Review of Protectors, The: Vol. 1 Series 1, Episodes 1 to 8

Introduction

"Each major city in the world has its best detective agency and each of these detective agencies has its best agent. These super-agents are...The Protectors. The most sensitive, baffling, dangerous assignments are handled by The Protectors, a brotherhood of adventurers who have no equal among private eyes." So the blurb in the onscreen production notes state.

Starring stars of the small screen Robert Vaughn (Harry Rule), Nyree Dawn Porter (the Contessa di Contini) and Tony Anholt (Paul Buchet), The Protectors is one of Gerry Andersons live action concepts from the early seventies where each character specialises in different skills. There are Protectors in every major city in the world, but we focus here on our three who are based in London, Paris and Rome.

This first disc in the series has eight episodes with each show running for about 25 minutes. Each of these episodes is self contained which means they resolve themselves by the end and have no continous storylines to think about throughout the series.

Spy thrillers and series have always been popular. Providing escapism in the shape of exotic locations, fancy cars, gadgets and beautiful looking (glamourous?) people who happen to be covert agents working for some secret government agency. I think we`ve all dreamt about what it might be like and so with this thirst in mind, so many television concepts sprung out from the sixties and seventies fuelled by the likes of 007 and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Now The Protectors attempts to go one step further by being the agents` agent, if you will, solving all manner of problems thrown at them. As interesting a concept as this might sound, is it any good and will I still want to be a secret agent after seeing it?

Video

Presented with the original 4:3 fullframe, The Protectors shows its age in the costume and production design. Colours seem to be finely balanced and detail, while not as high as one can expect from the format, is very reasonable. The quality of the video is also somewhat soft but is perfectly watchable. There`s some dirt about but I was quite surprised at how well the tapes have been looked after.

Audio

Nothing flash. The original mono soundtrack is presented as a two channel Dolby Digital soundtrack and is without distortion or other problems. The music and sound in general is flat sounding and not impressive.

Features

The only extras here are: Stills Gallery and Original Concept. The stills are as one expects, 17small looking promotional stills of the cast and stills from the shows with description. The Original Concept details the ideas behind the show and its inception. This would be good as a production booklet to read at leisure rather than on screen. Other than English subtitles, this is it, there`s nothing more to see…move along please…

Conclusion

This was one of Gerry Anderson`s creations from the early seventies and doesn`t have a hint of a wire in sight. Devised as 24 half hour shows for independent television company, ITC, The Protectors was an attempt at providing something different and interesting for mainstream television audiences. ITC already produced Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Persuaders, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Saint amongst many others so it was adept at this kind of action series.

It all paid off when The Protectors first aired on American television in 1972 followed by its British airing and gained incredible popularity. However, problems between Lew Grade`s ITC and its main financing partner meant that financial support was withdrawn and the show was subsequently cancelled. All in all 52 episodes were filmed between 1971-1973 and Robert Vaughn starred in 50 of them.

Sadly, The Protectors just doesn`t cut it in 2002. It might have been fine for audiences when it was first broadcast, but nowadays television audiences demand more sophistication and expect a lot more in terms of storytelling and effects. Influence from the 007 movies and countless other spy thrillers have meant that The Protectors would be hard pushed to find its audience now in anyone except those seeking some nostalgia value. The writing is uninspired, perhaps because of the 25 minute limit imposed, and the cast simply can`t do a lot in that time.

The opening titles with music is dated and sounds awful by todays standards, there`s nothing cool about this show. The Protectors lacks so much. How can you expect to tell a story in 25 minutes? That`s what you get here and there are holes in the story big enough to drive a dumper truck through. Don`t get me started on the continuity errors either.

This was made around the time I was born in 1971 and I personally don`t think this stuff should be released on DVD in 2002. There are some more deserving shows from the era that are imminently more watchable and enjoyable, The Protectors isn`t one of them though. So, unless you`re an ITC fan and must have this series, steer very clear!