Avengers '63: Set 3 [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

This double-DVD set wraps up the missing sections of the 1963 Avengers series, and also reaches back to the preceding season, when Honor Blackman was one of three co-stars with Patrick MacNee; the others were Julie Stevens and Jon Rollason. Stevens is represented on this set by two episodes, "School for Traitors" and "Box of Tricks." It's curious that these two shows and the other early episodes look and sound better than some of the 1964-vintage shows in other installments of the series. It's easy to see why Stevens' character Venus Smith didn't survive -- her flighty singer seems a will-o'-the-wisp next to Honor Blackman's Catherine Gale. She's neither as attractive nor as interesting as Gale and doesn't seem to add more than a few showbiz touches to the plots, by virtue of her regular job as a singer; she does provide a basis, however, for Steed to clash with one of his superiors over the agent's use of "amateur" assistants on his cases. The stories themselves are all espionage and crime-oriented, with little of the fanciful, science fiction-inspired material that would characterize the later series, and the overall body of work is relatively drab. It's interesting to see the series from front to back in the order in which A&E is issuing it, watching innovations and other elements disappear as one goes along, although only hardcore fans of the program will be interested in this particular volume. As with the other parts of this series, the menu opens automatically on start-up, and each program can be selected individually or chosen by its chapter breakdown. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: All
• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • • Six complete episodes
    • Interactive menus
    • Scene selection

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Producer:

  Brian Clemens

• Show Creator:

  Sydney Newman