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Avengers '66: Vol. 3 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Chicken runs, rounds of Russian roulette, and teetering on ledges are for "thrill-starved teenagers," observes gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee), and not for distinguished soldiers with chests full of battle honors. So why is a corps of army elite acting "like irresponsible beatniks"? Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) meet "The Danger Makers" in a thrilling episode from the fourth season of The Avengers, directed by A Fish Called Wanda's Charles Crichton. Hold your breath during Mrs. Peel's harrowing initiation into the organization that Steed refers to as "Death Wish, Incorporated," and cock an eyebrow at Steed's provocative suggestion that Mrs. Peel impress the ringleader, a phrenologist, by showing him her "bumps" (Macnee's double take at his own innuendo is priceless). This DVD also includes the episode "A Touch of Brimstone," in which Steed and Emma are put up for membership in the Hellfire Club, whose practical jokes mask a plot to stage "a coup so outrageous the whole country will be up in arms." One Avengers-appreciation Web site ranks this among the top 10 of the Emma Peel era. Reason enough: the too-hot-for-American-television "Night of All Sins" sequence, during which Mrs. Peel reigns as Queen of Sin. Monty Python fans: that's Carol Cleveland as the insatiable Sara. In "What the Butler Saw," someone is leaking defense secrets to "the other side." While gentleman spy Steed goes undercover as a butler to locate the culprit, Mrs. Peel launches "Operation Fascination" to attract the attention of the womanizing prime suspect, Captain Miles. About to meet him for drinks, she is memorably advised by Steed, "Don't do anything I would do." Two notable bits: for security purposes, three defense officials zip themselves up in a ridiculous giant plastic body bag that anticipates Get Smart's Cone of Silence; and Mrs. Peel flees from a pursuer through a succession of doors used to train butlers, a scene echoed in Sam Raimi's Crimewave. --Jenny Brown

Avengers '66: Vol. 4 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: "The House That Jack Built" is one of Diana Rigg's finest hours, and a rare chance to see the usually nonplussed Mrs. Peel totally plussed. She is in for "the fright of [her] life" when she is held prisoner in a house rigged by a vengeful techno-obsessed madman bent on driving her insane. Rooms that move and labyrinthian mazes are mere prologue to "the exhibition dedicated to the late Emma Peel." This DVD also contains the three black-and-white episodes that wrapped up the fourth season of The Avengers in high style. "A Sense of History" is not grade A, but John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Peel's investigation of deadly goings-on at a university does earn extra credit for Mrs. Peel's Robin Hood costume and her pointed exchange with Steed, who is dressed as the Sheriff of Nottingham. His sword, she observes, "looks a bit droopy." "Wait until it's challenged," he replies. In the macabre "How to Succeed... At Murder," 11--make that 12--prominent businessmen have been dispatched by a band of secretarial assassins. Who is pulling the strings? Her name is Henrietta, a real "doll." Her battle cry: "To bring men to heel and put woman at the pinnacle of power. Ruination to all men!" The DVD concludes with the bonus episode "Honey for the Prince," which one Avengers-appreciation Web site ranks among the top 20 episodes of the Mrs. Peel era. The provocative prologue shows Steed and Mrs. Peel actually skipping arm in arm back to Steed's place. It is all "Quite Fantastic," which is the name of a company that creates and satisfies their customers' "most repressed desires." Speaking of fantasies, Mrs. Peel, "sold" to a young prince targeted for assassination, appears in garb that would make Barbara Eden's Jeannie blush. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com Essentials: 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 '65: Vol. 1 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: With a provocative swat on her leather-clad bottom, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) first clashes swords with his new partner, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), in "The Town of No Return," the episode that launched the fourth season of The Avengers. "Town" begins on a characteristically surreal note as a figure emerges from the sea in what looks like a giant Hefty bag. Out pops an impeccably dressed gent who notes to a nonplussed fisherman, "Looks like rain," which brings us to Bazeley-by-the-Sea, a quaint but odd village where four agents have disappeared. Will Steed and Mrs. Peel be numbers five and six? Like one of the treats Steed offers Peel on their Bazeley-bound train, this episode is "a marzipan delight." In "The Gravediggers," Steed and Mrs. Peel dig up a sinister plot to sabotage Britain's radar defense system. But this doesn't quite explain how Mrs. Peel finds herself tied to a train track with a miniature locomotive chugging toward her! "The Cybernauts" was the first episode to air in the United States. Steed and Mrs. Peel are up against automated assassins made by an inventor who plots to create an electronic dictatorship. A highlight is an elegantly dressed Mrs. Peel's karate fight. All three episodes are in glorious black and white. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '65, Vol. 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: In "Death at Bargain Prices," Steed and Mrs. Peel once again find extraordinary goings-on in the most ordinary places, in this case a department store that serves as a front for madman tycoon Horatio Kane's biggest takeover bid yet--of London (he has rigged the store with a nuclear device). Mrs. Peel works undercover as a clerk, prompting Steed's priceless line, "I asked where to find you and was told, 'Our Mrs. Peel is in ladies' underwear.' I rattled up the stairs three at a time." This episode was directed by Charles Crichton, who later directed A Fish Called Wanda. "Castle De'ath" is a truly haunting episode, both because of its red-herring ghost story and the scandalous peek at Mrs. Peel's navel, not to mention her nocturnal investigation of a foreboding Scottish castle in her nightgown. What brings her and "McSteed" (outfitted in a kilt) to the castle is the death of an agent in scuba gear, who when found was four inches taller than when he was alive. "It all has to do with the price of fish," whispers McSteed. In "The Master Minds," Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate a series of raids on state security. Each, Steed notes, "has been boldly conceived and superbly executed" by "a diabolical mastermind." This leads the duo to a special school for geniuses whose lesson plan includes brainwashing. Highlights of this episode are a student's come-on to Steed ("I wonder if I might lure you away from brainwork for something more physical") and a climactic fight seen only in shadow behind a screen on which a military training film is being projected backward. Grade: A. All three episodes are in glorious black and white. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65: Vol. 3 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: "Now that you've seen me, what do you think?" a gentleman inquires of his blind date. She pulls out a gun and fires. This typically provocative prologue sets the stage for a killer episode from the fourth season of The Avengers. John Steed and Emma Peel become clients of Togetherness, an exclusive marriage bureau that also traffics in assassinations. This episode is of note for reportedly being the first in which Diana Rigg portrayed Mrs. Peel. Her character engages in some un-Emmalike behavior, such as when she argues angrily with Steed and later gets tipsy on a bottle of champagne. But all is forgiven with the scene in which she lists her criteria for a husband, among them "stamina." One intriguing question: Did the character of the fashion photographer ("Fabulous, baby, yeah") inspire Mike Myers's Austin Powers?

