[profh0011]

This is one of my top 3 favorite adventures shows ever, so I just have to start a separate thread for it.


THE AVENGERS:  "Mr. Teddy Bear"
The Gadget Man     *******  (of 10)

Steed's ordered to "get" a professional hit man who uses clever gadgets to murder his unsuspecting victims. The plan involves his new friend Cathy Gale putting out a contract to have Steed killed, which comes very close to actually happening!

Between seasons, Ian Hendry left for a film career. Following 3 episodes with Jon Rollason as Dr. Martin King (to use up 3 leftover Dr. David Keel scripts, I guess they didn't want that money going to waste), it was decided Steed would have 2 women as his partners in season 2, with all 3 characters being spaced out in rotation.

Honor Blackman as widowed anthropologist Catherine Gale, was unlike any leading lady ever seen on TV before her. She was tough, independant, capable, and intensely-intelligent! When the writers had trouble figuring out how to handle her, she took her husband's advice: "Why not play it like a MAN-- they'll get the idea." They did!

"Mr. Teddy Bear" was actually the 7th episode filmed that season, and Cathy's 4th, but was chosen to open the season, and I can really see WHY. Patrick Macnee once said "There never was any really good writing", referring to the show as "dull crime plots", but thanks to Ian Hendry deciding to re-write the dialogue at the rehearsal stage, a tradition carried on by Macnee and his later co-stars, they really amped the stories up and turned them into something special. This particular episode, I feel, already started with a more-clever-than-usual premise, and when combined with the on-screen personalities of Steed & Gale, was a MESMERIZING experience to sit through!

Somehow, in the 90s, I missed this one on A&E, and seeing it today for the first time, I was absolutely FLOORED that a show with such a low budget, studio-bound, shot on video, looking like a stage play, should be so completely RIVETTING. Especially the final act, when we finally get to meet the villain, and are on the edge of our seat wondering, HOW is Cathy going to get out of this alive?

Apparently this was the first time we ever saw Steed's flat, or his Dalmation dog "Freckles". We also see Steed & Cathy practicing judo, an idea they came up with because it was too awkward to have her carrying a gun (which she still had at the end of this story).

Among the supporting cast is Douglas Muir as Steed's boss "One-Ten", a very serious-minded government type who feels Steed's too cavalier about putting himself in danger. He appeared in 6 episodes of season 1 (all sadly lost) and 5 episodes of season 5 (a total off 11), but disappeared after. Also seen this season were One-Twelve, One-Seven and One-Six (they seemed to be counting down to zero... heh).

Michael Robbins also turns up as a biker hired to spy on Cathy, who Steed interrogates cold-bloodedly, before later finding him DEAD. I'll probably always remember him as the highwayman "Richard Mace" in the Peter Davison DOCTOR WHO story "The Visitation".

When A&E ran seasons 2 & 3 in the 90s, they CUT 8 minutes from every episode. It's amazing they made sense at all, and actually managed to grow on me with each viewing. I'm sure it's going to be a massive pleasure FINALLY being able to see these UNCUT as intended. I've been watching a lot of 60s spy shows on DVD lately, including "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA", "THE MAN FROM UNCLE" and "THE GIRL FROM UNCLE", but apart from "UNCLE" season 1, nothing has been as good or as entertaining as "THE AVENGERS"... and I'm only on the "cheap" season so far!
   (6-29-2022)

I forgot:  Writer Martin Woodhouse did 7 episodes of THE AVENGERS over seasons 2-4, and 22 episodes of "SUPERCAR" (including the pilot) !!!

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  "Propellant 23"
"Oh, and Steed?  No more slipups."     *****   (of 10)

An agent smuggling rocket formula is murdered en route to Marseiles. A rather cranky Mrs. Gale is recruited to help, and Steed becomes a suspect by the police after first asking too many questions, then breaking into the airport office in the middle of the night. 2 separate bottles may be the container they're after, and it gets more complex when a rival agent murders a stewardess, then tells the cops they can find Steed in the apartment where her body is!

When I first saw the season 2 episodes, they reminded me VERY much in look, feel and style to the earliest DOCTOR WHOs from the same period. Both very low-budget, studio-bound, shot on video. And again, in both cases, it's the main characters who make the show. John Steed, clearly working for some secret government outfit, always seems to be far too casual and cavalier and smiling as he works (very much "a George Sanders type", a description that explained more to me about his character than watching the series for decades). Then there's Cathy Gale, smart, independant, tough, but clearly realizing that despite his attitude, Steed is doing important work. It's often amusing that at times she seems better at his job than he is.

At one point, Steed's boss (whose face we never see in this one-- an uncredited Douglas Muir as One-Ten?) says a line that reminds me of a scene in the Roger Moore film "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY"-- "Oh, and Steed? No more slip-ups." The look of irritation on Steed's face is hilarious, you can see he's really putting in a lot of effort NOT to respond to it.

At another point, Steed tells Cathy the head cop at the airport seemed to already know something was going on, and she says, "Perhaps it's time you changed your code." I heard that and thought, if I'd been in his position, I'd have smiled and said, "GOOD idea! I'll be sure to pass it on to my BOSS."

Steed gives Cathy a special minature gun with 10 cartridges, which really comes in handy when one of the baddies tries to stab her. She takes him down without firing a shot. Later, we find she's ALSO got another gun strapped to her thigh. This is one lady you DO NOT wanna mess with!

What could have otherwise been a "dull crime plot" (or espionage as the case may be) was the sole contribution in the series from Jon Manchip White. I wonder if he never did any more because this was considered TOO "standard"?

Apart from the leads, what really makes this stand out is the guest cast. Among them are the gorgeous Katherine Woodville (who for a time later became Patrick Macnee's wife), the equally-stunning Justine Lord (who specialized in "bad girls", particular the title character in THE PRISONER episode "The Girl Who Was Death"), Nicholas Courtney (who found fame as "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart", my all-time favorite supporting character on DOCTOR WHO), John Gill (who among many other things turned up on a "CAMPION" story and a Jeremy Brett "SHERLOCK HOLMES"), Geoffrey Palmer (who played "Lionel Hardcastle", my favorite character on "AS TIME GOES BY"), and John Dearth (who played "Lupton", the character who basically FILLED IN for the deceased Roger Delgado in the final Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story, "Planet of the Spiders").

