Review of Sapphire And Steel: Assignments 4 to 6 (3 Discs)

Introduction

This is another of those programmes that I have memories of from childhood. And those memories must be strong, since Sapphire and Steel has never been repeated on terrestrial TV, and if it`s been on any other UK channel since then, I`ve missed it there too. It`s a kind of time-travelling sci-fi mystery show. Sapphire (Joanna Lumley, best known for Ab Fab nowadays) and Steel (David McCallum, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) are extra-terrestrial agents who must protect the universe from the enemy. Aliens aren`t the enemy this time, it`s time itself.

Like Dr Who, the programme consists of stories, split into different numbers of episodes. This set presents us with the following:-

Assignment IV - an evil entity uses photographs to move between time zones. A gifted amateur photographer goes missing. Can our heroes unravel the mystery?

Assignment V - a golden anniversary party at a house where time is flitting beween the 1930s and the 1980s is the setting for the next mystery, which owes a lot to old whodunnit stories. Could the events here trigger the end of the world?

Assignment VI - Silver (who we meet in Assignment III) returns, and the three agents arrive at a petrol station which is drifting between time zones. Are the people they meet victims of time, or is there something more sinister going on?

Video

A pretty good full frame transfer on the whole, given that the source material is rumoured to be in a bad way. I say "on the whole" because Assignment IV has a slightly different look to it, but I`m assuming that the sometimes misty/murky appearance was intentional. The other two assignments certainly look the part, with good quality throughout (considering the source). Detail levels are very high and you pick out lots of background information. It might have been possible to improve it further, but I think it`s quite good.

However, the high detail just makes the show look even more set-bound than it was. Sapphire and Steel was shot entirely on video (apart from a few very brief film inserts) and on set, and this does sometimes distract you as some of the sets aren`t brilliant. Thankfully they stayed away from too many cheap special effects, and used other techniques instead. The title sequence is the thing that looks the most dated. However, you soon put all of this to the back of your mind and become interested in the story once more.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is the original mono replayed over both channels. It`s all clean and audible and there`s not much else to say about it. The opening theme grates a bit as it is rather over the top and doesn`t quite fit with the programme in my mind.

Features

Some extras too. We get press releases related to each show, an article from TV Times (remember that), a merchandise gallery (and you thought TV-related tat was a new thing!), a stills gallery (not too exciting) and biographies of people who appeared on the programme.

Conclusion

This programme is like Marmite. You either love it or hate it. I`ve not seen it for 20 odd years, and my memories were of a programme that was different and interesting. This time the mind was not being cruel, as I enjoyed watching it all over again. Assignment V is probably the weakest story of all 6 ever made, but even that still had its moments. Assignment IV was intelligent and well thought-out, and Assignment VI contains one of the best unintentional endings to a series (it was written with another season in mind, but the programme was cancelled and that never happened). Good performances by the main cast and guests, mixed with some strong writing make this worth watching despite its faults.

If you delve in too deeply then you might start to get a bit more critical. The stories are very slow going, and would probably be half the length if made nowadays. But there`s the key - this would probably never get made nowadays, and certainly not by an ITV company.

An enjoyable set for all you nostalgics, and time to replace those worn out Betamax video copies (I know someone who has such things!) If you have it on VHS then it`s worth replacing too, due to the greater quality (the VHS is deleted now, so you might make a few pounds!) My only gripe is the very high RRP of £40, which is too steep for about 4 1/2 hours of old TV material.