"A Surfeit of H20" has been ranked by one Avengers-appreciation Web site as among the top five of the Mrs. Peel era. This intoxicating episode really pours it on, with vintage witty dialogue, assorted crackpot characters, and, of course, a diabolical madman--a vintner who is flooding the countryside with his own manmade rain.

Also on this volume is one of the must-own episodes from the fourth, and arguably best, season of The Avengers. The unsettling first half of "The Hour That Never Was" plays like something out of The Twilight Zone. Royal Air Forces Camp 472 in Hamelin is splitting up, and John Steed may be cracking up. He and Mrs. Peel emerge from an auto wreck to find the air base deserted, all the clocks stopped at 11, an unconscious rabbit, and a dead milkman. When Steed returns to the air base, a reunion party with all the previously missing men is in full swing. Nitrous oxide gives the climactic fight with a diabolical dentist a goofy spin. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65: Vol. 4 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Worth the price of purchase alone is this volume's bonus episode, "Too Many Christmas Trees," which one Avengers-appreciation Web site ranks as the best Emma Peel episode of all time. This "fascinating exercise" (to quote one devilish character) concerns a psychic experiment that gives John Steed deadly nightmares that are coming true. Among the many highlights is the girl of our dreams, Mrs. Peel, helping Steed open his Christmas cards ("Who is Boofums?"). Listen for the in-joke reference to Rigg's predecessor, Honor Blackman, who left the series to star in Goldfinger. Regarding the card from Mrs. Gale, Blackman's character, Steed ponders, "What can she be doing in Fort Knox?" And the sight of Mrs. Peel costumed as Oliver Twist may also cause some sleepless nights!

This volume also contains "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green," a bit of straight-faced silliness about, yes, a man-eating plant from outer space. More down-to-earth is "Two's a Crowd," in which "king of the spies" Colonel Pesev (pronounced "Zev") comes to town. Patrick Macnee does extra duty as Steed and his double, a fashion model ("wearing slacks built for action") named Webster, who is recruited by the Russians to infiltrate a vital meeting of the defense chiefs. Will the unwitting Mrs. Peel be able to tell the difference between the two? In "Dial a Deadly Number," six "dynamic, indispensable" company chairmen have suddenly keeled over. Who ya gonna call? Steed and Mrs. Peel, who make a connection between the untimely deaths, a "bleeper" (pager) pocket pen, and Fitch, a sinister "backroom boy" and mechanical genius. The umbrella-toting Steed actually fires a gun in this episode. The most taut suspense is reserved for the scene in which Steed engages in a duel of palates at a wine tasting. To paraphrase one character, do not deprive yourself of this DVD's company. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: 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: From Venus With Love & Fear Merchants (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Is Venus about to attack Earth? Several members of the British Venusian Society think so, while other BVS devotees are being killed in a rather unearthly manner: hit by some kind of bright light that leaves them shock-white from head to toe. Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate and find, naturally, a larger conspiracy than meets the eye. The enticing mystery (written by Philip Levene) is aided by a nifty sound effect (a high-pitched whine that grows stronger just before the burst of light), and Steed's infiltration of the eccentric BVS group is highly entertaining. The second episode on the tape is another Levene script, "The Fear Merchants," in which businessmen are being reduced to babbling psychiatric patients after being subjected to their worst fears: spiders, birds, fast cars, etc. Steed has to do some fancy footwork to avoid being buried by a bulldozer, and Mrs. Peel--who apparently has no phobias--is nearly subjected to nasty surgical tortures. The satirical element, in which captains of industry are made demented by anxieties, is great fun. --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67: Set 1, Vol. 1 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Is Venus about to attack Earth? Several members of the British Venusian Society think so, while other BVS devotees are being killed in a rather unearthly manner: hit by some kind of bright light that leaves them shock-white from head to toe. John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) investigate and find, naturally, a larger conspiracy than meets the eye. The enticing mystery (written by Philip Levene) is aided by a nifty sound effect (a high-pitched whine that grows stronger just before the burst of light), and Steed's infiltration of the eccentric BVS group is highly entertaining. The second episode on the DVD is another Levene script, "The Fear Merchants," in which businessmen are being reduced to babbling psychiatric patients after being subjected to their worst fears: spiders, birds, fast cars, etc. Steed has to do some fancy footwork to avoid being buried by a bulldozer, and Mrs. Peel--who apparently has no phobias--is nearly subjected to nasty surgical tortures. The satirical element, in which captains of industry are made demented by anxieties, is great fun. The final episode on this volume, "Escape in Time," finds the intrepid Steed and Mrs. Peel hot on the trail of villains who are offering criminals the perfect escape from modern law: a one-way trip to the past, where they can lose themselves in history. Levene's smart script and Avengers designer Wilfred Shingleton make the time-transport scenes convincing in a very economical way--travelers go to sleep in a room at an opulent, old country house and awaken in that same room furnished in the style of the Georgian or Elizabethan ages, etc. When Mrs. Peel takes a trip back to what she believes is going to be 1790, and is confronted by a masked executioner from an older era, it's yikes time. --Tom Keogh

The Avengers '67, Vol. 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Philip Levene wrote the first episode on this DVD, "The See-Through Man," in which a discredited inventor (the delightful Roy Kinnear) sells his formula for invisibility and John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) believe enemy agents may be using it. Not one of the pantheon episodes, "The See-Through Man" is still quite enjoyable, particularly in its tag scene, which finds our hero and heroine pushing Steed's old Rolls after it fails to start. "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is a Brian Clemens story in which Steed and Mrs. Peel find carrier pigeons equipped with tiny cameras used to photograph top-secret missile bases. The photography theme extends to some comic moments in which Steed and Mrs. Peel both do a little posing for a fashion cameraman, but there is also some fun with a parrot named Captain Crusoe, who at one point requests political asylum. Also on this DVD is "The Winged Avenger," a truly crafty piece of work by writer Richard Harris, with good tongue-in-cheek references to the influence of comic-book culture on 1960s television. A number of ruthless men are being ripped apart and killed by an unknown assailant, the only clue being that their murders seem to have been predicted in recent comic strips featuring a Batman-like superhero named the Winged Avenger. The zippy climax finds Mrs. Peel and a killer each wearing magnetic boots that allow them to fight on a ceiling. --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67: Set 2, Vol. 3 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: In "The Living Dead," reports of a ghost seen in the chapel of a private estate, owned by the 16th Duke of Benedict, bring agents John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) into the British countryside to investigate. Another agent is killed while looking for evidence, and soon after, Mrs. Peel disappears. What Steed finds while searching for his partner is a particularly imaginative invention by writer-producer Brian Clemens, a nice blend of science fiction, conspiracy tale, and the usual unflappable charm of the two principals. In the second episode on this DVD, "The Hidden Tiger," the villains within an organization called PURRR intend to overwhelm England with ordinary household kittens who are made savagely violent by radio transmitters altering their brain waves. The script by Philip Levene is a succession of clever little mysteries (how did a big-game hunter get mauled to death while he was inside a cage?), and the outrageousness of several scenes (a seemingly doomed Steed is tied to a chair, surrounded by furry kittens) is a hoot. Steed and Mrs Peel are paired off with their Russian counterparts in "The Correct Way to Kill," a Brian Clemens story in which a finishing school called Snob is churning out English gentlemen outfitted exactly like Steed and providing cover for murder. A good episode but not a great one, although one gets to see Mrs. Peel fencing, and the understated satire on Steed's British conformism is fun. --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67: Set 2, Vol. 4 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Philip Levene wrote the first show on this volume, "Never, Never Say Die," in which computerized duplicates of brainy scientists and others are causing some havoc. The best part of the show is the setup, in which a corpse walks out of a mortuary and--despite being shot, hit by a car, and electrocuted--keeps on with its rampage. "Epic" is a spooky episode in which Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) is kidnapped by a mad director who holds her prisoner in a studio while filming The Destruction of Mrs. Peel. Series coproducer Brian Clemens wrote the inventive script, which finds poor Mrs. Peel in a movie-cliché nightmare, being shot at in a Western saloon, in a World War I setting, and by Indians and Chicago gangsters. Clemens was also behind "The Superlative Seven," which features some familiar faces (Donald Sutherland, Brian Blessed, Charlotte Rampling) in an Agatha Christie-like tale of seven people brought to an island, where one of their numbers is killing off the others. The slightly conventional plot is spruced up by an international conspiracy element, a surprise ending, and the dramatic arrival of Mrs. Peel onto the island--by parachute! --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: 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 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: 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

The Avengers '67, Vol. 7 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: The glory years of The Avengers, the stylish British television series starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg as intelligence operatives, are in full bloom in this three-episode volume. First up is "The £50,000 Breakfast," a typically quirky mystery that begins with a Zurich-bound ventriloquist crashing his car and ending up in a hospital--only to be discovered carrying a stash of diamonds in his stomach. The strange circumstance leads John Steed (Macnee) and Mrs. Emma Peel (Rigg) into an investigation of a wealthy financier who may be considering taking his fortune out of England. But that's only the beginning: soon Steed and Mrs. Peel are up to their knees in murder plots and borzoi dogs, all ending in a gift of a Dalmatian-spotted tie. "Dead Man's Treasure" is probably best remembered for a harrowing scene in which poor Mrs. Peel is forced to "drive" a racing car simulator that gives powerful electric shocks when she veers off a virtual road. The simulator is one of the kookier gimmicks in a story about a fellow agent who plants a dispatch box in a car enthusiast's mansion, then arranges for Steed and Mrs. Peel to participate in a treasure hunt for the missing item. Saboteurs abound, but the episode's highlight is the hunt, which finds contestants and their autos subjected to spikes in the road, sugar in their petrol tanks, and misarranged road signs. The action is crisp, the humor cheeky, and our heroic duo sexy and sharp. The final episode begins with one of the most enjoyable stories from the series. "You Have Just Been Murdered" is a clever mystery in which wealthy men are being mock-assassinated by stalkers who shoot, stab, and otherwise "murder" them with toy weapons. The reason is simple: blackmail. If the hidden, insidious mastermind behind this plot can get that close to his victims, he can certainly put them in the grave for good. Enter Steed and Mrs.Peel into the fray, who fail to get much cooperation from the terrified millionaires and have to find their way to the villain's lair on their own. The show ends delightfully with one of the series' best tags: Steed counting his fortune in halfpennies and finding he's just short of a certain goal.... --Tom Keogh

