Boy I tell you, the last couple of years have been terrific for fans of older British TV series hitting the DVD market. There has been plenty of old Gerry Anderson supermarionation shows like “Supercar” and “Joe 90”, as well as sets of “The Saint” and “Secret Agent Man.” My mind is going numb, and I think I’m detecting a slight English accent slipping into my conversations. I believe I actually said ‘Cheerio’ the other day to my wife as I was headed out the door. So far, all of these DVD gems have been made available thanks to the folks at A&E Home Video, and it seems they only scratched the surface. Along with the other titles I mentioned before, we can look forward to the release of the 2nd season of “The New Avengers.” Oddly enough, though I grew up watching the original Avengers series, I had never seen this newer version. I started watching a lot of the older British spy shows when I was a kid and “The Avengers” was another big favorite.

When the show first started out, it was an offshoot of a little known series called “Police Surgeon”, which starred Ian Hendry. In 1961 this show was transformed into another series where Hendry’s character, David Keel, was teamed with a spy to help solve cases. The series was called, ‘The Avengers” and that spy was none other than John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee.

At the time, Macnee was actually playing second banana to Keel who was the lead. By the second season, the shows’ creators realized that Steed was becoming the more popular character so they decided to let him take over the lead and team him with several different female agents, the most popular being Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman. Though the show began reaching an even greater popularity, it wasn’t until 1965 that a decision was made that would boost the show into the stratosphere. It was decided that Steed needed a newer permanent partner. And she came in the form of one Emma Peel, played by the extraordinarily beautiful and tough as nails, Diana Rigg.

The teaming of John Steed and Emma Peel will surely go down in history as one of the greatest pairings of any two characters. Even though Rigg only stayed with the show for two seasons, it is her character that most people associate with the series. Admittedly, these are the episodes I’m most familiar with, and yes I had a couple of Emma Peel posters when I was a young’n. Upon Rigg’s departure from “The Avengers”, there became a need for a replacement. Linda Thorson, as Tara King, became Steed’s next, and final partner.

Unfortunately due to changes in the production crew and in part, the casting, this was to mark the end of “The Avengers”, at least for time. The series ran that year, and then was finally cancelled. Several attempts were made to revive the series in one form or the other, but most never made it past the planning stages.

Then in 1976, when an opportunity to revive the series came about, Patrick Macnee came on board and two new actors were cast as his team. The first was Gareth Hunt (Gambit), who at the time had done some acting here and there on various other British TV series. The second was none other than Joanna Lumley (Purdey), who is best known for her stint as Patsy Stone in “Absolutely Fabulous.”

The original “Avengers” was probably one of my favorites of all the older British spy shows. It was extremely tongue in cheek, and again I considered the pairing of Steed and Peel to be note perfect. The episodes during those seasons often varied in overall quality, but they were never disappointing. There was a certain style to the series that was unlike any other, with Steed always being so calm, even in the face of certain death. Emma Peel, well she was darn near the toughest chick on TV at that time. Even today I bet she could still kick the tar out of Jennifer Garner from “Alias”, with both hands tied behind her back.

Last year, I had the chance to watch the 1st season of “The New Avengers” and I can see where it made a solid attempt to re-create the magic of the earlier series. Steed was put into more of a mentor role, leaving Gambit and Purdey to do all the dirty work. As I sat through the series, I found it was best to not compare it to the original. When I did, I found that it didn’t quite live up to the style I was used to. However, as a stand-alone series, it was still very entertaining and I think underrated by fans at the time.

As I watched the show, I started really getting into it by the 2nd episode. It still had some of the quirky comedy that the original was known for, and the storylines were still very creative. By the time I got to the 4th episode, I had pretty much stopped all comparisons, and let it stand on its own merit. In the end, I enjoyed all 13 episodes.

I was beginning to wonder if the 2nd season was ever going to be released, but now almost a year to the day after the release of the 1st season, it is finally here. All 13 episodes of the 2nd season collected in a four disc set. This season is every bit as enjoyable as the 1st, but once again I was a bit disappointed at the lack of extra features. There are some photo galleries, but that’s about it. I was really hoping for some commentaries, but no such luck.

Some hardcore fans for “The Avengers”, seem to feel that “The New Avengers” just didn’t cut it as far as resurrecting the series. After watching them for myself, I think they’re just being nit-picky. I thought the series turned out to be a fine follow-up, and offered up not only the chance to see Steed back in action, but to see a pre ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ Joanna Lumley kicking some major butt.

Episodes:
Dead Men Are Dangerous
Angels of Death
Medium Rare
The Lion and the Unicorn
Obsession
Trap
Hostage
K is For Kill: The Tiger Awakes, Part 1
K is For Kill: Tiger by the Tail, Part 2
Complex
The Gladiators
Emily
Forward Base

Starring: Patrick MacNee, Gareth Hunt, Joanna Lumley
Extras: Photo Stills Gallery
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: A&E Home Video
Release Date: 7/27/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The New Avengers 77 a B.