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Thriller - The Complete Series (15 Disc Box Set)
RRP: £99.99
Our Price: £42.97 (subject to change)
Editorial
Synopsis
Features the complete forty-three episodes from the 70's series. Episodes include: 'Lady Killer', 'Possession', 'An Echo Of Theresa', 'The Colour Of Blood', 'K Is For Killing', 'Where The Action Is', 'Murder Motel', 'Sleepwalker' and 'Dial A Deadly Number'.
Thrills and Spills
Review date: 2008-08-19 Rating: 6 out of 10
The entire six series of 'Thriller' which was originally made and aired on terrestrial tv (or just 'tv' as it was then called!) in the early to mid 1970's.
In lots of ways having viewed every episode I would have to acknowledge the obviously commendable and quite prolific effort involved in writing these television 'plays' but also for me on several occasions it was not the acting, sets, or presentation that let many of the stories down but the writing itself. They did quite often have the feel of presenting a scenario, characters, dialogue and action in quite an elaborate and interesting way only for an anti-climatic last quarter to emerge when the strings were drawn together in often the most implausible manner imaginable with adherence to a strict criteria of 'at this point hero turns up and saves the lady' I can only think there must have been some exterior commercial pressure present for each episode to be structured in such a formulaic manner and this was clearly not the best possible resolution in a number of episodes.
I have to say that the whole token American did get on my nerves also. I was happy to ignore this as a small point but by the time you get to the 20th episode and there's yet another U.S citizen on her holidays, marrying an Englishman, working here etc you have to wonder just how much this body of work was compromised to satisfy the U.S distributors/audience. Even American viewers must have got a bit fed up with seeing yet another American in 'jolly old England' after a while I imagine.
Some stories whilst the idea was good the execution let it down. I do agree with some of the points the 1 star reviewer has given this compilation. Often red herrings were presented too clumsily. Showing the seedy little caretaker cutting pictures of the 'victim' out of magazines and generally acting weird with the directors big invisible sign around his neck saying 'this is the murderer' but whenever the 'killer' is depicted in action you only ever see his shoes. Well we know it's not the caretaker mate otherwise you'd just show him doing it. It's one of the other guys she knows who has hardly been in it up to now and who has done nothing remotely suspicious at all! Oh he's inviting her to his country retreat, there's 10 mins left, that'll be him then.
Having said all that there are some good stories well presented and some of the not as well presented episodes are still entertaining. The acting is of a good standard, a young Helen Mirren is outstanding in the episode she is in as is Diana Dors aa well as many other UK and U.S actors. The stories cover a wide variety of subjects from the supernatural to general villany, murder most horrid etc. There are also a lot of episodes for your money though as intimated, of varying quality.
It's fun viewing life and social attitudes in the 70's where every gal dreamed of becoming a secretary and the police could make statements such as 'I'll accept help from anyone. Even a woman' (said by Brian Blessed to a woman posing as a private detective) without fear of repproach or riddicule.
I can understand giving a rating of anything between 1 and 4 stars for this but not 5 stars as there are too many weak episodes to justify this. Even some of the 5 star reviews on this site have listed or acknowledged many of the fundamental flaws with this boxset but still equated it as deserving full marks. It is a slight shame that the 1 star review by George W. Iscariot has been so heavily marked down as I feel it provides some much needed balance and to that end is a helpful review.
So, has this compilation got repeat value? Yes.
Is it likely to appeal to anyone under 30? Unlikely.
Would I recommend purchasing? Possibly, there are a lot of episodes. If you can vaguely remember it from the 70's and liked it and can get it for less than half price it may not be a bad buy.
Overall good in parts but not enough real quality to make it an essential purchase.
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Reviews
A Collection of great vintage British Thillers!
Review date: 2008-08-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
Oh gosh - I remember these so well! I remember looking forward to watching these with my father each week. Fabulous stuff and full of suspense with great atmosphere and some great 'incidental' music! Another lovely slice of yesterday thanks to good old 'Network' who have done it again - 'Network' certainly rule! This is yet another great release of quality vintage TV, and as usual; all the Ad. Bumpers are still intact. These have clearly been re-mastered, though even at the time, I distinctly recall the crystal clear sound and picture quality of this classic weekly TV show. The striking theme music will have stuck in many a Viewer's mind as these episodes were eagerly anticipated each and every week. There were some big names in these, and someone of 'note' starred in each and every episode - some of the bigger names were:
Linda Thorson, John Le Mesurier, Dennis Waterman, Joyce Carey, Jeremy Brett, Nyree Dawn Porter, Patrick Allen, Jacqueline Tong, Helen Mirren, Robert Powell, Richard Todd, Pamela Franklin, Diana Dors, Patrick Trougton, Judy Geeson, Charles Gray, Donna Mills, Ian Hendry, David Lodge, Max Wall, Carol Lynley, Gerald Harper, James Villiers, Peter Bowles, Ian Bannen, Denholm Elliott, Keith Barron, Geoffrey Chater, Nigel Havers, Ralph Bates, T. P. McKenna, Sydney Tafler, Stuart Damon, Gemma Jones, Bob Hoskins, Susan Hampshire, Dudley Sutton and Brian Blessed.