The Avengers '67, Vol. 8 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: This special, four-episode volume unhappily brings the Mrs. Peel chapter of The Avengers to a close. "The Positive-Negative Man" is a shocking tale about an electronically charged killer dispatching members of a scientific research team with one touch of his finger. Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) get a dose of high voltage, and the story is deliciously tense at times (who doesn't remember being a kid and squealing when somebody threatened to poke you with a finger?), but the wacky plot keeps matters from getting too serious. Good surreal fun and delightfully sexy. "Murdersville" is a dark tale about a quiet English town in which nearly all the residents participate in killing for a fee. Mrs. Peel discovers this the hard way when an old friend inadvertently leads her into danger there--some of it quite medieval, as in a tense scene where Emma nearly drowns in a witch's ducking pool. Highlights include a phone ruse in which our beautiful heroine foils her captors by calling her "husband John" to reassure him, and a climactic fight that manages to make pie-throwing a deadly art. "Mission Highly Improbable" follows, a wild story about a miniaturization device being used by villains to shrink their enemies to pocket-size--at which point they can be tossed into the trash or washed down a drain. The action gets even more fun when Steed and Mrs. Peel, at different times, are themselves made tiny and have to make do in a world of giant--though ordinary--objects such as pens and telephones. Finally, there's "The Forget-Me-Knot," in which Mrs. Peel's replacement on the show and in partnership with Steed is introduced: Tara King (Linda Thorson). The script concerns a traitor within the intelligence organization and his henchmen, who are using a memory-killing drug on their victims. But the strongest moment anyone watching this show will remember is a coda in which Steed and Emma say goodbye. Crushing! --Tom Keogh

The Avengers - '63 Set 3 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Devoted Avengers fans will get a kick out of this boxed set, which contains six vintage episodes from the series' second season. But it's also worth a look to those for whom the series begins and ends with Emma Peel. After all, Patrick MacNee, in his signature role as John Steed, is the star of the show. At this early stage, the urbane, umbrella-toting Steed is a more interesting character, more risible and ruthless, a little less the gentleman spy with whom American audiences are more familiar. These episodes, shot on videotape, are also cruder (part of the primitive charm is spotting bloopers such as dropped props or crouching crew members caught on camera). A pre-Pussy Galore Honor Blackman costars as Steed's "amateur assistant," the formidable Cathy Gale (although "I need your help, my dear" just doesn't have the ring of "Mrs. Peel, we're needed"). This collection contains two episodes ranked among her best. In "Intercrime," she is recruited to infiltrate an international criminal organization responsible for 12 robberies, not one, Steed observes, "with the hallmark of an English criminal." "Warlock" casts a chilling spell, as creepy villain Cosmo Gallion (Peter Arne) uses the occult to obtain scientific secrets. This episode was originally intended to have been Cathy Gale's introduction to the series. At one point, after she deposits an inebriated Steed at his doorstep, he provocatively propositions her, "Would you like to come up?" "Immortal Clay" and especially "Golden Eggs" have their moments, but the true rarities of this set are the episodes "Box of Tricks" and "School for Traitors," in which Steed calls upon the services of an unwitting jazz singer named Venus Smith (Julie Stevens). The perky Venus is a love-her-or-hate-her character whose tenure with the series was brief. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers - '63 Set 4 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This boxed set dips deeper into the vaults for seven vintage, rarely seen episodes from The Avengers' second season. For series devotees, these episodes, shot on video, have a crude fascination. At this early stage, the fledgling series was more serious with less way-out stories or bizarre characters. Three of these episodes rank as among the best costarring a pre-Goldfinger Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, Steed's resourceful and often leather-clad partner. "The White Dwarf" is an early dabbling in science fiction, which would become this series' stock in trade in later years. Is a white dwarf star on a collision course with Earth? Can worldwide panic be avoided? Leave it to Steed to vow to "have a good time while there's still time to have it." In "Six Hands Across a Table," Steed must sink a scheme to control British shipbuilding launched by none other than Gale's new lover. In "Brief for Murder," Gale is a very delicti corpse as Steed goes undercover to entrap the Lakin brothers, two elderly defense lawyers with a gift for acquittal. "A Conspiracy of Silence" and "Killer Whale" are average episodes. Of special interest to Avengers buffs are two episodes costarring Julie Stevens as Venus Smith, a perky jazz singer whom Steed unaccountably recruits to help him. "Man in the Mirror" is one of the worst in her brief tenure with the series, while "A Chorus of Frogs" is perhaps her best. Venus is the entertainment on a ship on which Steed has stowed away to investigate a smuggler's death. Still, you might want to fast-forward through her two songs. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '66, Set 1 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Get your kicks with The Avengers '66. This three-volume boxed 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" on volume 1) and a golf course and dance school ("The 13th Hole" and "The Quick-Quick-Slow Death," both on volume 3). Suitable for framing is "The Girl from Auntie" on volume 2, 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.

