Review of Danger Man: Volume 2

Introduction

Danger Man, dating from the early sixties, was the original spy series, predating just about everything else including The Man From U.N.C.L.E and related TV series.

This is the second disc in the DVD series, containing twice the number of episodes as the first (read my review of that disc here).

The series was inspired by the cold war climate as the world turned from the shiny happy fifties and entered the scary, spy-infested, paranoid sixties (well that`s what the TV producers would have use believe). Ralph Smart not only directed the entire series, he also wrote, co-wrote or directed 28 of the 39 episodes!

Despite the exciting international flavour of the series, those exotic backdrops were entirely studio creations barring one small Italian village, which also became the location for The Prisoner!

Video

I960`s era black and white TV footage, so naturally there`s a 4:3 transfer! The same format has been used as in the original disc and the two make a fine matching set.

Some of the episodes have fared better than others, depending on the quality of the remaining master tapes. Episodes like The Lovers and The Lonely Chair are quite dirty and show signs of scratches and a lot of dust whereas other episodes (The Girl in Pink Pyjamas, The Key) are extremely well preserved for their age.

There is some evidence of flickering in the lighter areas, especially during times of fast movement but nothing too intrusive.

The DVD menu is essentially the same as the one from the first disc and is simple and that`s it!

Audio

Mono throughout as expected but then it was filmed that way after all.

Sound quality is slightly better than disc one, but still slightly muddy in places.

The DVD menu plays an annoyingly short extract from the title music in a loop. This is much louder than the feature that can be a pain when you are flicking from the menu to a section of footage and back....

Features

They have added a few more feature this time, but not many ;)

We get some "original memorabilia" which translates as pictures from a German magazine, a stills gallery (which scrolls through automatically if you let it) and some original ITC artwork - a publicity card from a sales brochure.

The blurb from the original disc is reprised as a booklet and makes for interesting reading.
They have also included subtitles.

Conclusion

If you are fan of the series you should get this (and you should have bought the first one :)

The video is good considering the age of the footage, the sound is acceptable and they have made an effort with some extra features - you also get twice as many extras although the disc is a bit more expensive (but still good value with over 200 minutes of black and white spy action)

If you are a fan of the genre you should watch them - just to see how the spy tv series has evolved as the world has changed......