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Topic ClosedTelevisual British SF or fantasy

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Poll Question: Do you have a favourite?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
2 [11.76%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
5 [29.41%]
0 [0.00%]
4 [23.53%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [5.88%]
1 [5.88%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
2 [11.76%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [5.88%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [5.88%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted

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Atavachron View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2016 at 20:25
I wouldn't mind seeing a Victorian-era British spy show, something in the vein of Wild,Wild West but even more steampunk (and not Mycroft Holmes).

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2016 at 20:47
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

I wouldn't mind seeing a Victorian-era British spy show, something in the vein of Wild,Wild West but even more steampunk (and not Mycroft Holmes).



You know, I'd totally check that out.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2016 at 21:32
Very cool idea, so would I.

Originally posted by BunBun BunBun wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Originally posted by BunBun BunBun wrote:

I am still working on getting to 40 points to contribute to the polls, but my vote would without a doubt be The Prisoner. I absolutely love that show, it is my favorite television show ever. I have the complete series on blu-ray. I'm a bit obsessed with it, and I have been seen I first watched it as a kid with my dad.

My one friend is absolutely obsessed with Doctor Who, she collects anything and everything related to it, I tried to get into it myself but it does absolutely nothing for me. Anyways, a little off topic but another show that I love that is like the prisoner a little was the original Avengers series with John Steed and Emma Peel.

Been watching it [The Avengers] late nights on the weekends, it's a kick, soooo 1960s English kitsch with mind-control and robots and zombies and flesh-eating plants LOL .   I'm guessing that's not what Special Branch was really up to.



lol i know, it is so 60s but I just love it.


I used to obsess over the Prisoner myself. I definitely have more The Prisoner related stuff than with any other show (have lots of books based on it and about it), and a friend of mine used to make The Prisoner related materials such as baby bibs, tee shorts, mugs so she gave me quite a lot of stuff. I was writing a guide for a site with that person, but never completed it. Pet, if you ever read this, sorry for not staying in touch, being lazy, or expressing my gratitude enough.

I really should have included the Avengers, I love that show too. I once had a crush on Emma Peel. Other than the Prisoner, the Avengers is my favourite of those 60s spy or spy-ish ones, though I like The Saint, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Danger Man, I Spy, and Mission Impossible if not quite as much as the earlier ones (as well as ones like Wild, Wild West and Get Smart).

As for Doctor Who, it really is a kids show (or target audience of 14), but I love it. I wouldn't put it at the same level as The Prisoner. It was part of my childhood, and as an adult it's something that I can enjoy with my kids. Each Doctor brings something different to the table, and for me with the latest Doctor, Peter Capaldi, Heaven Sent was one of the greatest hours of television I can think of (some hate that episode because it's so dark, stagy, and they think there are plot holes). The writing has not been consistently good over the years to say the least.

Edited by Logan - July 08 2016 at 21:34
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 02:10
Have you guys caught the early b&w Avengers from '61 with a young Honor Blackman?   They're pretty strange videotaped affairs, not really watchable -

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 04:48
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Have you guys caught the early b&w Avengers from '61 with a young Honor Blackman?   They're pretty strange videotaped affairs, not really watchable -

I've not seen any of them. I suspect the problem with the videotaped versions is they were originally recorded on the UK 405 line, 50 fields/s PAL system which didn't convert well to the USA standard used at the time (525 lines, 60 fields/s NTSC system). Because of the way the two different frame-rates are converted this means the speed and smoothness of the playback is affected. Episodes filmed on 16mm film are easier to convert by comparison.

The last thing I remember seeing Honor Blackman in is the UK version of Who's The Boss with Blackman taking on Katherine Helmond's role.

While as I grow older I rarely watch more than a couple of hours a day, my early evening tv schedule for the past few weeks has been re-runs of The Saint (Roger Moore version) followed by The Avengers (Linda Thorson episodes). Initially this was a way of forcing me to stop work at 6pm (one of the pitfalls of working from home) but I've become hooked on the kitsch-style of these 1960s shows. If they put on late afternoon re-runs of Danger Man, Orlando and Adam Adamant I probably wouldn't get any work done at all.LOL

Looking at today's listings it seems that The Avengers re-runs have reverted back to showing Diana Rigg episodes (yay!) and now on Mondays I've also got to fit-in watching the return of University Challenge (uk version of the old US quiz show College Bowl) and Only Connect (a quirky game show hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell - daughter of satirist Alan Coren and wife of peep-show's David Mitchell).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 07:13
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Have you guys caught the early b&w Avengers from '61 with a young Honor Blackman?   They're pretty strange videotaped affairs, not really watchable -



I've only seen a couple of those episodes but that was so long ago that I couldn't say if i liked them or not
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 07:19
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Very cool idea, so would I.

Originally posted by BunBun BunBun wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Originally posted by BunBun BunBun wrote:

I am still working on getting to 40 points to contribute to the polls, but my vote would without a doubt be The Prisoner. I absolutely love that show, it is my favorite television show ever. I have the complete series on blu-ray. I'm a bit obsessed with it, and I have been seen I first watched it as a kid with my dad.

My one friend is absolutely obsessed with Doctor Who, she collects anything and everything related to it, I tried to get into it myself but it does absolutely nothing for me. Anyways, a little off topic but another show that I love that is like the prisoner a little was the original Avengers series with John Steed and Emma Peel.

Been watching it [The Avengers] late nights on the weekends, it's a kick, soooo 1960s English kitsch with mind-control and robots and zombies and flesh-eating plants LOL .   I'm guessing that's not what Special Branch was really up to.



lol i know, it is so 60s but I just love it.


