Owen, Cliff

Avengers '65 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2

A toast to A&E for releasing this two-volume set of vintage episodes from the fourth season of The Avengers. The Avengers debuted in Great Britain in 1961 (predating the James Bond films), but it was not until the late 1960s that it found a welcome home in the United States. Unlike other baby-boomer-era series, The Avengers was not widely syndicated or officially released on home video. This may be one reason why these rarely seen episodes seem as cool as when they first aired. Another reason, of course, is Diana Rigg in her signature role as the ravishing Emma Peel, partner to Patrick Macnee's urbane, umbrella-toting spy John Steed who is every bit his equal in dispatching villains or engaging in provocative banter. What makes this collection of particular interest is that these episodes introduced Mrs. Peel. Steed and Mrs. Peel were the Mulder and Scully of their time; they investigated extraordinary goings-on in the most ordinary locales, such as a seaside town populated by sinister imposters, in "The Town of No Return" or a department store that has been rigged with a nuclear bomb, in "Death at Bargain Prices." Also included is "The Cybernauts," which was the first Avengers episode to be broadcast in America. It is representative of the series' best, with its automated assassins and a colorful madman who plots to install an electronic dictatorship. Other episodes are the haunting "Castle De'ath," "The Gravediggers," and "The Master Minds." All are in glorious black and white and highly recommended. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '67 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2

The long-running Avengers series added some extra gloss to its look and feel by filming in color starting in 1967, making the inimitable, eccentric atmosphere of the show complete. That production change coincided with some of the best writing the program ever enjoyed. So it makes sense that those late-1960s episodes of The Avengers have been packaged to help us forget the botched 1998 feature film version of the show. Set 1 includes a mystery about killer phobias, "The Fear Merchants"; the time-travel story "Escape in Time"; the feathery spy tale "The Bird Who Knew Too Much"; the invisible-villain yarn "The See-Through Man"; and the comic-book spoof "The Winged Avenger"; and "From Venus with Love." --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4

Set 2 in The Avengers '67 includes more episodes of the long- running British television series at its creative peak of great writing, color filming (for the first time on the show), and flawless chemistry between actors Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. This batch includes six episodes on two DVDs, including the unstoppable-corpse mystery "The Living Dead"; the cheeky, killer-feline story "The Hidden Tiger"; the finishing-school drama "The Correct Way to Die"; the scary "Epic"; the Agatha Christie-like "The Superlative Seven"; and "Never Never Say Die." --Tom Keogh

Avengers '66 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4

Devotees of Diana Rigg's Mrs. Emma Peel will be especially thrilled by this two-volume collection of seven black-and-white episodes that closed out the fourth season of The Avengers in high and often provocative style. One Avengers Web site ranks "A Touch of Brimstone" among the 10 best episodes of the Mrs. Peel era; "What the Butler Saw" and "Honey for the Prince" rank among the top 20.

To these add "The House That Jack Built." This mind-bending tour de force finds Mrs. Peel at the mercy of a vengeful techno-obsessed mastermind who has rigged a mansion to drive her insane. Also included in this collection are "The Danger Makers," in which umbrella-toting gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Peel uncover a secret society of thrill-crazed soldiers; "A Sense of History," about a deadly clique of university students; and "How to Succeed... At Murder," in which secretarial assassins take their orders from, yes, a puppet. The mysteries are intriguing, the villains suitably mad, and the banter between Steed and Mrs. Peel charged with erotic possibilities. With the ravishing, knee-weakening sight of Emma decked out as Robin Hood in "A Sense of History," as a harem girl in "Honey for the Prince," and--be still my beating heart--as the Queen of Sin in "A Touch of Brimstone," this Avengers collection boasts very potent Emma "a-Peel." --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4

According to one Avengers-appreciation Web site, three of the seven episodes contained in this two-volume set--"Too Many Christmas Trees," "A Surfeit of H20," and "Dial a Deadly Number"--rank among the 10 best episodes from the series' Mrs. Emma Peel era (a fourth, "The Hour That Never Was," is ranked in the top 20), making this the perfect chaser to The Avengers '65 Set 1, Vols. 1 and 2. "What nasty situation have you got in store for me this time?" Mrs. Peel asks in "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green," another of the vintage, black-and-white episodes from the series' breakthrough fourth season, which introduced Diana Rigg in her signature role. The answers make for diabolically clever entertainment in classic Avengers tradition: a "herbicial" plant from outer space (in "The Man-Eater"), matrimonial matchmaker assassins (in "The Murder Market"), a rainmaking vintner (in "H20"), and a brainwashing dentist (in "The Hour"). "Christmas Trees" alone is worth the price of the set. In this haunting episode for all seasons, Steed is plagued by deadly nightmares that have begun to come true. Outfitted at one point as Oliver Twist, Mrs. Peel proves herself to be the woman of our dreams. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '67 - Set 3, Vols. 5 & 6

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 01/29/2008 Run time: 340 minutes Rating: Nr

Avengers '66 - Set 1, Vol. 1 & 2

Get your kicks with The Avengers '66. This two-volume set uncorks six sought-after episodes from this cult classic series' fourth season. Patrick Macnee, the umbrella-toting gentleman spy John Steed, and Diana Rigg, the ravishing Mrs. Emma Peel, investigate further extraordinary goings-on in the most ordinary of places, including a swank hotel ("Room Without a View") and a golf course and dance school ("The 13th Hole" and "The Quick-Quick-Slow Death"). Suitable for framing is "The Girl from Auntie," in which an art dealer, who supplies his clients "anything for a price" (including the Mona Lisa!), kidnaps Emma for auction to enemy agents. Perhaps members of Monty Python's Flying Circus got the inspiration for their "Hell's Grannies" sketch from this episode's quaint assassin, an elderly "lady" who does in her victims (including four chaps named John, Paul, George, and... Fred) with knitting needles.

For new fans, the episodes found in The Avengers '65 sets are of a better vintage, and The Avengers '67 offerings give more of a campy, effervescent kick. But '66 was still a very good year, and Avengers aficionados will, of course, want to own every episode from the Mrs. Peel era. "What's so special about Mrs. Peel?" a woman asks in "Auntie." "You'd think she was Madame Curie and a half-dozen others all rolled into one." She is, to borrow a phrase, all that. A second Avengers '66 boxed DVD set is also available. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '68: Set 5

The Avengers '68 Set 2

The Avengers '68 Set 4