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The Avengers (1961-1969)

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  • timmertimmer
    Posts: 4,622
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    If you're within reach of London and would like to see an Avengers episode, plus an Adam Adamant Lives!, on the big screen this month, here you go.

    Whoahhh, that would be lots of fun.
    Vintage 1963 Avengers with Patrick MacNee & Honor Blackman on the big screen!
    That would be something.
    Alas, I am across the pond. So no go.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,927
    timmer wrote: »
    @BT3366
    Hopefully someone makes the complete series available to the Region 1 market.
    It's a pretty iconic show. It should be available.
    Wanted to share an update: Just a couple of weeks ago I bid on and won the 50th anniversary Region 2 box set on eBay as well as both series of The New Avengers, those were unopened and also R2, for just $15. I don't have an R2 DVD or Blu-ray player, but can play the DVDs on my computer. Thrilled to have the whole series and all those extras.

    With no other DVDs or Blu-rays I can't live without for the holiday season this will more than fill that gap. Even if somebody should announce an R1 Blu set then I will be out just $33 and some change.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,819
    Have been thinking about checking out The Avengers for quite some time (years, actually). From what I've read, several episodes of season one are missing(?). How does that affect the storyline?
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited December 2017 Posts: 9,084
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Have been thinking about checking out The Avengers for quite some time (years, actually). From what I've read, several episodes of season one are missing(?). How does that affect the storyline?

    I doubt that it affects the storyline. I've been an Avengers fan since first seeing an episode on German TV in what must have been 1965, and I never managed to see any episode from before the Emma Peel era. As I understand it, both the first-year "David Keel" season and the Cathy Gale years were quite different, and there are only a few remnants of the former. So whatever I may have missed, it certainly had no effect on a continuing storyline, as there wasn't one really.

    As it seems I wrote before on this thread (on April 12), I stayed on through the Tara King episodes but I must say that it is Diana Rigg's Emma Peel that epitomises the series for me, even more than Patrick Macnee. And I sort of lost interest and was disappointed by the New Avengers later on. Let me also once more recommend "The Avengers Forever" for any serious information about the complete series.

    And by the way, I'd have the complete Emma Peel era on DVD to more or less give away, since I switched to Blu-ray.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,819
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Have been thinking about checking out The Avengers for quite some time (years, actually). From what I've read, several episodes of season one are missing(?). How does that affect the storyline?

    I doubt that it affects the storyline. I've been an Avengers fan since first seeing an episode on German TV in what must have been 1965, and I never managed to see any episode from before the Emma Peel era. As I understand it, both the first-year "David Keel" season and the Cathy Gale years were quite different, and there are only a few remnants of the former. So whatever I may have missed, it certainly had no effect on a continuing storyline, as there wasn't one really.

    As it seems I wrote before on this thread (on April 12), I stayed on through the Tara King episodes but I must say that it is Diana Rigg's Emma Peel that epitomises the series for me, even more than Patrick Macnee. And I sort of lost interest and was disappointed by the New Avengers later on. Let me also once more recommend "The Avengers Forever" for any serious information about the complete series.

    And by the way, I'd have the complete Emma Peel era on DVD to more or less give away, since I switched to Blu-ray.

    So you can go straight to season two, then? Saw a collection with the existing season one episodes, and season two. Think this is one of the seasons with Honor Blackman(?)

    Been thinking of digital download opportunities. Is it possible that The Avengers is available for download?
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,084
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    So you can go straight to season two, then? Saw a collection with the existing season one episodes, and season two. Think this is one of the seasons with Honor Blackman(?)

    Been thinking of digital download opportunities. Is it possible that The Avengers is available for download?
    I never suffered from a sense of emptiness caused by the lack of a backstory. For me, Emma and John were simply there and self-explaining. I only learned decades later that there was some Cathy Gale before Emma, and even later that the actress who played Cathy also played Pussy Galore (or even, for that matter, that the actress playing Emma was also in a Bond film at all). So yes, start at Season 2 or 3 or whatever you can get hold of.

    I have no information about downloads/streams. I'm still into physical data media. It ain't mine until I can touch it.

