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STUDIO: A&E Home Video
MSRP: $99.95
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 2310 min
SPECIAL FEATURES:

Commentary
Rare Footage
Trivia
Bios
Photo Galleries

The Pitch

Espionage only exists in England.

The Humans

Roger Moore, Tony Curtis, Robert Vaughan and David Prowse

The Nutshell

Number Six is a spy that has been placed in a secret prison called The Village. Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde have teamed up to solve crimes that the cops can’t. An odd trio of spies works for super-group Nemesis as they try to solve the world’s ills. A trio of crimefighters are available to help you out if you can afford them. These are the adventures of The Prisoner, The Persuaders, The Champions and The Protectors. Their tales make up The Spy Collection.

A thigh thicker than Tyson Farms.

The Lowdown

A&E has done something fantastic here. Sure, they only included four episodes of The Prisoner. But, they’re offering up the first seasons of three great British spy shows. If you want to know what happens after the end of that, you’re going to have to hunt down the often Out of Print titles on your own. Sorry to rain on anyone’s parade.

The Prisoner is a cult classic beloved by intellectuals and British television everywhere. I became aware of it during its morning re-run run on A&E. The visual oddity of seeing a bouncing white ball chasing after British miscreants made me smile. Sure, there’s the complex nature of trying to live free in an increasingly Totalitarian society. But, I’m just a fan of Rover.

It’s the latest in Z-Man fashions.


The Persuaders is an American/British send-up of the buddy show. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore play poorly off each, but it adds up to comedy. You get setpieces that wouldn’t like out of place in an Austin Powers movie. Then, there’s the lame plotlines that always involved getting as much on-air pussy as ITV would allow. The show’s good for a laugh, none of which are intentional.

The Protectors is the sole half-hour show of the bunch. Robert Vaughn stars in this series as the non British lead. He pals around with some Brits and few mainland Europeans while they solve crimes. The problem is that they never really solve crimes or spy on people. In fact, they come across more as tourists with an anarchist bent.

The Champions is a group of adventurers working for the secret Spy organization known as Nemesis. Nemesis is the secret police force deployed by the United Nations. If that wasn’t enough, the trio meet an ancient civilization that grants them mind powers. All of this is in the pilot episode. The group then uses their mental powers to fight Neo-Nazis and the other human plot devices that cause trouble in Geneva.

No. It’s an airplane.

The Package

Commentary – Commentary on select episodes from the creative staff behind the shows. This is very dry, as the spend most of the time talking about the history leading up to the productions.

Rare Footage

Have you ever wondered what the shows look like when they are aired in other countries. Now, you’ll know.

Trivia, Bios and Photo Galleries – Text and image based supplementals designed to pad out the content heavy release. Most of this would’ve been commonplace in 1997, now it just feels rather cheap.

The real star of the show gets a private helicopter.

7.7 out of 10