"Tunnel of Fear" 16mm Film Print Recovered!

Spaceship Dispatcher · Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:59 pm

Fantastic news! I hope it gets a dvd or Blu-ray release at some point, so that we can all see it.

mrs_emma_peel · Post by **mrs_emma_peel** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 3:14 pm

Fabulous news – found this article from the Observation Deck web-site:

“Great news for fans of cult British television series The Avengers. Film preservation society Kaleidoscope announced today on their facebook page that an episode from the very first season, long thought to have been lost and wiped forever, has been discovered in pristine condition in a private collection, and will be shown to the public next month for the first time in 55 years as part of their semiannual Missing Believed Wiped event.

This episode, Tunnel of Fear, is only the third complete episode known to still exist from the original 1961 season, which featured Ian Hendry as lead protagonist Dr David Keel, and Patrick Macnee in a supporting role as John Steed, long before the series found its legs with the pairing of Macnee with Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg. Written by John Kruse (who also penned several other classic episodes of The Avengers, The Saint, The Persuaders, etc.) the story was recently adapted for audio by Big Finish as part of their ongoing Lost Stories range.”

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:55 pm

This is great news. At last another oppotunity to see how the original Avengers worked.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 5:30 pm

By the way, it's worth mentioning that considering that the vast majority of Series 1 was directed by Don Leaver (10 episodes out of the 26) and Peter Hammond (9 of the 26), this episode is by one of Series 1's one-hit wonder directors, Guy Verney. Indeed, it's the only Avengers episode he directed!

darren · Post by **darren** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 8:33 pm

As much as I'd like to see more Hammond surface, it'll be interesting to see Verney's style in action (Roger Jenkin's is another series one director I'd like to see, he did an Adam Adamant episode I'd really love to see).

jaz · Post by **jaz** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:40 pm

Good news!

Rodders · Post by **Rodders** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:18 pm

The series continues to surprise us! Maybe even the original Town of No Return will turn up one day.

cyberrich · Post by **cyberrich** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:28 pm

What fantastic news

I wonder when this will get a dvd release. Does anyone know any details? 3 down, 23 to go!

Rich.

Sam · Post by **Sam** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:31 am

I would assume that the possibility of a DVD release would depend on the current rights holders more than StudioCanal themselves. Being as it's the 21st Century, I would love to see a digital download option. That would likely hasten its availability. In fact, I would love to see the whole series available in that way!

Post by **dissolute** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:22 am

The current rights holders are Studio Canal / Canal +, aren't they? - but I would love a digital download or fast-tracked release, otherwise I'll wait years for it, like Hot Snow and Girl on the Trapeze