Persuaders!, The: Volume 6 (UK)

The single series of The Persuaders is a true 1970`s TV classic, an improbable and extravegant joy. The official DVD Reviewer site review damns this vintage show`s DVD release with faint praise, and it deserves much better.

Video:

While probably not a technical reference grade transfer, this seems like broadcast quality replay to me. Episodes with a lot of foggy low light scenes (the "day-for-night" curse of 70`s TV) show some smear and artefacting on my system, but these 4 episodes don`t seem to suffer too much. Where the light is strong the picture is bright, sharp and clear. You could count all the hairs on Roger Moore`s blow-dried head.

Audio:

The original mono on the 2 front channels, crystal clear to my poor ears.

Extras:

I defer to the wisdom of the Great Dane, that "the play`s the thing". Menus and chapter stops alone don`t really add value, but why quibble when each episode is already priceless? Commentaries from the stars would have been nice, but possibly not phoned in from the strange new universe Tony Curtis seems to live in these days. There are a few odds and sods on earlier discs for those with an urgent need to know more.

General:

The Persuaders is a moment of pure joy frozen in video and about as much fun as you can have in front of a television. There is a legend that the show was killed in the ratings in the US, because it was scheduled against Mission: Impossible. It was huge across Europe - especially France, where many early episodes were shot on location - and perhaps the lure of 007 for Lord Roger is more to blame. Happily, with only a single series neither the format or the charm of the leads were ever flogged to stale exhaustion. The stories are not challenging, and rely on a very few basic plot devices like missing fortunes, mistaken identity, mysterious doubles and kidnapping. The pleasure and energy in the show comes from the set-pieces, the interplay between and individual performances of the leads, and the strange, timeless, unreal quality of the world they inhabit. This isn`t just a rosy glow of nostalgia, the series was not exactly rooted in the real world when originally released. It is pure comedy adventure of a type, sad to say, they simply don`t make any more. Enjoy it while you can.