Each episode is in black and white. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available for purchase separately. A second Avengers '66 boxed set is also available. --Donald Liebenson

The Best of The Original Avengers (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Only those with a Diana Rigg bias would complain that of the six episodes included in this collection, only two feature the ravishing Mrs. Emma Peel, the second and most popularly known partner of gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee). But they do rank among her finest hours. In "Death at Bargain Prices," Emma goes undercover at a department store, prompting Steed's classic line, "I asked where to find you and was told, 'Our Mrs. Peel is in ladies' underwear.' I rattled up the stairs three at a time." In "Too Many Christmas Trees," Emma, the girl of our dreams, comforts a distressed Steed, whose nightmares are coming true. The Cathy Gale (Honor "Pussy Galore" Blackman) and Tara King (the unfortunate Linda Thorson) episodes pale by comparison, but, as Macnee offers in a newly filmed introduction, they represent what is best about this cult classic British series: "Tradition; humanity; character; sexuality; bizarre comic strip action; witty tongue-in-cheek humor." "Mr. Teddy Bear," which launched the series' second season, also marks Cathy's debut as Steed's partner. "Don't Look Behind You," a psychological thriller, was later remade with Emma Peel as "The Joker." Winning the award for most outrageous episode title is "Look (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers." This love-it-or-hate-it Tara King episode, in which music hall clowns really slay their audience, features a memorable appearance by a pre-Monty Python John Cleese. Thorson's own finest hour may be "All Done with Mirrors," in which she, saddled with a bumbling sidekick, must clear Steed of charges of treason. While more Mrs. Peel is needed, this set will thrill old fans and new collectors looking to enhance or start an Avengers library. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '66 - What the Butler Saw / The House That Jack Built (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: In "What the Butler Saw," one of two black-and-white episodes from the fourth season of The Avengers, someone is leaking defense secrets to "the other side." While gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee) goes undercover as a butler to locate the culprit, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) launches "Operation Fascination" to attract the attention of the womanizing prime suspect, Captain Miles. About to meet him for drinks, she is memorably advised by Steed, "Don't do anything I would do." Two notable bits: for security purposes, three defense officials zip themselves up in a ridiculous giant plastic body bag that anticipates Get Smart's Cone of Silence; and Emma flees from a pursuer through a succession of doors used to train butlers, a scene echoed in Sam Raimi's Crimewave. "The House That Jack Built" is one of Rigg's finest hours, and a rare chance to see the usually nonplussed Mrs. Peel totally plussed. She is in for "the fright of [her] life" when she is held prisoner in a house rigged by a vengeful techno-obsessed madman bent on driving her insane. Rooms that move and labyrinthian mazes are mere prologue to "the exhibition dedicated to the late Emma Peel." This volume is also available in The Avengers '66, Set 2. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '67: Set 4 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This final set of episodes from the 1967-1968 season of The Avengers follows the delightful, pop-surreal series through the concluding chapter of Diana Rigg's involvement as agent Emma Peel. On tap is "The £50,000 Breakfast," in which a ventriloquist is discovered to be carrying a stash of diamonds in his stomach, leading Mrs. Peel and John Steed (Patrick Macnee) into an investigation that involves murder, dummies, and borzoi dogs. "Dead Man's Treasure" finds a mortally wounded fellow agent hiding important documents in the home of a racing enthusiast--whose driving "simulator" nearly kills poor Mrs. Peel with a lethal dose of electricity. Tape two includes the terrific "You Have Just Been Murdered," in which a gaggle of blackmailers and assassins accosts prospective victims with toy weapons to prove they can easily be killed. Steed and Mrs. Peel enter the fray, just as they do in "The Positive-Negative Man," a tense but amusing plot about an electrically charged killer dispatching members of a scientific research team (and very nearly our heroes) with one touch of his high-voltage finger. The final tape includes the dark and scary "Murdersville," in which Mrs. Peel is kidnapped in a town full of killers-for-hire. Following that is the cheeky "Mission Highly Improbable," featuring Steed and Emma as shrunken versions of themselves after being subjected to a miniaturization device. The series ends--rather sadly for worshippers of Mrs. Peel--with "The Forget-Me-Knot," introducing Steed's next partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson), in a story about a traitor within the intelligence community. A coda in which Steed and Emma say goodbye is indeed unforgettable. Fortunately, the good times and quirky humor and whimsical sexuality between this perfect pair live on forever in this boxed set. --Tom Keogh

The Avengers '65: Set 1 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: A toast to A&E Home Video for releasing this three-volume boxed 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 nor officially released on videocassette. 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" (included on volume 1), or a department store that has been rigged with a nuclear bomb, in "Death at Bargain Prices" (volume 2). The second volume also contains "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. Volume 3 contains the haunting "Castle De'ath" and "The Master Minds." All are in glorious black and white and highly recommended. Each volume is also available separately. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '65: Set 2 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: According to one Avengers-appreciation Web site, three of the seven episodes contained in this three-volume boxed 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. "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 boxed 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. Each volume is also available separately. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '65, Vol. 1 (vhs):

Amazon.com Essentials: With a provocative swat on her leather-clad bottom, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) first clashes swords with his new partner, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), in "The Town of No Return," the episode that launched the fourth season of The Avengers. "Town" begins on a characteristically surreal note as a figure emerges from the sea in what looks like a giant Hefty bag. Out pops an impeccably dressed gent who notes to a nonplussed fisherman, "Looks like rain," which brings us to Bazeley by the Sea, a quaint but odd village where four agents have disappeared. Will Steed and Mrs. Peel be numbers five and six? Like one of the treats Steed offers Peel on their Bazeley-bound train, this episode is "a marzipan delight." In "The Gravediggers," Steed and Mrs. Peel dig up a sinister plot to sabotage Britain's radar defense system. But this doesn't quite explain how Mrs. Peel finds herself tied to a train track with a miniature locomotive chugging toward her! Both episodes are in glorious black and white. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available together in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '67 - Set 4, Vols. 7 & 8 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: This final set of episodes from the 1967-1968 season of The Avengers follows the delightful, pop-surreal series through the concluding chapter of Diana Rigg's involvement as agent Emma Peel. On tap is "The £50,000 Breakfast," in which a ventriloquist is discovered to be carrying a stash of diamonds in his stomach, leading Mrs. Peel and John Steed (Patrick Macnee) into an investigation that involves murder, dummies, and borzoi dogs. "Dead Man's Treasure" finds a mortally wounded fellow agent hiding important documents in the home of a racing enthusiast--whose driving "simulator" nearly kills poor Mrs. Peel with a lethal dose of electricity. This set also includes the terrific "You Have Just Been Murdered," in which a gaggle of blackmailers and assassins accosts prospective victims with toy weapons to prove they can easily be killed. Steed and Mrs. Peel enter the fray, just as they do in "The Positive-Negative Man," a tense but amusing plot about an electrically charged killer dispatching members of a scientific research team (and very nearly our heroes) with one touch of his high-voltage finger. Also contained in the set is the dark and scary "Murdersville," in which Mrs. Peel is kidnapped in a town full of killers-for-hire. Following that is the cheeky "Mission Highly Improbable," featuring Steed and Emma as shrunken versions of themselves after being subjected to a miniaturization device. The series ends--rather sadly for worshippers of Mrs. Peel--with "The Forget-Me-Knot," introducing Steed's next partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson), in a story about a traitor within the intelligence community. A coda in which Steed and Emma say goodbye is indeed unforgettable. Fortunately, the good times and quirky humor and whimsical sexuality between this perfect pair live on forever in this set. --Tom Keogh

