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Boy I tell you,
this has been a banner year 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 the
soon-to-be released 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 1st 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.
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When the series 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 the
spy was none other that 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 a 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.
I’ve finally had a chance to watch “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 it’s own merit. In the end, I enjoyed
all 13 episodes and am looking forward to the
eventual release of the next season.
The new 4-disc set of “The New Avengers”
doesn’t really have any extras to speak
of except for a gallery of photo stills. However,
the quality of the transfers makes up for the
lack of extra features.
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:
The Eagles Nest
The Midas Touch
House Of Cards
The Last Of The Cybernauts…?
To Catch A Rat
Cat Amongst The Pigeons
Target!
Faces
The Tale Of The Big Why
Three-Handed Game
Sleeper
Gnaws
Dirtier by The Dozen
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, Joanna
Lumley
Extras: Photo Stills Gallery
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: A&E Home Video
Release Date: 7/29/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give The New Avengers - Season 1 a B-.
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