Even with such a low budget, this show seems better-written and acted than most episodes of "VOYAGE" or "UNCLE" I'm watching.

[profh0011]

Well, it turns out this one I did a review 11 years ago!  Saved me time & effort this time around.



THE AVENGERS:  The Decapod
"Is this some kind of white slavery thing?"     *****  (of 10)

Coming after several Cathy Gale episodes, "THE DECAPOD" is a real oddball. International security meets pop music meets professional wrestling (how'd THAT get in here?). It starts off with a clearly NAKED woman taking a shower (what is this, Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO?) who, of course, is murdered by the time the story title appears on screen.

This time around, Steed is involved looking into security at a foreign embassy, where you have a very shady ambassador (Philip Madoc, who I'll always remember as the VERY mad scientist in the DOCTOR WHO story "The Brain of Morbius") and a well-known "playboy" whose job it is to negotiate a huge loan of cash (Paul Stassino, no doubt best known as the double-crossing SPECTRE pilot in THUNDERBALL). In the long run, the plot reveals itself to be very simple, but looking at it as it unravels, it SEEMS a lot more confusing than it is. It just doesn't seem to follow the normal plot structure of this show, especially when the pro wrestling angle comes into it.

Steed pulls a "Napoleon Solo" in this story, "recruiting" an innocent outsider, nightclub singer Venus Smith, to help him get information from inside the embassy. But U.N.C.L.E. was always upfront with people when they did this-- they knew what they were getting into. Steed proves himself an absolute CAD here (in the best/worst George Sanders tradition) by CONNING Venus into thinking she's auditioning for a possible singing tour of the Balkans. Perhaps with better writing, this could have come off as genuinely funny. Instead, it's mostly awkward, as both she and the playboy diplomat keep talking at cross-purposes, neither quite sure what's going on with the other. She even briefly becomes worried that she might wind up in someone's "harem".

What makes it worth sitting thru is Julie Stevens as Venus. She's a "character"! While not an "action" girl by any means, she's got as much attitude in some scenes as Cathy Gale-- maybe more! (In this, she actually reminds me a bit of ANOTHER "Smith"-- Sarah Jane.) The playboy, Yakob Borb, manages to be SO charming, she finds herself starting to care for him rather quickly (and it appears it's mutual), but she doesn't hesitate when it comes to grilling him for details about why he set up a date and then stood her up (especially when a MURDER takes place where they were supposed to meet). I also found it funny when she says to one of Yakob's bodyguards, "HEEL, boy!"

By the end of the story, we find out the ambassador is not the obvious villain we thought he was, Steed gets involved in a brief wrestling match (with Patrick Macnee doing his own stunt-work!) and Venus is angrily telling Steed, "Well DON'T do it again!" "As if I would..." he replies... but by the look on his face, you can see, he's ALREADY considering doing just that! (It's amazing she didn't clobber him in a later episode.)
     (5-24-2011)



Today was the 1st time I got to see this UNCUT, as A&E was butchering all the seasons 2 & 3 episodes in the 90s.  The picture quality was very nice, but the sound was AWFUL.  I'll have to check my old videotapes to see how they compare.

I've always liked singers. I get the feeling of all the various AVENGERS girls, Venus Smith might be the one I'd most like to ask out.  Watching today, she reminds me a bit of a singer friend of mine I've known off-and-on since 1996.  I hope she's doing okay...

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Bullseye
Cathy Gale: Company Director     ******  (of 10)

This is one of those talk-talk-talky episodes that was bit tough to get thru first time, but has continued to get better on subsequent viewings. To investigate possible irregularities at a weapons-manufacturing company (their product is somehow finding its way to African revolutionaries), Cathy (with behind-the-scenes help and prodding by Steed) finds herself first owning a large number of shares, then being voted to the firm's board of directors. Before you know it, board members begin dropping like flies, and the police wind up eyeing Cathy as a likely suspect!

Among the cast are Ronald Radd, who I always remember from THE PRISONER episode "Checkmate" as the man Number Six convinced he could be trusted. I've seen him on a number of AVENGERS and SAINT stories over the years, and here he plays a high-rolling investor determined to buy out the company so he can re-sell it at a profit-- and he always gets what he goes after. It's fascinating to watch when Cathy, suspecting HE may be the murderer, poses as a journalist to pump him for info, but soon a mutual admiration begins to grow between the two.

Far shadier is Bernard Kay, who I always remember from the overlong Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story, "COLONY IN SPACE", where as one of the unscrupulous Mining Company officers, he proved to have more scruples than his C.O. Here, his character is quite surprised when he tries to tackle Cathy and meets physical resistance he obviously didn't expect from a woman.

I'm guessing Patrick Macnee had most of the week off when they were doing this, as he only appears in a few scenes, giving Cathy info, then stealing her away from her new admirer at the end, warning her, "You've got to be careful, you never know WHERE you might end up with his type!" (At which point, she makes SURE to set a dinner date with the man. Take THAT, Steed!)
     (6-1-2011)


Writer Eric Paice, who had a very busy career, did 8 AVENGERS episodes, all in seasons 1-3.  Later, he did no less than 42 episodes of DIXON OF DOCK STREET, and also created the sci-fi series STAR MAIDENS.

[paw broon]

The Decapod.  The music? Think about the date.  Pro wrestling? At the time it was very popular in the UK with a show most Saturday afternoons. The Avengers was part of a new scene so shoehorning in other cultural references was important to the producers. DJ Kent Walton introduced and commentated on the wrestling.  At the time, Mick McManus was the great villain. Also incredibly popular was Jackie Pallo, and Prof, you'll see him being knocked unconscious by Mrs Gale in a later episode -accidentally we are told.
The British charts around '62, '63 included Bily Fury, Cliff Richard, Sandy Nelson, Bobby Vee. Lots of pop and rock.