I used to obsess over the Prisoner myself. I definitely have more The Prisoner related stuff than with any other show (have lots of books based on it and about it), and a friend of mine used to make The Prisoner related materials such as baby bibs, tee shorts, mugs so she gave me quite a lot of stuff. I was writing a guide for a site with that person, but never completed it. Pet, if you ever read this, sorry for not staying in touch, being lazy, or expressing my gratitude enough.

I really should have included the Avengers, I love that show too. I once had a crush on Emma Peel. Other than the Prisoner, the Avengers is my favourite of those 60s spy or spy-ish ones, though I like The Saint, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Danger Man, I Spy, and Mission Impossible if not quite as much as the earlier ones (as well as ones like Wild, Wild West and Get Smart).

As for Doctor Who, it really is a kids show (or target audience of 14), but I love it. I wouldn't put it at the same level as The Prisoner. It was part of my childhood, and as an adult it's something that I can enjoy with my kids. Each Doctor brings something different to the table, and for me with the latest Doctor, Peter Capaldi, Heaven Sent was one of the greatest hours of television I can think of (some hate that episode because it's so dark, stagy, and they think there are plot holes). The writing has not been consistently good over the years to say the least.


That's awesome. I haven't come across many Prisoner related things, but I know there are stuff online to buy but I'm too lazy to order any of it. I bought this chest at goodwill to store some crap in and I decked it out in prisoner stuff like I printed pictures and collaged the front then I painted the map of the village on top. I'll take a picture of it later and post it. I also have the vinyl of music from the show but thats about it. I'm not into collecting things related to movies or tv shows but since I paint and draw, I just do my own picture if I'm that obsessed over it lol.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 13:36
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Have you guys caught the early b&w Avengers from '61 with a young Honor Blackman?   They're pretty strange videotaped affairs, not really watchable -


I've seen quite a few on American television and they are watchable imo.....not sure what you are referring to.
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Like many here probably do   ..I own the complete Emma Peel Avengers series and of course The Prisoner on dvd.


Edited by dr wu23 - July 11 2016 at 13:38
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 14:52
^ I mean they're poor;  bad picture, confused direction and plot, no real style or action.   Of course it was still the early days of British TV and not great transposition to non-UK sets, as Dean points out.   But hey those videotaped Twilight Zones suck too.   Film is almost always better.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2016 at 15:15
If they ever try to recreate the classic era, how about these two? -






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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 12 2016 at 00:45
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

If they ever try to recreate the classic era, how about these two? -

** Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey **

** Simon Pegg **

Erm, no. 

Not wanting to be ageist but Dockery is considerably older than any former Avengers girl, that's not to say she couldn't play the Steed role ... though if we were going for the gender reversal thing I think Rachael Stirling would be more appropriate (and her mother could play Father). 

The actress to play the "Emma Peel" role should either be a relatively unknown or someone like Talulah Riley or Juno Temple. (there's never been a shortage of posh English twenty-somethings coming out of drama-school ... finding one that can act shouldn't be too difficult... Tuppence Middleton?).

Pegg couldn't portray the Steed role with any grace or finesse (he can't act posh) - you'd need someone like Tom Hiddleston (too young) or Rupert Penry-Jones or Rupert Everett. 

**shudders to think of the fist of it that Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman made of it last time**



Edited by Dean - July 12 2016 at 01:44
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 12 2016 at 01:25
I was going against type  Wink

True they could use someone with real martial arts skills--  I love Rigg but the fight choreography in the show was appalling (though Uma Thurman was no better, and not British).

Have you caught Rigg playing her real daughter's mom in Detectorists ?   Best series I've seen in awhile.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 12 2016 at 01:51
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

I was going against type  Wink

True they could use someone with real martial arts skills--  I love Rigg but the fight choreography in the show was appalling (though Uma Thurman was no better, and not British).

The fight scenes were choreographed by martial arts experts:

Chee Soo: "He brought Kung Fu before a western audience years before Bruce Lee had even been heard of.
The Guinness_World_Records site states that "In 1965, Dame Diana Rigg (UK) became the first western actress to perform kung fu on Television when the combat choreographers Ray Austin (UK) and Chee Soo (UK/China) worked elements of the martial art into her fight scenes on The Avengers."

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Have you caught Rigg playing her real daughter's mom in Detectorists ?   Best series I've seen in awhile. 
I have, that's what made me think of them.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 12 2016 at 18:04
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

I was going against type  Wink

True they could use someone with real martial arts skills--  I love Rigg but the fight choreography in the show was appalling (though Uma Thurman was no better, and not British).
The fight scenes were choreographed by martial arts experts:

Chee Soo: "He brought Kung Fu before a western audience years before Bruce Lee had even been heard of.
The Guinness_World_Records site states that "In 1965, Dame Diana Rigg (UK) became the first western actress to perform kung fu on Television when the combat choreographers Ray Austin (UK) and Chee Soo (UK/China) worked elements of the martial art into her fight scenes on The Avengers."
Well then thank goodness Bruce came along because both the fight choreography and performance was remarkably horrible.   I think the key phrase there is "worked elements of the martial arts" into her fight scenes.   Translation; "no one in the public really knew what the arts looked like at that time and Rigg was not an athlete so it didn't matter anyway."

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Have you caught Rigg playing her real daughter's mom in Detectorists ?   Best series I've seen in awhile.
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

I have, that's what made me think of them.

I do think it was the chemistry between Macnee & Rigg that made the show so entertaining, otherwise it's just okay--  much like Streets of San Francisco or Wild,Wild West would've been flat without main characters' appealing relationship.



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