The Avengers '65, Vol. 2 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: If you are a new Avengers fan, these two classic black-and-white episodes are the perfect introduction to the beloved British series that combined espionage with science fiction. "The Cybernauts" was the first episode to air in the United States. Steed and Mrs. Peel are up against automated assassins made by an inventor who plots to create an electronic dictatorship. A highlight is an elegantly dressed Mrs. Peel's karate fight. In "Death at Bargain Prices," Steed and Mrs. Peel once again find extraordinary goings-on in the most ordinary places, in this case a department store that serves as a front for madman tycoon Horatio Kane's biggest takeover bid yet--of London (he has rigged the store with a nuclear device). Mrs. Peel works undercover as a clerk, prompting Steed's priceless line, "I asked where to find you and was told, 'Our Mrs. Peel is in ladies' underwear.' I rattled up the stairs three at a time." This episode was directed by Charles Crichton, who directed A Fish Called Wanda. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '65, Vol. 3 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Castle De'ath" is a truly haunting episode, both because of its red-herring ghost story and the scandalous peek at Mrs. Peel's navel, not to mention her nocturnal investigation of a foreboding Scottish castle in her nightgown. What brings her and "McSteed" (outfitted in a kilt) to the castle is the death of an agent in scuba gear, who when found was four inches taller than when he was alive. "It all has to do with the price of fish," whispers McSteed. In "The Master Minds," Steed and Mrs. Peel investigate a series of raids on state security. Each, Steed notes, "has been boldly conceived and superbly executed" by "a diabolical mastermind." This leads the duo to a special school for geniuses whose lesson plan includes brainwashing. Highlights of this episode are a student's come-on to Steed ("I wonder if I might lure you away from brainwork for something more physical") and a climactic fight seen only in shadow behind a screen on which a military training film is being projected backward. Grade: A. Both episodes are in glorious black and white. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 are also available in The Avengers '65 Set 1. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '65:Murder Market/Surfeit of H20 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Now that you've seen me, what do you think?" a gentleman inquires of his blind date. She pulls out a gun and fires. This typically provocative prologue sets the stage for a killer episode from the fourth season of The Avengers. John Steed and Emma Peel become clients of Togetherness, an exclusive marriage bureau that also traffics in assassinations. This episode is of note for reportedly being the first in which Diana Rigg portrayed Mrs. Peel. Her character engages in some un-Emmalike behavior, such as when she argues angrily with Steed and later gets tipsy on a bottle of champagne. But all is forgiven with the scene in which she lists her criteria for a husband, among them "stamina." One intriguing question: Did the character of the fashion photographer ("Fabulous, baby, yeah") inspire Mike Myers's Austin Powers?

"A Surfeit of H20" has been ranked by one Avengers-appreciation Web site as among the top five of the Mrs. Peel era. This intoxicating episode really pours it on, with vintage witty dialogue, assorted crackpot characters, and, of course, a diabolical madman--a vintner who is flooding the countryside with his own manmade rain. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers: 65 Volume 5 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This volume contains two must-own episodes from the fourth, and arguably best, season of The Avengers. The unsettling first half of "The Hour That Never Was" plays like something out of The Twilight Zone. Royal Air Forces Camp 472 in Hamelin is splitting up, and John Steed may be cracking up. He and Mrs. Peel emerge from an auto wreck to find the air base deserted, all the clocks stopped at 11, an unconscious rabbit, and a dead milkman. When Steed returns to the air base, a reunion party with all the previously missing men is in full swing. Nitrous oxide gives the climactic fight with a diabolical dentist a goofy spin.

In "Dial a Deadly Number," six "dynamic, indispensable" company chairmen have suddenly keeled over. Who ya gonna call? Steed and Mrs. Peel, who make a connection between the untimely deaths, a "bleeper" (pager) pocket pen, and Fitch, a sinister "backroom boy" and mechanical genius. The umbrella-toting Steed actually fires a gun in this episode. The most taut suspense is reserved for the scene in which Steed engages in a duel of palates at a wine tasting. To paraphrase one character, do not deprive yourself of this video's company. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers: Escape in Time & See-Through Man (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Escape in Time" finds the intrepid John Steed and Emma Peel hot on the trail of villains who are offering criminals the perfect escape from modern law: a one-way trip to the past, where they can lose themselves in history. Philip Levene's smart script and Avengers designer Wilfred Shingleton make the time-transport scenes convincing in a very economical way--travelers go to sleep in a room at an opulent, old country house and awaken in that same room furnished in the style of the Georgian or Elizabethan ages, etc. When Mrs. Peel takes a trip back to what she believes is going to be 1790, and is confronted by a masked executioner from an older era, it's yikes time. Levene also wrote the second episode on this tape, "The See-Through Man," in which a discredited inventor (the delightful Roy Kinnear) sells his formula for invisibility and Steed and Emma believe enemy agents may be using it. Not one of the pantheon episodes, "The See-Through Man" is still quite enjoyable, particularly in its tag scene, which finds our hero and heroine pushing Steed's old Rolls after it fails to start. --Tom Keogh

