Avengers - Tunnel Of Fear

There's Always A Buzz Of Excitement When a presumably lost TV episode is suddenly rediscovered. as in This case its from That classic 60s crime series The Avengers. now if we had been viewing a Mrs Peel or Tara King episode I probably would have added 60s fantasy series. but The early origins of The original Avengers had its roots in That Good old crime Thriller. renowned British actor Ian Hendry was Dr David Keel and yes Patrick Macnee is in There as John Steed. Though The Steed role is basically playing opposite To The lead role just as The Avengers Girls would as The series progressed into The format we know The Avengers Today. There is still an Avengers Girl of sorts featured who was a semi regular To The Steed, Keel partnership in The shape of The lovely Ingrid Hafner as Carol Wilson. The rediscovered episode offers one amusing scene with Ingrid Hafner as Carol standing in her underwear doing her ironing as Steed and Keel enter her apartment. No you wouldn't see it in a Emma Peel or Tara King episode but it does give you an idea how This Avengers differs from The Avengers we know and love Today. onto The archive episode itself lost and found The Tunnel Of Fear. well its all about shady dealings at The local fun fair The series Then was shot on video tape and as can be expected as That studio bound look about it The character of John Steed was a little more playing it straight Than The Steed we see in The later series. Though a little of The classic Steed is still on view as he and Carol go undercover amongst The carnival atmosphere. while its True Steed was still a bowler wearer in This series The classic Trademark bowler is not on view for This episode. with videotape Tending To be a little on The dark side There are some very dark scenes in The latter part of The episode in The Ghost Tunnel shots hence The Title Tunnel Of Fear. That said overall for an episode That's been missing for 55 years The Quality is really Good. The 52 minute archive episode offers some exclusive extras with archive interviews from Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee clearly Taken at The height of Their new series. An excellent companion in The shape of a really informative booklet detailing The early Avengers series with stills used Throughout particularly from The Tunnel Of Fear completes an excellent package probably putting To shame any recent DVD releases regards extras. Does The episode leave you wanting more ? well I will leave That for you To decide it's John Steed it's The Avengers and we still have our Avengers Girl Time To crack open a bottle of bubbly and welcome back a lost classic TV episode.

Despite immodestly considering myself quite the connoisseur of vintage 60's British television (Doctor Who especially) I must admit to being criminally unfamiliar with one of that celebrated era's most iconic shows: The Avengers.Nevertheless, and in a climate of renewed optimism and speculation post the sensational recovery of two Doctor Who stories (namely an almost complete 'The Web of Fear' and 'The Enemy of the World') in 2013, the recent announcement of a recovered Avengers episode from the show's obscure (and largely missing) first season piqued my curiosity.I consequently purchased 'Tunnel of Fear' then with good if trepidatious expectations, suitably forewarned that the show's first season substantially differed in tone and style to 'The Avengers' that would proceed it as an internationally beloved cult classic.Now having finally watched it I can honestly say.....I really enjoyed 'Tunnel of Fear'! It's dark, gritty yet surreal tone contrasts greatly with the ubiquitous bowler hat 'n' cat suit style of later seasons. Indeed, Tunnel' inevitably epitomises the modest, live, studio-bound stage play-esque type productions prevalent at the time.Yet despite such modest pretensions the episode pleasingly boasts a plethora of embryonic facets that would be progressively developed/established as the show hit its stride. In fact the entertainingly bonkers core premise of the episode perhaps best exemplifies the show's prototypical tonal style: an enemy espionage base cunningly secreted within the ghost train ride of a dilapidated fairground! But of course!On a technical level though (and sadly having been spoiled on meticulously restored recovered Doctor Who material) I do have one gripe: 'Tunnel of Fear' clearly has had little to no restoration work conducted on it and whilst this doesn't unacceptably detract from viewing it nevertheless frustrates to know that it isn't being released in exactly optimum condition.Regardless, 'Tunnel of Fear' is well worth the purchase imo. Extras, though ostensibly slim are nonetheless excellent with Big Finish's pre-discovery recreation/adaption of the episode included as well as abridged versions of other currently missing season 1 episodes. Insightful interviews (both contemporary and modern) round out this excellent package.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Definitely recommended for both Avengers diehards and the merely curious like myself!

With so little of the debut series of ‘The Avengers’ featuring Keel and Steed surviving the discovery of this lost episode is certainly important enough to warrant its own separate release. ‘The Tunnel of Fear’ isn’t, perhaps, the most monumental or memorable of the missing episodes and appears somewhat more light-hearted, even frivolous, in comparison to the rest of the series. However, with so little surviving from this first series it still has much to reveal about the beginnings of The Avengers. It is, perhaps, a bit on the pricey side for only one episode but you’re really paying for the novelty of seeing a long missing part of a cult programme in its early days.To compensate for just having the one episode on the disc there is a whole plethora of special features. The bulk of these are the telesnap reconstructions. There are as many as fourteen included which provide quite an insight into the programme’s first series. These include the very first ever episode of ‘The Avengers’, ‘Hot Snow’, which has its first section (from the start until the first commercial break) actually still intact. It has featured on earlier releases but its inclusion here alongside ‘The Tunnel of Fear’ feels quite suitable. It is a real highlight of the disc, if you haven’t previously seen it, as it reveals just how Keel becomes embroiled in the world of Steed.There is also an alternate version of ‘The Tunnel of Fear’ taken from Big Finish’s audio adaptions and a fairly informative booklet loaded with photographs and including a short Avengers comic strip.