Joanna LumleySapphire and Steel - The Complete Series [DVD]

I am a long time British Radio and Television fan and loved Dr. Who and some of the outre shows of the 60s and 70s. When Amazon recommended this one, I was all in.This is a hard review to write as I want to support innovative speculative fiction. Quantity is its own quality.This is one show that has not aged well. It pains me to say that.The shows stars are David McCallum and Joanna Lumley who play Steel and Sapphire respectively. They are time traveling agents there to prevent breaches of the time line by creatures from the dawn and end of the Universe. Their assignments all seem to be to Earth. Odd that given the size of the Universe.Each season, the pair takes on a new "incursion." Think of each season as a small set, one location production. Everything about the series screams cheap.The special effects are below the standard set by Dr. Who during the same period, but that is completely understandable. Unfortunately, the acting is abysmal. Uf-duh! David McCallum's acting gives cardboard a bad name.Both of the main characters are entirely unappealing. Steel is just some rigid, retentive jerk, and Sapphire is a goofball. Really, I would not have felt bad if they had been sucked into the timeline never to return in the first "case."The stories are silly and not all that clever.Honestly, it was a chore to get through these. (I bought them over a year ago.)Some of the other reviews describe these as "brainy," but the issues with time loops, paradoxes, and other time travel and time line challenges are really completely glossed over or ignored entirely. Essentially the villains are monsters that want to consume the time line. Full stop. There are occasional bumbling time travelers, but again, I need a little warmth, humor, and relatable characters to enjoy a show.At around $25, I cannot recommend this one. You might want to try a streaming service and see if your tastes differ from mine.

The premise and the story lines may be less than desirable but the technical side of this is well done. No skips or jumps and good audio quality.

The series is unique. The series is divided into chapters called 'assignments.' Each 'assignment' has a theme in the form of a disturbance in the time-space continuum - someone or something has entered a time stream and is out of place and out of time. Each 'assignment' has a number of episodes - ranging from three to eight.This science fiction is not like other time travel TV series - very different from 'The Time Tunnel' which is educational and focuses on historical events. The series has been compared to 'Dr. Who' but in my opinion, the only thing that the two series have in common is that both are British productions - no Daleks and no time machine that looks like a telephone booth. Sapphire and Steel are special agents from some unknown authority that handles anomalies in the time-space continuum. It is not known if they are human or aliens from another world or dimension. They appear from nowhere and have no time machine or not one that has appeared in the episodes.The series has also been compared to the 'X-Files' but I see little similarities other than that both series have a male and female agent pairing up to investigate strange happenings. FBI agents Mulder and Scully are more likeable than the task-oriented and cold Steele (David McCallum) and the rather 'wooden' Sapphire (Joanna Lumley). The closest comparison to 'Sapphire and Steele' is the series 'Timeless' where government agents are trying to correct anomalies and attempts to change history by a rogue time traveler.In the series, Sapphire and Steel encounter forces of evil, restless ghosts, a man (or something) who is faceless some of the time and other trouble-making time travelers. The stories are not for children and may be difficult to follow. I do not recommend the series to persons who have no interest in the subject of time travel or science fiction in general. Even science fiction fans might find the stories somewhat 'brainy' and complicated but if you are a dedicated time travel enthusiast, this series should be intriguing and your cup of tea - worth your time. I saw some of the episodes back in the early 80s and found it entertaining even though I did not understand what I was watching but hey, I have been a time travel enthusiast for a very long time.