[profh0011]

Thanks for the references.  I heard from my Dad pro wrestling was huge in America in the 50s, but nearly died out by 1971 or so, when I first got into it.  Like amusement parks at the same time, the business made a recovery as that decade went on, and became huge again in the 80s, 90s, and so on.

I first saw seasons 2-3 in the 90s and years of watching 60s DOCTOR WHO prepared me for the primitive look and feel. I was pleasantly surprised over the years that each time I'd watch them, I'd like them better, a sign of good writing (which merely seemed unusual when compared to the more-glossy later seasons).

Before the show got here, there was exactly ONE Cathy Gale episode in the Movies Unlimited catalog-- "Death of a Great Dane".  I rented and copied it.  When the show arrived, I taped that one again, then watched both simultanously to compare edits.  It seemed like at every commercial break, or at every major scene change, something was cut, and I swore the difference in that case was 8-1/2 minutes!

I've been clocking the episodes the last few weeks as I watch the DVDs, and something I've noticed is, so far, EVERY episode has a slightly-different length.  Somehow, that makes British ABC seem less "professional" than most TV networks.  (Or is that just me?)

It's been over 25 years since I first saw these early stories, and with all that behind me I have a much-wider knowledge of so many different actors, not to mention writers.  It is very nice to finally be able to see them UNCUT for the first time ever.  (I've only been collecting DVDs for about 4 years now, I suppose I'm always going to feel like I'm catching up... although, more and more of the movies I'm going after, have been having BRAND-NEW restorations only recently, which makes me glad in a way I didn't get them before.)

I'm also glad I'm continuing to watch various series at a rate of ONE story per week. It gives me a chance to really focus on each one more fully.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Mission To Montreal
Well, it's not "THE LOVE BOAT"!     ****   (of 10)

A temperamental actress is conned into transporting stolen microfilm by her husband under the guise of his being blackmailed; little does she know, he's part of the spy ring!

Department of Unmittigated Nerve: Ian Hendry left between seasons to persue a film career, and someone decided they didn't want 3 leftover "Dr. Keel" scripts to go to waste. In comes Jon Rollason as "Dr. Martin King" to fill the gap. He's not bad, but like Cathy Gale, we get NO introduction for him, nor for his nurse "Judy" who appears in 2 of his 3 episodes. I rather liked Gillian Muir, I thought she was the cutest girl in this episode, and would have been nice to have around longer. I see she has one more credit following her 2 AVENGERS episodes, and must have retired. She's been married now longer than I've been alive-- what an inspiration!

This story, which involves 2 sets of spies on a cruise ship, is a bit tedious, and the espionage plot does have some interest, but it's the guest stars who hold it together. Patricia English is actress and "sex symbol" Carla Berotti, who's a hypocondriac and nervous wreck, especially since her screen double was murdered. Iris Russell plays publicist Sheila Dowson, a tough cookie who, it turns out, works part-time for Steed on a freelance basis. Little does he know, she's also the HEAD of the opposing spy ring, and a very cold-blooded character she is! Funny enough, Russell later played "Father", filling in for "Mother", in one of the Tara King episodes.

Gerald Sim is a drunk who winds up mistaken for Dr. King and murdered in his cabin. He had better roles in 4 later episodes, one each with Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, Tara King AND Purdey! I've also seen him in DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN, a Joan Hickson MISS MARPLE, but I know him best as a regular on TO THE MANOR BORN.

This was Rollason's 2nd of 3 episodes, but run 1st, perhaps to avoid any additional confusion. At one point he says it was his "first" crossing to Canada, despite "Dead On Course" taking place entirely in Canada. I can see why they didn't start the season with this one. Steed doesn't turn up until 20 MINUTES in! Audiences may have wondered exactly what show they were watching.

It was amusing to see Steed, undercover as a ship's steward, walk into King's cabin and pour himself a drink, while saying ship's crew aren't ALLOWED to have any. Later, he gets into a really physical knock-down drag-out with an assassin, and I can see by the extreme amount of effort and difficulty he had, WHY he so much favored working with other people who were better fighters than he was (Cathy, Emma, Tara, Purdey and Mike). Even at this early point, I could well imagine him saying... "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Removal Men
Meurtre Incorpore' dans le Sud de la France     ******  (of 10)

That's "Murder Incorporated in the South of France". Steed infiltrates a gang of professional killers whose latest target is a film star who got too "political". By a complete coincidence, one of the gang runs a nightclub where Venus Smith is singing, and she unintentionally blows Steed's cover! (OOPS!)

Patrick Macnee gets to go full-on "George Sanders" in this one, first robbing the leader of the gang just to impress him, then flirting with the man's wife (though that's mostly the other way), while still never telling Venus what he does for a living (and catching hell from her when she suspects her current contract-- and an offer from a film studio-- may just be another of his set-ups-- IT ISN'T!).

Edwin Richfield certainly played a lot of really rotten, suspicious characters in his time. Here, he reminds me of Roddy McDowell's character in one of my favorite "McCLOUD" episodes, "The Park Avenue Rustlers", as he's suspicious of Steed from the start, and looking for any excuse to bump him off. (The parallel is even closer considering Diana Muldaur's "Chris Caughlin" blew Sam's cover in that episode as Venus did to Steed here.)

Edina Ronay appears as the film star who is suddenly informed that someone wants her DEAD-- by the man who's been assigned to do the job.

Ivor Dean plays a Harbour Officer with a keenly-developed appreciation for Miles Davis and jazz in general. I confess, between his moustache & his accent, I completely failed to recognize the guy who was the longest-running "Inspector Teal" on the Roger Moore "SAINT" series.

Douglas Muir shows up twice as Steed's current boss "One-Ten". Once he gets Steed to apply suntan oil to his back, and later, he's openly flirting with the film starlette who's one-third his age. As Steed said, "A hundred and ten and still kicking!" This is IDENTICAL behavior to that seen from Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll) on "THE MAN FROM UNCLE", but a full 2 years before that show debuted! I have to wonder how many Hollywood producers had access to foreign shows long before American audiences did.

