[profh0011]

Tintin

YEAH. Couldn't miss that.  In 2 different episodes I've seen.

I've no idea if those bits were CUT back in the 90s or not.  I've been going back and comparing my decades-old videotapes when I upgrade to disc, to remind myself just how bad the copies are I've been puttng up with... but, I haven't beeing doing that with TV series!  There are a few AVENGERS episodes where I'm tempted to, though.

With some of the widescreen movies, it's very obvious why I wasn't digging some of them out that often to re-watch.  Especially with "action" films (or very "visual" ones), seeing them in "fullscreen" now is almost unbearable.  Even if they're uncut, you're still missing HALF the film, visually.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Grandeur That Was Rome
Caesar and The Black Plague     (7 of 10)

A megalomaniacal industrialist who owns a chemical company that manufactures pesticides and other things used in farming, teams up with a radical right-wing "World Empire Party", scheming to create a world-wide panic that will allow them to seize power around the globe. Steed & Cathy are investigating the possible source of crop failures and soil poisoning. Inevitably, the two sides clash.

This struck me as a thematic variation on season 2's "The Mauritius Penny", with would-be Romans replacing neo-Nazis and the goal of taking over England expanded to the entire world.

Steed continues to put on an air of "dandification" with a bow tie and glasses, making it quite a shock when he tackles a brutish security guard who had NO IDEA who he was up against! Similarly, when I suddenly see Cathy putting on her leather outfit, I know a fight scene is not far down the road.

Rex Edwards had a relatively short IMDB resume, and this was his only AVENGERS episode, but he really turned in something amazing here.

The only guest-actor I was really familiar with was Hugh Burden, who played industrialist "Bruno Luca", obsessed with money, power, collecting art treasures, and reviving The Roman Empire (they always go one step too far, don't they?). I've seen him in FUNERAL IN BERLIN, THE BEST HOUSE IN LONDON, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB, ONE OF OUR DINOSAURS IS MISSING (I bet he wished that was missing from his resume), but mostly remember him for Jon Pertwee's opening DOCTOR WHO story, "Spearhead From Space", where he played a character who was just downright creepy.

A hilarious moment in the episode for me was when Steed got into a fight in a cell with a sword-wielding baddie, got cornered... and then the next time we saw Steed, he was on the loose, having clearly won the fight without ever letting the audience see how he did it! (I guess they were running short on time, and decided it wasn't needed.)

More drama involved Bruno's girlfriend Octavia, who says she "made" Bruno what he is, scheming with Bruno's right-hand man to bump Bruno off once he's not needed anymore. There's also the "public relations" man whose behavior is so devious, we don't find out until right near the end whose side he's really on. The ending is outragious, as the main villain is dispatched not by the heroes, but by his partner (a twist I once did in one of my own stories back in the 70s), and we have to assume the entire scheme was wrapped up afterwards, off-camera.

Said scheme, involving biological warfare, had already been used by Ian Fleming in his novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", released in April 1963. This episode was recorded in July 1963 and broadcast in November 1963. THE AVENGERS version certainly expanded the goals of the villain, as in Fleming's book, "all" the bad guy had in mind was blackmailing various governments into granting him AMNESTY for past crimes so he could retire in peace. I've never understood why critics of the 1969 movie have so often dismissed the scheme as "absurd", but perhaps coming 6 years after the AVENGERS tv episode, it already seemed "small" and redundant?

[profh0011]

I actually wound up re-writing chunks of my 2011 review of this episode...

THE AVENGERS:  The Undertakers
"What with death duties, being rich hardly seems worth the trouble."     
(7 of 10)

Steed has the cushy job of escorting a top scientist who's just made a major breakthrough on a voyage to New York, and bids Cathy Gale a fond farewell. It's clear he was trying to invite her along, but she preferred having him out of her hair for awhile. But the scientist's wife informs Steed that her husband has suddenly decided to enter into "meditation" at an exclusive country rest-home, Adelphi Park, at which no one, apart from relatives, are ever allowed to visit. Thus begins a very twisted tale involving deception, doubles, marital infidelity, tax fraud on a massive scale, and a quaint funeral parlor whose specialty is MURDER!

As a series, THE AVENGERS continued to slowly evolve from beginning to end, and this episode marks another step in that. Apart from being shot on video, it looks and feels very much like a 4th-season episode with Mrs. Peel. You've got a mystery that slowly unfolds as the story progresses, some interesting locations, an unusual premise, and some very eccentric characters, especially the scientist's wife and the greedy funeral director.

While shot 61st in production order, it was moved up to 54th in broadcast order.  As a result, this became the first time we saw Steed wearing a pin-stripe suit, making him more "Edwardian" than ever.  The action climax, shot entirely outdoors on film, and the epilogue with Steed & Cathy drinking champagne, makes this feel almost more like a 4th season episode than a 3rd!

At its core, "The Undertakers" is Malcolm Hulke's BRILLIANT satire (or vicious attack, take your pick) as the insanity of the British tax system. 15 years before Robert Holmes took aim at it in the DOCTOR WHO story "The Sun Makers", Hulke points out how the Inland Revenue will take 80% of a millionaire's money when he dies-- UNLESS of course they give it away as a gift, but only if this is done at least 5 years before they die.

As Batman's nemesis The Joker once said, "And you SEE why I am FORCED to crime!" Frankly, if not for the various murders committed in order to keep the scheme a secret, I'd almost be on the side of the CROOKS in this one! The clue to the mystery first crops up when the scientist's wife tells Steed, "What with death duties, being rich hardly seems worth the trouble." It's well-known that many of England's richest have fled the country, in order to avoid high-income tax brackets. My attitude toward this has changed quite a bit in the last 12 years… In America, at least, “graduated scale” taxes are actually TOO LOW, and with “loopholes”, those in the higher percentages tend to often pay NEARLY-NOTHING. A very real problem is when “the rich” are allowed to amass so much money that they actually destabilize governments & societies in general.  I wonder what Malcolm Hulke would think of things as they are TODAY?

