Danger Man – Vol. 1 – Episodes 1,2,3 And 4 DVD – Maxine Audley, Patrick McGoohan

In 1960, television-executive Lew Grade’s ITC company inaugurated a tradition of escapist adventure/mystery shows with Danger Man, a pocket-sized take on the spy stuff strutted in fiction by Ian Fleming’s as-yet-unfilmed James Bond books. The versatile Patrick McGoohan took the lead role of John Drake, a daring spy for the NATO powers. This first, half-hour incarnation of the show (that would be known in the US as Secret Agent) concentrated on tight little plots executed at a rapid pace. McGoohan proved as adept in the numerous fight scenes and he was at spitting out the hardboiled dialogue which counterpointed Edwin Astley’s memorable music. Although Drake is a deliberately colourless leading man, the format of the show allowed McGoohan to go undercover each week as a different, often strange character. Later, the series came back as an hour-long programme that segued wildly into McGoohan’s masterpiece, The Prisoner. Volume One includes the following episodes: “View from the Villa” (with Barbara Shelley); “Time to Kill” (with Derren Nesbitt); “Josetta”; and “The Blue Veil” (with Ferdy Mayne). –Kim Newman