:18  Director Robert Day. Writer Philip Levene. Steed meets a dead man; Emma fights the corpse
    A man is run down and killed, temporarily but repeatedly
11. Epic  49:17  Director James Hill. Writer Brian Clemens. Steed catches a falling star; Emma makes a movie
    Emma is the focus of a camera
12. The Superlative Seven  49:09  Director Sidney Hayers. Writer Brian Clemens. Steed flies to nowhere; Emma does her party piece
    Seven experts are abducted for purposes unknown
13. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station  49:21  Director John Krish. Writer Brian Sheriff. Steed goes off the rails; Emma finds her station in life
    There's dirty work at the railroads.
14. Something Nasty in the Nursery  49:22  Director James Hill. Writer Philip Levene. Steed acquires a nanny; Emma shops for toys
    Follow the bouncing ball...
15. The Joker  49:22  Director Sidney Hayers. Writer Brian Clemens. Steed trumps an ace; Emma plays a lone hand
    Emma's visit to a bridge expert does not go according to plan
16. Who's Who  49:17  Director John Moxey. Writer Philip Levene. Steed goes out of his mind; Emma is beside herself
    The Floral Network of spy masters is wilting
17. Return of the Cybernauts  49:16  Director Robert Day. Writer Philip Levene.
    Even though the creator of the Cybernauts is dead, a new one appears
18. Death's Door  49:21  Director Sidney Hayers. Writer Philip Levene.
    A master diplomat has premonitions that interfere with a crucial international meeting
19. The £50000 Breakfast  49:09  Director Robert Day. Writer Roger Marshall.
    A ventriloquist with a stomach full of diamonds leads to a mysterious reclusive millionaire
20. Dead Man's Treasure  49:22  Director Sidney Hayers. Writer Michael Winder.
    There's more than expected in the treasure chest
21. You Have Just Been Murdered  49:18  Director Robert Asher. Writer Philip Levene.
    Why would you pretend to murder a millionaire?
22. The Positive Negative Man  49:21  Director Robert Day. Writer Tony Williamson.
    Emma and Steed have a shocking experience
23. Murdersville  49:19  Director Robert Asher. Writer Brian Clemens.
    A small village has developed an unusual trade
24. Mission... Highly Improbable  49:09  Director Robert Day  Writer Philip Levene
    Working in metal fatigue seems to lead to diminished expectations
25. The Forget-Me-Knot  49:20  Director James Hill  Writer Brian Clemens.
    A missing secret agent turns up, minus his memory

    It is interesting to note that a one hour episode in 1967 ran over 49 minutes, unlike today, when a one hour episode today will run just 40 to 42 minutes.

    We usually saw Steed usually dressed in a three piece suit, often pinstripe, with his bowler and 'brella — Pierre Cardin is credited "for principal items of Mr Macnee's wardrobe". Emma, on the other hand, appeared in a bewildering variety of outfits (her wardrobe is credited to Alun Hughes) — Emma Peel clearly had a taste for the avant-garde in clothing. When she was dressed for combat, though, it was usually a type of outfit that (in hindsight) looked a lot like a fancy tracksuit.

    Speaking of combat, oh, how awful the fighting is! Stunt director Ray Austin would be ashamed of himself to produce this quality of fighting today, but for the time it was pretty standard. Emma Peel is supposed to be an expert at some martial arts, but her "karate" or "kung fu" moves owe more to dance training than Shaolin monks, one might judge. Steed, by contrast, is less into hand-to-hand, and more into umbrella-to-head — it's difficult to criticise that as a combat style. Fortunately there aren't too many fights; this team solves more of its puzzles by brain than by brawn.

    There are occasional errors, but the most obvious are in Murdersville, where we see Emma wearing a purple outfit throughout the episode, except when she's seen from the front in a car, when she's wearing dark orange. There is a sequence of scenes early in the episode which alternate colours: purple, orange, purple, orange. It's amazing they didn't fix this. Other errors, like the moments when a stunt man is quite recognisably not Steed (see 39:24 in The Superlative Seven), are more normal.

    It's fun to play spot the celebrity guest star, and there are lots of them to spot. I noted Donald Sutherland, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ronnie Barker, Warren Mitchell, Paul Eddington, Charlotte Rampling, Cecil Parker, Roy Kinnear, John Wood, and Anthony Valentine. And a large number of lesser-knowns, including Yootha Joyce (best known now as Mrs Roper), Peter Bowles and Penelope Keith (To the Manor Born), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Dr Who) and several names from Dad's Army: Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring), Clive Dunn (Lance Corporal Jones), and Peter Laurie (Private Fraser). Philip Levene, who wrote many of the episodes, plays a small part in Who's Who. There are many others.

    I wonder why they stopped putting tag lines after the titles? It's almost as if the first 16 episodes were a different batch. The final episode was a transition from Emma Peel to Tara King, so the opening credits are Emma Peel style, while the closing credits are Tara King style.

