Superb British cult B&W television!
James Bond, move over! This is a set of six, 52-minute entries from the great and brilliant team of Patrick Macnee (as the aristocratic John Steed) and Diana Rigg (as the tantalizing Emma Peel). The Rigg years were definitely the best ones and there is one other set from 1966 (also with Rigg) so don't confuse them! All these episodes were shot in black-and-white and the aspect is full-screen. Here's a rundown of the episodes:

"The 13th Hole" -- A Mad Scientist/International Intrigue vehicle where a golf course country club is being used as a cover location. Steed and Mrs. Peel tee-off on the bad guys. This is a really great episode! Written by Terry Williamson.

"Quick-Quick-Slow Death" -- A dancing school is the focus, where some mighty underhanded stuff is going on -- but who is the ring-leader of the skullduggery? Written by Robert Banks Stewart.

"Small Game for Big Hunters" -- A Jungle-full of tropical shenanigans, including savage natives with blowguns, and a plot of biological sabotage just a few miles from London? It's so and viewers will love this one -- Lots of cool sets. Written by Philip Levene.

"The Girl from Auntie" -- A fake Mrs. Peel! The real one is being auctioned off to a pack of mean international bidders! Pretty good. Written by Roger Marshall.

"Silent Dust" -- This is one of my big favorites. A group of very bad people plan to hold all England for ransom -- if they don't get paid, they'll release the "Silent Dust" which exterminates all life. It all culminates during a big fox-hunt! Great casting in this entry. Written by Roger Marshall.

"Room Without A View" -- Important scientists go missing and end up in a very nasty Asian prison camp... sort of. It's really all happening inside an exclusive hotel. Steed, who poses as a gourmet hotel critic, and Mrs. Peel have to solve the deadly mystery and get back these top scientists. Written by Roger Marshall.

I don't know if you get the same deal if you purchase the DVD set -- with the VHS set, you'll get 3 tapes, with two episodes per tape (with the other '66 set, there's a "bonus episode," which makes three episodes on one of the tapes), for a total of 6 episodes. The tapes are not copy-protected.

There were Avengers episodes prior to 1965 but they weren't quite as good -- they were more soap opera-ish. Macnee had two or three different lady-partners during those earlier years and those gals simply weren't as dynamic as Rigg. Also, the music, action, and story-writing much improved in '65, which is when "The Avengers" got launched on to American television -- I watched every one of these episodes at the time. These black-and-white Macnee-Rigg entries continued through 1966, (it went color after that and Rigg eventually left the series). In the end, '65 and '66 were the two best years of all.

Steed Makes Strange Bedfellows - Emma Becomes A Swinger
The six episodes in this set happen to be the most average of the black-and-white Diana Rigg series. Not bad - in fact, not bad at all - but not extraordinary, either. There's a bit of camp (and Rigg in a nice suit of undress) in "The Girl From A.U.N.T.I.E.," and splendid wit and humor (with some of the best Steed-Emma interplay in the series) in the somewhat satirical "Quick-Quick Slow Death."

The rest are straightforward and rather prosaic entries. "Silent Dust" is the best of these, with Steed and Emma preventing economic blackmail by use of a top-secret stolen chemical agent. "Room Without A View" and "Small Game For Big Hunters" are fairly dull, really, except for the usual wonderful interplay between Steed and Emma (and there's less of that than usual), and "The 13th Hole" is a reasonably clever spy story revolving around a private golf club.

Just because these aren't the best the series had to offer doesn't mean they're not worth watching. The Avengers, at its most mundane, was much better than virtually every other show at its best.

Long on charm, short on continuity
This is an erratic group of episodes, charming but sloppy.
As other reviewers note, ``Small Game for Big Hunters'' is one of the best, satirizing colonialism as much as could expected in a mainstream British show.
Bill Frazer is a bit too cute as the befuddled Col. Rawlings, a problem that recurs with supporting players in other epidoes. Still, the opening is one of the best in the series, and the offbeat plot is cleverly done. Flouting Brian Clemens' unfortunate ``rules,'' Philip Levene writes a sympathetic non-white character in Razafi. And Diana Rigg shows off her willowy figure in a sarong.
``Room without a View'' is another episode that plays with displacement, this time from a London hotel to a Chinese prison. It's not quite as sharp as Small Game, but has atmosphere.
``The Quick, Quick Slow Death'' is a silly as its title, but plays out with such good humor that one can forgive its illogic.
Speaking of plot holes and technical flubs, ``The Girl from Auntie'' may be the champion in a series that was often done on a shoestring. But the script and cast revel in silliness _ ``Don't forget your handbag, Lady Bracknell.''
Liz Frazer is a delight as the fake Mrs. Peel. Perhaps she was originally cast as a foil for Elizabeth Shepherd, whom Rigg replaced. But one of the most amusing things is the contrast between buxom blonde partygirl Frazer and the ``real'' Emma Peel cool, completely non-buxom Rigg. While she doesn't have much to do, Rigg does it while little more than panties, a few feathers and some padding for her bust.
If that's memorable, ``The 13th Hole'' is a mundane plot. Even the jokey lair, a ``bunker'' bunker, seems made of cardboard.
``Silent Dust'' is more imaginative, with a still timely ecological disaster plot. As always, Patrick Macnee is a suave, reliable Steed. The horseback scenes are fun _ although note how tense new rider Rigg is _ but the villains fairly unimpressive.

A great series
This is my favorite Avengers team, Mrs. Peel and Mr. Steed. Together, Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee make the series. This series is very superb. Diana Rigg, an attractive woman, and Patrick Macnee, a good actor make this series. These 6 episodes are some of the best of the Avengers.

A Classic!
What a great series! Diana Rigg is wonderful and Patrick Macnee coplements her perfectly. Super!