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Hot on the heels of ASSIGNMENTS I-III comes the second and final SAPPHIRE & STEEL DVD set, although the format that we're only getting fourteen episodes this time, compared to the 20 in the first set. Fortunately, however, the final three stories are better overall than the first three since there's no obvious clunker like ASSIGNMENT III to drag things down. In fact, the set gets off to a cracking start with an all-time science-fiction/fantasy classic. ASSIGNMENT IV is the one that stayed in my memory throughout the 1980s and the one that was instrumental in me buying the VHS releases back in 1992. This time, photography is the medium through which time is attempting to break through. So we have children who look like they've stepped out of century-old photographs and photographs that once had people in them. Upstairs, they find Liz Dupree, whose roomate has disappeared, as has the building's previous landlord, while she can't remember seeing the new landlord's face. Of course, that's because he hasn't got one, as we learn at the climax to episode one, although he later assumes a bland, young face to satisfy Liz. In fact, for a series that often had rubbish cliff-hangers, ASSIGNMENT IV's are very strong. For a series that went out in an early evening slot, this story is rather adult. The faceless man is the sort of thing to give small kids nightmares, trapping people in photographs and burning them to death is very chilling, while older viewers might conclude that Liz's nightclub job is on the seedy side of things. Although the CHARMED episode THE PAINTED WORLD features a lead character threatened with being trapped in a painting and burned, it's nowhere near as chilling as here. Sapphire and Steel might spend a lot of episode four trapped in a photograph, but the tension never lets up. Steed's advice to Liz is equally chilling: "Find every photo of you. Burn them. Never have another taken." ASSIGNMENT V is the only story not written by creator P.J. Hammond, and the cheapo nature of the series is immediately apparent. With no "clean" version of the titles presumably available, ATV simply fade out of the opening credits when Hammond's name would appear and shimmer in Don Houghton's or Anthony Read's instead. Hammond has said that he wouldn't have chosen the dinner party setting, but it does work quite well. One of the story's main problems is its length and the fact that we know early on that the youngest guest will be the next to die. This does mean the early episodes are a little predictable, although there is still much to enjoy. Particular highlights are Sapphire's delight at winning at bridge, Greville the butler (supposedly a repressed character, but actually camp as coffee) and the recruitment of "Brass" (a concept which did find favour with Hammond). The climax is equally great as the events of 1930 are repeatedly played out until Steel manages to keep history on track. ASSIGNMENT VI sees the pair meet Silver at a suspiciously clean-looking service station, where they find an adulterous couple running away from their partners. The couple are also suspicious although this time it's intended since they're actually from 1948, when it's actually the "present day" (presumably approximately 1981). The place itself seems isolated from time, with the same traffic passing and the same few seconds playing on the radio. Time then slips, and Sapphire and Steel encounter the old man who ran the garage in 1923, although this time they're in his time. Time then slips again and they meet Johnny Jack, a travelling player, who is from 1957. Sapphire then sees images of the three men dressed in suits like Silver and Steel. Of course it's all a trap on the part of the Transient Beings (who may or may not be the Trans-uranics from the opening titles), who have previously tried to recruit both Sapphire and Steel. I would disagree with the view that the nature of the story means the first three episodes don't really stand up to repeated viewing. Even if you know things are red herrings, there's still plenty of great moments, notably Silver learning why he isn't enjoying playing the fruit machine. There are a couple of dodgy aspects, however. The sets are clearly a set, while the spotlight on the glass during the timeslip is a bit cringeworthy. On the other hand, the final episode is one of the series' best. Guest stars Edward De Souza and Christopher Fairbanks are also suitably sinister, although perhaps not as sinister as The Shape from ASSIGNMENT IV. One of my main complaints with the first set was the fact that ASSIGNMENT II was crammed onto one disc, but even the longest story here is only six episodes, so that's not a problem. For a presentation buff like myself, it's good to see the ATV endcap left intact on all episodes, although there's still no frontcaps (which is made all the more annoying by the Carlton Video ident right at the start - couldn't we at least have had an ATV zoom ident there as well?). ASSIGNMENT V episode five also has the theme music crashing in at the end of part 1, even though there's no ad break captions on any episode - this might have been unavoidable, however, since the copy I taped off Bravo back in the mid-1990s is exactly the same. Extras are pretty much the same as the first set, i.e. thin on the ground. However, the episodes themselves are the main reason for buying the set and despite ASSIGNMENT V dragging a little, they're pretty much top-notch. Overall, the two sets are a perhaps little pricey (and many retailers seem to be selling this set for the same price as the first, which is bit of a rip-off when it's six episodes shorter), but this is still another example of British science-fiction/fantasy at its best. BACK TO THE TOP |
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