ITV's decision to licence its archive to Network for DVD releases means that instead of the expected Thriller season two set we've got the complete series of all 43 episodes. Of course, this means that those of us who bought the first set have to buy those episodes again, but it also meant that releases didn't stall halfway through.

With forty-three episodes in one set, there's little point in giving anything more than a brief overview, especially since any anthology series is bound to vary in quality. Suffice to say that it's generally of a high standard, although it probably did end at about the right time.

As mentioned in the review of the season 1 set, Thriller reflects ATV's desire to sell series to the US market. Most episodes feature a US guest star (Donna Mills, for example, stars in three episodes, but she's easy on the eye so I'm not complaining), and even those who don't have American characters, such as those played by Gabrielle Drake and Susan Hampshire in Kill Two Birds.

The series is packed with big-names, and anyone who's watched a decent amount of British television from the last thirty or forty years will have no problem recognising many of the actors, especially as several appear more than once (Dinsdale Landen even plays the same character in two different episodes).

As well as all 43 Thriller episodes, Network have included some interesting extras. Most significant are Who Killed Lamb? which was promoted in the TV Times as a Thriller episode but which was actually made by Yorkshire Television, and an extended version of If It's a Man, Hang Up.

That episode is also included in its original UK format, although it's one of a couple that have had to be compiled from different sources since the original ATV tapes have been junked. However, it's good to see the effort made (presumably by Carlton as part of their restoration of the ATV archive) instead of merely bunging the US TV movie versions on the disc.

The opening and closing titles to these TV movies are included after each episode and are hilariously bad. Often used to pad out an episode's running time many fetaure additional material which was clearly shot without any of the original actors, sets or locations. So expect lots of shots of feet, backs of heads and close-ups of hands. The ATV front and endcaps are both present, as are the adcaps. And if you press the back key at the start of each episode you'll also get the ATV VT clocks - a nice touch for presentation anoraks.

As well as the two bonus episodes mentioned extras are limited to an interesting Brian Clemens interview, a sizeable picture gallery and a brief restoration featurette.

However, Network really should sort out some better packaging that those horrible Scanavo boxes. Not only do they have no release mechanism but with one disc on top of another, getting the discs out can be a bit of a hassle.

That hassle aside, this is a welcome addition to any classic television fan's collection, especially since it's now retailing for around half it's original (£100 plus) selling price. back to the top

THRILLER
THE COMPLETE SERIES

Created by BRIAN CLEMENS

NETWORK

REGION 2 PAL (CERT. 18)


RATING: 8/10