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The Protectors was Robert Vaughn's most successful TV series after The Man From U.N.C.L.E. until his career was resurrected in more recent times in the UK series Hustle.
In The Protectors, Vaughn plays Harry Rule who was a London based American heading up the world's top private detective agency.
In 1972, Vaughn was 40 years of age, and he does a great job of playing Rule as if he was a slightly older Napoleon Solo!
Vaughn was assisted by Tony (Space: 1999) Anholt as Paul Dubois, and Nyree Dawn Porter (from The Forsyte Saga) as Contessa di Contini who was, in fact, modelled on Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds.
Producer Gerry Anderson had previously been famous for producing fantasy or science fiction TV series (such as Thunderbirds) using puppets. The Protectors was only his second TV series using live actors and, in some ways, it shows.
Although
the series remains popular with enthusiasts today, it has perhaps dated
badly and there are several weak plotlines. However, it does feature
great guest stars of the era such as Stephanie Beacham, Patrick
Troughton and John Thaw.
Much like Gene Barry, the star of its companion series The Adventurer, Robert Vaughn had problems with The Protectors’ producers and co-stars, to the extent that Gerry Anderson threatened to sue the star.
It
must have something to do with being the token American star in these
British action shows - a marketing strategy of such series at the time!
Nevertheless, there are several episodes which still hold up today as examples of strong action-adventure.
Having
said that, there are also several episodes I can understand Robert
Vaughn saying that he couldn't understand the scripts - either before
or during shooting!
ITC series have a certain look and feel, and
Umbrella Entertainment has once again done a great job of packaging
this 6 DVD boxset.
The extensive re-mastering that has
been done on the episode prints brings out the clarity and colours
making them extremely watchable. EXTRAS
A feature of the Umbrella boxsets is their special features.
In
this one, there is an exclusive audio commentary with veteran ITC guest
star Derren Nesbitt on the episode titled "Disappearing Trick" (one of
two episodes he appeared in) which displays his very poor memory of
this particular performance as he needs a lot of prodding from the
moderator.
In addition, there are very impressive image
galleries which must contain almost every production and promotion photo
ever taken for this series!
The obligatory original ITC production paperwork is worth a read too.
When
you realise that TV series such as this are over 35 years old, it is
amazing that Umbrella researchers can find the amount of material they
do.
It is a pity that The Protectors and The Adventurer
are among the last of the ITC shows to be released as well packaged
DVDs by Umbrella as they certainly bring back a lot of memories. Conclusion: Episodes 80% Extras: 80%
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