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The Avengers '68 Set 2Rating:
Release Date: 30 October, 2001 Retail Price: $39.95 OUR Price: $35.99 You SAVE: $3.96! Cast: |
The Avengers '68 Set 2 Reviews
some of the better Tara episodes
Each of Steed's ladies made their own mark. Honor Blackman's Kathy Gale, set the pace. Sleek sassy women, who were as smart as they were sexy. They held their own in a man's world and didn't need someone to take care of them. Blackman and Rigg were two very positive role models in a time when most women were victims, wives or secretaries on telly at the time. Blackman made less of an impact in US, because they were generally shown as a Summer Replacement, to keep people from seeing reruns. Since they were run on ABC, tried to be recognized as a big-boy network the old Black and White Gales were not widely scene.
Rigg came along and made Emma Peel a character that will go down in the hall of fame. She is as popular today, if not more so. So when she left--to do as Blackman did -- go on to be a Bond girl, Steed had to have another partner. Enter Tara King. She gorgeous full figure Canadian with eyes to do for. They tried to play on her more feminine side (and with horrid fashions). Seriously, the clothes designers for Tara needs shooting. For the most part, they couldn't design more dumpy look clothes. They stuffed her in a series of wigs - some very bad - so point one, she was fighting an uphill battle. Also, the scripts were not as sharp. Even so Tara is charming and a pleasure to watch.
Episodes include:
All Done with Mirrors
Legacy of Death
Noon Doomsday
Look (stop me if you've heard this one)... but There Were These Two Fellers
Have Guns... Will Haggle
They Keep Killing Steed (with a very blond Ian Ogilvy doing a guest spot)
Steed has some rare outings - Tara's on the dance card
The Avengers Season 6 - the final season of the ever popular British TV cult classic. In this, the second set of the Tara King era, we have six rare outings. Featuring fan favorite "All Done With Mirrors". So join join the always suave and sophisticated John Steed, and his able bodied female counterpart Tara King, as they battle ville villians, confounding criminals, and dangerous doubles.
We have two class acts in volume one. The solo Tara King outing "All Done With Mirrors", and the outrageous and stylish "Maltese Falcon" spoof "Legacy of Death". In "All Done With Mirrors", Steed is put under house arrest by Mother, and Tara is sent to investigate the leakage of secrets from a top-security facility. One of my favorite Tara King episodes, "All Done With Mirrors" is sharp and clever, with great direction and performances, and Tara at her series best. She proves quite resourceful, level-headed, and good in a fight (looking wonderful in her denim wardrobe, I might add). In "Legacy of Death", Steed is given the Falcon Dagger, which is the key to unlock a secret buried treasure, which is also the central interest of a bunch of crazed criminals. It's actually quite fun in spots, and then exessively over-the-top in others. But just a bevy of weirdos help it to succeed.
Volume two also has two keepers. The heavy romantic qualities of "Noon Doomsday", and the gag-filled luncy of "Look (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers...". Both are quite good, "Look..." being somewhat of a polarizer as not everybody loves it as I do. In "Noon Doomsday" an injured Steed, again, becomes the the target of an old foe who put him away. Not the best episodes, but still enjoyable. Features some good romantic interplay between Steed and Tara, if you like that sort of thing. Could have done without the western music cues though. "Look..." is a much better episode, as retired vaudiville artists seek revenge on the compapny who are planning to bulldoze their old theaters, in order to build and underground miltary shelter. The number of gags in this episode is immense. Beautifully directed by James Hill, "Look..." is absolutley hilarious! And I stand (in good company) firmly on the positive side of this when I say that this is a great episode.
In volume three, we have the rather dull "Have Guns - Will Haggle", which is recycled from an earlier unused Tara episode, and the slow but solid "They Keep Killing Steed". In "Have Guns - Will Haggle", a bunch of top-of-the-line rifles are stolen and tested on living targets, only to be auctioned off to foriegn bidders. A real yawn, as nothing really exciting happens, in this below average episode. I'd advise you to fast-forward to the much better episode "They Keep Killing Steed", in which a madman attempts to create a duplicate of Steed in order to infiltrate and sabotage a peace conferance. It's slow, but it' still good. Worth it for the fights alone, which are great.
In a nutshell - a good buy. Most of the episodes are good, but worth the price alone for "All Done With Mirrors". And, as I said for set one, if you don't like Tara, don't bother. Still, it's great fun for any Avengers fan!
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