At the end, Steed asks Venus why she's out of cash. "You shot my BOSS!" "Oh yeah..." I hope he paid her way back to England.  (I really like her.)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Mauritius Penny
The Sinister Stamp-Dealers     *****   (of 10)

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

    Never let it be said that "entertainment" can't be educational. It's thanks to this episode some years ago I first heard about the island Republic of Mauritius, which is off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. (I had to look it up myself; if that fact was mentioned anywhere in the episode itself, it must be somewhere in the 8-1/2 minutes CUT by A&E when they ran it in the early 90's.)

Another "talky" and technical episode, this one involving the rare stamp market. Apart from trying even my patience in a few spots (and I used to COLLECT stamps decades ago!), the major flaw I found in this story was giving away the big mystery in only the 3rd scene! This is the sort of thing that ruined several otherwise terrific episodes of THE NEW AVENGERS, and it's unfortunate to see it crop up this early in the show's history. When the audience knows too much too early, it makes the heroes look slow-witted by comparison.

    It's surprising seeing this sort of thing from Malcolm Hulke AND Terrence Dicks, as they were each among the best writers DOCTOR WHO ever had (Hulke having written some 54 episodes of that show, while Dicks acted as script editor for 5 whole years). Terrence Dicks wrote a similar scenario for Tom Baker's very 1st DOCTOR WHO story, "Robot", but in there, had the sense to hold back the intended "takeover" plot until the 2nd half of the story!

    Steed really takes a beating in this one. First he's overpowered in his flat by two thugs posing as officers from the Criminal Investigation Division, later he's knocked out in a dentist's office while posing as a patient. As expected, he makes up for it by the end.

    Rare stamps prove to be another of Mrs. Gale's interests, and I was frankly surprised when Steed went to the shop himself early-on instead of getting her to do it. Later, a big mistake is made when he does convince her to take a job at the same store, but only AFTER she's been very visible at a stamp auction. Maybe Steed should have considered occasionally working with a slightly bigger "team"?

    Among the cast are David Langton, who, 21 years later, played Sir Henry Baskerville in the Ian Richardson big-budget version of HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and Richard Vernon, who I've seen in THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, UFO ("The Sound Of Silence"), GOLDFINGER (which, of course, also featured Honor Blackman, but not in any scenes together), THE TOMB OF LIEGIA (as Elisabeth Sheppard's father), THE SAINT ("The Elusive Ellshaw"), and the man on the train in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT ("I've been traveling on this line for 20 years!").
   (6-8-2011)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Death Of A Great Dane
Smuggling and High Finance     ****  (of 10)

An accident victim is discovered with 50,000 pounds of diamonds in his stomach. Meanwhile, a philanthropic financier appears to be liquidating all of his assets in a hurry at quite a loss. Can there be any connection? Given what series this is, OF COURSE.

The guest cast includes Frederick Jaeger as a very intense financial genius frustrated by the anonymity of his longterm job. Apart from 4 AVENGERS episodes (1 with Cathy, 2 with Emma and 1 with Purdie) and a multitude of other things, I'll probably alway most remember him for a pair of DOCTOR WHO stories, "Planet Of Evil" (which combined "Forbidden Planet" with "Jekyll & Hyde"), and "The Invisible Enemy" (where he played the creator of "K-9").

Stealing the show is Leslie French as the delightfully-polite and friendly butler (and dog-walker). It surprises me that I've also seen him in bit parts in both "THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS" and DOCTOR WHO: "Silver Nemesis", more than 2 decades after this.

Stealing the story even more is John Laurie as the rich man's physician, who's also a keen wine-taster. Laurie's career goes back to the 30s, and has been in such things as "THE 39 STEPS" (1935), "TREASURE ISLAND" (1950), "DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS" (1954) and "THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES" (1971). These 2 characters prove to be in on the racket, but totally-unaware of how far their boss was willing to go to protect it.

This particular episode gets my vote as the least of the several that were later remade as color Emma Peel stories 3 years later. It's just too technical and talky for my tastes. Back in the 80s, it was apparently also the only Cathy episode that was available on commercial VHS (which Patrick Macnee later said was an "illegal bootleg"). When A&E ran seasons 2 & 3 in the mid-1990s, I was able to compare that tape with what was broadcast, and found the station was BUTCHERING every single episode they ran, by as much as 6-1/2 minutes.

I just compared the DVD with my uncut VHS. The VHS copy was badly damaged, scratches everywhere, and the picture jumped in at least one place. But oddly enough, by comparison, the picture quality (what you could see of it) was SHARPER than that on the otherwise-CLEAN DVD, which looked FUZZY. But moreso, the SOUND was MUCH CLEARER. Once I got past the initial "funeral" scene, I could hear every single word on the tape, while the ENTIRE soundtrack on the DVD was muffled. I guess A&E Video were just unable to find a decent copy of this one. A shame.

The interplay between Steed, Cathy, the butler & the doctor make this one worth watching. I haven't decided which version I like better between this and "The L50,000 Breakfast", but I suspect this one might have the edge... that is, except for the poor quality of the (2 different) prints!

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Sell-Out
Diplomacy, Assassination Attempts, and Treason     ****  (of 10)

A foreign diplomat involved in peace talks is the target of an assassination plot. Steed & fellow agent Harvey are assigned security at both ends. But recurring leaks lead Steed to suspect a traitor in his organization. His latest superior, One-Twelve, seems doubtful of this... but later, Steed learns he had the same idea, and actually had someone shadowing Steed's movements, in order to give the man he really suspects the false impression that HE wasn't under suspicion!

Into this spy game mess Steed once more drags a reluctant Dr. King, who'd rather stick to his own job, but his experiences as a medical man and in college sports prove useful.

The last of the leftover "Dr. Keel" scripts filmed (but broadcast 2nd, about a third of the way into the season) once again features Jon Rollason (who would have made a good "John Seward" in an authentic adaptation of "Dracula") and Gillian Muir as his nurse Judy.