    I've been pondering if there's anything in The Avengers for viewers who didn't see it on TV in the 60s and 70s (and 80s...). I think that it does offer more than a curiosity ("did people really wear that?") for today's audience. Much of the humour is still funny today. A few of the bits of techno-babble fall a little flat (we're all rather more familiar with lasers today, for example, so we know that a laser beam can't be white). But the characters come through, and I'd much rather we looked at the original Steed and Emma than the Ralph Fiennes / Uma Thurman versions in the awful 1998 film.

    If you remember The Avengers fondly, then this is a collection of some of the best episodes. If you've never seen the original show, this is your opportunity.

Video

    This transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced. For a 1967 TV series, this is exactly what we expect.

    The picture is a little soft, probably due to light film grain — it seems likely that they were not using the highest quality film stock. Shadow detail is poor. There is some low-level noise in a few very limited places (such as 1:30 and 10:19 in The Hidden Tiger), but it's generally not visible.

    Colour is mostly rendered fairly well, with some rich colours to see, but there are signs of poor colour timing here and there — there are many moments where colour will shift from shot to shot. I'd guess that we can attribute this to inexperience, given that this was their first season in colour.

    There are a great many film artefacts on display, but they are mostly relatively small flecks and specks. There are more than a few larger artefacts, like the white splashes at 23:33 in From Venus With Love, the white thread at 22:22 in The Fear Merchants, black texta mark at 35:10 in Escape in Time, medium-size white blobs at 42:47 in The See-Through Man, 6:23 in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station, and 34:12 in The Bird Who Knew Too Much, the vertical scratches at 36:04 in Epic, and water spots at 39:50 in Murdersville and 47:15 in Dead Man's Treasure. Most surprising of all, though, is the artefact that looks like a series of scrape marks on the panel in the credits where they show the director's name — this appears at 48:16 in You Have Just Been Murdered, 48:18 in The Positive Negative Man, 48:16 in Murdersville, and 48:06 in Mission... Highly Improbable — you'd think they'd have noticed it on the first occurrence, and fixed it before the next episode.

    It looks like they used hand-held cameras on occasion, but this pre-dated the Steadicam, so there is more than a little camera shake.

    There is frequent aliasing, on all of the usual suspects, plus a few unusual ones, including guns. There's occasional moiré, mostly on fabrics. There's some telecine judder, perhaps sprocket hole damage, such as at 8:04 in Murdersville. At least there don't appear to be any MPEG artefacts.

    There are, disappointingly, no subtitles.

    The first six discs are single-sided, dual layered. The seventh is single layered. There are two episodes on each layer, so there are no layer changes visible.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The soundtrack is provided in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224kbps. The original sound was mono, so that's fine.

    The dialogue is clear and comprehensible, even when there's some noise in the sound — the soundtrack offers somewhat limited fidelity, with hiss and other artefacts not uncommon. There are very few audio sync issues, though, and those that are present, such at 36:12 in Escape in Time, are minor.

    The score is provided by Laurie Johnson throughout. It can be quite strident (with lots of brass), and even a bit screechy. I wonder if it is a bit over-bright to accommodate the limited treble of 1960s TV receivers?

    Neither the surrounds nor the subwoofer are officially supported by this soundtrack. If you enable surround decoding you'll hear the sound collapse into the centre channel.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menus are simple and static, with a audio grab of the theme. It's not a long grab, so it rapidly becomes a bit tedious.

Photo Galleries

    There are photo galleries for each disc, but they are all located on disc 7. Each is a montage of images supposedly from the episodes on that disc. Unfortunately, someone got the labels wrong on quite a few of the images — there are images from, for example, The Positive Negative Man, labelled as being from From Venus With Love. Sloppy. Even so, these montages are worth a look.

• Disc One (5:28)
• Disc Two (5:03)
• Disc Three (6:44)
• Disc Four (3:56)
• Disc Five (4:36)
• Disc Six (2:07)
• Disc Seven (0:38)

    This is interesting. The Region 1 release comes from A&E (a Canal Plus company). They were first released some time ago (the packaging is © 1998) — there have been other releases since, including one release of every disc of Emma Peel episodes (same discs, different packaging). I have the first release, which was offered as four sets, each of two discs, for a total of eight DVDs. Each disc holds three episodes, save the last, which holds four. This is in sharp contrast to the Region 4 collection, where we get four episodes per disc, except that the last disc has just one — twenty five episodes either way, though. The Region 1 photo galleries are a collection of individually viewable stills, rather than a montage — I like the montage.

    The Region 1 transfer is not as good as the Region 4. It has rather more film and film-to-video artefacts, including vertical scratches and frequent annoying background shimmer. And the R1 is noticeably lower resolution, by more than the PAL to NTSC ratio — the picture is frequently unacceptably soft.

    There's no question — the Region 4 version is definitely the superior choice.

    A popular series from the 1960s makes its first appearance on DVD. Not a brilliant set of DVDs, but probably as good as we can expect for a series this old.

    The video quality is fair, for 37-year-old material. It's clearly better than the Region 1.

    The audio quality is adequate, but far from high fidelity.

    The extras are limited to a set of photo still galleries. Shame they got the photos shuffled and mis-labelled.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall