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"Castle De'ath" is a truly haunting episode, both because of its red-herring ghost story and the scandalous peek at Mrs. Peel's navel, not to mention her nocturnal investigation of a foreboding Scottish castle in her nightgown.What brings her and "McSteed" (outfitted in a kilt) to the castle is the death of an agent in scuba gear, who when found was four inches taller than when he was alive. "It all has to do with the price of fish," whispers McSteed. In "The Master Minds," Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate a series of raids on state security. Each, Steed notes, "has been boldly conceived and superbly executed" by "a diabolical mastermind." This leads the duo to a special school for geniuses whose lesson plan includes brainwashing. Highlights of this episode are a student's come-on to Steed ("I wonder if I might lure you away from brainwork for something more physical") and a climactic fight seen only in shadow behind a screen on which a military training film is being projected backward. Grade: A. Both episodes are in glorious black and white. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Steed Boosts His I.Q. - Emma Boosts State Secrets
"Castle De'ath" is an unusual Avengers entry, in that Steed and Emma are both undercover at the same place at the same time, from the very start of the episode. The cinematography is curiously rather bleached, for what probably should have been a starker melodrama - but it works splendidly, anyway. This one consists mostly of skulking and good fights, Emma's skulking done in a fetching peignoir by moonlight. The flirtation between Emma and Steed is especially light and playful. The plot, about a secret submarine base and its connection to the disruption of the local economy, is clever and credibly handled.

"The Master Minds" is one of my personal favorites, about a MENSA-esque high-I.Q. club called RANSACK, which utilizes the best minds in Britain - without their knowledge - to infiltrate and sabotage military bases, and steal state secrets for sale to the highest bidder. It's quite similar to Ian Fleming's contemporaneous James Bond novel, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" - which, amusingly enough, starred Diana Rigg in the film version. Like "Castle De'ath," Steed and Emma work undercover at the same location, but with a far different result: Emma becomes brainwashed into RANSACK's nocturnal espionage society, and Steed has to snap her out of it - before she kills him. The concluding fight is terrific, Emma's final punch-line one of the more humorous in the series by means of its unique delivery.

A very good pair of early Avengers episodes.

Experience the deadly delights of Castle De Ath
James Hill's moody, dark direction enhances the Scottish mystery Castle De Ath. The beginning is dark and eerie. The camera follows dark corridors, the only sound Scottish bagpipes. Finally the camera flickers to a barechested man, bound by leather straps to a table. He silently writhes as he is being tortured on the rack! Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate mysterious happenings at an isolated Scottish castle. Where have the fish disappeared to? How did a British secret agent grow three more feet when his dead body was recovered? Best lines: "Lean on Mistress Peel, as much as you like." Gordon Jackson is excellent as the dignified Scottish laird facing hard economic times. Cousins Ian and Angus argue about their family heritage and what they should do about their decreasing income. Hint: think of Wilkie Collins and The Terribly Strange Bed. Good red herrings and witty dialogue. A shocked conspirator, "He is having trouble at the Power Plant. He has been attacked - by a woman!" "Bless her!" Steed smiling broadly.

Masterminds pokes fun at those with high IQs. When a British politician is caught breaking into a secret installation and then murdered Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate RANSACK. "You have a high IQ," Emma informs him. "How high?" "The same as mine. I took your test for you!" Sign on one of the rooms, "If you can't sleep ring for a mistress." The final battle of the Avengers versus the baddies in a darkened auditorium, with the training film amusingly run in reverse while the Avengers silently toss the baddies about is a delight. Superb direction and acting. This is one of the best of the black and white sets. Recommended for purchase! ... Read more

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"Escape in Time" finds the intrepid John Steed and Emma Peel hot on the trail of villains who are offering criminals the perfect escape from modern law: a one-way trip to the past, where they can lose themselves in history. Philip Levene's smart script and Avengers designer Wilfred Shingleton make the time-transport scenes convincing in a very economical way--travelers go to sleep in a room at an opulent, old country house and awaken in that same room furnished in the style of the Georgian or Elizabethan ages, etc. When Mrs. Peel takes a trip back to what she believes is going to be 1790, and is confronted by a masked executioner from an older era, it's yikes time. Levene also wrote the second episode on this tape, "The See-Through Man," in which a discredited inventor (the delightful Roy Kinnear) sells his formula for invisibility and Steed and Emma believe enemy agents may be using it. Not one of the pantheon episodes, "The See-Through Man" is still quite enjoyable, particularly in its tag scene, which finds our hero and heroine pushing Steed's old Rolls after it fails to start. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Emma Carries A Plush Toy - Steed Carries the Day
Unfortunately, the wonderful episode "Escape Through Time" is paired with the clunker "The See-Through Man," but, well, you can't have everything. They're nicely paired in one regard, which is that they're both faux sci-fi pieces about bad guys playing on the credibility of others with elaborate frauds. "See-Through Man" is too see-through plot to maintain the suspension of disbelief, where "Escape Through Time" is far more cleverly done. "See-Through" is largely an intentional comedy, which makes matters worse, since it's painfully unfunny - it's idea of humor is a comic-opera Russian idiot, who, ironically enough, is the same Russian idiot used in one of the previous season's equally spectacularly unfunny scripts. What it does have is Diana Rigg charming her way nicely through the mess that is "See-Through Man's" script.

"Escape Through Time" is by far the better piece, with Steed and Mrs. Peel trying to find out why several of England's most notorious criminals are being found dead of wounds inflicted by archaic weapons. Seems someone is selling them the perfect escape - an escape into the past. True time travel? Or an elaborate get-rich-quick scam? Emma goes through the elaborate plush-toy entry ritual, to find out.

Delightful escape for fans of the Avengers
This episode has one of the few scenes of Mrs. Peel and Steed embracing- to foil the villains of course. Criminals are absconding with millions to England! Emma and Steed begin tracing a route that involves carrying a stuffed animal. Emma repairs one for him and Steed says admiringly I didn't know you could sew. After all, she says crisply, our relationship hasn't been exactly...domestic, has it The viewer can ponder that remark! One of the villains that raves Emma deserves appre-ciation. I appreciate your- appreciation, she says dryly. Steed's attempted rescue. Can't you give me any more than that, asks a harassed colleagaue. I was blindfolded, he says defensively. One of the clues to the villains hideaway is a turkey farm. Witty, satirical and clever. One of the best of the color episodes. ... Read more

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"The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is a Brian Clemens story in which John Steed and Emma Peel find carrier pigeons equipped with tiny cameras used to photograph top-secret missile bases. The photography theme extends to some comic moments in which Steed and Emma both do a little posing for a fashion cameraman, but there is also some fun with a parrot named Captain Crusoe, who requests political asylum at one point. Also on this tape is "The Winged Avenger," a truly crafty piece of work by writer Richard Harris, with good tongue-in-cheek references to the influence of comic-book culture on '60s television. A number of ruthless men are being ripped apart and killed by an unknown assailant, the only clue being that their murders seem to have been predicted in recent comic strips featuring a Batman-like superhero named the Winged Avenger. The zippy climax finds Mrs. Peel and a killer each wearing magnetic boots that allows them to fight on a ceiling. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Steed Reads the Comics - Emma Gets the Bird
Of the episodes on this tape, "The Winged Avenger" is more famous and fun, though "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is actually the better-made.

"Avenger" is flawed by the too-quick revelation that a bizarre series of high-rise locked room murders are being committed by a freaky man in a razor-taloned bird costume, which spoils the suspense (a mistake not repeated in the very similar later episode, "The Hidden Tiger"). But this one is still too much fun for words, featuring some of the more memorable English eccentrics the series was so famous for, and some of its best high camp. It's not spoiling anything to reveal that Steed discovers his quarry is in the comic book industry by finding recent murders perfectly depicted in a superhero monthly's pages, creating a fabulous sequence in the story where he races to Mrs. Peel's rescue because he sees her there about to be killed. The concluding scene pays homage to the then-current original Batman T.V. series, in humorous fashion.

Sticking with the feathered motif, "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is - in theory - a more realistic story, though in many ways it's just as camp. Steed and Mrs. Peel find top secrets making their way out of the country via clever and unexpected avian means.

Winged Avenger delightfully spoofs American show
The Winged Avenger is crisply directed. An unseen force makes scraping noises, scales multi-story buildings, and savagely destroys ruthless business men who "downsize" by throwing everyone out of work! Steed and Mrs. Peel consult books trying to find an animal that matches the description. When they realize it is a human predator.. "I have a theory, "Steed relates, "He uses a trampoline, bounces up,scales it with a pick.."

And your other theory? "He bribes the doorman!" Steed says in frustration. As the duo close in on a logical explanation Mrs. Peel meets a dashing explorer, "Nothing like authenticity" assures her as they scale a tiny replica of a mountain with fake snow and simulated high winds. The usual wit pervades Winged Avenger. Mrs. Peel meets an eccentric inventor of boots enabling a person to walk up the side of a house, a building, and on the ceiling. "It'll ruin the carpet trade," she sighs. The fight scene, Mrs. Peel and her insane assailant, in mortal combat upside down on the ceiling, is a delight. A frantic Steed is driving to the rescue. "How are we doing?" he asks the only sane one left alive. "Not good!" Emma's murderous fate is prefigured in huge cartoon drawings. The Bird who Knew too much also features delightful eccentrics. "Twitter" "I don't do bird impersonation," Mrs. Peelsays. "Edgar J. Twitter," he introduces himself. Mrs. Peel's sluthing leads her to a daffy, bird loving professor (recognize the actor from the previous season's HOney for the pRince as QQF Businessman: fantasies, imaginary assassinations!) who trains highly intelligent birds to communicate and memorize- leading to the bird being stolen and British agents being murdered.

all around fun
well if your in the mood for a little james bond, meets austin powers, meets the batman tv series this is what you want to watch. all in all these are great episodes! :) ... Read more

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John Steed and Emma Peel are paired off with their Russian counterparts in "The Correct Way to Kill," a Brian Clemens story in which a finishing school called Snob is churning out English gentlemen outfitted exactly like Steed and providing cover for murder. A good episode but not a great one, although one gets to see Mrs. Peel fencing, and the understated satire on Steed's British conformism is fun. Philip Levene wrote the second show on this tape, "Never, Never Say Die," in which computerized duplicates of brainy scientists and others are causing some havoc. The best part of the show is the setup, in which a corpse walks out of a mortuary and--despite being shot, hit by a car, and electrocuted--keeps on with its rampage. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Correct Way to Kill features charming killers
3 stars for clemmens rewritten Correct Way to Kill. The episode has the usual delightful teaser and tag between Steed and Emma. A 3rd Organization threatens to kill the opposition. They feature polite, impeccably dressed British assassins. But they don't work fo MI5 or any other branch. Ivan looks with disbelief when Steed offers him the temporary services of his beautiful partner. "She is your choice?" he says in disbelief. Steed is partnered with a humorless Russian female agent Olga. The usual pitiless murders- a good natured innocent who tests umbrellas in showers. NOt a witty script and it does start to drag. Patrick MacNee acknowledged in one interview that the series was written out. These scripts reflect that. There is the fun tag of Steed having gone out the night before with Olga- he quotes statistics on female engineers, female doctors. "It was highly informative but-" "It lacked a certain burgeois decadence." smiles his charming partner Emma. Great closer! Never Never Say die ranks as the most dreadful color script of the Rigg/Macnee series. I dislike Who's Who and The See Through Man. I became so bored with Never Never Say Die I began to read about the Avengers and skip it. Rigg has the best line at the beginning. "Where's the body?" she asks in disappointment. "There's always a body." Very little body to this writing. The Living Dead is better than Never Never say die. It is a one star episode. The unjustly bashed Avengers movie was better than The New Avengers, better than the awfully Tara/Steed shows, and far superior to : Never, Never Say die, Epic,See through man, or Murdersville, or Correct Way to Kill. Rigg is always wonderful- witty, brilliant, and MacNee is charming as his suave partner. But they missed Roger Marshall's scripts, Malcolm Hulke's, John Lucarotti. clemmenms repeats from Cybernauts but this one is dull with no charm save the opening scenes of Christopher Lee and wonderful Diana Rigg. I think clemmens borrowed from a 1920s play RUR- when scientists create robots- the robots are more human than their creators and kill them and take over the world. If he had followed that plot more clsely it would have added some excitement to a truly dreadful dull scipt. This is worse than epic! Never NEver say die is a one star snoozer after the first 10 minutes. The film the Avengers despite a dreadful director and botched editing rose far above such dead TV scripts. ... Read more

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In "The Living Dead," reports of a ghost seen in the chapel of a private estate, owned by the 16th Duke of Benedict, bring agents John Steed and Emma Peel into the British countryside to investigate. Another agent is killed while looking for evidence, and soon after, Mrs. Peel disappears. What Steed finds while searching for his partner is a particularly imaginative invention by writer-producer Brian Clemens, a nice blend of science fiction, conspiracy tale, and the usual unflappable charm of the two principals. In the second episode on this tape, "The Hidden Tiger," the villains within an organization called PURRR intend to overwhelm England with ordinary household kittens who are made savagely violent by radio transmitters altering their brain waves. The script by Philip Levene is a succession of clever little mysteries (How did a big-game hunter get mauled to death while he was inside a cage?), and the outrageousness of several scenes (a seemingly doomed Steed is tied to a chair, surrounded by furry kittens) is a hoot. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Living Dead has suspenseful prologue
Brian Clemons Living Dead captures the attention with a provocative prologue. A drunken man stumbles out of the pub and cuts through the graveyard. To his horror, a stone coffin begins to move and the cover slides open, revealing a white haired man in a white outfit who rises, enters the church, and begins tolling the bell. The drunk gibbers to the pub owner and others that he has seen the late, dead Duke Rupert. When they enter the church it is empty, but the bell continues to toll. Wonderful opening, more average script. Clemens repeated his plot , 1965 Town of No Return. It has a little humor FOG- Friends of Ghosts, and SMOG Scientific Measurement of Ghosts. Emma rescues Steed and for a refreshing change Emma and Steed save a few lives instead of everyone being murdered.

Hiden Tiger is hugely overrated. The teaser of Emma painting walls, tearing off paper and being confronted with "Mrs. Peel" printed on the wall, and Steed appearing and tearing paper off the opposite wall "we're needed" is delightful. The cat references are ubiquitous: cat among the pidgeons, quiet as a mouse (Steed to the cats!) I found watching everyone be clawed to death pitiless and redundant. Escape in Time by writer Philip Levene was a far wittier script. HIden Tiger is very overrated. Clemens'scripts the Joker, superlative Seven, Richard Harris The Winged Avenger, and Roger Marshall Something Happened on the Way to the Station were much better scripts. By 1967, midway thorugh the season, the Avengers scriptwise was missing the variety of writers: Roger Marshall, Tony Williamson , John Lucaroti etc. Clemens and Levene are beginning to run out of ideas. If the viewer is a cat lover he or she will probably enjoy HIden Tiger. I found it mundane. Delightful tag of Steed sketching a heart on Emma's wall with his initials. Before he can add hers she spies it and indicates she is not pleased! ... Read more

Description

The sublime chemistry between Diana Rigg (as Mrs. Emma Peel) andPatrick Macnee (as John Steed), along with the juxtaposition of Steed’s old worldgentlemanliness with Mrs. Emma Peel’s wealthy jet-set kinkiness, led many Americanviewers to ask the Big Question: Did they or didn’t they?Our lips are sealed. "Return Of The Cybernauts"First aired 15 June, 1967 The deadly Cybernauts -- self-aware robot assassins -- are back.More formidable thanever, they’re still no match for mere flesh-and-blood Avengers.Dr. Beresford (PeterCushing) exposes Steed’s jealous streak by playing Casanova to the "delectable" Mrs.Peel. Directed by Robert Day, Written by Philip Levene. "Death’s Door"First aired 7 June, 1967 Nightmares come true when an enemy agent uses dream-influencing drugs to disrupt adiplomatic conference.Emma and Steed soon bid their plans goodnight.Always readyto improvise, Steed outdoes himself in "Death’s Door" with a makeshift wood-and-stonefirearm. Directed by Sidney Hayers, Written by Philip Levene. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Emma Becomes A Puppet - Steed Cuts the Strings
"Return of the Cybernauts" is just what a sequel to a great success should be - exactly the same, but completely different. Emma is wooed by urbane sophisticate Paul Beresford, who, unbeknownst to anyone, is actually the brother of cybernaut creator Dr. Armstrong, who perished in an accident Beresford blames on Emma and Steed. Beresford utilizes one of Armstrong's cybernaut robots to abduct a small number of Britain's leading scientists, coercing them to create the most evil torture possible in order that Beresford might savor his revenge. One of them devises a wristwatch that commandeers its wearer's nervous system, in essence turning them into a remote-control robot, and Beresford - seething cad that he is - of course intends to use it on Emma.

This episode benefits tremendously from the casting of Hammer mainstay star Peter Cushing as Beresford, and some of the best wit in the series. Steed has his funniest-ever line, when the sadistic Beresford superiorly sneers about all the qualities of his soul-wresting watch, retorting with a smile, "But does it tell good time?" The story is quite clever, in the sense that the new cybernaut menace isn't the robots at all, but the threat of being able to take over the mind and body of people and make robots out of them - yet it retains the use of the actual mechanical man from the original story, for continuity. Gorgeous color photography, great performances (especially from Rigg and Cushing), and a brisk, witty script make this one of The Avengers' all-time best.

"Death's Door" may be considered merely a bonus, on this tape. It's a not-bad semi-rehash of the previous year's "Too Many Christmas Trees." A peace conference is being ruined by the primary delegates' seeming psychic foreknowledge of disasters to come - all of which are, of course, being stage-managed by nefarious outside parties. It's too contrived to be believable, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun.

Return of cybernauts is a return to terror
(5 stars) Writer Philip Levene surpassed his original cybernauts story in this sequel. Peter Cushing is a charming businessman who has ingratiated himself with Steed and Emma while he secretly plots to destroy them. He is Armstrong's brother. Steed is jealous of Beresford's attentions to Emma. "We know nothing against Paul," Emma says mildly. "I'm sure I can think of something if I try," mutters a jealous Steed. Beresford kidnaps terrorized scientists. One would think that such brilliant men would quickly devise a way to foil a cyberanut or escape but only one tries. Cushing gives a memorable performance as a man who secretly hates Steed and Emma but finds her very attractive. "That," he tells his hostage scientists,"is the very delectable Emma Peel." The suspense builds as Beresford schemes to physically enslave them. Great final fight scene and Beresford succombs to the same fate as his ruthless brother. Death's door is a 3 star episode. British politicans are haunted by premonitions of death. Steed and Emma try to guard one nervous politician who later dies of fright. Far less suspenseful than Cybernauts because British diplomats are being menaced. Some of the 1967 scripts were flatter than the 1965-1966 episodes- they lacked mystery and complexity. One misses the variety of Tony Williamson (Too Many Christmas Trees), Roger Marshall (Dial a Deadly Number/girl from Auntie), Malcolm Hulke (The Gravediggers). This one had no humor. Viewing the Avengers it is understanable why Diana Rigg left in 1967. She wisely left while the series was still at the top. ... Read more

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In "What the Butler Saw," one of two black-and-white episodes from the fourth season of The Avengers, someone is leaking defense secrets to "the other side."While gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee) goes undercover as a butler to locate the culprit, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) launches "Operation Fascination" to attract the attention of the womanizing prime suspect, Captain Miles. About to meet him for drinks, she is memorably advised by Steed, "Don't do anything I would do." Two notable bits: for security purposes, three defense officials zip themselves up in a ridiculous giant plastic body bag that anticipates Get Smart's Cone of Silence; and Emma flees from a pursuer through a succession of doors used to train butlers, a scene echoed in Sam Raimi's Crimewave. "The House That Jack Built" is one of Rigg's finest hours, and a rare chance to see the usually nonplussed Mrs. Peel totally plussed. She is in for "the fright of [her] life" when she is held prisoner in a house rigged by a vengeful techno-obsessed madman bent on driving her insane. Rooms that move and labyrinthian mazes are mere prologue to "the exhibition dedicated to the late Emma Peel." This volume is also available in The Avengers '66, Set 2. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Emma Inherits A Haunted House - Steed Butlers One
This is a very odd pair of episodes, "What the Butler Saw" being essentially a very British comedy and "The House That Jack Built" an intense sci-fi melodrama.

"Butler" is a deliberately more comedic re-telling of an earlier Honor Blackman story, in which very faithful military men appear to be leaking important state secrets. To get to the bottom of it, Emma becomes the seducer of a ladies' man, and Steed first impersonates top-ranking members of each armed service and then turns to butlering to keep a close eye on the suspects. The humor is English farce, not so amusing to American audiences. Probably the funniest thing in the episode is Steed's variety of facial hair disguises while cozying up to the Army, Navy, and Air Force officers. There's also a fairly amusing chase in the finale, with Emma pursued through a series of opening and shutting doors, one after another, all in a straight line and only a few feet apart from each other.

"House" is the better piece of the two, an often genuinely creepy and very atmospheric haunted house story of another color. A nonexistent dead uncle bequeathes Emma his house in the country - which turns out to be an eerie automated prison, designed to become her tomb by a madman with a grudge. Two things especially stand out in this one: the surrealistic sets of the mechanized haunted house, which are really unsettling, and Diana Rigg's virtual one-woman performance as the mouse caught in the trap.

Can you take me now for a quick scrape and a hot towel ..?
Somebody is selling top British defense secrets to the enemy. The talented British agent Steed contacts the double-agent barber. They whisper, but not quiet enough. The barber is killed. The list of potential traitors includes three high ranking officers. They have weaknesses: drunkeness (leading to headaches), gambling (to the extent of neglecting official duties), and womanizing. They also have butlers. Steed decides to join a butling (gentlemen's) school. The action becomes more heated with Mrs. Peel joining the force as an officer's girlfriend. At the end Steed and Mrs. Peel are saved by a retired, senile, patriotic, but not really demented general.

Best episode of the avengers
this is one of my favorite avengers episodes ever. I have seen almost all of them and out of them all this one is one of the most suspensful ones. I have liked this one since i was 9 years old. This movie...[is good] if u have to pick one take this one.

House that jack built holds up better 33 years later.
I viewed the house that Jack built over 30 years ago. The commericals destroyed the unity and made it seem less interesting. On video the suspense builds and the menace of odd camera angles,and rooms that appear to move, make it sinister and fresh. What is appealing is the that the heroine, using her brain and skills, rescues herself ! ... Read more

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Is Venus about to attack Earth? Several members of the British Venusian Society think so, while other BVS devotees are being killed in a rather unearthly manner: hit by some kind of bright light that leaves them shock-white from head to toe. Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate and find, naturally, a larger conspiracy than meets the eye. The enticing mystery (written by Philip Levene) is aided by a nifty sound effect (a high-pitched whine that grows stronger just before the burst of light), and Steed's infiltration of the eccentric BVS group is highly entertaining. The second episode on the tape is another Levene script, "The Fear Merchants," in which businessmen are being reduced to babbling psychiatric patients after being subjected to their worst fears: spiders, birds, fast cars, etc. Steed has to do some fancy footwork to avoid being buried by a bulldozer, and Mrs. Peel--who apparently has no phobias--is nearly subjected to nasty surgical tortures. The satirical element, in which captains of industry are made demented by anxieties, is great fun. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Steed and Mrs. Peel deal with Venusians and Fear Merchants
It took five years for "The Avengers" to make it from British television to the United States, but once it arrived the spy "drama" became one of the first British television cult hits. With Patrick Macnee as the dapper John Steed and Diana Rigg as the implacable Emma Peel, this was a James Bond clone that provided its own eccentric collection of diabolical geniuses, improbable gadgets, and absurd villains. The only thing we took seriously were the two main characters and each week we eagerly awaited for Steed to find a way of telling Emma, "Mrs. Peel, we're needed." This videotape offers up two adventures from 1967:

"From Venus With Love" (First aired January 14, 1967; Directed by Roy Baker and Written by Philip Levene) finds Steed and Emma trying to solve the mystery of bizarre deaths: several men, while taking photographs of Venus in the night sky, suddenly drop dead with their hair turned white. The common denominator are the bizarre characters who belong to the British Venusian Society, who plan to send a spaceship to the planet. Either the Venusians are doing a pre-emptive invasion and targeting the BVS's membership, or somebody has a more earthly reason for wanting the group dead. To solve the matter Emma is racing around the British countryside trying to track down a fleeing bright light. "From Venus With Love" is one of those episodes where eccentric characters abound: my favorite is the retired brigadier who is dictating his memoirs on the war using a series of victrolas to produce the requisite sound effects.

"The Fear Merchants" (First aired January 21, 1967; Directed by Gordon Flemying and Written by Philip Levene) offers another connect the dot mystery as our heroes are confronted with a strange series of businessmen who have suddenly gone insane. This time the common denominator is the wonderfully competitive world of ceramics. But what makes this one interesting are the titular characters, a trio of researchers who find a person's worst fear and use it against them, and then want to prove their theory of Mrs. Peel. I was happy to see "The Fear Merchants" again (it was the second episode of "The Avenger" (in color) broadcast in the U.S.) because a photograph from it was my favorite cover shot on one of paperback novels featuring "The Avengers." The attraction was not just Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, but also the costumes designed by Alun Hughes, which took every opportunity to reveal large expanses of flesh (not to be confused with the famous "Emmapeeler" in the previous episode). This was the episode that hooked me on the series.

However, Emma Peel was more than just good looks. She was smart, had a dry sense of humor, and could kung-fu anybody stupid enough to cross her. But even more fun that watching her take out the baddies was the wry expressions that flittered over Diana Rigg's face as she bantered with John Steed. Before Muldar and Scully, there was Steed and Mrs. Peel.

Venus with Love definitely goes into orbit
From Venus with Love includes several delightful eccentrics. Steed and Emma are puzzled.What is killing young men and turning their hair white? Emma meets a charming, self-deprecating, elegant chimney sweep. "My name is Betram Fortescue Smythe,"he introduces himself to Emma. "Bert Smith," He can't use his aristocratic name because no one would hire him to sweep chimneys if he did. Unfortunately, the charming sweep, smitten with Emma, is zapped a few moments after they meet. Steed is given the most delightful eye examination ever. "Identify them!" orders his eye doctor. "Bowler, top hat..." In addition, a retired army general, a mock up of MOntgomery, is dictating his memoirs, using battle sounds, camouflage etc. until someone camouflages him! Fear Merchants uses irony to make amusing points about human fears. "The pound is sick so we're visiting the hospital," Diana Rigg's dry wit always delivers. A superhuman strong man smashes boards during his workout while a meek looking man struggles hopelessly to lift a barbell. Naturally "superman" is the one traumatized- by a mouse! The usual wit distinguishes this one. Emma and Steed are menaced by psychiatrists' henchmen who practice "deadly medicine." "Notice how fear makes him obey," says the villain coolly to Emma, pointing a gun at Steed, "his fear for you." Neat plot twists as Steed detects the cold blooded doctor's neurosis, and

Emma discovers Steed's secret fear in the tag scene. The first seven color episodes, with the exception of The See Through Man were a much stronger set of scripts than the final 7 of 1967. Viewing the weaknesses of such scripts as: 50,000 Breakfast, See Through Man one can understand why Diana Rigg left.

Avengers-Campy Sixties Laughable Fun, Don't miss out
I am a twenty-something who saw the Avengers only in sindication, (I was born in the early seventies) and I have loved it ever since. Only then could you get away with the zaniness and sexiness that Steed(MacNee) and Mrs. Peel(Rigg) so masterfully displayed. I just bought these new sets they've put out through A&E and all I have to say is BRAVO! Now others can experience all of the fun those of us who've already seen it have everytime we watch Steed and Mrs. Peel.

One of the greatest of the series
The new movie version doesn't come close to the original.I watched this show every week from the first episode to the last,without fail, And of all of them the "Fear Merchants" is the one that I remembered most. Diana Rigg is, without a doubt, The only Mrs. Peel. And Patrick MacNee will always be Steed.

"Mrs. Peel... We're needed..."
Amongst those who have seen last summer's motion picture "The Avengers", and had no idea what it was about (I never saw the show beforehand, but had a lot of background info to start with) now's your chance. It's also the chance for many fans of the original "Avengers" to cash in on the suspense series' first run on the video market. But this is just Volume 1, Trilogy 1. So far eight other volumes have been released from 1967, and inevitably other seasons will come. For now though, this is the place to start! ... Read more

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With a provocative swat on her leather-clad bottom, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) first clashes swords with his new partner, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), in "The Town of No Return," the episode that launched the fourth season of The Avengers. "Town" begins on a characteristically surreal note as a figure emerges from the sea in what looks like a giant Hefty bag. Out pops an impeccably dressed gent who notes to a nonplussed fisherman, "Looks like rain," which brings us to Bazeley by the Sea, a quaint but odd village where four agents have disappeared. Will Steed and Mrs. Peel be numbers five and six? Like one of the treats Steed offers Peel on their Bazeley-bound train, this episode is "a marzipan delight." In "The Gravediggers," Steed and Mrs. Peel dig up a sinister plot to sabotage Britain's radar defense system. But this doesn't quite explain how Mrs. Peel finds herself tied to a train track with a miniature locomotive chugging toward her! Both episodes are in glorious black and white. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available together in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Steed Takes A Train - Emma Rides the Rail
The first of the Diana Rigg episodes are among the best of the entire series.

"The Gravediggers" is a straightforward espionage story, marked by The Avengers' usual oddball elements and formula. The local cemetery is somehow being used to jam signals, and Steed and Emma have to sort it out. An eccentric old man who builds oversize train sets is in the middle of it, and Steed has to rescue a bound-to-the-tracks Emma in a humorously exciting finale.

"The Town Of No Return" is a great story, in which an isolated seaside town is being used by a foreign power to infiltrate Britain with fifth-column invaders. The setup is good, the payoff better. The Avengers find themselves going literally underground, to break it all up.

Return with the Avengers to the Town of No Return!
Town of No Return is the Avegers at its best. The initial scene of a plastic bag emerging from the sea, a man popping out of it matter of factly directed to the town by a fisherman is priceless.

Emma fencing with Steed is delightful. He proceeds to criticize her fencing technique, she challenges him to a match...

Anyone who objected to Steed kissing Emma Peel once during the film must be extraordinarly innocent. In one scene in this episode Steed comes to Emma's bedroom at night. "Isn't it time you were in bed?" he asks her, separated from touching her only by the bottle he clutches. She nods.

The black and white episode mixes the supposedly normal- the pub, the church, the school with a tense sense of menace. A friendly man returns to look up his brother,the village blacksmith, and is stalked by locals bearing guns who track him with dogs! Delightful opening scene of Steed and Mrs. Peel and a nice contrast of the hiden menace beneath the seemingly peaceful small town where four agent mysteriously vanished.

The second episode is even more delightful -mixing a charming eccentric elderly man devoted to railroads who has his own miniature railroad that he rides, undertakers who rush about in a hearse, clad in black top hats and tails. In addition, they book their funerals four to six weeks in advance! The mock up of the operating scene is very funny. "Scapel!" calls the surgeon. "Blowtorch." Blowtorch? The climactic finale of Emma, tied to a train track, Steed battling two villains to the thumping piano accompaniment (spoofing silent films) is a pure delight. The second one contrasts with the grimmer mood of the first. Well worth returning to again and again! ... Read more

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"Epic" is a spooky Avengers installment in which Mrs. Peel is kidnapped by a mad director who holds her prisoner in a studio while filming The Destruction of Mrs. Peel. Series coproducer Brian Clemens wrote the inventive script, which finds poor Emma in a movie-cliché nightmare, being shot at in a Western saloon, in a World War I setting, and by Indians and Chicago gangsters. Clemens was also behind "The Superlative Seven," which features some familiar faces (Donald Sutherland, Brian Blessed, Charlotte Rampling) in an Agatha Christie-like tale of seven people brought to an island, where one of their numbers is killing off the others. The slightly conventional plot is spruced up by an international conspiracy element, a surprise ending, and the dramatic arrival of Emma Peel onto the island--by parachute! --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Emma Takes A Screen Test - Steed Doubles Stunts
"Epic" is a love-it-or-hate-it high-camp series entry. Nothing in it is there to make sense - it's all just great fun. Emma is stalked by mad film director Z. Z. Von Schnark (portrayed a la Otto Preminger), who kidnaps her to an abandoned movie studio to film his greatest epic: "The Death of Mrs. Peele." Von Schnark is only half the fun - two out of work actors fanatically devoted to the director play the supporting roles, Peter Wyngarde particularly shining when he keeps replaying the same scene in different costumes and accents. Emma refuses to take any of it seriously, even when tied to a buzz-saw, and mocks them throughout.

"The Superlative Seven" is a well-done, atmospheric high melodrama, benefiting from stellar performances - including appearances from very young up-and-comers Donald Sutherland and Charlotte Rampling - and gorgeous costumes, sets, and color. It's Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," with Steed one of the invited isolated party victims. The episode has only one great flaw, and that is that the game is revealed in the opening scene, ruining a great deal of the suspense. But it performs quite well, and is enjoyable even when you're a step or two ahead of what's coming.

These two make a nice pair on one tape, the former being an Emma-minus-Steed episode, the latter a Steed-minus-Emma one. Oh, the other half of the dynamic duo make their appearances, all right, in each one, giving them the chance to be each other's backup/bailout. That's all just part of the fun.

Superlative Seven retains mystery and spooky atmosphere
Clemmens wrote his best script of 1967 when he penned superlative 7. According to Avengers Dossier it was a rewrite- he was running out of ideas. I enjoyed it when I saw it -ouch more than 30 years ago. It is a send up of Agatha Christie's Ten LIttle Indians mystery and the movie The magnificent 7. Usual charming opening teaser of Emma and Steed. Sadly, Diana Rigg then vanishes until the last 10 minutes. I didn't enjoy seeing it again half as much as I thought I would. This episode would have worked better for Diana Rigg if Emma had been the one on the island with a group of 6 men and the announcment that 1 of them was a killer. The 6 coffins was a nice touch! It has a good cast, atmospheric dark house on a deserted island with the door always open and leaves blowing in. Emmma's arrival on the island by parachute saves the episode for me and the day! Epic was dull and weird. Diana Rigg infuses an otherwise dull, dumb script with her wit. Bound to a table with a pendulum coming closer she quips "I am in danger of becoming a split personality." The ending is the best part of the story. Steed has rescued Emma from torture and death and they try to find a film to attend. She enthusiastically reads about a film that features "unbridled passion- that won awards." "It closed yesterday," she says sadly. "Unbridled passion," smiles Steed. "Let's stay home." Anyone naive enough to object to Steed kissing Emma in the film and their attraction to one another must have missed every innuendo in the show. I wasn't that naive even when I was an innocent teenager. I never mistook Steed and Mrs. Peel for a boy scout and a girl guide!

Clemmens should have switched his cliches and had Steed trapped in Murdersville or Epic and Emma rescue him. It would have been a change. ... Read more

Description

John Steed’s impeccable charm and Mrs. Peel’s imperturbable calmwere the essence of "cool" to fans of THE AVENGERS in the 1960s and beyond.Incertain episodes, however, the greatest fun can be found in watching a villain chip awayat their impervious personae.Traps, tricks and mind-control were all in a day’s work forTHE AVENGERS. "The Joker"First aired 11 April, 1967 A vengeful escaped lunatic plays a deadly game with Mrs. Peel, unaware she always hasan ace up her sleeve: Steed!Trapping Emma with an amorous and amoral villain was anoft-used but always effective plot device of THE AVENGERS. Directed by Sidney Hayers, Written by Brian Clemens. "Who’s Who?"First aired 18 April, 1967 When an enemy trades the minds of Steed and Mrs. Peel with those of its own top agents,it takes THE AVENGERS to give the enemy a permanent identity crisis.Must see: theantics of the "evil" hip-swinging, gum-chewing Mrs. Peel and swaggering, cigar-smokingSteed. Directed by John Moxley, Written by Philip Levene. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great show
Sally Nesbitt makes a great guest appearance as the loony Ona in the nail-biting 'The Joker'.

Emma is terrorized by a past convict she helped to put into prison and now wants her dead. She ends up in a horribly dank old mansion with Ona, a seemingly mentally disturbed young woman who prattles on over nothing.

Emma hears old German jazz tunes and roses keep appearing wherever she ventures in the house. As Steed rushes down to save Emma, he fears he may be too late to get to the leggy Mrs Peel.

Top stuff!

Joker evokes sinister country house atmosphere
Diana Rigg as the poised Mrs. Peel is lured to a country house in an isolated spot. Steed feels he is doing a kindness by not warning her that a sinister German criminal, Prendergast, has escaped. Since Emma was influential in trapping him, leading to his arrest and imprisonment, Steed's friend suggests she be warned... Recurring Joker motifs- Joker playing card on door, multiple copies of one record, a figure that spies on Emma through a peep hole. Rigg conveys Emma's assurance and confidence, then her growing despair when she realizes she is locked in with a faceless murderer who has left her a corpse, cut the telephone wires, taken the door key. It is suitably claustrophobic and suspenseful. Who's who is less interesting, a 2 star episode. One of the stars was ill, the other on vacation so one gets a Steed and Mrs. Peel script with Steed and Mrs. Peel missing through much of the show! There is one teasingly kinky moment. Steed and Emma have been transplanted into different, more common bodies and enemy agents have appropriated theirs.

Emma succeeds in transferring herself back -only to be attacked by Steed who is sure the female enemy agent resides in Emma's body. "If you're not convinced....." She whispers something in his ear. "Oh, Mrs. Peel," The tag of Steed and Mrs. Peel has a great closing line. "One should never take a man for granted (she says of Steed)....but one does!" The producers should never have taken the sublime pairing of Diana Rigg and Patrick MacNee for granted and assumed that ANy female actress would be as good. The show was never as well acted or written after she left. ... Read more

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If you are a new Avengers fan, these two classic black-and-white episodes are the perfect introduction to the beloved British series that combined espionage with science fiction. "The Cybernauts" was the first episode to air in the United States. Steed and Mrs. Peel are up against automated assassins made by an inventor who plots to create an electronic dictatorship. A highlight is an elegantly dressed Mrs. Peel's karate fight. In "Death at Bargain Prices," Steed and Mrs. Peel once again find extraordinary goings-on in the most ordinary places, in this case a department store that serves as a front for madman tycoon Horatio Kane's biggest takeover bid yet--of London (he has rigged the store with a nuclear device). Mrs. Peel works undercover as a clerk, prompting Steed's priceless line, "I asked where to find you and was told, 'Our Mrs. Peel is in ladies' underwear.' I rattled up the stairs three at a time." This episode was directed by Charles Crichton, who directed A Fish Called Wanda. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Steed Plays With Toys - Emma Tests Her Metal
"The Cybernauts" is the quintessential Avengers episode, the most famous of the series and deservedly so. If you're new to the series, this is the best story to start out on. It has all the elements the show became so famous for - science-fictional story, a flamboyantly bizarre evil mastermind, good suspense, and playful banter between the two principals. Michael Gough is an electronics whiz, who kills off his competition by means of one of his lesser inventions - a simple steel robot named "Roger," who he releases as a guided missile. How the robot homes in on its target is more the mystery than the fact that a robot is responsible for the killings. This episode works in every way, except that the early red-herring of trying to blame a karate expert isn't much of a red-herring, today - but even that gives Mrs. Peele an excuse to strut her stuff in the dojo. Gough is famous for playing evil English cads, and is at his best, here. The robots (yes, there is more than one) are brilliantly designed in minimalist fashion, making them all the creepier.

"Death At Bargain Prices" is also one of the better Avengers entries, with Steed and Mrs. Peele investigating a curious murder at a department store, which they suspect may have something to do with a missing atomic scientist - of course, they're right. Why is a missing atomic scientist connected to a department store murder? Well, that's the fun of finding out, then, isn't it? With special guest cameo appearances by Yogi Bear and Doctor Who's arch-enemies, the Daleks. A good time is to be had by all.

Rush to your local murdered agent missing atomic scientist department store, and buy this double-great tape, double-quick.

Death at Bargain Prices is a bargain at any price!
Death at Bargain Prices is superbly directed by Charles Crichton. MacNee and Rigg deliver top notch performances. After Steed teases her "I was told 'Our Mrs. Peel is in lady's underwear' I rattled up the steps three at a time."

"Merry quips Department, 3rd floor," says an unruffled Emma. She retaliates by telling Steed that a retired industrialist lives on the top floor. "Department of discontinued lines, you should fit right in," she retorts, fingering the lapel of his less than stylish suit. The script is witty and Crichton builds the suspense of a department store with sinister goings on. The music helps build a sense of menace. One pricless scene involves Emma and Steed tracking a Sunday store receipt, a clue from a murdered agent (the store was closed Sunday) to the unnamed department. The saleslady in infant's assumes they are a married couple and that Emma is pregnant. "I can tell you're a proud father to be" she ringingly tells a nonplused Steed. Cybernauts is a 3 star script, overrated and not interesting. Emma has a great fight scene with a young female karate expert, and she and Steed tangle with killer Cybernauts and deranged, power mad scientists. This script has no red herrings or surprise villains. Far inferior to Town of No Return, Dial a Deadly Number, Brimstone, and HOney for the Prince.

Death at Bargain Prices is well worth the price of purchase. ... Read more

Description

THE AVENGERS featured Steed, the "top professional" and Mrs. Peel,the "talented amateur," avenging... what?British audiences apparently didn’t care.Butwhen THE AVENGERS was introduced to American audiences, producers felt a jobdescription was warranted:"Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state haveto be avenged by agents extraordinary." "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Station"First aired 22 March, 1967 When agents plan an assignation with assassination aboard a train, it takes quickengineering by THE AVENGERS to derail their nefarious plans.Watch for Steed’svaunted facility with electronics. Directed by John Krish, Written by Brian Clemens. "Something Nasty In The Nursery"First aired 2 April, 1967 When terror toys and nasty nannies drive a slew of British nobles into their secondchildhoods, Steed and Mrs. Peel realise that if they spare the rod they could spoil theentire nation.Dream sequences and lethal playthings make this episode a fan favorite. Directed by James Hill, Written by Philip Levene. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Funny Thing Happened is Fast-paced and witty
Roger Marshall, the writer who penned Silent Dust (1966), the witty Girl from A.U.N.T.I.E., and complex and witty Dial a Deadly Number, began this script. Due to creative differences he left and Brian Clemmens finished it.

Steed and Mrs. Peel set out to meet an agent. The only clue is his briefcase, left behind in the baggage car. The body count kept rising in 1967. The later episodes seem more violent than the black and white ones.

When Steed disappears Emma seeks the help of an elderly expert who dreams of buying abandoned railway stations. "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." (Steed's umbrella conceals a recording device.) There are the usual ruthless villains- a manaical machine gun firing groom, his ruthless bride. There are great fight scenes- Emma and two china throwing baddies in a dining car, the groom and Emma in to the death battle as he tries to push her out the door, and a great steam- filled battle among assassins and the avengers.

Something Nasty in the Nursery get 3 stars. Secrets are leaking out and each man has the same baffling dream - it involves his childhood nanny. Philip Levene wrote the script that involves a nonplused Steed "Proud fatherhood sits upon you!" proclaims the head of a school for nannies. There is a gun firing jack in the box and the usual dastardly villains but little humor

Funny Thing Happened blends Peculiar and Humorous
Steed and Emma investigate some sinister goings on at a deserted train station. When Steed disappears Emma seeks the help of an elderly railway enthusiast. "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." "Listen to the-"

The villains are a very killcrazy lot. There is a machine gun -toting murderer who goes about dressed as a groom, his "bride" and cokiller eager to dispatch others-

Humor abounds. Emma subdues the female assassin "A slight difference of opinion," she says breazily, having tossed the bride on the luggage rack.

Glorious fight scene in steam filled railway car, and a humorous dish throwing one in a dining car. Roger Marshall provided a good script. The later Avengers 67 scripts began to flatten out- less plot, no red herrings (unlike 65 scripts) and Emma and Steed seldom save anyone's life anymore. Something Nasty in the Nursery concerns ruthless killer spies, sinister toys - one gentle toy store owner is murdered by a shooting jack in the box. As the violence and body count escalated, the series lost much of its charm. Nasty does have a wonderful ending. Emma, masterfully played by Diana Rigg assumes a think accent as a fortune teller predicting their future adventures, "I see danger. We find a body." "It usually begins that way-" Steed murmurs. Emma "I see two- things." Steed "Do I take care of them?" "No, I do." Delightfully humorous ending after all the pitiless killings.

Irony sparks "funny thing"
Roger Marshall wrote "A funny Thing happened on the way to the station" The title is ironic- meaning peculiar. A middle aged man is chased by 2 younger men- he seemingly outwits them, only to be tricked into getting off at a deserted stop and murdered. Using a sinister, machine gun toting groom is grotesque. This episode has little humor. Emma to eccentric railroad lover, "I'd like you to listen to this umbrella." There is a china smashing battle in the dining car, and a marked deterioration in the 1967 scripts. No longer are there red herrings (Small Game, Murder Market, How to Succeed at Murder) the villains slay and slay. Perhaps the machine gun violence reflected too much of the violence of the 1960s. Something Nasty in the Nursery has a machine gun toting nanny, lethal toys- a jack in the box that fires a gun. AGain the villains kill and attack. One never has to wonder who the baddies are. The later episodes lack the wit and subtlety of earlier Philip Levene and Roger Marshall scripts. It is easy to understand Diana Rigg's observation that "Looking for Mr. Big wasn't very testing." Even the authors of The Avengers Dossier concede that when Brian Clemmens quarreled with writer Roger Marshall, who left, and then Philip Levene, who also quit writing the series became cartoonish and more shallow. Diana Rigg went on to make some quality films and star on Broadway and in London. The decline in scripts continues with the last batch: the redundant Murdersville, and You Have Just Been Murdered. As the writers killed off more and more characters it became off putting and boring. I preferred the 1965 scripts when Steed and Mrs. Peel actually saved lives: the economist in A Sense of History, accountant in How to Succeed at Murder. Stuffing the show with more and more murders made it less engrossing. ... Read more

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"Now that you've seen me, what do you think?" a gentleman inquires of his blind date. She pulls out a gun and fires. This typically provocative prologue sets the stage for a killer episode from the fourth season of The Avengers. John Steed and Emma Peel become clients of Togetherness, an exclusive marriage bureau that also traffics in assassinations. This episode is of note for reportedly being the first in which Diana Rigg portrayed Mrs. Peel. Her character engages in some un-Emmalike behavior, such as when she argues angrily with Steed and later gets tipsy on a bottle of champagne. But all is forgiven with the scene in which she lists her criteria for a husband, among them "stamina." One intriguing question: Did the character of the fashion photographer ("Fabulous, baby, yeah") inspire Mike Myers's Austin Powers?

"A Surfeit of H20" has been ranked by one Avengers-appreciation Web site as among the top five of the Mrs. Peel era. This intoxicating episode really pours it on, with vintage witty dialogue, assorted crackpot characters, and, of course, a diabolical madman--a vintner who is flooding the countryside with his own manmade rain.--Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Murder Market proves that marriage is murder!
Murder Market was the first Avengers episode Diana Rigg filmed. Emma is younger, more vulnerable, but displays confidence in her physical skills and knowledge which would become hallmarks of the character.

Emma's description of Steed's perfect mate: "Lucrezia Borgia with a bit of Joan of Arc!" The villain had a personal motive for dispatching one of the seven murdered men. Neat surprise on who is the director and the motive for Stone's murder.

Steed asks Emma:Isn't time you thought of marrying again?" She chokes on her drink. Humor wise this one gets two stars. Not as witty as Honey for the Prince or A touch of Brimstone.

A surfeit of water gets two stars. A white haired eccentric predicts the end of the world. "Build your arc!" This one has no plot twists or subtlty. Steed and Emma investigate Granny Gregson's glorious grogs. Best line, Emma, strapped to a wine press, has listened to the ravings of the demented scientist, "You diabolical mastermind you." Frankly, the movie, The Avengers, was better than the episode A surfeit of H2O or Murder Market. Some people remember the series through some kind of misty, romantic haze. Some episodes were great, others merely fair. ... Read more

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This volume contains two must-own episodes from the fourth, and arguably best, season of The Avengers. The unsettling first half of "The Hour That Never Was" plays like something out of The Twilight Zone. Royal Air Forces Camp 472 in Hamelin is splitting up, and John Steed may be cracking up. He and Mrs. Peel emerge from an auto wreck to find the air base deserted, all the clocks stopped at 11, an unconscious rabbit, and a dead milkman. When Steed returns to the air base, a reunion party with all the previously missing men is in full swing. Nitrous oxide gives the climactic fight with a diabolical dentist a goofy spin.

In "Dial a Deadly Number," six "dynamic, indispensable" company chairmen have suddenly keeled over. Who ya gonna call? Steed and Mrs. Peel, who make a connection between the untimely deaths, a "bleeper" (pager) pocket pen, and Fitch, a sinister "backroom boy" and mechanical genius. The umbrella-toting Steed actually fires a gun in this episode. The most taut suspense is reserved for the scene in which Steed engages in a duel of palates at a wine tasting. To paraphrase one character, do not deprive yourself of this video's company. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Emma Visits the Dentist - Steed Drills Him
"Dial A Deadly Number" is usually considered one of the better Avengers stories - I would agree, if it were one of the preceding Honor Blackman series entries, but it's extremely atypical (and, to my thinking, static and unsatisfying) for the Diana Rigg years. Steed uses a gun, which was more common in the Blackman cycle and all but unheard of in the Rigg stories. This one is a simple melodrama, not memorable in most regards. It isn't so much that it's a bad story, rather that it just doesn't gel all that well with the rest of the Mrs. Peele series.

"The Hour That Never Was" is one of the more typical semi-science-fictional stories the Rigg years were more famous for, and a fairly satisfying one at that. Steed and Emma find themselves missing an hour of time, after he swerves to avoid a dog in the road while on his way to an RAF reunion. The base hosting the reunion is abandoned, though there are signs of recent habitation. When Steed manages to find the other guests, they seem to be suffering mental fugues - especially when an eerie, high-pitched whine occasionally sounds in the vicinity. It all has something to do with the dentist's office... "Hour" is rather like a Twilight Zone episode, with an espionage story payoff.

An uneven pair, but worth the price of admission.

Dial a deadly number and order the video!
Roger Marshall, like Philip Levene, wrote the best Avengers scripts. Deadly Number has complex, intelligent characters, a red herring, a sinister, kinky killer who confronts Emma at gunpoint. Admiring her beauty, he tells her as his hand caresses her, that it "would be a sin to mar that skin (with a lethal injection, his current method of assassination)." He promises to kill her with "scientic tenderness" confessing that he has never killed a woman before. The script has a suspenseful wine-tasting party, an exciting attempt to kill Steed, and splendid final battle in the same wine cellar. Unlike Clemeons, Marshall saw women as intelligent, complex,independent and strong. He has a female villain, her counterpoint, the always resourceful Emma, and a nifty closer as Emma teases Steed by immitating his performance at the wine tasting party. Worth every penny, and well worth viewing again and again because of Marshall's research and witty dialogue!

Hour that Never Was has a great opening scene of Steed crashing his car to avoid a dog. He and Emma enter the airbase, about to close today, on foot. All the people are missing. They find a car with gasoline being put in, gasoline flooding the car and pavement, a deserted milk float, a room decorated for the party to commemorate the closing of the base. But all of Steed's frieds are missing. Where have the people gone? A terrified milkman runs away from the lookout box and is mercilessly gunned down. When Steed and Mrs. Peel separate, she too disappears. All Steed finds is her watch. Suspenseful, great final fight as Steed and Emma take on the baddies. The best Avengers episodes are from the 1965-1966 years. Although 1967 boasted some great scripts: Escape in Time, the Joker, Superlative Seven, winged Avenger later the best writers left the show: Roger Marshall and Philip Levene.Consequently, 1967 shows have flat characters, little plot and none of the complexity, humor or intelligence of Malcolm Hulke (the Gravediggers), Tony Willliamson (Too Many Christmas trees)Warshall or Levene's scripts. This cassette was a delight and well worth viewing again and again. Top notch acting, direction and writing. Well worth the price of purchase!

One of the Best Avengers i have seen!
these two particular episodes are great, because the humor is wonderful and there is still the mystery in them. I enjoyed them very much and watch them often. If your an Avenger fan these two are a must buy. ... Read more

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Worth the price of purchase alone is this volume's bonus episode, "Too Many Christmas Trees," which one Avengers-appreciation Web site ranks as the best Emma Peel episode of all time. This "fascinating exercise" (to quote one devilish character) concerns a psychic experiment that gives John Steed deadly nightmares that are coming true. Among the many highlights is the girl of our dreams, Mrs. Peel, helping Steed open his Christmas cards ("Who is Boofums?"). Listen for the in-joke reference to Rigg's predecessor, Honor Blackman, who left the series to star in Goldfinger. Regarding the card from Mrs. Gale, Blackman's character, Steed ponders, "What can she be doing in Fort Knox?" And the sight of Mrs. Peel costumed as Oliver Twist may also cause some sleepless nights!

This volume also contains "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green," a bit of straight-faced silliness about, yes, a man-eating plant from outer space.More down-to-earth is "Two's a Crowd," in which "king of the spies" Colonel Pesev (pronounced "Zev") comes to town. Patrick Macnee does extra duty as Steed and his double, a fashion model ("wearing slacks built for action") named Webster, who is recruited by the Russians to infiltrate a vital meeting of the defense chiefs. Will the unwitting Mrs. Peel be able to tell the difference between the two? --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Steed Vs. Santa Claus - Emma Gets the Dickens