The Spy Collection Megaset (The Prisoner / The Persuaders / The Champions / The Protectors) – DVD Review

By June L. Apr 6, 2009, 16:27 GMT

Get ready for international intrigue, secret agents, amazing gadgets, superhuman powers, evil villains, and thrilling face-offs as the heroes of this four-series collection travel the world to battle for justice and avert disaster. The collection of debut episodes includes Roger Moore and Tony Curtis as wealthy playboys who unravel criminal cases in The Persuaders; Patrick McGoohan\'s classic and mysterious British series The Prisoner; The Champions, a trio of crime fighters with ...more

The advent of James Bond as a character in both print and on film started a spy craze in both America and Britian. Television was quick to pick up on the interest and produced some interesting spy shows. 

A&E has put together a collection that allows the viewer to sample four of those iconic sixties spy series, The Prisoner, The Persuaders, The Champions and The Protectors.  Some of these you may know, others may be new, but all have that sense of danger and espionage that captivated the viewing audiences.

Most people are familiar with the series The Prisoner which stared the late Patrick McGoohan.  He played a captive in a surreal type of prison called “The Village.”  The tag line for the show was “no man is truly just a number” and McGoohan struggles throughout the series to find out who he is and why he is there, and just WHERE the there is…and audiences found their views of things becoming just as scrambled as the show’s hero. 

In the two disc set included in the Spy collection, we have the very first episode “The Arrival” and an alternate version of “The Chimes of Big Ben.”

Special features on this disc include an interactive map of “the village,” the trailer for “The Arrival,” rare alternate footage, a photo gallery and a trivia game.  Disc 2 of the set has episodes “Free for All,” and “Dances of the Dead.” 

Special features include, trailers for both episodes, the interactive village map, more trivia and a photo gallery.  This is a nice introduction to a series that still prompts discussion amongst fans of the genre.

The next show in the set is The Persuaders.  On four discs we follow the adventures of Lord Brett Sinclair (Roger Moore) and Danny Wilde (Tony Curtis) who are teamed to bring to justice some criminals that have been released erroneously. 

The aristocratic Englishman and the wealthy American who started his life in the slums of New York make an odd but very effective justice team. The episodes are presented on 4 discs with bonus commentaries on two of the episodes as well as a photo gallery and biographies of Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.

The next show represented is The Champions.  Secret agents Craig Sterling (Stuart Damon), Sharron Macready (Alexandra Bastedo), and Richard Barret (William Gaunt) crash land in the icy mountains after completing a mission to capture a secret weapon from the Communist Chinese. 

They are rescued by a mysterious group of mountain dwellers and their lives are changed forever.  With heightened abilities, they are now ready to become The Campions fighting against all evils political and natural, they work for justice and world peace.  The four disc set is enhanced with cast biographies and filmographies as well as a photo gallery.

The final show in the set is The Protectors.  This starred Robert Vaughn who was known in the US for his role as Napoleon Solo in Man from U.N.C.L.E.  In The Protectors, he plays Harry Rule, a private eye in London whose clientele are the rich and famous. 

His associates, the Contessa di Contini (Nyree Dawn Porter) an Italian detective agency owner and Paul Buchet (Tony Anholt) a Frenchman who knows everything about everyone, join with Harry to work for high dollars.  Governments, private individuals, anyone who can pay the fee will get the best from this trio of international and savvy sleuths.

The Spy Collection is nicely boxed in a fold out case holding all fourteen discs with program notes and photographs from the series on the folds.  There are approximately 39 hours of playing time.  Whether you were there when spies first became cool, or if you are a newcomer to the genre, this is a nice set to explore some of those favorite television shows.

The Spy Collection Megaset (The Prisoner / The Persuaders / The Champions / The Protectors) is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.