I saw this and was immediately struck with nostalgia, I remembered this as a kid and it was my favourite show on TV, I was so affected by it at the time I could still remember parts of it now nearly 40 years later! It is easy to fall into a cliche of describing any old television programme as 'unforgettable' but in my case at least Sapphire and Steel was. The concept of time being manipulated by malevolent entities, breaching time itself to wreak havoc in the world and trying to keep it under control and restore the status quo was a team of 'time operatives' who's origins were unclear apart from being manifestations of the elements and fabric of the universe, it was and still is a clever one and the intelligent scripts and building of a story show how much television has been dumbed down in recent times, relying on special effects to grab the attention rather than a quality story. Admittedly the effects which are used are poor by today's standards but generally speaking you don't notice it as you are too engrossed in the story.The original series aired in 1979 and as I started to watch it the memories came flooding back and it was just as I remembered it, from the rather dodgy initial credits of the names of the actors travelling up the screen 'Star Wars style' 'but were rather wobbly against the star filled background, and harsh music followed by the official opening credits after a recap of the story and the voice telling us that all irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling that dimension, and that Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life, it goes on to list the medium heavy weights that are available before telling us that Sapphire and Steel have been assigned, The memories of Ring-a-ring of Roses' 'North Wind doth blow', the lights which portrayed the being which had manipulated time, the clocks stopping and the disappearance of the people in the house and Sapphire being trapped in picture and the appearance of Lead who came to help all came flooding back as I watched. The second series which was my personal favourite at the time and which had such a profound affect me (and it could be argued, traumatised me for years!) before I even started watching that particular series I could recollect the fear of the 'darkness' and the First World War soldier whistling pack up your troubles in your old kit bag - to this day that song always reminds me of the series, and as I was watching it I knew what was going to happen next as the memories were so profound and it still had that claustrophobic and eerie feel to it all these years later. The third series was one I didn't have any clear memory of at all and after the outstanding second series you could see why, it was poor in comparison, the story itself was weak and there was a lack of atmosphere. As it started I dredged a memory of an invisible house on the top of a tower block but that was all, there was no sense of foreboding and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first two series was missing and the effects had me cringing and laughing rather than evoking any sort of fear.. The fourth series returned to form with the faceless man and the children from the photographs and as soon as I started watching it the memories once again came flooding back, This was where I believe the series should have ended as after this it did deteriorate.significantly with other writers being brought in, but even having said that it is still worth getting for series 1, 2 and 4..I would thoroughly recommend this box set for anyone wanting a trip down memory lane to relive their childhood memories of this series as I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I loved this show when I was a kid and have really enjoyed this nostalgic box set, the picture quality and sound are excellent and all six "assignments" are included.There is a little booklet to flick through as well.Sapphire and Steel, who were they, who assigned them, what is it they are confronting and what is the nature of their powers, I haven't got a clue and I suspect the writers and producers of the show didn't either, it doesn't matter, once you get past the rather boring first adventure its all good creepy stuff as our weird duo just kind of show up out of nowhere at abandoned railway stations, country manors, motorway services etc and take on evil supernatural forces.

Time agents Sapphire And Steel investigate mysterious breaches of time. Probably the weirdest British TV show apart from The Prisoner, it's never properly explained who and what Sapphire And Steel are though their powers and hints throughout the series suggest an alien origin. The series which ran for 34 episodes between 1979 and 1982 is still just as tense and creepy as it was back then and it was meant to be a children's show! A young David McCallum and Joanna Lumley in what for me is still probably her best role are both excellent and there are appearances from 2 other time agents, Lead and Silver and again there's no explanation to who and what they really are. It's done in a similar set up to Doctor Who, 25 minute episodes complete with cliffhangers done as 6 serials. Serial 2 or assignment 2 is the best of the lot, one of the creepiest set of episodes for any TV series ever made about a haunted railway station. Not a bad episode in the set, though assignment 3 is the weakest it's still enjoyable and creepy about visitors from the future observing the present. Well 1980 at least anyway! This series is probably as close to perfect as you can get and one of the all time scifi greats.

Strange series, its run cut short by early TV era in which it was made .If only USA size + team of busy writers at the helm! Half remembered from 4 yrs old. I found it fascinating, It had a certain Quality that defined it, created by the central two characters relationship and the sinister intensity of the 'Haunted' atmospheres of the Assignments. The 'Otherness' of these 2 non-human but human like classy characters hooked the viewer. The X Files focus was visceral /medical paranormal + ignored the psychic. Sapphire and Steel's focus is more on the mental, mind beyond category or physical world, Ghostly and bizarre paranormal, a kind of unknown science, ..so parapsychology area more. More subtle in its vaguer story exposition. See many books about hauntings.(Events such as: people staying a night at an out of the way hotel, that later they are told was torn down years before. People being seen a two locations at once. A pale apparition running across a dark road into traffic, but no body is ever found. ) It is Most Unfortunate that Sapphire and Steel could not explore more of these anomalies for us further(as I believe the text research material WAS available to dig into, decant and explore in the program.) The X-Files modified/utilised so made creature feature and Alien discourses around and about to make it's show vibrant. I do not know why S+S could not have had a good stab at the paranormal events we have stockpiled too and made them it's own? -oh well perhaps in a parallel universe they DID. So how do I get to THAT universe to watch the rest of it?? If it ran till at least1989 there , I would be thrilled !!

An awesome trip down memory lane, I was a kid when this was on TV & had vague memories of 2 of the episodes, I seemed to remember a man with no face and a soldier ghost on a railway station platform, trippy stuff! I also remembered the intro with the voice of god saying “sapphire silver and steel”Revisiting it 40 years later was a treat, the man with no face is hilariously naff in this era of cgi and Sfx but the storyline was brilliantThe graphics in the opening sequence are also very naff in today’s eyes but the voice of god intro remains epicThese stories are all very trippy but also very compelling viewingJoanna Lumley is always a delight, she’s at her most serious in the role of Sapphire which doesn’t really suit her but she plays the character very well