Secret Agent aka Danger Man - The Complete Series (17-DVD)

DANGER MAN, OR SECRET AGENT AS IT CAME TO BE KNOWN IN THE U.S. IN ITS SECOND INCARNATION, IS THE ICONIC SPY TELEVISION SERIES OF THE 1960S. THE ORIGINAL SERIES, PRECEDING DR.NO BY TWO YEARS IN THE U.K., CONSISTED OF 39 B/W EPISODES AND WAS BROADCAST BY CBS IN 1961. THE SERIES CONCEPT WAS RESHAPED INTO ONE-HOUR EPISODES IN 1964, BROADCAST AS SECRET AGENT BY CBS. IN THE ORIGINAL SERIES, PATRICK MCGOOHAN'S JOHN DRAKE WAS EMPLOYED BY NATO; IN THE LATER VERSION WOULD SEE DRAKE AS A FULL-FLEDGED MEMBER OF HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE UNDER THE COVER OF WORLD TRAVEL. EACH EPISODE IS COOL, EXOTIC AND TOPICAL, LAUNCHING DRAKE TO VOLATILE LOCALES IN EUROPE, THE FAR EAST, THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE CARIBBEAN. RARELY DEPLOYING A GUN AND NEVER INDULGING IN ANY SORT OF HEDONISTIC LIBERTIES WITH THE FEMME OF THE MOMENT, THE SERIES ESTABLISHED THE ICONIC GLOBAL IMAGE OF THE WORLD-TRAVELLING SPY. DRAKE WAS COOL, RELENTLESS, RUTHLESS AS THE STORYLINES DEMANDED THAT SORT OF INCLINATION, AND WORLDLY. THE STORIES WERE TOPICAL AND RELEVANT TO THE COLD WAR SHADINGS OF THE 1960S. THE ONLY MAJOR DRAWBACK TO THE COLLECTION IS THAT THE CLASSIC JOHNNY RIVERS THEME IS CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING. PERHAPS IT WAS A MUSIC RIGHTS SITUATION, BUT IT DEFINED THE SERIES IN THE U.S. THE SHADOWED HAT IMAGE OF SECRET AGENT IS DEPICTED.. THE DVD TRANSFER IS SUPERB, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THE ORIGINAL EPISODES APPEARED OVER 50 YEARS AGO. THE SERIES BOASTED IMPECCABLE BRITISH TALENT, INCLUDING SOME WHO APPEARED IN THE JAMES BOND SERIES: BERNARD LEE, DESMOND LLEWELLYN, ANTHONY DAWSON, ZENA MARSHALL, WALTER GOTELL, MARNE MAITLAND, HONOR BLACKMAN, CHARLES GRAY, DONALD PLEASENCE, ROBERT SHAW AND VLADEK SHEYBAL. ONLY TWO EPISODES ARE IN COLOR OF THE 86 PRESENTED, 'KOROSHI' AND ' SHIMA SHINDA'. THESE WERE TO HAVE BEEN THE BEGINNING OF A THIRD SEASON, BUT MCGOOHAN SOLD THE CONCEPT OF THE PRISONER TO ITC AND SIR LEW GRADE, THEREBY ENDING THE SERIES. THIS IS THE DEFINITIVE SPY SERIES FOR ANY SERIOUS COLLECTION.