  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,819
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    So you can go straight to season two, then? Saw a collection with the existing season one episodes, and season two. Think this is one of the seasons with Honor Blackman(?)

    Been thinking of digital download opportunities. Is it possible that The Avengers is available for download?
    I never suffered from a sense of emptiness caused by the lack of a backstory. For me, Emma and John were simply there and self-explaining. I only learned decades later that there was some Cathy Gale before Emma, and even later that the actress who played Cathy also played Pussy Galore (or even, for that matter, that the actress playing Emma was also in a Bond film at all). So yes, start at Season 2 or 3 or whatever you can get hold of.

    I have no information about downloads/streams. I'm still into physical data media. It ain't mine until I can touch it.

    I'll do than, then! :-)
    Usually I prefer the physical formats as well, but I can't make myself to buy that many DVD's and Blu-ray's anymore, as I struggle finding space to place them.…
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,927
    You're not missing anything by the lack of season 1 episodes. It was more of a crime drama rather than a spy series then, solving blackmail and kind of petty criminal cases like that. The focus wasn't so much on Patrick Macnee's Steed but on Ian Hendry's Dr. David Keel. Those are interesting mostly for the curiosity value.

    As jw pepper said, the high point is really the Emma Peel episodes and the later Tara Kings are also fun. I'm kind of indifferent to the Blackman episodes. They are very stagey as they were done live, but I'm looking forward to watching them again to see if my opinion has changed.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited December 2017 Posts: 17,819
    BT3366 wrote: »
    You're not missing anything by the lack of season 1 episodes. It was more of a crime drama rather than a spy series then, solving blackmail and kind of petty criminal cases like that. The focus wasn't so much on Patrick Macnee's Steed but on Ian Hendry's Dr. David Keel. Those are interesting mostly for the curiosity value.

    As jw pepper said, the high point is really the Emma Peel episodes and the later Tara Kings are also fun. I'm kind of indifferent to the Blackman episodes. They are very stagey as they were done live, but I'm looking forward to watching them again to see if my opinion has changed.

    The Blackman episodes were done live? Have only seen images from those seasons. Didn't look stagey – then again, could have been promotional images rather than actual episode images. Might jump straight to the Diana Rigg episodes then. But, on the other hand, Blackman has always been a favourite…
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,181
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    But, on the other hand, Blackman has always been a favourite…

    I'm a huge fan too and she's great in the role; do give the B/W episodes a try if you can!
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited December 2017 Posts: 17,819
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    But, on the other hand, Blackman has always been a favourite…

    I'm a huge fan too and she's great in the role; do give the B/W episodes a try if you can!

    Will do! :-)
    ____________
    Still on the lookout for digital download opportunities – any help here is appreciated!
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,181
    I hoped there might be something on the British Film Institute's website, but no joy.

    However, here are some words from Dame Diana Rigg:

    http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/56378d59dd93c
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,084
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    But, on the other hand, Blackman has always been a favourite…

    I'm a huge fan too and she's great in the role; do give the B/W episodes a try if you can!

    The first two Emma Peel seasons were also b/w. Colour came in 1967 when most of Europe first adopted colour TV.
  • timmertimmer
    Posts: 4,622
    BT3366 wrote: »
    You're not missing anything by the lack of season 1 episodes. It was more of a crime drama rather than a spy series then, solving blackmail and kind of petty criminal cases like that. The focus wasn't so much on Patrick Macnee's Steed but on Ian Hendry's Dr. David Keel. Those are interesting mostly for the curiosity value.

    As jw pepper said, the high point is really the Emma Peel episodes and the later Tara Kings are also fun. I'm kind of indifferent to the Blackman episodes. They are very stagey as they were done live, but I'm looking forward to watching them again to see if my opinion has changed.

    That's a great catch with the R2 complete series from eBay. I would have jumped on that too.
    I've got series 5 (the steed-peel colour series) on blu-ray which is simply awesome, so I can get an Avengers fix when needed.
    Alas, nothing else seems available in R1, aside from the old hard-to-find b&w Steed-Peel Series 4 volumes, which I can order from library.
    We do need a complete-series Region 1 release.
    I may yet pick-up an all-region player though, for the express purpose of watching the Avengers.

