Monday 23 February 2015

The greatest series of the greatest TV
show ever made is out on Blu-ray today

As you may be aware, we don't watch much TV here at The Incredible Suit. That's because, as everyone knows, telly peaked in 1965 and apart from that episode of The Evening News on London Live last November where I nervously babbled about SPECTRE, there hasn't been a single thing worth watching since.

The zenith of televisual entertainment took the form of the fourth series of The Avengers, the camp spy-comedy-action-nonsense that ran from October 1965 to March 1966 and introduced Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, the new partner for dashing, immaculately turned-out gentleman agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee). That very series is out today on Blu-ray courtesy of Studiocanal, and it behoves me to urge you to buy it and watch it with all the force your eyes can muster.

It doesn't matter if you haven't seen any of the first three series: all you're missing is Honor Blackman in leather, and you already own Goldfinger so that's that base covered. You can watch this 30-second taster if you like, which flawlessly sets the scene:

The rest of the series contains, among other wonders:
  • Diana Rigg being unspeakably beautiful and delightfully mischievous
  • Patrick Macnee wearing Pierre Cardin like it's his skin
  • Some of the most inventive camerawork and direction TV has ever seen, including the live episode of EastEnders
  • Episodes which include man-eating plants, murderous grannies, weather machines, killer robots, missing hours, devilish traps, tattooed sausages and diabolical masterminds
  • The greatest TV theme ever written and recorded
  • Diana Rigg in full bondage gear with a python draped round her neck in one episode if you like that kind of thing and frankly who wouldn't
And all of that, shot on film and presented in 1080 lines of gorgeousness so sharp it could cut your head off, backed up with a ton of extras including a commentary with recently deceased writer and producer Brian Clemens.

I realise all this sounds like a tedious advert, and yes, I was very kindly given screener discs to confirm the brilliance of this release, but trust me when I say this is the best presentation of the best series of the best TV show of all time. I mean, I haven't seen most of Breaking Bad, but I definitely know what I'm talking about. Now go away and do as you're told.

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