PR: Avengerworld - The Avengers in Our Lives (Charity Title)

[denis rigg]

Denis, I love your story about saving up to buy a video tape and trying to make your first collection of episodes! It brought back my memory of, like you, studying the TV listings each week and hoping to see favorite shows. One week I found a listing for Danger Man! I became a huge Prisoner fan at age 12, but never had seen McGoohan's earlier show. As far as I know, this was the only time Danger Man was broadcast in my area in the early 1980s. My heart was pounding with excitement! For some reason it was being shown in the middle of the night, around 2AM, so I had to set my alarm clock. I was so tired during the actual transmission, it was hard to understand the rhythm and dialog, but I did manage to tape it! I taped over another show, and finally got my chance to see the young McGoohan in action. Like you, I watched that tape over and over again. It wasn't until A&E released Danger Man on DVD in 2001 in the States that I got to see more episodes.

Before VHS, I often made cassette tape recordings directly from the TV speaker so I could re-live programs as audio dramas. Did anyone else do that?

I'm making way slowly through the book and really enjoying everything.
-Jason (Spy Vibe)

This is interesting fascinating story, Jason, you told. Nice to remember TV years of our childhood and those feelings associated with it. I have often thought long years ago that the USSR insulation effected on all those detailed studies of TV shedules in search of non-standard products for the time and endless views the foreign video films on tapes.
Then I realized that people in many other parts of the world are not particularly distinguished in this field, despite as television developed in their country - whether had a variety of films with movie and television magazines, or were limits to this. The bottom line was that the choice mainly fell on products that did not seem something trivial on television.
Unfortunately, The Prisoner was the series that Russian people saw in the later age (2000s), in Runet. I was impressed when saw the first episode - it was so fresh and inventive (it feels good the desire of authors to try not to go beaten paths), that realized I would can be a fan of the series, if saw him as a child on TV. But even today, only part of the Prisoner translated into Russian (one-voiced soundtrack).
Looking forward to read your chapter like many others. I've already ordered a copy of the book, but at the moment it is in stock - going to make other purchases (in order to save on shipment from USA store to Moscow) and to order another copy for Russian fan-group.

TV programs as audio dramas
It was one of those things that sometimes helped to reappraise the TV episodes. I especially liked to listen the audio Avengers episodes of such films as The Superlative Seven and The Positive Negative Man, this created a very different atmosphere than on the screen. For instance, in audio episode The Superlative Seven, you could take a detective story line by other ways, differently solving situations. It was much more interesting than listening to an episode The Joker (most favorite episode for many Russian fans). If the Joker as a audio episode partially lose of charm in the second part - this is in few words, and in fact, many "one-sided" events, the The Superlative Seven contrast, showed clearlier the elements that were visible in The Joker on screen - suspense, strangeness of characters, music, etc.
Curiously, I did not write about this in own memoirs, but Alexei Sidorov (co-founder Steedumbrella) acquainted with episode The Superlative Seven for first time exactly in adio version. As I recall, he listened to it several times, but then when saw TV episode, its charm already not was at such a high level. I must say, he always remained faithful to his love for the episode The Winged Avenger (perhaps because Alexey has always been a special fan of comics, I've ever met in Russia), but preference to other episodes were different depending on the audio and video.

I wish that all essays in this book you will find the interesting and informative, Jason.

Enjoy reading.

[denis rigg]

I did exactly that in 1965-67 I taped episodes using a Philips reel to reel twin-track audio tape recorder - placing the microphone close to the TV speaker which I recall in my chapter The Game's Afoot. Same type of mic Shirley Eaton used in Goldfinger. The Philips tape recorder was the same model used in several episodes of series 4 - The Town of No Return and The House That Jack Built etc. And I have distinct memories of recording Diana Rigg's final episode Forget-Me-Knot.

It would be interesting to hear about your favorite episodes on audiotape, mrs Emma Peel, and a sense of the differences between the versions of the TV, so to say.
Interesting topic, must admit.
I recall that when listening to some audio books of Alexei Sidorov., I thought I'd better listen audio Avengers episodes - well, sometimes, vice versa.

[Jace]

Denis, I'm just now getting to your section about audio recordings- such great stories!

I used a little cassette recorder against the TV speaker. The tapes I carried around for years were The Prisoner and movie favorites such as On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldfinger, Yellow Submarine, and The 10th Victim. The recordings really captured, as you say, the atmosphere and intrigue.