    Re Series 1 only about 4 episodes survived but as discussed above, the Avengers as we know it, really didn't come about till Series 2.
    I believe the impending arrival of cinema-Bond prompted the Series to move towards the spyfy genre for Series 2, with the producers looking to catch that wave, which they did.
    Fitting that Bond pulled two lead-women from the Avengers ranks, with MacNee himself awarded prime roles in both Man From Uncle (1983 Return of the Man From Uncle) and Bond AVTAK 85.
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 6,022
    Let's not forget that Steed pulled one woman from Bond also.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,084
    Gerard wrote: »
    Let's not forget that Steed pulled one woman from Bond also.
    I suppose you are referring to Joanna Lumley. But there has been a far more prolific exchange of actors between the James Bond franchise and The Avengers, and Joanna is really just one among many. There must be at least seventy or eighty actors/actresses to have appeared in both. The Avengers Forever (and I would like to emphasize I have no personal interest in promoting it, it hasn't been updated for ages, but still is a virtual encyclopedia of the series) has marked them all with a small OO7 icon.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,819
    Agent_99 wrote: »
    I hoped there might be something on the British Film Institute's website, but no joy.

    However, here are some words from Dame Diana Rigg:

    http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/56378d59dd93c

    Thanks for the link!
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,333
    What was the main reason for The New Avengers being cancelled after Season 2? Was it purely down to Brian Clemens being heavily committed to working on his new show The Professionals for LWT, or was there another reason? I thought the show was still popular and was still selling extensively well abroad, as well as with CBS picking it up, in 1977?
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,927
    bondsum wrote: »
    What was the main reason for The New Avengers being cancelled after Season 2? Was it purely down to Brian Clemens being heavily committed to working on his new show The Professionals for LWT, or was there another reason? I thought the show was still popular and was still selling extensively well abroad, as well as with CBS picking it up, in 1977?
    Not fully sure but I've always understood the attention went toward the Professionals.

    That and New Avengers was picked up by CBS not for its prime time schedule but for its late-night lineup and that wasn't until fall 1978, long after the show ended production.

    Although I understood it did pretty well ratings wise and even affected the ratings of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, then the undisputed kind of late night. At that time the CBS late lineup was mostly just old movies and series reruns and New Avengers was an exception as something new and different. It also led to the network picking up Return of the Saint as well as original Avengers and Saint episodes for late night the next season, which is where I originally became a fan.
  • bondsumbondsum
    edited December 2017 Posts: 3,333
    Thank you @BT3366. I didn't realise that TNA was picked-up belatedly by CBS and pitched against Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. I do indeed recall how Carson's show was a huge ratings winner back in the day, so it's heartening to hear that TNA did something to affect its ratings, however small or big.

    The only thing I've managed to glean was that the final episode of TNA was mostly an outsourced Canadian production without any input from Brian Clemens. On a side note, I'm aware that The Return of the Saint was cancelled not to poor ratings but due to Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment losing so much money over his Raise the Titanic movie which flopped badly at the cinemas, along with Saturn 3, which left him with just enough money to continue with The Muppet Show and that alone for 1980.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,011
    http://www.slashfilm.com/avengers-tv-show/
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,084
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    http://www.slashfilm.com/avengers-tv-show/
    I'd probably give watching it a try, but don't have excessively high hopes. It won't be nearly as good as Rigg and Macnee's era anyway.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,927
    Wow, I don't know how to feel about this.

    Like the story's writer, I think Black is a great writer and that's a great building block. But The Avengers is one of those shows that just seems locked into its timeframe and makes you wonder if it's worth they effort since it was so iconic to begin with, the magic can't possibly be duplicated again.

    But I always say such publicity on a new project always shines the spotlight back onto the original as well along with new books and retrospectives.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,084
    Remaking something iconic always bears the risk of seeming to be an attempt to re-paint the Mona Lisa.
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,333
    This'll only interest a select few here but the rediscovery of the fabled ‘lost episode’, Tunnel of Fear has surfaced. TUNNEL OF FEAR is the twentieth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television show, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner. It’s one of only three known complete Season 1 episodes to have survived since the original broadcast. Lost for 55 years, the episode was finally rediscovered in a private film collection in 2016 and was recovered by the British television preservation group Kaleidoscope. It will be released for the first time on DVD on April 9 by Studiocanal.

