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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Previously released by A&E
on DVD, "The Avengers Emma Peel Megaset" brings
the episodes featuring Diana Rigg and Patrick
MacNee as John Steed altogether in one complete
smaller set with extras. You get all the episodes
that Diana Rigg appeared in packed into 16 discs
with 3 or 4 episodes per DVD. The DVDs are
packaged in slim line cases making it a bit easier
for storage purposes particularly if you have a
lot of DVDs.
John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana
Rigg) fight crime for Her Majesty in these spy
dramas that frequently veer into whimsical,
science fiction and fantasy territory. This
dynamic duo fight crime quite differently; Steed
is a gentleman's gentleman who isn't afraid to
knock someone out but would prefer to use his head
(and hat) to get him out of dangerous situations
while Peel can kick anyone's butt with her karate
and judo moves.
The image quality is to notch with occasional bits
of flecking but is free of dirt. The episodes look
terrific overall (although there is the occasional
bit of damage to the original prints, etc. that
crop up). The blacks look rock solid. The color
episodes also look quite good although not quite
as sharp. The colors pop (and have the day glow
look of pop art. Reportedly these have been
remastered but I didn't see a huge difference
between the earlier set and this one in terms of
picture quality. There might have been a slight
improvement primarily in the black and white
episodes but the color episodes still had appeared
a bit soft at times. The series looks quite
impressive in this presentation. Audio is clear
and crisp throughout the set and in its original
mono presentation.
Sadly no commentary tracks and that's a missed
opportunity for A&E and fans of the series. The
most important special feature here is an
additional 17 disc that's also available for
purchase separately for those fans that purchased
the previous DVD set. We do, however, get an
original documentary from 1992 that covers the
making of the series featuring everyone from
original female lead Honor Blackman (she played
Cathy Gale in episodes that never aired in the US
until much later in syndication), Patrick Macnee,
directors, writers from the show and Linda Thorson
(Tara King) who played in the last season of the
series after Diana Rigg left. Rigg is also
represented in older archived footage. The
documentary runs a little over 25 minutes and also
features an additional 10 minutes of interviews
after the conclusion. We also get the alternate
opening that played in the United States involving
the infamous human chessboard (something also used
in "The Prisoner" during an episode incidentally.
There's the first part of an episode of "The
Avengers '77" featuring older footage of Diana
Rigg incorporated into the episode. Sadly A&E
chose not to add the second half so those that are
intrigued by this episode may want to purchase the
boxed set for that series to see the second half.
There's an excerpt from a promotional short that
Macnee and Rigg made when the show went from black
and white to color.
The big attraction for fans is the disc of "Lost
Episodes" featuring 2 and 1/2 of the earliest
episodes when the show first aired. Featuring Dr.
Keel (Ian Hendry) and John Steed fighting the bad
guys this early version of the show was formative
at best and lacked much of the spark of both the
Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg episodes.
Unfortunately the rest of the first season
episodes have vanished and these 2 1/2 episodes
are all that remain of the first season. The first
season tone is a bit more serious than later ones.
It would take another season before the show would
finally hit its stride with the introduction of Dr
Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman-Pussy Galore from
"Goldfinger").
If you didn't purchase this set previously when it
was made available now's the time. Putting the
discs in thinpaks will save a lot of room. The
17th disc also has loads of very nice extras,
which is available to fans that might have
purchased the previous set. Despite the fact these
don't offer commentary tracks (who knows if
Macnee, Rigg and King are even willing to do
them?) this is a great set worth every penny for
fans of 60's TV. |
