The Avengers - The Complete Emma Peel Megaset

Rating:
Summary: Diana Rigg MADE The Avengers
Review: To understand why this TV series worked so well requires a bit of historical perspective. Britain in the early/mid-1960s was a culture in which long-accepted norms were threatened by powerful social forces. The youth movement was forever redefining attitudes toward authority and government, Britain was birthing a type of music that would soon sweep the world, and, particularly important to The Avengers, the women's rights movement saw many a woman demand more from her future than a lifetime of housewifedom.

When Diana Rigg's character of Emma Peel was first introduced to The Avengers in 1965, the show had already been going for several years. The character of John Steed was well-established as a conservative, stiff upper lipped, tea drinking, bowler hatted, ex-military, prime example of upper crust middle-aged traditional British masculinity. Then along came his new partner Emma Peel: young, irreverent and outspoken, sexually aggressive, dressed in provocative mod fashion AND possessed of four doctorates. Bear in mind, at this time in Britain it was almost unheard of for a woman to be a doctor at all. Not only did Emma Peel defy that convention, she did it times four.

To John Steed, exemplar of the-way-things-are-and-should-be, Emma Peel was the living embodiment of forces threatening to destroy everything he held dear, everything to which he'd devoted his life, his duty, his sacred honor. To Peel, Steed was the sort of hidebound reactionary she'd been fighting against her entire life in order to be the sort of woman, the sort of whole person her sense of individuality demanded. The great thing about the John Steed/Emma Peel Avengers episodes was watching these two very different people, each representing social forces the other had every reason to despise, over time learn to value and respect what the other had to offer, eventually even to love each other. An endless source of debate among Avengers TV fans is whether or not Steed and Peel's relationship ever became sexual or was simply platonic. Whichever opinion you embrace, there can be no doubt the love and respect were there.

The Avengers TV show was profoundly fortunate in its casting of John Steed and Emma Peel. Patrick Macnee perfectly portrayed the somewhat stuffy, exceedingly proper man of action. The heart of a noble knight in a three-piece suit and bowler hat. But as good as Macnee was, Diana Rigg's casting as Emma Peel was the masterstroke. For Emma Peel to accomplish everything she had in life before ever meeting John Steed, she must have been a high-level genius. Fortunately for the show, in real life Diana Rigg has an IQ that looks like a zip code, as well as immense class, polish, sex appeal, a strong will, and the thespic skills of a successful Shakespearean actress. When Diana Rigg played a high-level genius with multiple doctorates it was believable. I can't imagine anyone else who could have portrayed Emma Peel so well.

Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Peel, you're needed!
Review: What a fabulous set. All of Di Rigg's Avengers episodes are here, and the quality is pretty darn good. The Black and White episodes aren't perfect quality, but that's the fault of the original source material. However, the B&W episodes on these DVDs still look better than any broadcast that I've seen. The color episodes are nearly perfect quality and colors are brilliant.
I can't say that there is one episode that I really dislike in the whole of the Emma Peel run. Good quality stuff and well worth the price. This set is a terrific value, as the cost to buy the 8 2-disc sets separately would run about double the cost of this set. Extras are a bit thin, just production stills. However, there probably isn't a lot of behind the scenes material for these episodes. If you want to learn about The Avengers, get 'The Avengers & Me' by Patrick Macnee & Dave Rogers which is Patrick Macnee's personal memoir of his years on The Avengers. Also, Dave Rogers' 'The Complete Avengers' is the definitive guide to the series.
Sit back, relax, and escape into the stylish, wonderful, witty world of The Avengers.