AvengerNews Archive: 2002
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AvengerNews Archive: 2002 |
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25 December. The last Tara King R1 DVD set from A&E is ready for pre-order in the United States and Canada. (If you already ordered it directly from A&E, Santa will be bringing it along sometime around New Years.) 25 November. Starz Encore has announced that a twelve-hour marathon of The Avengers will begin at 8 AM on Wednesday, 1 January 2003. The episodes have been selected from Patrick Macnee's favorites, who will introduce them, and are as follows:
21 November. It is official: A&E will be putting the last pieces of the "Avengers DVD puzzle" in place. You can pre-order The Avengers '68 Set 5 directly from A&E (or, if you can wait a few weeks longer, you can save money and pre-order from Amazon). A&E will ship it 31 December, approximately one month before it hits the street. But wait, there's more! Sometime late February they claim they will be releasing Avengers: The Early Years (61-62), which, if the name really means what it suggests, should finish off the Cathy Gale era and probably include "The Frighteners" from the first season. But more significantly—and hopefully!—it just might feature the never-before-released "Girl on the Trapeze" and the first reel of "Hot Snow" as well. Keep those fingers crossed and those eyes on this page for further details. 19 November. This year's Missing Believed Wiped event will take place at the National Film Theatre in London with two screenings on 30th November 2002. The first screening at 3.20 is a comedy special with episodes of vintage 60s series such as At Last the 1948 Show and Marty. The second screening at 6.15 will include the first chance for audiences in the UK to see the recently recovered early Avengers episode "Girl on the Trapeze." Further information from the BFI website http://www.bfi.org.uk/ — Dick Fiddy 18 November. The web world of The Avengers will the subject of a one-hour interview of our very own Carlos Pagés on Saturday, 23 November 2002, at 1:30 AM, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Radio Nacional (National Radio, FM 87.9). Interviewer Eduardo will chat with Carlos about TheAvengers.TV, Los Vengadores and Avengers on the Radio. They are also planning to transmit excerpts of the original radio shows. Although presently it appears there will be no internet broadcast, if such a possibility exists it will be announced here. 9 November. Own a piece of Avengers history! Laurence Bourne, one of the series' producers in the 60s, has given Bridget Evans a suit worn by John Steed in one of these Cathy Gale episodes: "The White Elephant," "The Little Wonders" or "Trojan Horse." The gold-colored corduroy suit, which is accompanied by a letter of authentication, will be auctioned off at a cancer benefit ball on 16 November, but Bridget will also accept outside bids. If you are interested, call Bridget on 0114 226 5370 or email her at cancerappeal@care4free.net. Also: Contender is back on track with their DVD releases. '66 and '68 box sets are available for pre-order. 19 October. The National Film Theatre in London will be hosting the first public screening of "Girl on the Trapeze" in 41 years this November. 11 September. With the release of the first Cathy Gale season from Canal later this month, the world will officially have all Avengers episodes (save for the 2.3 David Keels) available on DVD. Granted, you'd need to order something from all three sources—A&E, Contender and Canal—but hey...
10 September. Startling new finds at the UCLA film archives: the first reel (twenty minutes) of "Hot Snow," the "pilot" episode of the entire Avengers series has been discovered, as well as a longer version (ten minutes, versus the current three) of "The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse." What makes the latter find particularly significant is that it contains footage never before seen by the general public. Keep those fingers crossed that these treasures eventually make their way to us on video. 28 July. Following up with Gareth Hunt's recent illness, he is apparently out of hospital now and is convalescing at home. With thanks to Dave Matthews for the news. 26 July. Gareth Hunt has apparently suffered another heart attack, this one on stage during a performance in Absurd Person Singular. After forgetting some of his lines, he suddenly cried out "Oh please, God" and collapsed across a table; the audience, thinking it part of the play, started clapping. But the curtain was quickly dropped and an actor appeared on stage asking, "Is there a doctor in the house? I'm being serious." Although there were no doctors present, about 20 nurses and first-aiders approached to offer assistance. Now in hospital, his wife Mandy with him, he is said to be "fairly comfortable." 6 June. There's "uncut" and then there's "uncut." Mr. James Rodriguez has broadcast a message to various groups, individuals and entities with interest in The Avengers citing an apparent four-second cut in the A&E video of "The Town of No Return." He describes it thus:
A&E's stated policy, as I have been notified by them, is to not cut any source material. (Besides, this is a mighty obscure cut to make!) The logical conclusion is that A&E and Encore are working from different source materials—no surprise, as several sets of masters have been produced over the years. It would therefore probably serve no purpose to pursue the matter with A&E, as they will very likely reply that they made no cuts in what they received from the copyright holders, Canal+Image International. Furthermore, it would probably serve no purpose to pursue the matter with Canal+Image, as they will very likely ignore any contact, and besides, it looks like the source materials used by A&E were mastered by Lumiere (thanks, Alan). By the way, this same video has the wrong opening credits. Also, the blacksmith was played by Robert Brown, not Patrick Newell. 14 April. Better late than never: Just a note to let Diana Rigg fans know that she is currently on tour with The Hollow Crown. After finishing in New Zealand, it's on to Australia beginning 30 April. (Thanks, Peta) More on Crown (Thanks, Jamie) 27 March. Still more sad news: Eric Flynn, who played Emma's childhood friend (and possibly more) in "Murdersville", died on 4 March at his home in Wales. Vintage TV fans may recall his playing the title role in a BBC classic serial of Ivanhoe (1970). Born in China in 1939, he was the father of current TV actor Jerome Flynn, and most of his career was spent in stage musicals. He also worked again for Brian Clemens in an episode of the mid-70s anthology series Thriller, "A Killer In Every Corner." He was also the Captain in Doctor Who, "The Wheel In Space." Fan publications often erroneously say he is Errol Flynn's son. 21 February. It is with sadness that we have to report the death today of actor John Thaw, renowned for his roles in The Sweeney and Inspector Morse, in addition to his appearance in the penultimate Cathy Gale Avengers tale, "Esprit de Corps." Thaw had been suffering from cancer of the esophagus. He died this afternoon at his family home, aged just sixty. He will be sadly missed. A news report is available at BBCi Entertainment News. 6 February. To celebrate a milestone in Patrick Macnee's life - for he is 80 today - The American Cinematheque in association with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts have planned a two-day tribute taking place at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. The event will be held on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 February 2002, and the program is as follows:
Tickets ($8) can be purchased at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles. For ticket information call 323-466-FILM (3456). 30 January. Sad news to report tonight. The actor, Stratford Johns, a memorable Avengers guest star in The Frighteners and Legacy of Death, has passed away aged 76. Those of us at TheAvengers.TV send our sincere condolences to his family. In tribute, Stratford's biography has been expanded to include more background to his career. |
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