Avengers: Bird Who Knew Too Much & Winged Avenger (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" is a Brian Clemens story in which John Steed and Emma Peel find carrier pigeons equipped with tiny cameras used to photograph top-secret missile bases. The photography theme extends to some comic moments in which Steed and Emma both do a little posing for a fashion cameraman, but there is also some fun with a parrot named Captain Crusoe, who requests political asylum at one point. Also on this tape is "The Winged Avenger," a truly crafty piece of work by writer Richard Harris, with good tongue-in-cheek references to the influence of comic-book culture on '60s television. A number of ruthless men are being ripped apart and killed by an unknown assailant, the only clue being that their murders seem to have been predicted in recent comic strips featuring a Batman-like superhero named the Winged Avenger. The zippy climax finds Mrs. Peel and a killer each wearing magnetic boots that allows them to fight on a ceiling. --Tom Keogh

Avengers: Living Dead & Hidden Tiger (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: In "The Living Dead," reports of a ghost seen in the chapel of a private estate, owned by the 16th Duke of Benedict, bring agents John Steed and Emma Peel into the British countryside to investigate. Another agent is killed while looking for evidence, and soon after, Mrs. Peel disappears. What Steed finds while searching for his partner is a particularly imaginative invention by writer-producer Brian Clemens, a nice blend of science fiction, conspiracy tale, and the usual unflappable charm of the two principals. In the second episode on this tape, "The Hidden Tiger," the villains within an organization called PURRR intend to overwhelm England with ordinary household kittens who are made savagely violent by radio transmitters altering their brain waves. The script by Philip Levene is a succession of clever little mysteries (How did a big-game hunter get mauled to death while he was inside a cage?), and the outrageousness of several scenes (a seemingly doomed Steed is tied to a chair, surrounded by furry kittens) is a hoot. --Tom Keogh

Avengers '67:Correct Way/Never, Never Say Die (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: John Steed and Emma Peel are paired off with their Russian counterparts in "The Correct Way to Kill," a Brian Clemens story in which a finishing school called Snob is churning out English gentlemen outfitted exactly like Steed and providing cover for murder. A good episode but not a great one, although one gets to see Mrs. Peel fencing, and the understated satire on Steed's British conformism is fun. Philip Levene wrote the second show on this tape, "Never, Never Say Die," in which computerized duplicates of brainy scientists and others are causing some havoc. The best part of the show is the setup, in which a corpse walks out of a mortuary and--despite being shot, hit by a car, and electrocuted--keeps on with its rampage. --Tom Keogh

Avengers: Epic & Superlative Seven (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Epic" is a spooky Avengers installment in which Mrs. Peel is kidnapped by a mad director who holds her prisoner in a studio while filming The Destruction of Mrs. Peel. Series coproducer Brian Clemens wrote the inventive script, which finds poor Emma in a movie-cliché nightmare, being shot at in a Western saloon, in a World War I setting, and by Indians and Chicago gangsters. Clemens was also behind "The Superlative Seven," which features some familiar faces (Donald Sutherland, Brian Blessed, Charlotte Rampling) in an Agatha Christie-like tale of seven people brought to an island, where one of their numbers is killing off the others. The slightly conventional plot is spruced up by an international conspiracy element, a surprise ending, and the dramatic arrival of Emma Peel onto the island--by parachute! --Tom Keogh

Avengers: 65 Volume 6 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Worth the price of purchase alone is this volume's bonus episode, "Too Many Christmas Trees," which one Avengers-appreciation Web site ranks as the best Emma Peel episode of all time. This "fascinating exercise" (to quote one devilish character) concerns a psychic experiment that gives John Steed deadly nightmares that are coming true. Among the many highlights is the girl of our dreams, Mrs. Peel, helping Steed open his Christmas cards ("Who is Boofums?"). Listen for the in-joke reference to Rigg's predecessor, Honor Blackman, who left the series to star in Goldfinger. Regarding the card from Mrs. Gale, Blackman's character, Steed ponders, "What can she be doing in Fort Knox?" And the sight of Mrs. Peel costumed as Oliver Twist may also cause some sleepless nights!

This volume also contains "The Man-Eater of Surrey Green," a bit of straight-faced silliness about, yes, a man-eating plant from outer space. More down-to-earth is "Two's a Crowd," in which "king of the spies" Colonel Pesev (pronounced "Zev") comes to town. Patrick Macnee does extra duty as Steed and his double, a fashion model ("wearing slacks built for action") named Webster, who is recruited by the Russians to infiltrate a vital meeting of the defense chiefs. Will the unwitting Mrs. Peel be able to tell the difference between the two? --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '64 Set 1 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: From Britain with leather comes this three-volume collection of rare Avengers episodes starring Patrick Macnee as urbane, umbrella-toting spy John Steed and Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, who preceded Emma Peel as Steed's partner. Virtually unseen in the United States, these six episodes from the third season of The Avengers will be a revelation for fans of this offbeat series.

