The Avengers: The Emma Peel Collection (1965-1967) – Imprint Television #3

[Mike0284]

Mrs. Peel… We’re needed!

Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner, Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as The Avengers. With lethal bowler hat and umbrella, killer fashion and kung fu, the secret agents investigate bizarre and colourful adventures with nonchalant efficiency, sophistication and charm.

Whilst every era of the long-running, enduringly popular and trend-setting British series has its own unique style, charm and wit, it is the Emma Peel years that have become the programme’s most iconic and recognizable, with Diana Rigg’s portrayal of Mrs. Emma Peel ushering in a new era of excitement, fashion and iconology, coupled with Patrick Macnee’s continuing depiction of the urbane and sublime John Steed.

Now, this 16-disc Blu Ray set brings together every episode from the Emma Peel era in stunning high-definition encompassing the complete Series 4 and 5, plus a copious collection of vintage and new Special Features celebrating this peak era of The Avengers.

https://viavision.com.au/shop/the-av...-television-3/

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation from the original 35mm elements
• Collectable double-sided Hardbox packaging LIMITED to 1500 copies
• 120-page booklet featuring essay by Dick Fiddy of the British Film Institute and Story Information for every episode taken from the original studio files
• Original ‘as broadcast’ mono audio tracks (LPCM)
• Original ‘as broadcast’ “The Avengers in Color” opening slate on Series 5 episodes
• Audio Commentary on “The Town of No Return” by producer / writer Brian Clemens and director Roy Ward Baker
• Audio Commentary on “The Master Minds” by writer Robert Banks Stewart
• Audio Commentary on “Dial A Deadly Number” by writer Roger Marshall
• Audio Commentary on “The Hour That Never Was” by director Gerry O’Hara
• Audio Commentary on “The House That Jack Built” by director Don Leaver
• Audio Commentary on “The Winged Avenger” by writer Richard Harris
• Audio Commentary on “Epic” by guest actor Peter Wyngarde
• NEW Audio Commentary on “The Joker” by filmmakers Sam Clemens and George Clemens (sons of writer/producer Brian Clemens) (2022)
• Audio Commentary on “Return of The Cybernauts” by Diana Rigg’s stunt-double Cyd Child
• Audio Commentary on “Murdersville” by producer / writer Brian Clemens
• Filmed introductions to eight Series 5 episodes by producer / writer Brian Clemens
• Filmed introduction to “The ₤50,000 Breakfast” by guest actress Anneke Wills
• Brief audio recollection from guest actor Francis Matthews on filming “The Thirteenth Hole”
• “THE AVENGERS AT 50” – Footage captured from the 50th anniversary celebration of the series, held at Chichester University in 2011. Includes: video message from Patrick Macnee, interviews with producer / writer Brian Clemens, director Don Leaver (never before released), director Gerry O’Hara (never before released), stunt co-ordinator Raymond Austin, guest actress Carol Cleveland, guest actress Anneke Wills, writer Roger Marshall, and Patrick Macnee’s biographer Marie Cameron
• “Dame Diana Rigg at the BFI” – 2015 on-stage interview and Q&A held at the British Film Institute in London to celebrate 50 years of Emma Peel
• “The Series Of No Return” – audio interview with actress Elizabeth Shepherd, who was originally cast as Emma Peel
• Granada Plus Points featuring actor Patrick Macnee, composer Laurie Johnson, writer Roger Marshall and stunt-double Cyd Child
• Bonus Series 6 episode “The Forget-Me-Knot” – Emma Peel’s final story and the introduction of Tara King
• “K Is For Kill” – excerpt from The New Avengers episode featuring appearances by Emma Peel

ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

• Armchair Theatre episode “The Hothouse” starring Diana Rigg (the performance that led to Rigg’s casting as Emma Peel in The Avengers
• Chessboard Opening Title sequence used on US broadcasts for Series 4
• German and French title sequences
• Series 4 UK Commercial Break Bumper slates
• Alternative titles / credits / end tag of select Series 4 episodes
• Series 4 Commercial Break Bumpers
• Production trims from select Series 5 episodes
• “The Strange Case Of The Missing Corpse” – Series 5 teaser film
• German television interview with Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg by Joachim Fuchsberger
• Colourisation test footage for “Death At Bargain Prices” and “A Touch Of Brimstone”
• Reconstructed John Stamp Series 4 trailer
• “They’re Back” Trailers, Series 5 Trailer and Series 5 German Cinema Trailer
• Extensive Photo Galleries from the studio archives
• 1973 Interview with Diana Rigg discussing her US sitcom Diana, and leaving The Avengers
• Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, b&w / colour
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• English subtitles for the Hard of Hearing (Series 4 & 5 episodes only)

BONUS DISC 1: ADDITIONAL SPECIAL FEATURES

• More interviews from “THE AVENGERS AT 50” including composer Laurie Johnson, writer and guest actor Jeremy Burnham, stunt-double Cyd Child, and a screenwriters’ panel discussion featuring Brian Clemens, Richard Harris, Richard Bates and Terrance Dicks
• “Brian Clemens In Conversation” – on-stage interview at the British Film Institute in London discussing his early writing career
• Diana Rigg German Super8 films: “Das Diadem”, “Minikillers”, “Der Goldene Schlüssell”
• Extensive Photo Gallery from The Avengers Fashion Show
• Diana Rigg Photo Gallery

BONUS DISC 2: THE ORIGINAL EPISODES FILE

• Featuring the 4 original episodes from the Cathy Gale era of the series which were remade in Series 5: “Death Of A Great Dane”, “Don’t Look Behind You”, “Dressed To Kill” and “The Charmers” (Standard Definition)
• Audio Commentary by writer Roger Marshall on “Death Of A Great Dane”
• Audio Commentary by actress Honor Blackman and UK presenter Paul O’Grady on “Don’t Look Behind You”
• Filmed introduction by Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman to “Don’t Look Behind You”
• “Tunnel Of Fear” – a full-length, previously lost episode from Series 1, recovered in 2016
• “THE AVENGERS AT 50” – interview with Honor Blackman by Paul O’Grady

[UnionJackMix]

I wonder how fast these 1500 copies will go? I need to research a bit to see if I should upgrade my unwatched US Box set of DVD (The Complete Emma Peel Megaset of 17 DVDs) from like 20 years ago.

[Modman]

From a very brief comparison this adds one new commentary plus all the Avengers at 50 features over the UK Studio Canal series 4 and 5 blu-ray releases; the Avengers at 50 features maybe available elsewhere.

The addition of a bonus disc with four Cathy Gale episodes suggests that Imprint aren't going to release all of the available series 1, 2 and 3 episodes and possibly series 6.

[Thomas Veil]

Figures, I just picked up the UK sets. I like the box and disc covers much better on this.

[reason108]

I'm hoping this will include her final episode in the series as well.

[PT Ryan]

Originally Posted by reason108

I'm hoping this will include her final episode in the series as well.

It does, as an extra.

[adamclark83]

I already have the UK releases.

[Jr7936]

I'm tempted by this, very very tempted but how is their shipping to USA

[PT Ryan]

Gah, this includes the recovered season one Tunnel of Fear, which missed out on inclusion in the big Madman DVD set of the complete-as-possible series from a few years ago. I think that episode was announced as returned just as Madman announced that set. I know it’s available as a standalone DVD in R2, but this set is very tempting anyway…

[captainsolo]

I've held off on Avengers releases due to the various errors and wonder if this might fix them...but I'd bet it's going to have that stuff still baked in. IIRC it was primarily some audio pitch and framing issues.

[movielib]

I already have the British BD seasons 4 and 5 sets plus the Linda Thorson season 6 set. Also the earlier Complete Emma Peel Megaset on DVD.

Regardless of what may be improved or added to this new set, I'm good.

I do think it's great for anyone who doesn't have Emma on BD.

[Duane Dibbley]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I've held off on Avengers releases due to the various errors and wonder if this might fix them...but I'd bet it's going to have that stuff still baked in. IIRC it was primarily some audio pitch and framing issues.

So much more than that - literally thousands of DNR motion errors (Steed's magical disappearing umbrella below), wiped grain, missing frames, extreme audio noise reduction and some of the worst colour grading you're ever likely to see.

Blu-ray:


DVD:


Unless the Imprint set boasts new masters like Network's Gravediggers release did, this should be skippable (though the extras are a nice selection).

[Rayjg]

Digital Umbrella Reduction set to 11

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Duane Dibbley

So much more than that - literally thousands of DNR motion errors (Steed's magical disappearing umbrella below), wiped grain, missing frames, extreme audio noise reduction and some of the worst colour grading you're ever likely to see.

Blu-ray:


DVD:


Unless the Imprint set boasts new masters like Network's Gravediggers release did, this should be skippable (though the extras are a nice selection).

Oh good grief it's far worse than I thought!!

So in essence you have several choices all with issues:
Original SD masters dating back to early 90's at least which were done on VHS and DVD by A&E-but at least these have proper framing and audio with no dnr. But they are super creaky and filled with ye olde analog master problems along with DVD compression.
The original series episodes were remastered and are supposedly much superior on the R2 PAL DVDs so those would be necessary but are pricey to import.
The R2 complete DVD set has these and I suppose an in between version of the Peel iteration that doesn't have the massive issues of the BDs but still has PAL speedup.
The later shows are the OOP A&E DVDs here vs the OOP UK PAL DVDs that are seemingly newer masters with speedup.