The familiar faces for me included Frank Gatliff as Harvey, who's growing health problems leave him concerned for his "expensive" wife. He appeared in no less than 5 AVENGERS episodes, one each with Dr. Keel, Dr. King, Venus Smith, Tara King, and Purdey! (How did he miss both Cathy AND Emma?) My favorite, of course, was "The Eagle's Nest", where he played a doctor resusitating Adolph Hitler from suspended animation. (OH, I'm sorry if that blew the whole plot for anybody...!) He was also on DOCTOR WHO in "The Monster Of Peladon" as a character I REALLY hated who spent 6 tiresome episodes suspecting Jon Pertwee of being the villain. And then of course there was the villain he played in "THE IPCRESS FILE"...

The other highlight was Arthur Hewlett as the cool, too-smooth and devious "One-Twelve", who's so cagey Steed even suspects HE may be the traitor! I've seen him in SHERLOCK HOLMES: "The Six Napoleons" with Douglas Wilmer, and 2 DOCTOR WHO stories: "State Of Decay" (with Tom Baker & Lalla Ward) and "Terror of the Vervoids" (with Colin Baker & Bonnie Langford).

It's a funny thing, in the production order for season 2, Steed's superiors were One-Twelve, One-Ten, One-Seven and One-Six. Seems like a countdown!

I might have enjoyed this a lot more if the sound quality on the DVD were better. I'm guessing A&E Video had trouble finding better copies in some cases.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Death On The Rocks
The Illegal Diamond Racket     *****  (of 10)

A criminal gang attempts to overthrow the diamond monopoly by murdering the wife of a dealer and then threatening the families of other dealers so they're forced to buy from them. To counter this, Steed goes into business with the man whose wife was murdered, and has Cathy pose as HIS wife, to be "a clay pidgeon" as she puts it once she figures out his scheme.

Gerald Cross plays one of the most cold-blooded, ruthless murderers I've ever seen on this show, casually telling his partners "Many monopolies have formed over a few dead bodies." He really made an impression on me here, considering the only other things I've seen him in were 2 "Miss Marple" films and an episode of "UFO".

Meier Tzelniker, an actor born in Romania, also steals the episode as the murdered woman's husband, who's now worried about his daughter-- who's engaged to a young man being blackmailed by the gang into working for them.

As usual, Cathy's not too happy with Steed's working methods, but becomes more enthusiastic the deeper into the plot she gets.

Once again, I wish the sound on some of these now 60-year-old videotaped episodes was better. Also, at the climax, the exciting music got so loud it completely blotted out what seemed an important bit of dramatic dialogue! Oh well.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Traitor In Zebra
The Radar Base Mystery     ******   (of 10)

At a defense tracking station in Wales, signals are being jammed by foreign agents, and a junior officer is framed for passing on the formula required to do so. Steed poses as a military psychiatrist while Cathy infiltrates as a lab tech. A dart board at a local pub, an artist walking his doggie, a girl at a grocery store and a reporter on a local newspaper are all parts of a spy ring, some of whom are more murderous than others.

Steed gets to dress up in a Naval uniform years before James Bond did in "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" or "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME", and for once, gets into more physical altercations than Cathy. He also has one of his most ruthless moments when he confronts the ring-leader who's just planted a time-bomb, and locks the man in with it when he refuses to de-activate it!

Another very "technical" episode, hurt to some degree by the video source; the picture on the DVD is crystal-clear, but I had trouble making out a LOT of the dialogue, especially when accents were involved.

Once again a brilliant guest-cast made this a favorite for me. John Sharp played an artist (I'd seen him on THE PRISONER as one of the Number Twos). Richard Leech as Franks the reporter who makes a romantic play for Cathy (he was also the main villain in the episode "Faces" with Purdey & Gambit, and, more outstanding, as "Gatherer Hade" in the Tom Baker-Louise Jameson DOCTOR WHO story, "The Sunmakers"). Noel Coleman was base Commander Nash (he was one of the villains in the final Patrick Trougton DOCTOR WHO story, "The War Games"). June Murphy was Maggie the waitress (she was a military secretary in the Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story "The Sea Devils"). And William Gaunt was Graham, the one man who believed in the framed man's innocence and was getting very close to figuring out what really happened (one of the stars of THE CHAMPIONS, and also, one of my favorite characters on DOCTOR WHO, the professional assassin "Orcini" in the Colin Baker story "Revelation of the Daleks").

It continues to be a thrill to watch this show again on DVD after putting up with butchered copies from A&E in the 90s. I only wish they had better copies!

[profh0011]

DAMMIT!!!  I just found out that A&E did a MASSIVE upgrade / restoration / drastically-improved picture & sound on the early episodes of this show in 2009, and that a COMPLETE Season 2 boxset of this is CHEAPER than HALF a season of the 2000 or 2006 edition.  Those bastards!

The only downside is... the 2009 set is REGION 2 only.

So, because of the hugfe difference in both price AND quality... I decided to spring for a CHEAP Region-Free DVD player.

There's a number of TV shows that are currently ONLY available on Region 2 (or Region 4) discs I've been wanting to go after, and this will free me up to be able to do so.

Now, the only down side to this... is it won't play Blu-Rays (and I've been buying a GROWING NUMBER of those).  See, Region-Free Blu-Ray players are a LOT more expensive.

It seems like a plot to screw people out as much money as possible-- DOESN'T IT?


I'm gonna wait until the new player gets here before going after "The Complete Season 2".  It's also annoying that I only just bought the inferior version of the first half of season 2 about 3 months ago.  Oh well, I'm sure I can find a good home for it.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Big Thinker
The Super-Computer Sabotage Caper     ******  (of 6)

Foreign spies (aren't they always?) are sabotaging the working of a building-size computer named "Plato", and have also set their sights on a brilliant-but-immature scientist heading up the project. At one point they derail his mental gymnastics playing poker with a combination of drugged drinks and marked cards, trying to get him under their power.

Cathy's credentials as an anthropologist allow her access to the facility, and her first day investigating, a dead body shows up. Soon the baddies have her in their sights, but as usual, they don't know the kind of person they're dealing with. Steed wants to give Cathy a free hand this time around, but keeps missing his plane to the Middle East (or so he says). Good thing, he winds up saving Cathy and the "boy wonder" scientist from being murdered by freezing. By the end, I kinda guessed who the "inside" saboteur was. Apart from the suspects being narrowed down, he was the most SINISTER-looking.