Pretty deep thinking for "light entertainment", HMM???

The 2010 Studio Canal Region 2 DVD has clear picture, but VERY fuzzy sound, making it difficult for me to hear a lot of the dialogue.  I’m also beginning to wonder if some of these episodes may actually be running FAST when watched on a US player?

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:   Death Of A Batman
Steed & Cathy vs. Insider Trading     (6 of 10)

Attending the funeral of his old army "batman", Steed learns the man, who worked as a draftsman, somehow legally racked up an enormous fortune. This leads to he & Mrs. Gale investigating the financial dealings of a bank and various investment transactions.

Put simply, "Death Of A Batman" may be the single most TEDIOUS episode of THE AVENGERS ever made. I know some stories do lean on the "technical" side, but this is ridiculous. If it weren't for the various characters involved, the details of the story would be enough to baffle or bore anyone who wasn't into finance and accounting right into unconsciousness.

Further, I must admit this is the 2nd episode in a row where, until one of the parties involved decided to resort to MURDER to cover up his illegal dealings, I was, frankly, on the side of the crooks! They were helping various small English companies to succeed in the world market, and thereby strengthening the country in general. And while they did it by illegally using insider information AND selling and re-buying other people's stock holdings in order to make a profit, NOBODY was getting hurt.

The more I thought about this, it reminded me of a pair of James Bond stories... CASINO ROYALE, and the 1987 movie THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. In both, someone entrusted with certain funds decided to mis-appropriate said funds, in order to make themselves a huge profit, after which they would take the original money and put it to the use it was supposed to go to in the first place. Of course, the Russian government did not take kindly to one of their agents (or generals) doing this, so I suppose the English government wouldn't either.

Highlights of this story, as I said, are the guest cast, which this time includes Philip Madoc (who I always remember for his various appearances on DOCTOR WHO). The main perpetrator is played by Andre Morell, while the son of the man who died and thereby started the whole investigation (and who gets greedy when he finds out what's going on) is played by a very young David Burke. I kept staring at him, wondering, "Where have I seen him before?" Only when I looked him up online did I realize that this story featured, effectively, 3 different "Dr. Watsons" in the cast! 1-Andre Morell (THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, 1959), 2-Patrick Macnee (SHERLOCK HOLMES IN NEW YORK, 1976) and David Burke (THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, 1984).
   (9-9-2011)

Addendum  /  3-20-2023
The 2010 Studio Canal Region 2 DVD has very clear picture, and only slightly-harsh sound. This episode also has an introduction by Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman, in which they discuss fighting techniques used on the show.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  November Five
Cathy Runs For Office; Steed Manages Her Campaign     (6 of 10)

You'd think a story about a stolen nuclear warhead would be really THRILLING, wouldn't you? Guess again!

It all starts with the results of a local bi-election (the sort of thing MONTY PYTHON liked to make fun of, except if they were involved, at least it would be more entertaining to watch). As results are read off, and one candidate congratulates the other, the winner begins to read his acceptance speech... when he's SHOT DEAD (in the face!!). Horrors. As the question of WHO will take his place in the run-off election is raised, the plot begins to thicken (and into a near-impenetrable mess).

As with several (many?) other AVENGERS episodes, "November Five" focuses on a particular field of endeavor. In this case, two-- politics, and marketing. The center of attention in the story turns out to be an advertising and marketing firm whose specialty is handling political campaigns. And trust me-- it's even more tedious than it sounds. Eric Paice, whose own specialty seems to be especially tedious stories (he penned 8 AVENGERS episodes, all within the first 3 seasons) somehow manages to take what should be a gripping mystery and turns it into the kind of thing that made a show like MONTY PYTHON almost a necessity.

As the plot progresses, it comes out that 3 very different motivations stem from the theft of the bomb.
1) One of the people who stole the bomb sends the government a blackmail note demanding a huge sum of money for its safe return (well, that was to be expected, right?). 2) Someone else decides to use the information about the theft to cause a scandal and BRING DOWN the current government, forcing them to resign in disgrace. 3) Another person involved in the theft has been offered another huge sum of money NOT to return the bomb, but rather, let it be DETONATED right in the House of Parliment! If you can work your way thru this morass, it follows that 1) and 3) cause a falling-out between the baddies.

As usual, it's characters who save the day... albeit, in this case, only barely. Arthur Dove (David Davies) proves to be the least corrupt of the characters involved, and actually comes across rather honest and charming, especially when he's flirting with Mrs. Gale while admitting he's bored to tears by his long-time wife, who's stuck with him thru thick and thin. And Mrs. Ellen Dove (Ruth Dunning) admits also being bored to tears by her husband, while mostly amused by it all, and winds up making friends with Cathy at the same time. When both Doves nearly fall victim to the story's REAL baddies, you can't help but be overcome with anxiety, hoping that somehow, rescue will come before it's too late. And sure enough, it does. In fact, my favorite moment in the story is when Mrs. Dove lays into one of the baddies while Cathy takes care of the other.

I can only imagine that once the show switched to film production, and Brian Clemens & Albert Fennell were in charge, stories like this were deemed "too cerebral" and were replaced with those containing more visuals, more action, more location filming, and more outrageousness. Speaking of visual, I'd say Production Designer Douglas James put in the best work in this story, as his "Ad Agency" set looked like it would have been right at home in one of the Diana Rigg episodes.
(9-13-2011 /  gave it 6 stars on 4-4-2013)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Second Sight
The Clinic in Switzerland Caper     (6 of 10)

Steed is called in when someone in his office suspects something dodgy is going on regarding a pair of doctors wanting to bring medical transplant tissue into the country under extremely-secretive and secure fashion. Per his usual habits, he cons Cathy into helping, using her credentials as a "doctor" for a thinly-disguised cover, which mostly serves to annoy the people involved. It seems a very reclusive millionaire who lost his sight during WW2 is hoping to get it back via cornea transplants-- from a LIVE doner who is about to die. Taking Cathy's suggestion to "get a second opinion", Steed recruits an old collegue of his, Dr. Spender, who is cranky, arrogant, egotistical, and SEXIST as well. "Never thought I'd see YOU in a Whitehall job, Steed!" That's far more polite than he was to Cathy, as he feels women should "leave these things to the men." And what does it get him? An "accident" involving a balcony and an 800-FOOT sheer drop. If Steed wasn't suspicious before that, he sure was AFTER!

The technical tedium in this episode is simpler than most, and in some ways Martin Woodhouse's script reminds me of some of Leslie Stevens' writing on THE OUTER LIMITS-- taking an idea and stretching the audience's patience past their limits to try and convince them that what's going on is real and "authentic". But really, as was probably obvious from the start, things are NOT on the up-and-up-- and the drama that arises from it really stems from the millionaire being conned by the "professional" criminals he employed to pull off a "simple" smuggling scheme.

What a cast! John Carson is "Marten Halvarssen", the rich blind guy who masterminds the scheme. Despite his handicap, he's really handy with a GUN-- which comes in handy at the climax. I'll probably always remember him most from TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA.

Peter Bowles is "Neil Anstice", the smiling, laughing "professional" who plans to make off with the booty AND his boss' finacee. He's been a favorite of mine since I first saw TO THE MANOR BORN.

Ronald Adam is "Dr. Spender", a character who may know a lot, but has a terrible attitude about it and a worse way of dealing with other people. I've seen him in quite a few things, but the ones that stand out the most for me was his role as the Chief of Surgery in GREEN FOR DANGER (1946), the classic wartime hospital drama-soap opera-murder mystery; and, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964), where he played the Minister in the cemetery who told Verden Fell, speaking of Fell and his late wife, "You two must have MET IN HELL!" (And they wonder why so many people have stopped going to church.)

Once again, production designer Terry Green just about steals the episode with his outstanding set designs. The Swiss Clinic in particular, crazy enough, reminds me of the one seen decades later in the 007 film SPECTRE (2015). Watching these, it often feels the show is straining at the leash, impatiently waiting for FILM production and more-exciting scripts to arrive.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Secrets Broker
The Spiritualist Blackmailers Caper   (7 of 10)

An espionage ring uses a spiritualist medium to learn secret information about people which they can use to blackmail them into doing things for which they can REALLY blackmail them into doing even more. Passing on government secrets, sabotage, MURDER... it goes on.

It all starts when a colleague of Steed's is killed at an expensive wine shop. For once, Cathy is sent in to investigate a scientific research facilty with NO cover story-- but simply being a representative of "the ministry" that funds their research. Things go slowly, but eventually, she and Steed connect the dead man with the wine shop (whose "customer list", it turns out, contains a microdot with TOP SECRET information being leaked) and a spiritualist "circle", run by a seemingly-kindly old lady whose polite conversation barely hides viscious threats. Along the way, Steed gets to indulge his love of fine wines, and Cathy gets to show off both her intelligence AND her judo skills, as she spends more time than usual in this episode dressed in her LEATHER outfits.

Among the guest cast is John Ringham as "Cliff Howard", one half of the wine shop owners, whose incompetence leads to his own murder. I mainly remember him for a pair of DOCTOR WHO stories, "The Aztecs" and "Colony In Space".

Ronald Allen is "Allan Paignton", who's having an affair with a married woman, but is honest enough to help Steed out when things are approaching a climax. As it happens, I also know him from a pair of DOCTOR WHO stories, "The Dominators" and "The Ambasadors Of Death".

And then there's Brian Hankins as scientist "Jim Carey", who's extremely annoyed at repeated government presence in his labs. He's somewhat relieved when Cathy says she'll probably only be around for a week, and is quite surprised at the end when Steed shows up and actually PROVES how important his job is, when it comes to PREVENTING theft of their big project, as well as bringing the criminals to justice.

I found it very interesting that the project they were working on was an underwater submarine tracking system-- which was the "McGuffin" of the "007" movie THE SPY WHO LOVED ME a full 13 YEARS later! Once again, this series proves to be many years ahead of its time.

This was the 2nd time a wine-tasting was a part of a story (following "Death Of A Great Dane" in season 2), and this was also the 2nd time I can recall Steed getting clobbered by Cathy when both of them independantly decided to break into a place at the same time (following "Warlock" from season 2). Watching the two of them talking and joking about wines at the end, one can see that their friendship has certainly grown since her debut in that episode.

The 2010 Region 2 Studio Canal DVD of this episode had mostly-clear picture and VERY clear sound! I had no trouble understanding any of the dialogue this time around.
   (4-18-2023)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS: comparitive packaging

I thought this might interest some here, what with the obsession many have with various DVDs and the like.

Back in the late 1980s, my local PBS station ran what they described as "the most-requested TV series" by viewers & supporters: THE AVENGERS with Patrick Macnee. Specifically, all that was available, Seasons 4 & 5 with Diana Rigg & Season 6 with Linda Thorson. However, as per the usual habit of Philly's Channel 12, the prints were MISERABLE. Every single one of them was FUZZY, and some, quite damaged.

Nevertheless, I stayed up LATE past my bedtime to record every one of them straight off the air, so they wouldn't be worse by copy-editing them after-the-fact (a requirement when they'd do "fund-raisers" at the time-- 2 episodes back-to-back with long interruptions in between and sometimes during). This "most requested" show they ran Sunday nights at 11:30 PM, so during fund-raising weeks, it wouldn't get over until 2:30 AM, and I had to get up for work the next morning!

I'm really running late when it comes to DVDs, but last year-- without doing much research, I got (quite cheap) a LARGE box from a seller on Ebay without knowing exactly what was in it. Turns out it was A&E's licensed 2002 box of Seasons 4 & 5. The huge slipcase contained 12 regular-sized DVD cases, each of which contained 3 or 4 episodes. The box takes up 9-1/2 INCHES of shelf space. Isn't that absurd???

Well, as part of the poorly-described "auction", the seller also included one 2006 box containing the first HALF of season 2 with Honor Blackman, Julie Stevens & Jon Rollason. This box was 1-1/4" thick, meaning a whole season would be 2-1/2", and 2 seasons would be 5" thick. That's half the size of the earlier editions.

However, after getting these and starting in, I became aware that in 2010 Studio Canal in England had done full season boxes, and wound up getting both Season 2 & Season 3. Each box is 1-1/4", so 2 seasons is 2-1/2". That's like ONE-FOURTH the amount of shelf space as the 2002 editions!!!

It also seems that (for the most part) the 2010 discs have been "remastered" MORE than the earlier ones. Most episodes looked better, but most also had somewhat-dodgy SOUND. I put that down to the VIDEOTAPE and/or KINESCOPE source material (hard to be sure if these were copied off original tapes-- if they exist-- or off of kinescopes made from pointing a camera at a TV screen to create FILM copies.

The 2002 & 2006 US A&E discs have questionable packaging. ALL feature the actresses promenently. For example, "starring DIANA RIGG as Mrs. Emma Peel AND PATRICK MACNEE as John Steed-- despite Macnee being the STAR of the show. The 2010 Studio Canals have both pictured, and Macnee is listed FIRST.

Another oddity worth mentioning: the US A&E boxes have the episodes in BROADCAST order, while the UK Studio Canal boxes are in PRODUCTION order!!!

There's another problem, however...

The whole time I was watching the Honor Blackmans on the UK discs, I wondered if they were running at the right speed or not. Well, when I got the Diana Rigg box, I KNEW. They're running FAST. I just watched all 3 copies I had of Rigg's debut episode, "The Town of No Return", and here's how they clocked in:

Channel 12: 51:22
2002 A&E DVD: 51:44
2010 Studio Canal Region 2 DVD: 49:47

It was VERY noticable to me. Everything was moving fast, and the sound pitch was too high on everything. This is the ongoing CURSE of "PAL" vs. "NTSC".

But on top of that, while my old PBS videotape was heavily damaged, and the 2002 DVD was CLEAR, on the 2010 DVD, someone had CRANKED UP the CONTRAST higher. Blacks were MUCH blacker. In bright scenes, they looked fine. In dark scenes... TONS of detail DISAPPEARED.

I'm sure anyone who's watched the Warner Archive "HORROR OF DRACULA" or "DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS" knows exactly what I mean. WHAT-- THE-- F***!!!?

I was so annoyed... I figured maybe I could put up with the picture being too dark, but not the speed thing. So I SENT IT BACK (which is a problem, as they're from England, and I have to pay the return postage on this one).

I've now ordered the Region 2 BLU-RAY of Season 4-- and, a REGION-FREE BLU-RAY PLAYER to go with it.

I learned a few months ago that BLU-RAY technology is such that it over-rides the NTSC / PAL problem because Blu-Ray discs are encoded by an ENTIRELY-DIFFERENT system!!! It's an ongoing education for me. This is why the several "Region-Free Blu-Rays" I've already bought all seem PERFECT.

I'm afraid this has made a complete waste of my buying a Region-Free DVD Player a year ago. When I get the new machine in, I'll no doubt be packing up both that and my 2-year-old Region 1 Blu-Ray Player.

I also found out, from about an hour's worth of research, that while many DVD players have RCA / AV jacks in the back, Blu-Ray players DO NOT. They ONLY come with HTML jacks, forcing one to have an HTML-RCA converter box (and a "charger" to go with it, sold separately) to connect the player to my STEREO SYSTEM-- an absolute necessity as my flat-screen TV's built-in speakers are WORTHLESS CRAP. I've got my players hooked into my stereo amp, and from there, a pair of 12-INCH speakers! However, when you use an HTML-RCA converter, the volume of the sound is cut in HALF-- so I have to crank the stereo system ALL THE WAY UP on most discs. OY!

All of which poses the question: WHY in the HELL hasn't anyone put out upgraded Region 1 DVDs or Blu-Rays of this series? WHY hasn't Studio Canal put out REGION-FREE BLU-RAYs??? What is wrong with all the people involved in design & marketing?
I don't think Seasons 2 & 3 have been put out on Blu-Ray... the source material is probably too low in quality to justify it.

Geez, I love this show as much OR MORE than DOCTOR WHO. This is a disgrace.

Oh yeah. One more thing. When ABC in America put up the money to make Season 4 on FILM they created an intro sequence specifically for the US market. It's always been an integral part of the opening credits of the show for me. But it's MISSING on ALL of these discs-- including the US ones. WTF??? If you ask me, since American money financed those episodes, the American intro should be on ALL prints. Everywhere.

The Studio Canal box apparently has it-- ONCE-- as an "extra". The US A&E boxes don't. Though they have the music from it on their menus. It's just insanity.

"Extraordinary crimes against the people, and the state, have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner, Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as, THE AVENGERS."

(When I clocked my channel 12 version, I did not include that in the timing.)

[paw broon]

Prof  I'm not at all sure Avengers fans want super high quality remastered copies.  One thing that does is show up flaws, make up particularly. 
Years ago I had to buy the Dutch and French dvds of The Avengers as British sets weren't available.  (Note  British  not English)
Those box sets had the English language tracks with French or Dutch subtitles. I have no intention of upgrading to blu rays if/when they become available.
I have a multi region Sony machine and an old Cambridge Audio player which gives excellent reproduction.
Little Basely by the Sea.  Lovely stuff.
What I would love is a proper DVD release of Adam Adamant.  The ebay listings are too expensive. 
I recently bought new re releases of 2 Gerald Flood TV serials  Pathfinders in Space/to Mars/to Venus,  and City Beneath The Sea/Secret Benesth the Sea.  B&w, wobbly sets, dodgy sfx  and those space suit helmets!!!  Really good fun.

[profh0011]

I think they should just put out proper REGION 1 / HTSC sets of everything!

As it stands, while I can tolerate seasons 2 & 3 running slightly fast, I could not put up with that with the filmed episodes, especially when it's so glaringly obvious.

I mean, for God's sake, I rank THE AVENGERS even higher than DOCTOR WHO!  And apparently, those are being put out as Blu-Rays, also.

I haven't double-checked everything yet, but it appears everything from season 4-up has been done as Region 2 Blu-Rays.  With a Region-free Blu-Ray player, that should solve most of the problems.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Dial A Deadly Number
The Deadly Pagers -or- Carry On Banking!   (7 of 10)

A series of company board members all die of heart attacks, leading Steed & Mrs. Peel to investigate the world of investment banking. Before it's over, they also delve into electronic pocket communicators, and fanatically-obsessive wine-tasting. Oh yes, and a former Military Intelligence gadget-man who fears there's not enough opportunities to kill people during peace-time. Yes, where but on this show?

During seasons 2 & 3, this is one I'd refer to as one of the "technical", talky stories. They've grown on me over the years, and it's easy to see this as one of those handled in the more expansive shot-on-film style. For the first time, I've been watching season 4 in production order, and it's really struck me that it was a slow, ongoing evolution before the series really got into the more "visual" stories. (This is actually only the 4th Diana Rigg episode!) Even Mrs. Peel doesn't get to do much fighting here. When in the last act she turned up in leather, I thought, usually, when we see Cathy Gale dressed that way, it means someone's about to have their head handed to them! NOT quite here, though (heh).

There had been a wine-tasting segment in "Death Of A Great Dane", but this episode takes it to a whole new level. When someone says, "It's from the northern end of the vinyard", I wondered if they hadn't just been sitting through Roger Corman's TALES OF TERROR, where Vincent Price accepted Peter Lorre's challenge!

Once again, an astonishing guest-cast really makes this one. There's Clifford Evans (THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER, KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, THE PRISONER: "Do Not Forsake me Oh My Darling") as "Henry Boardman", president of the bank who doesn't realize his wife is cheating him in more ways than one. Jan Holden (HORROR HOUSE) is "Ruth Boardman", said wife. There's also Anthony Newlands (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN), John Carson (TASTE OF THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER), Peter Bowles (TO THE MANOR BORN) and Gerald Sim (also TO THE MANOR BORN, and 5 different AVENGERS episodes).

What this one may lack in excitement, it more than makes up for in character and STYLE. It's completely unforgivable, however, that the 2002 A&E DVDs are missing the pre-title intros. To me, this run was financed in America, and that intro should be on ALL prints-- but especially, in America!

[profh0011]

I just tested the Region 2 Blu-Ray of THE AVENGERS by re-watching "The Town of No Return" for the 4th time in a month.

"PERFECT"!!!!!

It's not just one thing, it's both.

My old 1980s videotape recorded off PBS had a lot of damage.  The 2002 Region 1 A&E DVD was clear.  The 2010 Region 2 Blu-Ray, someone had "remastered" it again-- and gone too damned far.  They cranked the CONTRAST up so high, that whenever you had dark scenes, you COULDN'T SEE any detail!  (Shades of the Warner Archive BRs of HORROR OF DRACULA and DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS.)

Well, the 2015 Region 2 Blu-Ray, the picture quality was PERFECT.  I might want to try comparing it against the 2002 disc, but it's definitely, infinitely better than the 2010 disc.

Oh yeah-- and there's the other thing.  It's playing at the CORRECT SPEED.
(51:51 -- the Region 2 DVD was 49:47)

This, it turns out, is the real problem with PAL DVDs.  How bizarre that a technical issue that was such a problem in the early 60s should still exist nowadays.  I suspected seasons 2 & 3 might be running a bit fast, but it was just too damned obvious with season 4, which is why I sent that box back... and bought a Region-Free Blue Ray player.  BEST $120.00 I spent this year!


Now I know I can go after seasons 5 & 6, and THE NEW AVENGERS, in the same format!

[profh0011]

This morning, I went to the Studio Canal website and sent them the following message:


Over the last year, I've very much enjoyed your Region 2 DVD box sets of THE AVENGERS seasons 2 & 3. However, I had to return the Season 4 box, as not only had the contrast been jacked up so much that in dark scenes you couldn't see anything, but it was just too painfully obvious it was running at the WRONG SPEED.

I replaced it with the Region 2 BLU-RAY box-- which is PERFECT on both scores! In dark scenes, I can see everything.  But more important, it's running at THE CORRECT SPEED.

This is what's prompted this message.  I've run across comments online that the early, videotaped episodes are not high enough quality to justify the high-res of Blu-Rays.  However, I feel this is COMPLETELY missing the real point.

The PAL / NTSC problem, which goes back more than 60 years, STILL exists with these type of shows.  But as I've learned, Blu-Rays are encoded via a completely-different system, and so avoids the problem!  I want to urge you to reissue THE AVENGERS seasons 2 & 3 on BLU-RAY, so that people in every country can watch them RUNNING AT THE CORRECT SPEED.

I'd also urge you to do Region-FREE Blu-Rays, as I feel certain this would instantly increase your sales.  Not everyone can be bothered getting a Region-Free Blu-Ray PLAYER, as I just did.

And meanwhile-- for God's sake, put THE NEW AVENGERS out on Blu-Ray!!! I love that show, I'm probably one of the few people who likes Joanna Lumley even more than Diana Rigg, and I'm really tired of putting up with the tapes I recorded off The CBS Late Movie over here.

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Too Many Christmas Trees
SPOOKY Santa   (9 of 10)

Steed is having Christmas-related dreams that wind up coming true. Emma has been invited to a Dickens-themed party by an old friend, and brings Steed along. But from the moment he arrives, he feels he's seen people and places before-- in his dreams. It turns out Emma's old friend is involved in a psychic "experiment"-- but the people he's working with refuse to tell him what's REALLY going on. And then, when he turns up dead, and Steed doesn't seem to care, Emma fears Steed may be suffering a nervous breakdown!

I first saw this late at night in the 70s, and thought it had to be the single SPOOKIEST episode of the series ever made. Somehow it eluded me after that until my PBS station ran it in the late 80s. It's been a strong favorite of mine ever since.

Among the highlights are Steed receiving a card from Cathy Gale. "So nice of her to remember me-- whatever is she doing in Fort Knox?" -- IN JOKE!!. There's also a final fight in a "mirror room" that's an obvious tribute to THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947), and was also later paid tribute to in ENTER THE DRAGON (1973).

Mervin Johns is "Brandon Storey", a publisher absolutely obsessed with Dickens. I've seen him in many things, but perhaps most memorably DEAD OF NIGHT (1945), the classic horror anthology which involves nightmares (type-casting!).

The funniest part of this mostly-dark and moody story, for me, is Edwin Richfield as "Dr. Felix Teasel", an expert on psycho-analysis, who in the most arrogant fashion insists on over-analyzing anything in front of him, and suggests to Emma that Steed may be heading for a nervous breakdown. When it appears to be he is having one, the Doctor keeps casually, even callously, dismissing all Emma's "facts" and fears... until he pulls a GUN on her. Aha! Clearly he's NOT what he seems-- and, deservedly, gets his HEAD handed to him! It's only after we learn the REAL truth about him, and I just about fell over laughing when I found out. (Watch it yourself and see.) Richfield's almost always playing rotten characters, so him turning out to be shady wasn't that big a surprise. It's what Steed said about him later that was!

The 2015 Region 2 Blu-Ray is such a staggering difference from the 2010 Region 2 DVD, I've never been so thrilled to have sent back a box set to replace it with another one. Apart from 2 spots where the sound gets a bit odd (Emma's arrival at the begining, and, the end credits), the sound and picture on this episode are "PERFECT". I can scarcely think of any TV series I've bought on disc that looks THIS good. What a huge, tremendous upgrade from my old videotapes recorded off PBS.
   (8-22-2023)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  The Grave-Diggers
Radars And Railroads   (7 of 10)

One section of the country's early-warning radar system has mysteriously gone dead. A scientist who was working on a radar jamming system has recently died, and is buried in the very area that's blocked out. This CAN'T be a coincidence, thinks Steed, and with Mrs. Peel, their investigations lead to a cemetery, a funeral parlor, a hospital for retired railwaymen, and a VERY eccentric millionaire who's funding the hospital. It all starts out very serious and mysterious, but midway through, turns completely bonkers, climaxing with Emma tied to the tracks of a miniature railroad in classic silent movie tradition.

I tend to associate Brian Clemens with the crazier elements on this show, but it turns out it was Malcolm Hulke, in his final script for the show, that really sent it in this off-kilter direction. Clemens must have been thrilled! Trying to mentally figure out how one point of the plot connects with another is enough to make your head spin! The guest cast is sprinkled with faces I know from many years later.

Ronald Fraser is "Sir Horace Winslip", who grew up on trains and gets indigestion if he isn't eating in a moving train car (or what appears to be one at any case-- ah, to be an eccentric millionaire!). Apart from this, I'll always remember him as "Horace C.", the laid-back husband of murderous fanatic dictator "Helen A.", in the even-more bonkers Sylvester McCoy DOCTOR WHO story, "The Happiness Patrol".

Wanda Ventham is Ministry trainee "Nurse Spray", who is an absolute sweetie, and so incredibly young back here. The two things I'll always most associate her with are "Colonel Virginia Lake" on UFO, and the Tom Baker-Louise Jameson DOCTOR WHO horror-tragedy, "Image Of The Fendahl".

Steven Berkov, who I almost didn't recognize, is "Sager", one of the baddies, who at the climax gets into a running fight with Steed on and off the speeding miniature train. This is hilarious, when I think about it, as the role I always most think of him for is the mad-dog war-mongering Russian General Orloff in the Roger Moore 007 film OCTOPUSSY-- particularly, the scenes late in the film when he has an intense confrontation with Bond onboard a TRAIN, and winds up shot in the back by his own superior, KGB head General Gogol! Until re-watching this today, I never thought of that sequence as a form of "type-casting"! I've also seen Berkov in several episodes of UFO as an interceptor pilot (sadly, terribly-underused) and a SPACE PRECINCT where he played a crooked doctor.

Watching these episodes in production order for the first time (on the 2015 Blu-Rays), it strikes me that by this episode, Emma is slowly evolving to become a nicer person, as she was just a bit too cold and detached before this. She's becoming the character I liked so much right before my eyes.
   (9-12-2023)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:  Room Without A View
The Disappearing Scientists Caper   (6 of 10)

A physicist who vanished 7 years earlier turns up at his wife's home, his memory gone, and psychological study suggests he's been held prisoner in Manchuria. He keeps repeating "621", before he's kidnapped again by some Chinese laundry men. A colleague of his, who believes he's a traitor, is scheduled to check into the same hotel the first man did, so Steed hangs out there, begins posing as a famous food critic, and fixes it so a very-reluctant Mrs. Peel gets a job there as a receptionist. But her investigations lead to HER disappearing, and winding up in what looks like a Chinese POW camp. How is that possible?

