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Tom Anderson reviews
Episodes 1 & 2Distributed by
Carlton
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 37115 00733
- Running time: 96 minutes
- Year: 1968
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 8 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0 (Mono)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English for hearing-impaired.
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £9.99
- Extras : Interactive menus, Trailer for DVD ‘Cool Spies and Private Eyes’from Carlton, Picture of original ITC brochure cover
This isanother of the slew of television favourites released by Carlton under thebanner of ‘Cool Spies and Private Eyes’. For a pence less than a tenneryou get the first two episodes of ‘The Champions’ – “They’re the tops.The best. They’re the Champions”.
They are the ever sun-tanned American Stuart Damon, the gorgeously ItalianAlexandro Bastedo and the big-foreheaded Brit William Gaunt.They have special powers like jumping quite high and hearing things a long wayoff. They use these powers to fight International crime as the agents of’Nemesis’, a Geneva-based crime-busting organisational thingy.
It’s a bit silly. These first two episodes were released as a movie, and thescene-setting Episode 1 (‘The Beginning’) explains how a kindlybuddhist type makes them superhuman after they crash land in Tibet whilst on amission. Episode 2 (‘The Invisible Man’) stars Peter Wyngarde as acrazed Bupa plastic surgeon who controls people by putting small electronicdevices in their heads.
The problem for me was that Stuart Damon, eye-shadowed and fake-tanned,is a distinctly unlikeable figure implanted for the American market (why aregrafted-on Yanks always so terrible at their job?). And, I’m sorry, butWilliam Gaunt isn’t exactly Mr Charisma. Alexandre Bastedo, though, is alovely 60’s pre-feminist dream of a woman, no doubt an excellent cook, nannyand male forehead-stroker. If you like the characters, though, perhaps youmight enjoy these opening episodes a great deal.
The picture is 4:3 and is comparable to broadcast standard.The sound is in mono.
Extras : Chapters :8 Chapters for both episodes. Languages/Subtitles :English for hearing impaired. And there’s more… :Bloody crikey! Carlton DVD actually has some extras shocker! Well, there arecharacter biographies (Character, not actor). Then there’s a picture of anITC brochure and a trailer for Carlton’s ‘Cool Spies and Private Eyes’. Menu :A static menu with two animated televisions showing excerpts from the episodes.
Overall, a lovely camp Christmas cake of a 60’s TV series. Stuart Damon issuffering from a serious case of Bob Monkhouse tan though.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
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OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.