The sets and story on this one reminded me of a Jon Pertwee "DOCTOR WHO" story nearly a decade early.

A few vaguely-familiar actors included Walter Hudd as the project chief (I'd seen him in "TWO-WAY STRETCH" and "SINK THE BISMARCK!", though I don't actually remember him in either); Tenniel Evans as the assistant head (a SAINT, 2 other AVENGERS, and a Pertwee DOCTOR WHO, "Carnival of Monsters"), and Anthony Booth as the "wonder boy" who kept getting himself into one jam after another (I've seen him in "BRANNIGAN" and "THE RETURN OF MR. MOTO"; as it turns out, he was in 52 episodes of "TILL DEATH DO US PART" as the son-in-law, the same role Rob Reiner played on "ALL IN THE FAMILY"!).

[The Australian Panther]

The sets and story on this one reminded me of a Jon Pertwee "DOCTOR WHO" story nearly a decade early.

My research on 'Man in a suitcase' brought to light that many of the episodes were probably recycled material from earlier shows. Seems this was not unknown in British TV.   
The other thing that came to light for me was that Jacqueline Pearce, best known as Servalan from Blakes 7, not only later did some work for Doctor Who, in the timewar special in 1985, in 2001, and later in 2017, she was also in an episode of the Avengers,  A Sense of History.1966.
And she did two episodes of 'Man in a suitcase'.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668940/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
   

[profh0011]

timewar special in 1985

I don't know who the hell referred to it as that.  It was "THE TWO DOCTORS", run as 3 45-min. episodes (6 half-hours in syndication, I'd think) or (in Philly) as one 2 hour 15 min. "movie".  Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant teams up with Patrick Troughton & Fraser Hines, with Jacqueline Pierce, John Stratton and Laurence Payne (he had earlier played the murderous "Johnny Ringo" in "THE GUN FIGHTERS" opposite William Hartnell).  Written by Robert Holmes, I rank it as one of the best Colin stories by far, though it has a nasty reputation among some fans.  Holmes had the ability to write ANY given character better than any other writer on the show, and, it was the only time during JNT's overlong tenure as producer where a story was allowed to be a leisurely 6 parts... and unlike pretty much ALL of Pertwee's 6-parters, this one deserved it.

[paw broon]

Can't argue about anything you write about The Two Doctors.  I remember the anticipation and excitement of a team-up with two of my favourite Doctors.  Plus the wonderful Jacqueline Pierce. The androgum was a great invention. And Sontarans.  What's not to like?

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Death Dispatch
Couriers & Politics     ******  (of 10)

Steed replaces a courier who was murdered when no one can figure out why. Shadowed by Cathy, they hop from country to country until they find out the information being carried included the travel itinerary of an American ambassador, whose assassination will cause chaos and allow a coup to take place.

This is NOT your normal AVENGERS episode by any means!

The murdered man, Alan Baxter (Hedger Wallace) reminded me, as someone who's actually read all of Ian Fleming's novels, of the James Bond of the books. So imagine Bond getting bumped off on a routine assignment; who will take his place? Who else but Patrick Macnee's John Steed, in full-on "George Sanders" mode. He's casual, he's cavalier, he seems more out to have fun than do his job, and at one point, he drives a wimpy embassy official (who has NO idea he's really a SPY!) up a wall.

Steed's recurring boss at the time, "One-Ten" (Douglas Muir) oddly is the one to call Catherine Gale into things, rather than Steed himself. One would get the impression this has been going on for some time... so imagine my surprise when, although this was Cathy's 9th story aired, it was her 1st filmed! Honor Blackman is so RELAXED for most of this episode, it feels more like a 3rd-season story than early-2nd. Perhaps this is why it was held back so far. In most of her early episodes, she seems very annoyed at Steed's behavior and attitude, yet here, they feel more like old friends.

The main villain, Miguel Rosas, is a very cool customer-- until his daughter finds out he's up to NO GOOD. I've seen actor Richard Warner in a 1954 SHERLOCK HOLMES episode ("The Shoeless Engineer"), as well as one of my favorite SAINT stories ("Interlude In Venice").

His murderous henchman, Monroe, looks like he would have made a good SPECTRE assassin. I've also seen actor David Cargill in 2 DANGER MANs, 2 SAINTs, and one of the nastiest UFOs.

Perhaps the main reason this story seems so unusual for this series is writer Leonard Fincham. Apart from it being his only AVENGERS (and the last thing listed on his resume), he was both writer & story editor on the earlier series INTERPOL CALLING (39 episodes from 1959-60), whose format involved a tough globe-hopping operator. This story could easily have been a leftover script from THAT series!

I recently found out they did a "remastered" DVD set in 2009, but only for Region 2. I'm still watching the 2006 set (before they were cleaned up), but was delighted that the SOUND on this one was EXCELLENT.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Dead On Course
Mass-Murder over Ireland!     ****  (of 10)

A plane crashes under mysterious circumstances; when a 2nd one goes down in the same spot, Steed is sent to investigate, and drags Dr. King along to examine the large number of bodies.

This is another story where a mystery takes place in some tiny village, and everyone there could be in on the plot. There's the airport officials, one of whom really doesn't like Steed practically taking over the place; the owner of a local pub; his halfwit assistant who seems all-too eager to talk to both King and Steed; and the nuns at a local convent, whose imperious Mother Superior keeps pointing out all the rules of their "silent" order that she will NOT allow anyone, not even representatives of the law, to break.

It turns out the planes were wrecked and (nearly) all onboard murdered, to STEAL MONEY. And a 3rd such atrocity is being planned! Steed's really got his work cut out for him here. It's no wonder he's more serious and quick-witted than in nearly any other story I've ever seen on this show. Eric Paice, he of PATHFINDERS, DIXON OF DOCK STREET, STAR MAIDENS and many other series, supplies another intense script (with moments of levity to balance it out).

Crazy enough, for many years, this was the oldest episode of THE AVENGERS known to still exist. It was the 1st of 3 Dr. King stories (but last to be aired), and the 1st episode of season 2 to be produced. From the 1990s-onward, once I got a list of the production order, I'd start watching the entire series with THIS one! But it does kinda fit better where they slotted it.