Something I love about many of the best AVENGERS episodes is how they present a baffling mystery and only reveal the truth slowly, a bit at a time, and it's usually 3/4ths of the way through before you learn what's really going on. Along they way, they often feature eccentric characters, ideas and situations. This episodes has both of those! It's also got one of the best casts I've ever seen in one of these.

Peter Jeffrey is "Varnals", a by-the-book Ministry type who almost reluctantly helps Steed, while chafing at Steed's unorthodox methods, and his "unofficial" assistant, Mrs. Peel. Apart from 4 different AVENGERS eps, I'll always remember him as "Count Grendel" in the Tom Baker-Mary Tamm DOCTOR WHO story, "The Androids Of Tara"-- not to mention both DR. PHIBES movies.

Peter Madden is "Dr. Wadkin", the physicist who was kidnapped twice and terribly brainwashed. Apart from THE PRISONER, he was also "Inspector Lestrade" in the Douglas Wilmer SHERLOCK HOLMES series.

Jeanne Roland is "Anna Wadkin", the baffled wife. I've seen her in a number of things, including THE SAINT with Roger Moore.

Peter Arne is "Pasold", a chemical company rep who signed a deal with another scientist just before the man disappeared-- and suspects Steed of being responsible! When he refuses to give up, he becomes another victim of the baddies' scheme. Apart from several AVENGERS episodes, I most remember him as the crooked accountant in THE OBLONG BOX.

Philip Latham is "Carter", the excessively-fastidious hotel manager. Genre fans will recognize him from DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS and FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE.

Paul Whitsun-Jones is "Chessman", owner of a growing chain of high-class hotels, who turns out to have a horribly-nefarious side. He once played Steed's boss in an earlier episode, and also had a notable cameo in Corman's THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.

Vernon Dobtcheff is "Pushkin", a Russian agent sent to bargain for whatever it is Chessman is selling. I've seen him in countless things, including THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and an outstanding role in THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU.

Anthony Chinn is the "Interrogator". He's been in countless things, including 13 episodes of THE PROTECTORS with Robert Vaughn.

Two things stand out for me re-watching this today. One is, this was the first time the stunt doubles were painfully-obvious in the climactic fight scene. I was reminded that when the show was shot on videotape, Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman had to do ALL their own fights! The other is... watching these in production order, I'd swear that somehow, Diana Rigg looked prettier in this one than in any of the previous stories.

I continue to be blown away by the picture quality of the 2015 Studio Canal Region 2 Blu-Rays. I wish they would put EVERY SEASON of this show out on Blu-Rays. I've come to love seasons 2 & 3 so much (not to mention THE NEW AVENGERS), I'd upgrade my copies in a flash. (And Blu-Rays play at the CORRECT speed in every country.)

[profh0011]

THE AVENGERS:   Two’s A Crowd
WHO is Colonel Psev?   (7 of 10)

Steed get security duty on an armaments conference. But he also gets wind that the notorious "Colonel Psev", an eccentric genius whose face has never been seen, is in town, with intentions to infiltrate the conference. Complicating matters, Ambassador Brodny (who loved all things English and fears being sent back home) spots a fashion model who is a DEAD ringer for Steed, and suggests to Psev's assistants to hire the man to impersonate Steed, and use him to infiltrate the conference. Will Mrs. Peel be fooled?

Over the years, this one was a slow boil for me. I vaguely remember being confused and possibly bored the first time I saw it. But good writing comes through, and each time I've seen it, I've liked it more. This was one of the early scripts from Philip Levine, who I'd rank as one of the BEST writers in the series' history. On one hand, it's a low-key mystery. On the other hand, it's a low-key COMEDY. And at the center of the humor is "Ambassador Brodny", played by comic actor Warren Mitchell, who specialized in foreigners with accents, here, on THE SAINT, in the movie HELP!, and on the long-running sitcom TILL DEATH DO US PART. Tasked with finding a rare brand of liquor, he's at his wit's ends until Steed shows up, with the exact item he's looking for, as a gift. Brodny's relieved, until Steed says, "I'm sure the COLONEL will like it."

"Duplicates" was a recurring theme on this show, with several of them being among my all-time favorite episodes. There was "Man With Two Shadows" with Cathy Gale, "Two's A Crowd" with Emma Peel, "Who's Who?" also with Mrs. Peel (although, that was really a "mind-swapping" story), "They Keep Killing Steed" with Tara King (which outright swiped technology from THE OUTER LIMITS story "The One Hundred Days of The Dragon"), and of course, "Faces" with Mike Gambit & Purdey.

Among the guest cast are Alec Mango (THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD), Wolfe Morris (THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, THE BEST HOUSE IN LONDON, and the Venus Smith episode "The Decapod"), John Bluthal (HELP!) and Julian Glover (QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, and the Tom Baker-Lalla Ward DOCTOR WHO story "City Of Death").

Watching the climax of this story, I felt sure Cathy Gale would have been FURIOUS at Steed; Emma was merely cold-blooded. Cool and detached is one thing, but in some stories, she doesn't seem quite human!  (I thought she looked wonderful in those glasses.)

[profh0011]

The other day I watched "The Deadly Games Affair" (UNCLE season 1) and the climax was incredibly-similar to the climax of "The Eagle's Nest" more than a decade later.  It's funny that neither episode showed the face of the man in suspended animation, nor mentioned his name.  On THE NEW AVENGERS, he was shot thru with a machine-gun burst, on UNCLE, the body (starting to come back to life) was tossed into a FIRE.


Today, I dug out my late-80s PBS-Channel 12 copy of "Escape In Time", just to remind myself that EVERY single Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson episode they ran back then ("the single MOST-REQUESTED show we've ever had!") were in TERRIBLE condition.  Oh, man,  THEY WERE.

