Secret Agent (aka Danger Man): The Complete Series

I'm another Prisoner fan who wanted to see some of McGoohan's other work, and in many respects Danger Man / Secret Agent showcases his acting talents more than the later series. Why? Because he often takes on cover roles on his assignments, a tactic increasingly evident once the show goes to the hour long format. (In 'The Prisoner', he's essentially just one character.)I concur with many of the other reviewers: The video transfer is awfully good for a show this old (although there's an annoying white thread across Drake's nose in the one version of the opening titles). Audio is marginal at times and muddy, but good enough for viewing. For most of the episodes, the audio is actually decent.The 30 minute episodes are very, very fast-paced, and one can sometimes tell they were trying to cram a little too much plot and dialog into the time available. Everybody talks fast, and sometimes McGoohan seems to be playing up his supposedly American origins a bit much, almost Cagney-style. They clearly eased up a lot when going to the hour-long format (and Drake was said to be British), and I think the extra time allowed for much better story development.Absolutely: The show was produced cheaply. Stock footage. Rear-projection. Re-used sets. Indoor studio sets standing in for outdoors. Re-using the same actors in multiple roles across shows (William Marshall is especially conspicuous). Caucasian British nationals done up badly in make-up to make them look African, East Indian, or Chinese. (On the other hand, there's less of this in the hour-long shows; probably reflective of larger budget and the fact there was a fair amount of social progress between 1960 and 1964.) Yes, everybody drinks like fish and smokes like chimneys. In fact, offering people cigarettes is one of John Drake's particular affectations, and he's constantly using his smoking as a cover for taking pictures with his miniaturized camera disguised as a (functional) lighter.But I can overlook all that when there's good acting and writing. As I said, McGoohan really shines when he pretty much ditches his Drake surname and becomes someone else. A prim, unflappable butler. A neurotic novelist. A drunken ne'er-do-well. A tennis instructor. A playboy. A just-released prison inmate. An unemployed nebbish schoolteacher. An Army major. A professional spy-master. The whole "taken away your name" line from the American version theme song actually has some meaning here, in that Drake spends so much time being someone else, one could easily imagine him losing his real self.Then there's the writing. I am very particular and highly critical of bad writing. I hate it when I can figure out how a story is going to end in the first five minutes -- and these shows almost never reveal where they're going until the last scene. Often Drake will concoct a complicated plan...only to have something go very wrong, and then he has to improvise like mad. Moreover, his foes -- "the other side" as they're often called -- are rarely stupid. Drake has to outsmart and outmaneuver them, and even then the outcome isn't always as he wants it to be.I also like the way Drake doesn't lean very heavily on his gadgets (all of which are totally plausible given 1960s technology), and he almost never uses a gun. His chief weapons are his wits and ability to improvise. Whatever the assignment, he has a moral code that is so strict, he'll sometimes bend his orders to achieve what to him is a better outcome. Or try to -- again, sometimes he doesn't win 100%. Most of all, he comes across as genuine and real.Anyway, for the current Amazon price of a little over forty bucks for the entire set, spanning 86 episodes, it's hard to go wrong. With the slimline-packaging version, it won't even take up much space on the video shelf.

I took some time ordering this series, because of the price being a bit high. Glad that i finally was able to get it. Patric's character is sort of a smart _ss, but he is really good at his ultimate job. and yes, i sorta believe this is a lead in too the Prisoner series. i will and do recommend this Danger Man complete TV series.

