"The Avengers"

Angela Channing

Angela Channing

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The New Avengers was a different show for a different era but still an excellent series. It had less humour, was less tongue in cheek and had more realism when compared with the original The Avengers. I thought both were excellent although I think the original, in the Emma Peel years, was the best.
 
J. R.'s Piece

J. R.'s Piece

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Willie Oleson said:
But...but..it's 139 episodes vs. the 0 episodes I've watched so far.

Oh well, maybe you're right. Maybe I should throw this fake-complete set in the trash container :( At least it was fun thinking I was going to watch The Avengers.
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Of course, now that you’ve bought that, it is time to point out that the blu-ray releases of series 4, 5 and 6 offer superior picture and also have the sound problems with the dvd releases corrected. Network have released an even better quality blu-ray release of the three Cybernaut episodes as a trilogy. This disc also offers a vintage experience viewing option, in that the episodes play with all their commercial break bumpers intact and feature contemporary adverts, one of which features former Avenger Diana Rigg doing a British Airways advert during The New Avengers.
 
Willie Oleson

Willie Oleson

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J. R.'s Piece said:
The New Avengers has had any episode released in HD
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While I do appreciate nice picture quality I don't demand or expect everything to be in HD. If anything, the grittiness can add some atmosphere to the viewing experience.
For me, this is usually the case with scenes-on-location in tv series from the 1970s. It makes sense that it looks that way because that's how it was when we watched them on those big old TV sets, thus increasing the feeling of nostalgia.
The picture quality of the Falcon Crest DVDs is far from perfect, but somehow the vintage look really works for that show (imo).
J. R.'s Piece said:
And please keep hold of the pen
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Awesome, thank you!
 
J. R.'s Piece

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Willie Oleson said:
While I do appreciate nice picture quality I don't demand or expect everything to be in HD. If anything, the grittiness can add some atmosphere to the viewing experience.
For me, this is usually the case with scenes-on-location in tv series from the 1970s. It makes sense that it looks that way because that's how it was when we watched them on those big old TV sets, thus increasing the feeling of nostalgia.
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Well, with the filmed episodes of The Avengers (Diana Rigg onwards) and with most ITC filmed series, they were shot entirely on 35mm film, so they have rarely been seen at their full technical potential. They were shot at feature film standard by people who worked on films. Feature film versions were released of some ITC shows. With the releases, they are going back to their original film elements, using the original camera negatives. Shot-by-shot grading, removal of film defects, colour correction, correction of damage, flicker and instability. So they make available the image’s full exposure contrast range for a far better end result. I don’t really think that the last 83 episodes of The Avengers should look gritty. It isn’t that sort of show. And it is from the sixties.

In the case of Department S, which was filming at Elstree at the same time as most Tara King episodes, they even found scenes missing from an episode because a car company had objected to a similar name being used and reinstated them. And the two grittiest ITC shows, unsuitable for under-12s, Man in a Suitcase (starring Richard Bradford) and Gideon’s Way (starring John Gregson and the recently deceased Alexander Davion) look stunning in HD. As do Shirley’s World (starring Shirley MacLaine and John Gregson). And The Zoo Gang starring John Mills, Brian Keith, Lilli Palmer and Barry Morse. Danger Man, The Saint, The Champions, Strange Report, The Adventures of Robin Hood, H. G. Wells’ Invisible Man, The Baron, Return of The Saint, The Prisoner, The Persuaders!, UFO (also unsuitable for those under 12, like Danger Man and The New Avengers), Space:1999, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (lovely violent and explosive show too...it would be unsuitable for under twelves, had it not been a puppet show) all look fantastic. And even more visually involving. Adding to the nostalgia, not detracting from it. Okay, there are moments when you are watching Tony Curtis in A Chain of Events, when you can see that in some sequences, the prop suitcase he is chained to looks different from scene to scene. And Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, which stars a dead detective has been given a new lease of his afterlife. Admittedly, Thunderbirds is a bit iffy, because they changed it from. 4:3 to 16:9 and chopped off bits of the picture, which is a hanging offence. Dastards. Oh, I didn’t mention Space:1999 on blu-ray. But then I never do.
 
