Seven more episodes from THE AVENGERS' fourth season are brought together on this two-disc set.

Despite the title, we actually open with an episode from December 1965 - Christmas Day, in fact (well, at least if you were in the North and Midlands). The telepathy plot of TOO MANY CHRISTMAS TREES has been dismissed as "slight", but when you consider the threat posed, it's not that at all. There's a nice Christmas atmosphere, with plenty of Dickens references as well (Steed's "my, you have filled out!" when he first sees Emma's Oliver Twist costume is brilliant) and it's not hard to see why this is many fans' favourite episode.

Sadly, things take a bit of a downturn for the next episode, SILENT DUST, which is pretty average AVENGERS fare, suffers from some rather uninteresting villains who are intent on blackmailing the government (although Juggins' whipping of Emma is as strong as anything from A TOUCH OF BRIMSTONE). A few good lines and Steed seeing Emma as a Wild West-style doctor aren't enough to rescue this one.

Things improve with THE GIRL FROM AUNTIE, which is pretty much a holiday episode for Diana Rigg. All right, so Liz Fraser's Georgie Price-Jones looks nothing like Emma Peel, but putting that aside, there's a lot to enjoy here. Georgie herself is fun, there's a couple of interesting AVENGERS eccentrics in Sylvia Coleridge's Aunt Hetty and Bernard Cribbins' Arkwright, and a good villain in the form of Alfred Burke's Gregorio Auntie, whose Art Incorporated claim to be able to procure anything - at a price.

THE THIRTEENTH HOLE is probably the worst episode here, with uninteresting characters, an uninteresting plot and some rather obvious optically-printed backdrops. Donald Hewlett's comment to Emma that he "wouldn't mind giving you a stroke or two, on or off the course" is the best thing about the entire episode.

QUICK-QUICK SLOW DEATH sees Emma undercover as a dance teacher as she and Steed try to infiltrate a scheme designed to replace lonely bachelors with enemy agents. There are some good eccentrics, but overall this doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

THE DANGER MAKERS has the pair investigating the deaths of high-ranking military personnel in teenage stunts. It's slightly uneven, but there are some good lines ("show him your bumps"), Steed's "diffusing" of the chocolates is a scream, Emma looks great and the initiation test is also well done.

Finally we have THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, a popular story with many fans, although not one of my personal favourites. However, it's nice to see that Emma's able to get by without Steed's help.

As with the rest of Contender's sets, the episodes are supposedly "digitally remastered", and although reasonable, the quality isn't perfect. However, that's down to Canal + rather than Contender. Extras are absent as usual, with even basic things like subtitles absent.

Oh, and there's no ABC frontcaps and only the occasional endcap. Grrr... BACK TO THE TOP

THE AVENGERS:
THE DEFINITIVE DOSSIER -
1966, FILES ONE AND TWO

Written by TONY WILLIAMSON,
ROGER MARSHALL,
ROBERT BANKS STEWART,
BRIAN CLEMENS

Directed by ROY BAKER,
JAMES HILL, CHARLES CHRICHTON
BILL BAIN, PETER GRAHAM SCOTT,
DON LEAVER

Starring PATRICK MACNEE
and DIANA RIGG


KULT T.V.
(CERTIFICATE PG)


RATING: 8/10


REGION 2 (PAL)