Really Surprised!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's unmistakably a Gerry Anderson show. But what works in Captain Scarlet (half-hour format, colourful props, outlandish action scenarios) utterly fails when you attempt it in live action. The stories are all terrible--I would even venture to say that they are below the level of quality found in Captain Scarlet. I watched as much of the series as I could handle, but couldn't get all the way through. Maybe it improves after season 1. I wasn't willing to stay with it that long. When you compare it to other shows in the same genre from the same era, such as Mission: Impossible or The Man From Uncle, it just doesn't hold up.

Different to most of the competing cops and capers shows around at the time, "The Protectors", a rare Gerry Anderson project not involving puppets or science fiction, had episodes only clocking in at 25 minutes or so and thus, as I remember it, failed to secure a real prime-time TV slot on original release in 1972. However this gave it the benefit of appealing to casual viewers who didn't have an hour to spare to watch say, "The Persuaders" or "Mission Impossible" to name but two.Yet there's something to be said for the brevity of the individual programmes as there's less padding and more directness in the story lines and there's little time to be bored. Yes, most of the shows I've seen seem to rewrite the same four or five plot-lines, and seem to invariably include some foreign intrigue, overseas locations, a kidnapping, a daring rescue, a punch-up and some cliff-hanging finish before the end credits roll and that great theme tune, bellowed out by Tony Christie.Obviously over so many shows there is some variation in the quality of the writing but the direction, probably of necessity, is uniformly brisk and to the point. The casting of the leads is very pleasing, I loved Robert Vaughn in "Man Fom U.N.C.L.E." and while he's not the lean mean (lady)-killing machine he was back in the 60's, as team leader Harry Rule, he commits well to his part and rarely looks bored. Nyree-Dawn Porter is still the beautiful English rose she was in "The Forsyte Saga", certainly not faded and is surprisingly adept in her role as the stylish and resourceful Contessa Di Contini, while Tony Anholt does well enough as third wheel Paul Buchet, suave Frenchman, although his accent occasionally crosses back over the Channel.I'm working my way through an old DVD box-set I bought ages ago and am quite enjoying the task. My teenage heart at the time was in thrall to the more escapist shows of the era like "The Champions", "Department S" or "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)", but I'm happy to commit 25 minutes of my time to Harry and the Contessa, any day of the week.

"The Protectors" was a British television show (ITC) back in 1972-74. It was an attempt to capture the spirit of "The Avengers" and "The Saint", and to capitalize on Robert Vaughn's fading "The Man From UNCLE" popularity. The best part of the show was its catchy "Avenues and Alleyways" theme song played at the beginning and ending of each 24-minute episode. New viewers will find even 24 minutes too long as the low budget and lack of talent (both writing and acting) doom things from an entertainment perspective, unless you can find unintended humor in the idea of an action adventure show in which action and adventure are conspicuously absent. Vaughn plays Harry Rule, a member of a three-person team of freelance troubleshooters based in Europe. A fair amount of each 24-minute episode is taken up by scenic "establishment" shots to make it appear that the show was produced on location in a variety of exotic European locales. Harry appears to be the leader of the group, if only because he has the most screen time. Tony Anholt plays the gadget guy (today he would be the team nerd). He is definitely a third wheel, rarely starring in an episode and by the second season rarely even appearing. My theory is that "The Protectors' target audience was nursing home residents with bad hearts, who wanted to see a secret agent type show but could not survive exposure to things like action, suspense, humor and hot romance. Which is about the only way to account for the casting of Myree Dawn Porter as a character called the Contessa di Contini. Despite her exotic name, the Contessa was about as antiseptic and sterile as a wax figure. It is likely that the character was meant to be a slightly more sophisticated version of Emma Peale, but the Contessa avoids all action and contributes nothing in the humor, parody, or seduction departments. Since the popularity of this type of show requires a fair degree of sensual energy, the nursing home explanation is the only way to account for the casting of an actress in her late 30's, especially one clearly showing a lot of mileage. She was certainly no Alexandra Bastedo ("The Champions") and the show's frequent close-ups of her face were not a good idea. If you have nothing better to do than watch this series, watch for the absence of young attractive actresses (a staple of every Saint and UNCLE episode) as villains or heroines. Apparently Porter had a contract clause specifying that no "featured" actress could be younger than her; and they wonder why these things don't get better ratings. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Gerry Anderson wasn't involved in "The Protectors" from the beginning, which is why it's the most atypical of his shows - it's set in the present (i.e. the early 1970s), it's very firmly rooted in the real world (plots notwithstanding), and while it involves a peace-keeping organisation, the Protectors don't have any uniforms or outlandish vehicles. The trouble is, while all this means it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst his work, it's all very average action stuff.It's a lot easier to fault the writers (including Gerry's soon-to-be-ex-wife Sylvia Anderson with "...With A Little Help From My Friends") than Robert Vaughn and the late Nyree Dawn Porter; if not for them and for a terrific theme song ("Avenues and Alleyways") it wouldn't really be worth watching. Then again, compared to Anderson's subsequent live-action shows - "Space Precinct." Why? - it's a classic.