.Champions Trailer click here
Craig Stirling (Stuart Damon ?The Adventurer, General Hospital), Sharron Macready (Alexandra Bastedo ?Casino Royale, Absolutely Fabulous) and Richard Barrett (William Gaunt ?No Place Like Home, G.B.H) are The Champions. Network is bringing these three bastions of Law, Order and Justice to DVD on 31st July 2006 in a nine-disc set packed with special features titled The Champions the Complete Series Special Edition.
Created by ITC and first transmitted in 1968-9, The Champions is an intriguing series of international espionage perfectly blended with a supernatural slant. Agents Craig Stirling, Richard Barrett and Sharron Macready suffer a near fatal plane crash whilst on a secret mission. Rescued by an enigmatic Tibetan monk our heroes are transformed into beings with special gifts such as strength, telepathy and E.S.P. These attributes are kept a secret and it allows them to use their powers for the common good in their work for the international spy agency Nemesis.
Special features on the DVD are:
- ‘We Were The Champions, a brand new documentary on the making of THE CHAMPIONS, featuring contributions from William Gaunt, Alexandra Bastedo, Stuart Damon, Johnny Goodman, Malcolm Christopher, Ken Baker, Cyril Frankel and Brian Clemens
- An audio commentary on The Beginning featuring Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt
- An audio commentary on Autokill featuring Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt
- A second audio commentary on Autokill featuring Malcolm Christopher, Ken Baker and Roy Ward Baker
- Previously unseen extended version of ‘The Beginning’ featuring specially shot bookend sequences
- Artistes test footage
- Nearly thirty minutes of incidental music by Edwin Astley, Robert Farnon and Albert Elms, prepared as a musical suite and accompanied by an extensive image gallery including many behind the scenes stills
- The Legend of the Champions – a feature-length compilation of The Beginning and The Interrogation, made by ITC for the overseas market in the early 1980s
- Episodic Trailer gallery – a gallery of the nineteen remaining Champions trailers (with UK and US soundtracks), specially transferred from the original film elements for use in this set.
- Generic trailer gallery – a gallery of various generic trailers of differing lengths which have been transferred from the original film elements for use in this set.
- Specially filmed ‘Channel 9’ promos
- Merchandise Image Gallery of Champions memorabilia showcasing images of the merchandise produced for The Champions during the sixties and early seventies. It includes the full fronts and backs of all the Champions trading cards.
- Annual Material PDF – The Champions featured as an ongoing strip in the Joe 90 Top Secret comic
- Reconstructed ad-caps
- Variant Titles featuring unused title music composed by Robert Farnon.
- A commemorative booklet featuring an in-depth essay on the making of The Champions by Mike Richardson
A stylish action series with high production values from legendary British producer Monty Berman (Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint), the perfect mix of drama, danger and humour will keep you at the edge of your seat. Many of the episodes were directed by British film legends such as Leslie Norman (father of film critic Barry Norman) and written by the top writers of the day such as Brian Clemens (The Avengers, Thriller). Special international guest stars in The Champions the Complete Series include Peter Wyngarde (The Innocents), Bernard Lee (The Third Man, Dr No), Donald Sutherland (M.A.S.H, J.F.K) and Paul Eddington (Yes, Minister, The Good Life).
?he Champions the Complete Series Special Edition courtesy of Network DVD? ]]>
