Cheap The New Avengers '77 (DVD) (Patrick Macnee) Price

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Customer Reviews of The New Avengers '77

A different view
Ok maybe 4.5 stars, but I couldn't pick that. Since I would give avengers 76 5 stars, 4 and 1/2 would be appropriate for this. I agree the stories aren't quite up to the first year, (although I have plowed through the first 12 episodes in a little more than 24 hours; I did have to sleep) but they are entertaining none the less. I still remember 2 of the stories("Angel of Death", "Emily") from 25 years ago when this was shown late Friday night on CBS. I was anxious to get them just to see those two again. Sure, "Emily" is silly at times, but the best avengers stories bordered on the absurd at times but still kept you enthralled(remember the Emma Peel episode where they knock down the walls at the end?)
"Obsession" allows Purdey to show some real emotion and while it is a change of pace to see the avengers in Paris and Toronto, Steed looks dashing wherever he is and there is lots of good interplay between the three characters. Still well worth purchasing.

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disappointing
This season was far worse than the first one. This is caused by two problems beyond the ones described in my review of the first season.

The first problem is that the scripts would have made good programs if the surrealistic-subtle satire style of the earlier Avenger programs was adhered to. The dead serious cops and robbers style of the New Avengers was not matched to the scripts.

The second problem was the lack of funds caused by several financial backers not investing in the program at the last minute. Because of the seriously limited production budget, the scenes are dragged out beyond the optimum length to pad the program to an hour. One example is several minutes of a police car being driven around city streets at the legal speed limit.

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A final farewell from Steed and friends
Alas... all good things must come to an end and in 1977, it really was the end of the road for Steed and his Avenging partners.

I'm a huge fan of the New Avengers but of course most who love the original Avengers series from the sixties have little regard for this seventies version. Watching this final batch of 13 episodes comprising the second season of the show, it's easy to see why. Even I have a hard time defending my favorite show!

The first season was so vastly different to the original sixties incarnation in many ways that it could not easily be regarded as inherently part of the same show. But there was enough style, humor, panache and charm to carry it through and the creation of Purdey (played so wonderfully by Joanna Lumley) was surely enough to keep Mrs. Peel's fans intrigued and captivated. Sadly the promise of the first season simply evaporated in the second, which cannot be regarded as much more than a very, very distant cousin to Steed's original outings.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem is. Certainly it's not helped by there being three very different styles of production throughout the thirteen shows. Six were made and produced in the UK, three in France and four in Canada. The Avengers was such an undeniably British experience that taking the show abroad was never likely to work. Steed always looked out of place in his bowler and with the furled umbrella, even in swinging sixties London, but the dignity of the character and the quirkiness of the format always carried the day. Once placed in Canada or even Paris, he simply looks ridiculous and it no longer makes sense. The six British made shows are clearly rejected scripts from the first season and indeed in the case of "Medium Rare" is actually a rehash of a script used in another series altogether ("Thriller" made by ATV a few years earlier). But it is what it is. French and Canadian money was needed to finance the show and it's at least interesting to see the show try and develop and follow a new format. It's just such a shame it couldn't work.

The quality of the DVD is excellent, the on screen menus very well executed and the sleeve and box artwork is striking. Like the first season, there is an odd choice of photographs for the box with Steed hardly looking his most svelte and composed. Perhaps his worried expression is an indication of what to expect inside!

There have been many rumours that the Avengers would come back once more, but other than the (quite dreadful) movie it has never amounted to much. The format simply could never work without Patrick MacNee as Steed and even in 1977 his age had already caught up with him. So this box set remains a tribute to the last TV adventures of one of TV's greatest heroes. Thanks A&E for a great box set.