Review for The Avengers - The Complete Series 6

At last - the final instalment in Optimum's ambitious re-mastering of the entire Avengers series. It's been a troubled release programme, with technical hitches upsetting the hardened (and often technically astute)fan base. Throughout, Optimum have continued to do the honourable thing and exchange any faulty discs. Thanks to internet forums (and 'The Avengers' has a huge, loyal and obsessive fan base) every fault recognised becomes public knowledge and even faults that passed many of us by, like the incorrect pitch on the audio for Series 5, have become public knowledge. That particular fault didn't upset me in the least originally. (To me, Steed has always had a high pitched, nasally delivery and, whilst this may have accentuated that, for those with more sensitive ears, it spoiled their enjoyment entirely.)


So surely, with all these troubles behind them, all would be well for Series 6? Well, if you want my opinion, it all looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. But apparently all is not OK. 'The Forget Me Knot' episode on Disc one has faulty pitch too - so Optimum are offering to replace that. I have held off on this review until now as I believe that if you order the set now, you should get a full set of corrected discs. At circa £50 a set, you'll want to be sure they're right.

Now, with that out the way, what about the positives?


Well, this set looks absolutely stunning. The picture quality, whilst still variable (occasionally lacking contrast), is, in the main, an incredibly rich, highly saturated, blemish free experience. The fact that these episodes were mastered on 35mm means that they are very much worth the efforts made by Optimum in re-mastering them. (Surely they must have simultaneously mastered for Blu-Ray, to be marketed at a date in the not too distant future? Whatever the case, for many (including me), these standard DVD editions will do just fine!).



This series seems to be the least lauded of the initial run of 'The Avengers', perhaps because the show was running out of creative steam, and the previous two leading ladies (Cathy Gale and Emma Peel) were tough acts to follow. On reflection though, perhaps this judgement is unfair. After all, it would have been the easiest thing in the world to cast another strong grrrrl in the mould of the two previous heroines, but the producers and writers agreed that a new dynamic would not be a bad thing.


John Bryce (Incoming Producer - Removed After 3 Episodes)
The thinking behind the creation of a new Avenger girl...
"I think it's time to go back to femininity. We've had all the leather business - the new girl will be essentially a woman. She will be soft with all the female weaknesses - and attributes."
Daily Mail, 30th October 1967

Linda Thorson certainly brings a quirky freshness to the last series, perfectly in tune with the (by now) absurdly surrealistic plot-lines.


By the time the series aired in 1968 (actually, confusingly, this started with the second half of the previous series when Diana Rigg left), poor old Steed was suffering with an arthritic knee so was no longer able to do the lively fighting scenes, so the younger, fluffier Thorson certainly helped inject some lightness and energy into the series.



That said, for me personally, the series peaked in mid-Peel era, with the beautiful filmic look (matched here) combined with the on-screen chemistry between the two leads which is less convincing here. Of course, Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) was fabulous too but filmed entirely on creaky video-tape which does take some enduring. The story-lines here are often plain daft too; more so than ever before, which whilst fun in one sense, really don't match peak-period Avengers.


As with previous Optimum releases, there is a glut of extra features ensuring that hardened Avengers fans will feel inclined to double-dip.
Here's what you get.

· Exclusive audio commentary on Split! with director Roy Ward Baker and scriptwriter/producer Brian Clemens

· Exclusive audio commentary on Love All with scriptwriter Jeremy Burnham and guest star Veronica Strong

· Exclusive audio commentary on Killer with guest star Jennifer Croxton

· Exclusive audio commentary on The Morning After with director John Hough

· Exclusive audio commentary on Game with director Robert Fuest

· Exclusive audio commentary on Noon Doomsday with Linda Thorson's stunt double Cyd Child

· Filmed introductions by Linda Thorson for the episodes The Interrogators, Love All, Take Me To Your Leader, Thingumajig, Requiem and Pandora

· Introducing Linda Thorson promotional trailer

· Girl About Town promotional trailer

· American shooting gallery opening credits on Split!

· American end credits for Invasion of The Earthmen

· Variant end credits for The Forget-Me-Knot

· Filmed introduction by director Cyril Frankel for Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?

· Artists test footage to find the replacement for Diana Rigg - featuring Lyn Ashley, Diane Clare, Susan Engel, Jane Murdoch, Valerie Van Ost, Toby Robins, Susan Travers and Wanda Ventham plus James Maxwell and Moray Watson in the role of Steed.

· Episode reconstructions for Series 1 scripts The Springers, The Yellow Needle, The Far-Distant Dead and The Deadly Air

· UK animated bumper

· Granada + points for The Forget-Me-Knot

· Textless extended closing credits

· German opening and closing credits

· Insert reprint of series 6 promotional brochure

· Stills galleries

· PDF material


Perhaps best of all, and not included in the above overview (from the Optimum site) is the inclusion of the 'Mini-Killers' spin-offs, originally shot dialogue free to enable them to be marketed as 8mm loops for the home market. Featuring Diana Rigg (with no Steed), the three segments form a cohesive 15 minute story based around mechanical dolls capable of killing with in-built guns. Very much a period piece, these rarities (probably shot on 16mm or even Super-8 - they're not high quality!) they still ooze Avengers sixties surrealism. Fantastic!


All in all, a very worthwhile release and thoroughly recommended for lovers of retro British TV. On another note, if you haven't already started to buy these Optimum sets, you may well be better to pre-order the complete series which is coming soon - and which will be sure to include all the corrected discs.