At the opening of each episode, there was a little 'jingle' for the 'ATV' presentation and logo which upon hearing again after all these years so beautifully re-mastered will bring tears of nostalgia to the eyes of many I suspect... Every time you thought you'd seen the best of these shows, another would surpass its predecessor - if that was truly possible, and one would never really know the outcome until the show had actually ended! There were often great 'twists' that would mirror the later successful TV series that would follow: 'The Tales Of The Unexpected'.
Amazingly (though there were many far better episodes) for some reason, one of the episodes that had stuck in my mind remarkably well was one starring Robert Powell and the fabulous Linda Thorson (the best of 'The Avengers' girls in my opinion) The scene that had stuck in my mind in particular was the one involving the decanter stopper. Oddly, this is the first episode on the Disc Set, though like 'Network's' release of 'The Champions' - and unusual for them, these are also arranged on the Discs out of original sequence and airing dates for some reason.
The episodes involving the Private Investigator played by Dinsdale Landen were so good, they almost spawned a regular TV show independently! Just the odd story was sometimes tricky to follow, like perhaps 'Murder In Mind' for example, which was very 'deep', but this did not matter. In another, Maureen Lipman gives an award-winning performance as the scared Librarian in a story co-starring John Le Mesurier. (two great actors in unlikely roles)
Another great episode does in fact ring a bell from the movie 'Eyewitness' that stars Peter Vaughan in both, and the episode starring John Turner almost mirrors the same opening of his movie: 'The Black Torment' which he was to also star.
Some of these are still dreadfully eerie to watch, and still send a cold chill down the spine after all these years! The one with Hayley Mills and Gary Collins in particular is a great example of this. Probably the weakest episode is 'K Is For Killing' which somehow does not fit into the series quite as comfortably as the rest. There's also shows demonstrating some great talent from stars in the making, like Helen Mirren for example who even back then was displaying her abilities and talent, and giving us a mere taste of what she was to become!
One of the very best stories has to be 'Dial A Deadly Number' and must serve as a lesson to all not to take advantage of a situation that could potentially turn around and bite you in the bum! The suffering and consequences then become self inflicted...
The series goes out with a bang on its usual top form with 'Death In Deep Water' which is full of even more classic suspense and twists!
A total of 43 episodes in this box set and so these come in at tremendously great value for money! Among some of the best titles are:
Someone At the Top Of The Stairs
File It Under Fear
The Eyes Have It
Spell Of Evil
Only A Scream Away
Once The Killing Starts
One Deadly Owner
A Coffin For The Bride
I'm The Girl He Wants To Kill
In the Steps Of A Dead Man
Screamer
Nurse Will Make It Better
A Killer In Every Corner
If It's A Man, Hang Up
The Double Kill
The Crazy Kill
The Next Voice You See
Sleepwalker
The Next Victim
Nightmare For A Nightingale
Dial A Deadly Number
Death In Deep Water
Bonus and Extras include an extremely interesting interview with Brian Clemens - Creator, and also a fascinating look at how they re-mastered some of the shows!
Enormously great value!
iknowthat!!!!!!!
Review date: 2008-01-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
The above review title being a line from one of the most scariest things i have ever seen on tv ,and if fellow thriller fans are reading they will know to what the line refers to (episode title "i,m the girl he wants to kill " for those who don,t know)-this particular episode is only one of many and would be an ideal place to start for guaranteed shocks,but having owned this set for over 2 years i am thinking that each episode stands on its own merit,and you have good plots,mystery ,red herrings and guessing who did it as well as scary moments.Also its a period piece for how 70,s tv drama was made and you have the wonderful studio lighting which only served to add to creepy atmosphere("the colour of blood" shows this to brilliant effect).i wonder however if it holds up to younger viewers today and would be interested in that feedback-however there are enough of us over 35s who still enjoy this (it even has its own website and guest book which never fails to amaze me the love and the trivia that fans show for this 70,s gem)- to sum up i agree with a lot of the posts that say it takes you back to childhood tv shocks whilst watching with the lights down in what will always be tv,s golden age
True TV Classic
Review date: 2007-09-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
These are genuinely scary tales, its a cliche but they do not make stuff like this no more. If like me you were a small boy in the 70s then you were denied the pleasure of viewing this sort of thing. The old programs have been very well restored and its great to see the stalwart actors of that era get their teeth into great stories and parts. Brian Clemens was a very good writer and not only did he come up with the plots for all these shows he is the creator of The Avengers and The Professionals how can one bloke be so talented.
Quirky, Addictive and Sometimes Disturbing
Review date: 2007-09-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
When I was 11 years old, I used to watch these with my 9 year-old sister, after our parents had gone out for a late night cards session. We baby-sat ourselves in those days (1973-4), but with this on ATV every time they went to play, we were getting "thrilled" without the need for burglars and muggers.
My personal favourite has to be "A Place to Die" which starts so wonderfully (newly-weds moving into their new countryside home), and is so plausible in those days of limited communication, I am still hobbling today! Most of these episodes are beautifully-paced, and demonstrate an artform long forgotten by today's TV script writers.
They'll never make TV like this again - it makes people "feel" too much.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
John Le Mesurier
Robert Powell
Jeremy Brett
Helen Mirren
Patrick Troughton
Creators:
Robert Powell (Primary Contributor)
Jeremy Brett (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626227647
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 15
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-07-18
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 999 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)