Blackman portrayed Cathy Gale, stylish, leather-clad anthropologist and judo expert, from 1962 to '64, leaving the series to star as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. Another veteran of the James Bond series makes a surprising appearance in "Little Wonders," an episode on volume 1: Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), a machine-gun-toting nurse. This episode, in which Steed goes undercover in a 300-year-old crime organization, features a kiss between Steed and Gale. He was never so intimate with Emma Peel... at least not onscreen. Volume 2 contains two episodes ranked among the best of the Cathy Gale era. In "The Wringer," Gale comes to Steed's rescue after he becomes a guinea pig in a diabolical plot to brainwash agents. In "Mandrake," a deserted village becomes the burial ground of choice for a rash of "rich and reasonably eminent" victims of a murder-for-hire business. "The Secrets Broker" on volume 3, in which a murder leads Steed to a wine shop, is not quite vintage Avengers, but "Trojan Horse," set at a racetrack and involving an illicit betting syndicate, is a winner.

Produced before the series switched over to film, these black-and-white episodes are technically cruder than their more popularly known counterparts. But the plots are often just as confounding. Cathy Gale may leave Emma Peel enthusiasts underwhelmed; her banter with Steed lacks the erotic promise that made the Peel episodes so provocative. But you'll get a kick out the martial-arts prowess that reportedly knocked out her male adversary in the graveyard fight sequence in "Mandrake." --Donald Liebenson

The Avengers '64, Set 2 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Genuine eccentrics are a dying breed. Could be amusing," notes a character in "Build a Better Mousetrap," one of the six rarely seen black-and-white episodes in this three-volume boxed set from the third season of The Avengers. Genuine eccentrics and diabolical madmen plotting to plunge the world into chaos were The Avengers' stock in trade. Nobody on TV did it better.

As with the first set, which contains volumes 1 to 3, what makes this set a must for collectors is that these episodes, virtually unseen in the United States, feature Honor Blackman as Mrs. Cathy Gale, who preceded Mrs. Emma Peel as the leather-clad partner to Patrick Macnee's urbane, umbrella-toting gentleman spy John Steed. Blackman left the series after two seasons to star as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. In "Lobster Quadrille," which concludes this set as well as the Gale era, Steed remarks that he expects the departing Gale to be "pussy-footing along sun-soaked shores."

Volume 4 contains two topnotch episodes. "Mousetrap" revolves around the Peck sisters, two "wicked" old ladies who seem to have put a curse on the surrounding countryside that causes all mechanical devises to stall. In "The Outside-In Man," James Maxwell steals the show as an agent presumed dead who materializes just as the man he was once assigned to assassinate arrives in Britain for arms talks. Volume 5 contains "The Charmers," which was remade in 1967 as "The Correct Way to Kill." "Concerto," in which Steed must cooperate with the Russians to prevent an assassination at a recital, is a classical gas. Even a weaker episode such as "Esprit de Corps," which opens volume 6, has its bizarre charms, as renegade Scotsmen plot a coup and plan to install Gale on the throne as Queen Anne the Second. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '66 - Set 1, Vol. 1 & 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: 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

Avengers '66: Vol. 1 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: "Where have all the martlets gone?" That's the not particularly intriguing mystery that gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and his partner, Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), root out in "Silent Dust," one of three episodes on this DVD from the 1966 season of The Avengers. It has something to do with a fertilizer that "went wrong" and a plot to defoliate all of England "if necessary." A highlight is a wounded Steed's delirious fantasy in which a mustachioed Mrs. Peel, garbed in Old West duds and clutching a jug of Red Eye, removes a bullet. The climactic chase has horsebacked bad guys tallyhoing after Mrs. Peel, giving new meaning to the phrase "fox hunt." "Room Without a View" is better, as Steed and Mrs. Peel check out a hotel in which seven guests--all physicists--have mysteriously disappeared from room 612. Steed gets the episode's best line. He informs Mrs. Peel that a by-the-book bureaucrat requires everything in triplicate. Regarding his ravishing partner, he smiles, "I wonder what he'll think of you." In "Small Game for Big Hunters," Steed and Mrs. Peel do the voodoo that they do so well. Local farmers are in comas. Is it "the curse that follows one across continents"? Why has the Kalayan jungle been re-created in the English countryside? And what's with those incessant and infernal tribal drums? James Villers makes a diabolical villain as hunter Simon "That's not all I've shot" Trent. All three episodes are in black and white. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '66: Vol. 2 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Not a masterpiece, but still suitable for framing, is "The Girl from Auntie," one of three episodes on this DVD from the 1966 season of The Avengers, in which an art dealer, who supplies his clients "anything for a price" (including the Mona Lisa!), kidnaps Emma for auction to enemy agents. This episode features perhaps the series' quaintest assassin, an elderly "lady" who dispatches her victims with knitting needles. Highlights and comical characters abound, including a game Emma Peel impersonator who gets the episode's best line. "Six bodies in an hour and 20 minutes," Steed remarks. "What do you call that?" "A good first act," she replies. In a wickedly funny Beatles reference, four corpses tumble out of a closet. Their names: John, Paul, George, and... Fred. "The 13th Hole," is not quite up to par, but the impeccable chemistry between Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg as gentleman spy John Steed and his ravishing partner, Mrs. Emma Peel, respectively, is palpable. Mrs. Peel scores a hole in one with the episode's best line. After he is nearly bogeyed by a golf ball, Steed credits his fortified hat with saving his life. Remarks Mrs. Peel, "It really is the height of pessimism to have a hat lined with chain mail." The final episode, "The Quick-Quick-Slow Death," has all the right moves, as Mrs. Peel goes undercover at a dance studio. The kinkiest moment comes courtesy of an Italian shoemaker. "Look," he gushes over Mrs. Peel's wiggling piggies, "they talk to me. You naughty little chatterboxes, you." The fade-out alone is worth the price of purchase. Instead of riding, rowing, or sailing off into the sunset as is customary, Steed and Mrs. Peel engage in a little Fred and Ginger action. All three episodes are in black and white. --Donald Liebenson

Avengers '66 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4 (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: 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