Is there a suggested release to go for? Or should I just mix the R2 early series DVDs with the old US DVDs for the later series?


I usually pick and choose a version of a classic British spy show and stick with it as none of them have proper definitive issues outside of perhaps The Persuaders. I did finally get the Network PAL DVDs of The Saint to compare to the Timeless/Shout Complete series box sold here in the US. There it's the UK discs having much better quality and bitrate while being significantly brighter and of course having the speedup that drives me nuts.

[Duane Dibbley]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Oh good grief it's far worse than I thought!!

So in essence you have several choices all with issues:
Original SD masters dating back to early 90's at least which were done on VHS and DVD by A&E-but at least these have proper framing and audio with no dnr. But they are super creaky and filled with ye olde analog master problems along with DVD compression.
The original series episodes were remastered and are supposedly much superior on the R2 PAL DVDs so those would be necessary but are pricey to import.
The R2 complete DVD set has these and I suppose an in between version of the Peel iteration that doesn't have the massive issues of the BDs but still has PAL speedup.
The later shows are the OOP A&E DVDs here vs the OOP UK PAL DVDs that are seemingly newer masters with speedup.

Is there a suggested release to go for? Or should I just mix the R2 early series DVDs with the old US DVDs for the later series?

The UK DVD releases by Contender (aka "The Definitive Dossier") have the least tampered-with versions of the early 90s masters. The A&E DVDs have added DNR and the remastered DVDs (all countries) have the exact same issues as the BDs.

The Contender discs aren't perfect (for some of the B&W episodes, you'll need to turn the colour down to zero on your TV as they have a slight chroma hue to them), but they're my preferred option as they're still the most authentic representation of the show. Beautiful audio quality too, by any standard.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Duane Dibbley

The UK DVD releases by Contender (aka "The Definitive Dossier") have the least tampered-with versions of the early 90s masters. The A&E DVDs have added DNR and the remastered DVDs (all countries) have the exact same issues as the BDs.

The Contender discs aren't perfect (for some of the B&W episodes, you'll need to turn the colour down to zero on your TV as they have a slight chroma hue to them), but they're my preferred option as they're still the most authentic representation of the show. Beautiful audio quality too, by any standard.

Thank you for this!!! I've been scratching my head for years now trying to decipher how to piece together a complete set without video issues, edits and hopefully without speedup on the film episodes. I was afraid the remastered UK DVDs originated the HD masters.

So if I skipped the Blu-ray releases essentially I'd need:
-The A&E DVDs for normal speed on the film episodes though I believe they're missing all the tags and bumpers.
-The original UK DVDs you mention should be better made and encoded from the old VHS master source.
-The UK complete DVD set for all the newer extras and extra work done on the early series though with the heavy handed DNR it would likely negate the A/V improvements.
-The Tunnel of Fear DVD standalone

And that's without going into VHS editions to see if any iterations might have a possibly better audio presentation of the same old masters. Wow, you'd think at some point after all this time someone at a label would've done this correctly. I was toying around with possibly trying a PAL to NTSC conversion on some of The Saint episodes to see if I could get the better PQ without speedup.

[cochon]

Originally Posted by Duane Dibbley

So much more than that - literally thousands of DNR motion errors (Steed's magical disappearing umbrella below), wiped grain, missing frames, extreme audio noise reduction and some of the worst colour grading you're ever likely to see.

Blu-ray:


DVD:


Unless the Imprint set boasts new masters like Network's Gravediggers release did, this should be skippable (though the extras are a nice selection).

I have a mixture of the UK, German and a repeated colour US bluray set that is slightly more compressed than the European counterparts.

I don't find them good! I find them stunning, it's hard to believe I am able to see these series with the amazing quality that is presented in the sets I have. There are a couple of insignificant problems that do not detract at all from the experience in what is hours and hours of a classic series.

I will be skipping this set because I don't need more redundancy but I find hard to believe the pettiness I read here.

To anybody who is a serious fan of the show, if this Australian release is half of what I have go for it. You'll see the episodes like you have never seen them before and in a thoroughly superior manner to the DVDs.

[Jr7936]

I wonder if they will release a non limited set after with just the 4 cases and no outer box and book

[Jr7936]

I'm still debating getting this. I'm wondering if diabolik or another site in the USA which imports imprint discs might be cheaper then ordering directly from viavision

[Mike0284]

Originally Posted by Jr7936

I'm still debating getting this. I'm wondering if diabolik or another site in the USA which imports imprint discs might be cheaper then ordering directly from viavision

DiabolikDVD has had most, if not all of the Imprint releases for sale on their site.