The prints they ran had damage, scratches, faded, colors off, and were zoomed in too close (the text in the end credits were almost cut off in places), and, thanks to my current pre-owned & defective VCR, the sound repeatedly fades out in the 2nd half.  GEEZ.

I have an entire BOX of AVENGERS tapes, which, soon, will be THROWN OUT as trash.  I still have to get the Linda Thorson Blu-Ray box first. 

The sad thing is how professional the stickers I made up for those tapes & boxes were back then.  I'd photo-copied the actual logo of the show and pasted them onto both the tapes and boxes.  Nowadays I would have just done it by hand with a medium-thickness marker pen.

It's crazy to think the CBS-Channel 10 copies I have of THE NEW AVENGERS are still the best-looking videotape copies I have of the series, after all these years.  And several of those episodes are pretty messed up.

If I'm lucky, even those will become redundant at some point.

[profh0011]

I was just updating my own index of the show, and was shocked to notice something that had completely escaped my attention before.

By accident, I got the first half of season 2 on DVD for free when I ordered the Diana Rigg "megaset".

The 2002 A&E Region 1 DVDs, each disc (3 episodes) was in a separate DVD case-- the "regular" cases.  That means, the 2 Diana Rigg seasons take up 9-1/2" of shelf space, or, 4-3/4" for each season.

The 2006 A&E Region 1 DVDs, by comparison, have each disc in a "slimline" case, and 4 cases in a slipcase.  These slipcases are 1-1/4" thick, meaning, a full season takes up 2-1/2" of shelf space.

None of these have been "remastered", and the difference between the episodes and the ones on the 2009 and 2010 Region 2 DVDs is noticable, almost shocking (with one notable exception, an episode where somehow the "remastered" version looked worse).  With these, the Season 2 slipcase is 1-1/2" thick, Season 3 is 1-1/4" thick!  (The Season 2 set included a small book, hence the difference.)

Anyone can see, the newer discs not only LOOK and SOUND better, but take up WAY less shalf space.


Here's what I didn't notice before.

The 2002 Region 1 Diana Rigg DVDs look perfect.  And they play at the right speed.  Those seasons were shot ON FILM.

The 2010 Region 2 Diana Rigg Season 4 DVDs are too dark, and run fast in America.  The 2015 Region 2 Diana Rigg Season 4 Blu-Rays look perfect, and play at the correct speed in America.


However... the 2006 Region 1 Honor Blackman Season 2 DVDs... are PLAYING FAST in America.

I mean, DAMN.  They were REGION 1-- yet, they're clearly PAL, not NTSC!!!

Somebody REALLY needs to put the Honor Blackman episodes out on BLU-RAYs.


One thing I haven't figured out yet... when the A&E channel ran the Honor Blackman episodes in the mid-90s, I know the prints were terrible, and the episodes were BUTCHERED, with scenes cut out all over the place for commercial time.  But, were they running fast, or at the correct speed?  I really wonder.  If they were running FILM PRINTS-- which I suspect they were-- they were probably running at the correct speed, despite otherwise being CUT TO RIBBONS.

Honor Blackman deserves a LOT more respect than she's been getting, right up to this day.

[paw broon]

You're so right Prof.  Honor Blackman deserves so much respect. I have box sets of all The Avengers series and regularly dig out a couple of Mrs Gale episodes to enjoy all over again.

[profh0011]

Right now it depends on which country you're in as to if you're able to watch the early videotaped seasons properly or not.  It took me some time to really become aware of that.

There's an Australian (Via Vision) box set of both Diana Rigg seasons that's on region-free Blu-Ray, which includes a few Honor Blackman episodes as "extras".  I wonder if they were "encoded" properly?  It infuriates me that only a few may be available to watch at the correct speed, both seasons 2 & 3 should be re-issued on Blu-Ray (and include the 3-1/3rd episodes available from season 1-- plus any "reconstructions" of season 1 as well).


Something that put a smile on my face earlier today... I happened to look over the DiabolikDVD site-- which is in NEW JERSEY but specializes in foreign films (NO overseas shipping to worry about!).  There was a note about, for anyone interested in players that can play ANYTHING from any country, and they mentioned the very store I bought my region-free Blu-Ray player from!  That was a very nice bit of cross-promotion, I thought.

[paw broon]

Here in the UK, Sony no longer offer multi region  blu ray players.  I was told in one of the big tech stores that mr players were on longer available here. Can't be right, surely?

[The Australian Panther]

Here in the UK, Sony no longer offer multi region  blu ray players.  I was told in one of the big tech stores that mr players were on longer available here. Can't be right, surely? 

Our generation lives behind the times.
You should be able to order one on the internet, even if you have to import it from somewhere.
Also, if you have a fairly recent computer or laptop with a player built in (even that's not easy these days) you should find that your computer will play DVD's from any region. 

[profh0011]

DiabolikDVD actually reccomended the very store I got my last 2 players from!

https://www.220-electronics.com/

[profh0011]

By the way... some years back, a member of a Yahoo gorup I was in sent me by trade copies of a TV series I loved on DVD-R.  But when I got the discs, I discovered, I could only play them on my computer.

THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

My computer is on the OPPOSITE side of the room from my widescreen TV, and, frankly, there's no easy way (maybe, no way at all) to hook the two together.  I have enough wires running around the walls just to connect the SOUND up.

And while I do watch Youtube and Dailymotion and the like, the last thing I want is to watch DVDs or Blu-Rays while sitting in my computer chair on the relatively-small computer monitor with 3" speakers.

I'm always having people tell me, "Oh, you can hook this up to that"-- people who have NO idea of the physical layout of my room.


It's almost as bad as when my EX-home care clients spent years insisting "You can use your smart phone for this and this and that" and "I can show you how to do it"-- IGNORING the fact that I HATE the whole design of smart phones and refuse to use it for ANYTHING other than signing in and out of work, and I only do that because my office FORCES me to.