It's inspiring to remember how it felt to listen to these. I think I will will make some new audios from the TV!

[Rodders]

Was the code LULURC? If so, that's free priority shipping, which should be faster than the normal shipping rate.

Lulu state that there is no tracking with this. They have offered to send me a free copy instead.

[mrs_emma_peel]

I'll have to contact Lulu again too - still not received my hardback copy.

Denis, Jason,
I remember making audio recordings of The Cybernauts, The House That Jack Built, (where Diana Rigg's internal thoughts and reasoning were also perfect for radio), A Surfeit of H2O, A Touch if Brimstone, A Sense of History.
Escape in Time, The Return of the Cybernauts, Murdersville and Forget Me Knot.

Listening to the episodes purely as audio dramas the stories seemed to adopt an imaginative life of their own - the crispness of the dialogue and sound effects facilitated excellent radio thrillers.

With some discreet touches of additional descriptive narration they could have worked as radio dramas
- and still could
James

[denis rigg]

Denis, I'm just now getting to your section about audio recordings- such great stories!

I used a little cassette recorder against the TV speaker. The tapes I carried around for years were The Prisoner and movie favorites such as On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldfinger, Yellow Submarine, and The 10th Victim. The recordings really captured, as you say, the atmosphere and intrigue.

It's inspiring to remember how it felt to listen to these. I think I will will make some new audios from the TV!

Jason, I'm glad you liked the chapter of the audio recordings in long Russian essay. It was one of the chapters, which was especially nice to remember, because I no touched this subject over the many years.
It's good to hear that you have recorded on audio tapes different "classic" long-running movies, since in this area I've only always limited by records that fit completely only on one audio cassette. But there was the essence of the other, I thought if would I recorded any long-running movies on two audiotapes, it could not work properly for listening to the some people, which found large works tedious. So I just made notes on a cassette tape, which two episodes are there, and people who did not know the series The Avengers at all, could would already do make a conclusion, how long-running are every episode.
This is already history.
Personally, I would love to listen some fascinating very long-running movie right now.

What are your plans for the new records on audios, Jason?

[denis rigg]

I remember making audio recordings of The Cybernauts, The House That Jack Built, (where Diana Rigg's internal thoughts and reasoning were also perfect for radio), A Surfeit of H2O, A Touch if Brimstone, A Sense of History.
Escape in Time, The Return of the Cybernauts, Murdersville and Forget Me Knot.

Listening to the episodes purely as audio dramas the stories seemed to adopt an imaginative life of their own - the crispness of the dialogue and sound effects facilitated excellent radio thrillers.

With some discreet touches of additional descriptive narration they could have worked as radio dramas
- and still could

Curiously enough, that Emma's voice makes the story The House That Jack Built partly as a kind one of rare actually suited for audio-productions (first place - definitely "Homicide and Old Lace"). Easy can imagine , if someone decided do the acquaintance with the episode for the first time in such variant, there can be the assumption that these Emma's lines are recorded specially for "radio play".

These Audio Avengers are quite distinctive, that says of quality television productions. One of the fascinating research in this area is a sense of the different genres of some episodes on the screen and audio.
Fun to remember now, how in Russian fan-group was listening the episode Bizarre, and those who were not familiar with the episode, "asked by eyes" in different stages, and especially in final: "What are they doing?". As fact, Bizarre was the real comedy Avengers audio episode in Russian fan-group from the ones I recorded ever. Or vice versa, hilarious episode Wish You Were Here became partly mystical.

How did you the choose for episodes as audio plays - favorite or ones which were would suitable for listening or episodes, which wanted to analyze specifically differently, etc? Though I guess, that first variant more likely, it is interesting to hear the process your decisions and conclusions.

[Alan]

Delighted that people are discussing the content of Avengerworld! Marvellous stuff.

This is by way of a heads up that the book is now available in paperback from Amazon sites the world over.

http://bookshow.me/1326522507

Copies available to despatch in 24 hours, or so they say!

[miller]

Well after a full month, my Hardback copy of the book never did arrive. I have been in touch with lulu.com and they are going to send a replacement book with traceable shipping.

[Alan]

Good to hear that you've got a resolution, though very frustrating that you're still without the book from your original order.