For several of the guest-actors, this was their only appearance on the show. As it happens, the only one I'm really familiar with was Bruce Boa, who played the "missing" co-pilot. I've seen him in 3 episodes of THE SAINT, a CHAMPIONS, a MADIGAN ("The Lisbon Beat"), a NEW AVENGERS ("Trap"), THE OMEGA FACTOR, a PHILIP MARLOWE ("The Pencil"), AS TIME GOES BY (where he played "Young Rocky"), and, whatta ya know, FULL METAL JACKET, OCTOPUSSY, and most memorably, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!

The big twist at the end is finding out the identity of the real leader of this obscene criminal gang, who decided to double-cross his partners, take all the money and run for it. But you'll have to watch to find out who that is!

This story must have been cut on A&E; for all these years, I had the impression it took place in Canada, not Ireland!

I was glad that on my 2006 DVD the sound on this was CRYSTAL-CLEAR. I've got the remastered versions on order... it'll be interesting to compare the quality.

[Captain Audio]

Bruce Boa

An interesting actor. I looked up various images of him from his many films and found his entire appearance seemed to change with only minor alterations in clothing and how he combed his hair.
Most actors are easily recognizable even in make up and radical alterations of appearance.

[profh0011]

I just heard a pair of interviews that in a low-key way, blew my mind.  It seems Julian Bond, while doing research for a TV show he was working on, ran across a Doctor who worked with the police.  He envisioned this might make a good TV series.  Associated British Television exec at the time, Sydney Newman, wasn't keen on the "social misfits" aspect of the show, but gave it the go-ahead, and POLICE SURGEON debuted in September 1960 with IAN HENDRY.

Some time in, Bond realized he wasn't enjoying the "Production" end, and so recruited Leonard White to take over for him.  Shortly after this, a problem arose.  It seems Bond has done a deal with the Doctor, for which the man was getting HALF of all the profits, except for the scripts-- and the Doctor OBJECTED to this, as he insisted HE be allowed to write the scripts HIMSELF.  He actually threatened a LAWSUIT over it!

Getting wind of this, Newman, without explaining why, called White into his office and told him the show "had to STOP" at 13 episodes.  BUT, he had to find something for IAN HENDRY.

Within 3 weeks, they'd concocted a replacement show... THE AVENGERS, and brought in Patrick Macnee as the "sidekick".

I had not read anything about this in all 3 books I've read about the show.  Imagine that!  One of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE TV series, was created, TO AVOID A LAWSUIT.

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard this.  And I thought... Ian Hendry got treated better than Jack Kirby.  Remember SKY MASTERS ?  That strip ran into problems because of that greedy scumbag JACK SCHIFF.  Kirby refused to pay him an increasing amount of KICKBACKS, so Schiff sued Kirby. 

What a shame the syndicate didn't just CANCEL the strip before this happened... and then HIRED Kirby to do SOMETHING ELSE.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Girl On The Trapeze
A Night At The Circus     ******  (of 10)

An apparent suicide leads Dr. David Keel & his nurse Carol Wilson to investigate a visiting foreign circus, where they find murder, drug abuse, a politically-motivated kidnapping, and 2 more murders if the Police don't arrive in time to help put a stop to it!

Because so many of the "live-on-tape" (and actually "LIVE") episodes of Season 1 were lost, this is actually the first full Ian Hendry episode I've ever seen. Patrick Macnee had the week off, so the nurse got more screen-time to make up for it, and unusually for the show, the Police get directly involved in the mystery. I liked Carol, but I bet she didn't enjoy getting involved in dangerous situations. It strikes me that THE AVENGERS not only was ahead of the curve with regard to spy shows, but with Keel, also, DOCTOR shows. Imagine if Richard Kimble (David Jansen) had been helping the cops instead of being on the run from them for 4 years!

What a collection of familiar faces! The gang-leader was played by Edwin Richfield, who I always most remember as the Navy officer in the DOCTOR WHO story "The Sea Devils". His kill-crazy henchman was Kenneth J. Warren, who was the INSANE movie director in the very 1st AVENGERS episode I ever saw, the outragiously-loopy "Epic". The Police Sergeant was Ivor Salter, who played a similar character on THE SAINT. And among the circus clowns were not only Kenny Baker, but even more recognizable, Skip Martin ("Hop Toad" from Corman's THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH).

I just got the 2009 "Remastered" Season 2 box set from Studio Canal (Region 2 only, necessitating I finally spring for a region-free DVD player), and on this episode so far, both the picture and sound are CRYSTAL-CLEAR! I'm so looking forward to the rest, including the first half of Season 2 which I just suffered thru the 2004 A&E box set of. (I blame myself for not doing more research earlier.)

In addition to the episode, I also watched the interview with Julian Bond & Leonard White, who explained how POLICE SURGEON came about, and, how it ended-- ABRUPTLY-- to avoid a LAWSUIT with the doctor that Bond had an agreement with. The doctor was getting most of the profits, but was unhappy that he wasn't getting any money from the writing, and insisted he write the show himself. ABC exec Sydney Newman told White the show "had to end" at 13 episodes, but only 3 weeks later, they'd concocted a replacment series for Ian Hendry-- THE AVENGERS. I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard that story.

In an interview decades after the incident, Macnee described how Hendry instituted the process of re-writing the dialogue during rehearsals, to improve on the scripts, a method continued after he left, and also employed by Douglas Wilmer on the 1965 SHERLOCK HOLMES series (and later still on the Jeremy Brett HOLMES series).

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Frighteners
Violent Persuasion     (7 of 10)

A criminal known as "The Deacon" hires out his services to "frighten" (translation: beat up badly) people his clients want to "send a message to". His current client is a rich, arrogant architect trying to protect his daughter from a lowlife with a long record of gambling, welching on debts, writing bad checks, and so on. The police are after The Deacon, but haven't been able to get hard evidence. And that's where John Steed and his friend Dr. David Keel come in.

