The Avengers Evolution Collection - Vol. 1 - Pioneer Television [1961]

"Dead On Course" and "Man In The Mirror" are good in that we get to see John Steed's lesser known partners, that of Jon Rollason as Dr. Martin King & Julie Stevens as Venus Smith, respectively. Venus is the more entertaining of the two being a singer. There are two amusing scenes of her recording some songs in a studio. The respective two episodes are very entertaining as they move quite quickly and have interesting locations and characters. "Dead On Course" is probably the weakest though.

"Death Dispatch" is Honor Blackman first recorded episode as Mrs. Cathy Gale. It's interesting to see Steed and Mrs. Gale less hostile towards one another unlike the way they would become. It features some very funny scenes of them together in Cathy's hotel bedroom. Once it gets moving this proves to be a very well written and enjoyable episode.

A good tape to buy if only to see Steed's first four partners in action but nevertheless four very watchable episodes!


Fascinating And Enjoyable!   December 24, 2001
B. KIRKHAM (England)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

As a showcase for Steed's earliest partners, this tape is both fascinating and enjoyable.

"The Frighteners" is a wonderful episode. Ian Hendry is interesting to watch and his character, Dr David Keel, is enjoyable. Steed is very different, but the story is pacey and full of grip.

"Dead On Course" is one of the best episodes on the tape. Jon Rollason is not excellent as Dr Martin King, but is different from Dr Keel and the episode works very well.

"Man In The Mirror" is the most disappointing episode on the tape. Julie Stevens is quite entertaining as Venus Smith, but the episode itself is just boring.

"Death Dispatch" is fab! This was the first recorded Cathy Gale episode, and, as such, Cathy is very different. But the episode is full of action, drama, and humour. It's just like a James Bond film, and is very good by all accounts.

All in all, excellent. I look forward to getting the other 3 in the collection.


Steed earlier partners   December 6, 2001
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

"The Frighteners" is the only episode available of "The Avengers" first season. The picture quality is rather poor and the dialogue is sometimes hard to follow. Despite of these problems this episode is worth to be seen simply to see Steeds first partner, Dr. David Keel. The episode itself is well written and quite enjoyable.

"Dead On Corse" with Dr. Martin King as Steeds partner is a nice episode. Nothing more and nothing less. The sound is much better than on "The Frighteners".
Both doctors will never be my personal favourite. Steed is by far more interesting as a character. It's lovely to see how he has evolved and that's what this tape is all about, isn't?

As for "Man In The Mirror" miss Venus Smith, Steeds partner for this one, never comes close to my favourite Emma Peel. She's very young, innocent and a professional singer who allows herself to be used by Steed. The plot of this episode being very thin makes this the least interesting episode of this tape. Do I have to say more?

"Death Dispatch", featuring the gorgeous Cathy Gale, is a really good episode. This was the first episode produced starring Honor Blackman and therefore alone worth to be on the "Evolution" package. This episode more or less breathes the same atmosphere as the early James Bond films. The action takes us to Lima, Colombia, Santiago and Jamaica, where "Dr. No" also has his hideout. Too bad the picture quality again fails to live up to my expectations.

The picture quality of all these episodes is rather poor. Maybe this is as good as it can be after 40 years. We're lucky that these episodes still exist at all; some episodes of the first series weren't even taped. They were broadcasted live on TV.

This video package provides you with well-written notes about the missing tapes of the first season, as well as interesting information about each of the four episodes included on this tape. As a bonus for the collectors there's a nice postcard. If you buy this tape don't expect DVD video quality. This package is especially interesting for Avenger fans that want to see Steeds partners in the early years of this great TV show. Steed is a quite different character than in the Emma Peel episodes. Steed still has to evolve into the debonair gentleman I came to know many years ago when I saw my first episode "From Venus With Love".

A fan from the Netherlands