John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel
(Diana Rigg) form
a pair of crime fighting avengers who work for the British Department of
Defense. They are witty and stylish
with Emma Peel’s fashions still holding up about almost 50 years later since
the episodes originally aired back in 1967.
It is implied they are intimate with each other as they visit each other’s
apartments and drink together (and go to dinner all the time) in what I can
describe as a very open relationship between the two of them as they save each
other as they fight against various crimes and agents from various enemy
countries from the Eastern Bloc. Most
of the episodes are very well written with numerous British guest stars from
the guy who played Mr. Rumbold (ESCAPE IN TIME), Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing
(RETURN OF THE CYBERNAUTS, and Nicholas Courtney (MISSION…
HIGHLY IMPROBABLE).
THE AVENGERS is a very fun, intelligent, surreal,
and
subversive cult series. The format
changes a little after the middle of the season where the taglines of what
Steed and Peel are doing disappears after the title of the episode. The
last three episodes are the weakest of
the season because I like it when they offer something that seems impossible
only to find a way to explain it. Emma
does something really stupid in Murdersville (because I think the writer wanted
to get Emma in an iron chastity belt).
The chemistry between Macnee and Rigg is perfect, but Rigg moved on to
pursue other things like be a Bond girl in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE due
to not being happy on the show after her fights with the producers first over
her pay among other things. I hope
Lionsgate puts out the black and white episodes from season 4 on blu-ray next
(finishing off the earlier Mrs. Peel and Steed episodes before releasing the
other color episodes of season 6 with Steed and Tara King (who is introduced in
THE FORGET-ME-KNOT)).
VIDEO/ AUDIO ISSUES- I’m not setting any
audio issues like
some viewers are reporting as the audio being a little higher pitched (it might
be a player specific issue). The voices
of John Steed and Emma Peel sound like I remembered them. The video is
great for the most part except
for the occasional drop in video quality from time to time. Some of the end
credits of a few episodes are
in lower quality than the beginning titles.
EXTRAS: There is a digital Ultraviolet copy code
to every
episode so you can stream and download via multiple platforms (TV, tablet,
smartphone, and computer). No othwer
extras exist even though it would be nice to have some audio commentaries or
featurettes (maybe even one on the restoration work Studiocanal did to upgrade
the episodes since they were shot on film)
FINAL ANALYSIS:
THE
AVENGERS is a smart and stylish series and I hoper Lionsgate puts out more sets
on blu-ray soon.
This review is ©1-4-2015
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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