The audio and video quality of the Secret Agent/Danger Man megaset is outstanding and A&E home video should be commended for their efforts. The Black & White video transfer contains some minor blemishes here and there, but overall the picture quality is excellent. The 2.0 sound is clear and consistent throughout the episodes. The set consists of 18 single sided discs in individual slim cases with great artwork and detail. You get every episode of the Secret Agent / Danger Man series in broadcast order, including the two final episodes of the show in color. If you like characters like James Bond and the "Saint" than John Drake as Secret Agent / Danger Man may be for you. DVD Features and Episodes of the set are listed below:DVD Features:* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)* All 86 episodes in original broadcast order on 18 discs in Thinpaks, including: the original season that aired only in the U.K. as Danger Man, the 47 episodes of Secret Agent that aired internationally, and the two color series-finale episodes* Patrick McGoohan biography/filmography* Complete full-length original U.S. opening featuring "Secret Agent Man" sung by Johnny Rivers* Photo galleryDVD Episodes:View From the Villa / Time to Kill / Josetta / The Blue Veil / The Lovers / The Girl in the Pink Pyjamas / Position of Trust / The Lonely Chair / The Sanctuary / An Affair of State / The Key / The Sisters / The Prisoner / The Traitor / Colonel Rodriguez / The Island / Find and Return / The Girl Who Liked G.I.s / Name, Date and Place / Vacation / The Conspirators / The Honeymooners / The Gallows Tree / The Relaxed Informer / The Brothers / The Journey Ends Halfway / Bury the Dead / Sabotage / The Contessa / The Leak / The Trap / The Actor / Hired Assassin / The Deputy Coyannis Story / Find and Destroy / Under the Lake / The Nurse / Dead Man Walks / Deadline / The Battle of the Cameras / A Room in the Basement / Fair Exchange / Fish on the Hook / No Marks for Servility / Yesterday's Enemies / The Professionals / A Date With Doris / The Mirror's New / Colony Three / It's up to the Lady / Whatever Happened to George Foster? / The Galloping Major / The Colonel's Daughter / That's Two of Us Sorry / Such Men Are Dangerous / A Man to Be Trusted / The Affair at Castelevara / Don't Nail Him Yet / The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove / Have a Glass of Wine / You're Not in Any Trouble, Are You? / Sting in the Tail / The Black Book / English Lady Takes Lodgers / Loyalty Always Pays / Are You Going to Be More Permanent? / Parallel Lines Sometimes Meet / A Very Dangerous Game / The Mercenaries / The Outcast / Judgement Day / To Our Best Friend / Say It With Flowers / The Man on the Beach / The Man Who Wouldn't Talk / Someone Is Liable to Get Hurt / Dangerous Secret / I Can Only Offer You Sherry / The Hunting Party / Two Birds With One Bullet / I'm Afraid You Have the Wrong Number / The Man With the Foot / The Paper Chase / Not So Jolly Roger / Koroshi / Shinda Shima /

Great series good quality audio and video well packaged do no disc damage

I'm a great lover of cult tv shows (especially British spy shows) and to me, Danger Man represents the quintessence of all those shows and probably is my favorite in the end. The plot, the witty action; humor; suspense; the charisma of John Drake; all those elements plus many others contribute to make this a really fascinating incursion in the world of cold war espionage, in a credibility rarely seen on tv screen. It's a real gem of it's own. So don't hesitate a split second to order it, you'll never regret it. Even if you are not a fan of the spy genre, you'll probably get into it faster than you you'll know. The quality of acting also is excellent. The fact that almost all the episodes were shot in black & white doesn't bother me at all...even more it's a quality, since the remastered edition of this is VERY good. Before i decided to order this great "complete collection" boxed set dvd edition, i bought all six 2-dvd boxed sets of "Secret Agent aka Danger Man" + the big orange boxed set of the 27 minute episodes for "Danger Man". Now a few years later, with all those dvd sets piling up like crazy (when you're a big collector like me), time has come to get the thinner boxed sets. Like "Thunderbirds - the 40th anniversary collector's edition", (12 dvds in only six thin dvd cases); "Benny Hill (thin) complete megaset", now "Secret Agent aka Danger Man complete collection" is yet another perfect boxed set to collect, if like me, you're fighting to find extra space to fill up your endless rows of dvds and blu rays AND to be able to add even more than what you already have. Those are perfectly thought boxed sets, because they look cool and each thin case contains two dvds instead of one in the last edition. Doesn't takes lots of space; looks good and what is even more ideal is that it contains for the first time every episode of Danger Man in chronological order from the 27 minutes episodes to the latter 50 minutes episodes. The whole blue box is even less thicker than the previous orange boxed set of the 27 minutes episodes alone! Get this at all costs, if you want to sell your previous sets to get this instead, to acquire LOTS more space for your precious dvds and blu rays. BTW, this whole series is a real gem! Didn't i already mentioned it? Only good words for this one!

Patrick McGoohan really shines as Secret Agent (aka Danger Man). This IS the Complete Series (both series 60-62 and 64-67) plus extras.

Pure escapism. Many of the themes still relevant in today’s modern political climate. All be it through a 60’s lens. Some of it has dated but not much. Nearly 60 years old nearly all holds up with modern eyes. John Drake’s a good guy in a cynical world.

once again hard to get all episodes in one box multi region dvd player is the answer so you can watch all this great tv from years gone by and this is good