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Willie Oleson

Willie Oleson

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J. R.'s Piece said:
I don’t really think that the last 83 episodes of The Avengers should look gritty. It isn’t that sort of show
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I think I agree, and I feel the same about beautifully restored movies from the 1950s. It depends on the format, original production, subject, and my own personal interpretation and memories.
But what I meant to say was that it wouldn't bother me to watch The Avengers episodes that aren't beautifully restored in glorious HD.
I tend to be more fussy about the audio quality. It can be a real make-or-break factor for me.
 
J. R.'s Piece

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Willie Oleson said:
I think I agree, and I feel the same about beautifully restored movies from the 1950s. It depends on the format, original production, subject, and my own personal interpretation and memories.
But what I meant to say was that it wouldn't bother me to watch The Avengers episodes that aren't beautifully restored in glorious HD.
I tend to be more fussy about the audio quality. It can be a real make-or-break factor for me.
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Oh, likewise. Lots of the shows I first saw as low quality copies of a 16mm print, generations away from the original. The Avengers always looked nice though. I bought The Avengers twice on videotape and twice on DVD (thrice for series two). And have blu-rays of series 4-6. I’ve bought the Cybernauts episodes five times now. Oh, they’ve done the audio up too!
 
bmasters9

bmasters9

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J. R.'s Piece said:
Oh, likewise. Lots of the shows I first saw as low quality copies of a 16mm print, generations away from the original. The Avengers always looked nice though. I bought The Avengers twice on videotape and twice on DVD (thrice for series two). And have blu-rays of series 4-6. I’ve bought the Cybernauts episodes five times now. Oh, they’ve done the audio up too!
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I have Lionsgate's release of the 51 Emma Peel shows, and have seen selected episodes-- would love to get more into it.
 
Willie Oleson

Willie Oleson

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Having to admit, albeit reluctantly, that Twilight Zone turned out to be a misfire because it focuses too much on wholesomeness rather than the nastiness I had hoped to see, I decided to continue with another previously unwatched box set: THE AVENGERS.
The first of series' 1 surviving episodes Girl On The Trapeze is actually pretty good, but episode 2 The Frighteners was unwatchable.
At this point I still had no idea who the "avengers" really were but perhaps they were properly introduced in one of the missing episodes.
The speech is very fast, further complicated by the bad sound quality. Adjusting the volume didn't help because loudly muffled still sounds muffled, and after 20 minutes I still had no idea what was going on, who was involved and why.
Never mind, let's try series 2.

That starts with Mission To Montreal which is an incredibly sluggish spy story about delivering some kind of secret film - to whom, why and what's on the film I have no idea. Nevertheless, the dramatic histrionics provided by the handsome Jon Rollason and Patricia English are very entertaining.
Episode Dead On Course starts with the surprisingly brutal killing of 30+ plane passengers but after that it's the same indecipherable conversations in boring sets and I started to zone out again.
I tried another Honor Blackman episode from series 3 but it didn't look as if things had improved. It seemed this was the second box set I had bought with too much optimism.

All right then, series 4, the Emma Peel years.
As soon as I heard Diana's voice even before she appeared on screen I started to smile, and the whole episode screams "revamp".
This is the "Batman for adults" I had expected to see: flashy and outlandish, and with just enough eeriness (courtesy of Brian Clemens) to make it suspenseful.
It remains to be seen if the series continues in this tone, but I'd be surprised if they would go back to the old-school Avengers.
 
Snarky Oracle!

Snarky Oracle!

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Willie Oleson said:
This is the "Batman for adults" I had expected to see: flashy and outlandish, and with just enough eeriness (courtesy of Brian Clemens) to make it suspenseful.
It remains to be seen if the series continues in this tone, but I'd be surprised if they would go back to the old-school Avengers.
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"BATMAN for adults" is a good description. The B&W first year with Diana Rigg is as good as THE AVENGERS ever gets. Her second and final year (in colour!) starts off with a slight tonal problem: it actually gets too silly. Although they rein it in and are mostly back to form by the end of that year (Season 5).

Whether you can tolerate the Tara King episodes depends on whether you can weather the shift to Linda Thorson or not. It's like Steed now has a teenaged sidekick. She's actually okay-ish but, obviously, she's no Diana Rigg.

PS: sorry you felt let down by TWILIGHT ZONE. Like any anthology, it's hit-and-miss... How far did you get?
 
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