A dark, gritty and at times violent crime drama, John Steed here reminds me a bit of Mr. Moto from the Peter Lorre movies. In those, the polite yet RUTHLESS Moto was, officially, an agent of Interpol. But in at least one installment, we found out that was just a "cover", as he was really working for the Japanese Secret Service. Looking back in retrospect, we know Steed is employed by British Intelligence, which is not even hinted at in this story! One gets the feeling they loan him out to the C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Department) just to keep him "busy"!

In contrast with Steed's suave, casual attitude, is Keel's serious, intense persona, as he's really the obsessed one on a personal vendetta. At one point, he cons a thug into believing his neck's been broken, and if he doesn't cooperate he could die without urgent medical help. This leads to a confrontation with The Deacon, who he then threatens with a hypo filled with ACID. These criminals are so hard-boiled, even these methods only barely get the desired results!

Although the plot seems spelled out in detail from the start, this story winds up more complicated than normal, even for this series. By the end, it seems nobody's "clean", with the exception of the architect's daughter, who by then realizes her father was right about her intended-- even though his methods were completely vile and wrong-headed.

What a guest-cast! Neil Wilson has a small part as an Italian shopkeeper (I mostly remember him from the Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story "Spearhead From Space"). David Andrews is Nigel, the bookie who's in trouble with his bosses because his friend keeps putting him off. He really shone as the high-born criminal genius "Vincent Spaulding" in the Douglas Wilmer SHERLOCK HOLMES story, "The Red-Headed League", before switching over mostly to directing. Philip Locke is the too-eager brutal thug Keel winds up giving his own medicine to (so to speak). I mostly remember him as "Vargas", the SPECTRE assassin in THUNDERBALL. And then there's Stratford Johns as the architect, who epitomises everything wrong with "the upper classes". Soon after this, he really made his mark as "Chief Inspector Barlow" in 126 episodes of Z CARS (1962-65), as well as its multiple follow-ups: SOFTLY SOFTLY (91 eps / 1966-69), SOFTLY SOFTLY: TASK FORCE (56 eps / 1969-72), JACK THE RIPPER (6 eps/ 1973), BARLOW AT LARGE (29 eps / 1971-75), and SECOND VERDICT (6 eps / 1976). Funny enough, Johns & Locke both appeared in the Peter Davison DOCTOR WHO story, "Four To Doomsday". (I rank that as one of the worst-written episodes in the 26 years of that show, but I don't hold it against any of the actors. Well, except maybe Matthew Waterhouse-- heh.)

I spent quite some time after watching this plowing thru the "photo galleries" of Season 1, and long before I was done, it got me all the more distressed that nearly-all of these episodes are "LOST". So many varied and intriguing stories, so many wonderful actors I'm familiar with, and such strong odds that I'll NEVER be able to see any of them. What a shame!

I had a bit of trouble following parts of this one, because of the sound quality. Adding to the problem were actors speaking under their breath, actors racing through pages of dialogue at HIGH speed (I was reminded of several episodes of the Robert Vaughn series THE PROTECTORS on this score), and the further combination of accents and British slang. Still, this was nothing compared to a few of the episodes on the 2004 box of Season 2. I'm looking forward to comparing the quality between the 2004 and 2009 boxes.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Intercrime
The International Crime Syndicate   (6 of 10)

A criminal organization uses a chain of shooting galleries as a front for their operations that involve robberies, bank heists, contract killings and other fun stuff.

To get the goods on them, Steed convinces a rather annoyed Cathy to impersonate one of their members-- a female ASSASSIN-- who was arrested due to a forged passport. With the real killer in prison about to be deported, Cathy puts on the air of a tough German fraulein, and comes across as more "German" than the real killer!

Problems arise when a member of the group who tried to pull an unauthorized heist, and was supposedly killed for it, while being held at Steed's apartment calls the office to let them know someone is after them. More trouble occurs when the hit lady kills a prison guard, ESCAPES, and shows up at their front door claiming to be who she really IS! (If there's one thing I've learned watching crime dramas, it's that, without fail, EVERY time someone goes undercover pretending to be part of a gang, something winds up blowing their cover.)

Amidst a wide sea of talented writers, Terrence Dicks & Malcolm Hulke, later 2 mainstays of DOCTOR WHO, make their debut on this show with a tense thriller. As it happens, Dicks is the only person associated with this show I ever saw in person, at the very 1st "WHO" convention I ever attended, back in 1983.

Another fabulous guest cast is headed by by Kenneth J. Warren as "Felder", the local branch leader with ideas and designs of his own; I'll always most remember him as "Z. Z. Von Schnerck" in the hilarious Emma Peel episode "Epic".

Jerome Willis is "Moss", his cold-blooded, efficient sidekick; I always recall him most as one of the baddies in the Jon Pertwee DOCTOR WHO story "The Green Death".

Patrick Holt is "Manning", the top man in the outfit, who unknowingly has allowed his girlfriend to find out what he does for a living. I've seen him in many things, including IVANHOE, THE MEN OF SHERWOOD FOREST, THUNDERBALL, MURDERERS' ROW, THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH, LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF, THE WILD GEESE, THE SEA WOLVES, plus a SAINT and 2 AVENGERS episodes.

Angela Browne is "Pamela Johnson", Manning's girlfriend whose discovery not only puts her own life at risk but winds up causing trouble within the group itself. I first noticed her in THE PRISONER episode "A Change Of Mind", where they tried to con Number 6 into thinking they'd performed brain surgery on him.

Julia Arnall is "Hilda Stern", who Cathy impersonates for most of the story. The only other thing I've seen her in was CARRY ON REGARDLESS, one of the early, better films in that series. She & Honor Blackman really get into a knock-down drag-out at the climax!

The picture on the 2009 DVD is excellent, while the sound is only slightly muffled.

Although Dicks & Hulke did write an "Intercrime" sequel, thanks to Brian Clemens & Albert Fennell, it was pretty much mutilated beyond recognition, which the writers did not appreciate.  Meanwhile, however, an outfit called "Intercrime" became the MAIN recurring bad guys in the Japanese animated series 8TH MAN. That "Intercrime" was a lot more impressive than the one seen here!