    Tunnel-of-Fear-DVD-features-1299015.jpg
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited September 2021 Posts: 17,819
    Bumping this thread with a format question:
    I've been thinking about giving The Avengers a watch, but I've yet to purchase a set or separate series collections, and want to make sure I get the right releases. Am I right in understanding that series 2, series 3 and the existing episodes of series 1 are only available on DVD, and that only series 4-6 + The Cybernauts Trilogy are available on Blu-ray?

    I'm thinking about region B (and region free) releases specifically.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,413
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Bumping this thread with a format question:
    I've been thinking about giving The Avengers a watch, but I've yet to purchase a set or separate series collections, and want to make sure I get the right releases. Am I right in understanding that series 2, series 3 and the existing episodes of series 1 are only available on DVD, and that only series 4-6 + The Cybernauts Trilogy are available on Blu-ray?

    I'm thinking about region B (and region free) releases specifically.

    Not sure regarding the availability of the shows on DVD, though I would skip season 1 its not very good other than a curiosity.

    I am just looking at the show now on Amazon Prime season's 1,2,4,5 and 6 are available on there. Not sure why season 3 is not.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,413
    @Torgeirtrap type in to YouTube 'The Avengers Full episodes' there are quite a few to watch on there.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited September 2021 Posts: 17,819
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Bumping this thread with a format question:
    I've been thinking about giving The Avengers a watch, but I've yet to purchase a set or separate series collections, and want to make sure I get the right releases. Am I right in understanding that series 2, series 3 and the existing episodes of series 1 are only available on DVD, and that only series 4-6 + The Cybernauts Trilogy are available on Blu-ray?

    I'm thinking about region B (and region free) releases specifically.

    Not sure regarding the availability of the shows on DVD, though I would skip season 1 its not very good other than a curiosity.

    I am just looking at the show now on Amazon Prime season's 1,2,4,5 and 6 are available on there. Not sure why season 3 is not.

    The DVD set of series 2 available on Amazon also includes the surviving episodes from series 1, so I won't have to buy a separate DVD set. Could be nice to own the series 1 episodes too, if only to have what is available of that season.

    It really annoys me that Amazon Prime Video isn't available here in Norway. There are so many shows and films I'd like to check out, like The Avengers and other shows from the same era.
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    @Torgeirtrap type in to YouTube 'The Avengers Full episodes' there are quite a few to watch on there.

    Yes, I saw there are some episodes available on Youtube. Not the best quality though, but worth checking out nonetheless!
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,413
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    Bumping this thread with a format question:
    I've been thinking about giving The Avengers a watch, but I've yet to purchase a set or separate series collections, and want to make sure I get the right releases. Am I right in understanding that series 2, series 3 and the existing episodes of series 1 are only available on DVD, and that only series 4-6 + The Cybernauts Trilogy are available on Blu-ray?

    I'm thinking about region B (and region free) releases specifically.

    Not sure regarding the availability of the shows on DVD, though I would skip season 1 its not very good other than a curiosity.

    I am just looking at the show now on Amazon Prime season's 1,2,4,5 and 6 are available on there. Not sure why season 3 is not.

    The DVD set of series 2 available on Amazon also includes the surviving episodes from series 1, so I won't have to buy a separate DVD set. Could be nice to own the series 1 episodes too, if only to have what is available of that season.

    It really annoys me that Amazon Prime Video isn't available here in Norway. There are so many shows and films I'd like to check out, like The Avengers and other shows from the same era.
    Fire_and_Ice_Returns wrote: »
    @Torgeirtrap type in to YouTube 'The Avengers Full episodes' there are quite a few to watch on there.

    Yes, I saw there are some episodes available on Youtube. Not the best quality though, but worth checking out nonetheless!

    I think you can buy episides through YouTube also (what used to be Google Play movies).

    Just checked only season 4 to 6 in UK.
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