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The Secret Service - The Complete Series
RRP: £25.99
Our Price: £9.98 (subject to change)
A disappointment
Review date: 2008-09-19 Rating: 4 out of 10
I tried really hard to like this series. As a fan of both Gerry Anderson shows and of Stanley Unwin, I'd been intrigued by this series for years having read sketchy descriptions of it in articles about Gerry Anderson. Unfortunately I had to give up on it after the first disc of the two disc set.
Rather than getting used to the switch between live action shots of vehicles, long shots of the real Stanley Unwin walking into buildings and the puppet "action", this device becomes ever more distracting. This is worsened in the episode featuring a studio landscape of a railway station.
The wonderful Mr Unwin is very underused and the series really needed an element of surrealism to give more scope to his talents. A more fitting memorial is his narration on "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" by the Small Faces.
Although the models and puppetry are easilly up to the standard of previous TV21 series, the plots here seem rushed, not thoroughly thought through and the tone is quite arch and self conscious. Although in a couple of episodes the puppets were so similar in appearance it was difficult to keep track of who was who. Sylvia Anderson's limited vocal talents as the only female are also a down point. Watching the series became more of a chore the further I got into it. Even leaving a few weeks between episodes didn't help.
It is well known that by this point Gerry Anderson was desperate to escape from doing puppet based shows. With this in mind it seems that this series was some sort of deliberate attempt to self destruct the franchise.
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Reviews
A new definition of the term 'curate's egg'
Review date: 2007-08-17 Rating: 8 out of 10
A series to divide the masses; Gerry Anderson's strangest offering, and for my money, the most amusing. A heady mix of pupperty and real life set in 1960s rolling countryside with Stanley Unwin's interpratation of the English dialect; all adding up to a really unusual show, but with bags of entertainment value, and something to check out definately. Imagine Anderson's puppets mixed with 60s whimsy and a taste of late 60s odd-ness and you may be close!
Not Anderson's Finest
Review date: 2007-04-21 Rating: 6 out of 10
Being a Gerry Anderson fan for the best part of forty years, this slice of TV passed me by as it was never broadcast in my region. On the strength of all the previous work I thought I would buy the last of the "Supermarionation" series to enjoy as a slightly more grown-up grown up.
Sad to say, I was rather dissapointed at the overall low budget of the whole show. What some think is a quaint mix of real photography mixed with miniatures, I think was just a cheap ploy to save on model sets. Everything seems to lack the attention to detail of the previous Century21 productions, and it feels like they are just "Going through the motions". Even "Joe 90" is way above this.
It all just seems to be hand-me-downs from previous shows, from the sets, the music, the models and even the puppets. That fact particularly, as they didnt just use the usual "extras cast" but Captain Scarlet is now blonde, bespectacled and in a tweed jacket, and Captain Black and others make appearances as lead characters. There were no major machines or technology to save the poor concept, and even weaker scripts and to top it off, the theme was not so much "Godly" as "Godawful" with a cheesy 60's singing group.
I can see why this show was axed, and why it was also never broadcast now. Moving on to real actors with the brilliant "UFO" was probably Anderson's best ever decision. He said himself "I hated those bloody puppets", and now forty years on, I am beginning to see why.
The last example of a sadly missed discipline
Review date: 2006-08-06 Rating: 8 out of 10
I have been a fan of Anderson productions from a very young age and own most of his other series on dvd, however i never got round to the Secret Service until recently.
This is a gem of a series with well written (and often funny) storylines and the best "supermarionation" i have seen in any anderson production.
The only thing for me that spolis the series is the "real life" inserts and the fact that most stories follow a similer theme.
However at this price this really is a steal for some good old fashioned action/adventure for children and adults alike.
poppy out of the case and buy this dvd now please matthew
Review date: 2005-10-17 Rating: 10 out of 10
Yet another top quality classic anderson series. Ive got all of andersons puppet shows on dvd and this is certainly as good as any of them.we all know how quality the likes of thunderbirds and captain scarlet are but this is still great and i cant beleive only 13 episodes were made. What were they thinking. This shows great. What a marvellous idea having a shrinking device in the bible that father unwin uses to shrink his garderner matthew. He then puts him in his case and takes him round with him to take on dangerous missions given to them by the bishop. Well done gerry.The list of classics is endless. supercar,captain scarlet,ufo,terrahawks,joe 90,doppelganger,fireball xl5 etc They are all great.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Gary Files
Stanley Unwin
Creators:
Stanley Unwin (Primary Contributor)
Gary Files (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626227548
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-06-20
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 325 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1969
Language: English (Original Language)