ORBzine - The Champions TV Review
1st Series 1968
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 1]
The Beginning
Shown 25 Sep 68
Shown 17th August 2006 [Thursday]
Our heroes are 3 Secret Agents who steal evidence of illegal germ warfare experiments being carried out in Red China. However, their escape plane crashes in the Himalayas.
When they awaken, their injuries have healed. More, they have heightened scene and physical prowess, and a special psychic bond.
Richard goes off to discover the cause of all this. Turn out it was all a reference to Strange Horizon .
Evil Chinese officer Burt Kwouk [ Water Margin is on the prowl. They must escape him, and return to Geneva.
1- 2 2 Oct 68 The Invisible Man 1- 3 9 Oct 68 Reply Box No. 666
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 4]
The Experiment
Shown 13th December 2005 [Tuesday]
There's no explanatory intro to this ep, but exposition can be picked up from the ep itself.
A super-strong acrobat breaks into a secret base in Salisbury Plain. However, his mind reverts to a childlike state before he can steal anything.
To investigate, the British Government calls in Nemesis. They are based in Switzerland, but have British staff. Their 2 best men are called to investigate.
Meanwhile, the third member of their unit, Sharon Macready [ Alexandra Bastedo ], is sent to London for leave. She is redirected to a Safe House, purportedly by MI6. There, along with spies from other Western Agencies, she is given special tests. The people in charge have access to her file, and know she has special skills.
The story may seem to have a few plot holes, but all the threads are tied up with at the end. In other words, it's quite well done.
1- 5 23 Oct 68 Happening
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 6]
Operation Deep-Freeze
Shown 30 Oct 68
Shown 21st September 2006 [Thursday]
A nuclear explosion is detected at the South Pole. Craig and Richard are sent to investigate, while Sharron sits around in Tremayne's office.
Walter Gotel, recognisable as KGB General Gogol in the James Bond series, stalks them across the frozen icecap.
They discover a secret base, run by a hostile Third World country. The General in charge speaks with a Russian accent, but all the signs are written in English!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Survivors
Shown 3rd January 2006 [Tuesday]
A group of SCUBA divers go exploring in a lake in the Austrian Alps. Unfortunately some middle-aged Germans with WW2-era weapons take a dislike to them.
Stirling and Barratt go exploring, hopeful to find a cache concealed by the SS in 1945.
Sharon asks questions in the nearby town. The locals, of course, admit any Wehrmacht links are keen to disassociate themselves from the SS. She's awfully mature for a 19-year-old, but the fight scenes are still unconvincing.
Though the subject may appear dated, the episode was originally broadcast in 1968 - less than 25 years after the end of the war!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 8]
To Trap a Rat
Shown 10th January 2006 [Tuesday]
Nemesis are called in to stem the inter national drugs trade in London. Specifically, to intercept a new batch of pills that have been contaminated with deadly impurities. Alexandra Bastedo goes undercover to follow junkie socialite Kate O'Mara back to her dealer.
This may seem a rather conventional plot for a scifi show. The villains' network uses secretive handover techniques usually seen in spy films. Small wonder that the script was originally written for Danger Man !
William Gaunt as a tough-guy? Patrick McGoohan would have carried it off much better! There's a camera-shot on a playground roundabout that's straight out of The Prisoner . And they discover the villain's HQ by phoning him and listening for ... The Chimes of Big Ben!
Stuart Damon shows an extremely protective attitude towards Alexandra Bastedo. But she is the smart one of the trio!
And finally ... the boss gets suspicious over details left out of the final report. The trio make unconvincing excuses, no doubt making him even more suspicious.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 9]
The Iron Man
Shown 17th January 2006 [Tuesday]
An exiled former South American dictator is targeted for assassination by his sucessor, an even NASTIER South American dictator. The Champions are sent in undercover to the villa near Barcelona. Craig as the bodyuard, Sharon as the secretary and Richard as the chef!
Steven Berkoff [ Children of Dune ] has one of his earliest roles, as Carlos.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Ghost Plane
Shown 27 Nov 68
Shown 10th May 2007 [Thursday]
The team are sent to the Cayman islands, off the coast of the USA. Their mission is to locate a crashed plane and retrieve a portable radar jamming device.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 11]
The Dark Island
Shown 31st January 2006 [Tuesday]
A USN search party is ambushed on a remote desert island. The trio are sent in to uncover the villains' plot and rescue any survivors.
It turns out the villains are involved in a plot similar to The Dark Crusader, Dr No, You only Live Twice ... in other words, pretty generic stuff.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 12]
The Fanatics
Shown 7th February 2006 [Tuesday]
William Gaunt goes undercover as a convict, in the hope that the real convict's accomplices [including Julian Glover - For Your Eyes only ] will rescue him. Unfortunately, to verify his identity the accomplices decide to torture him!
This ep allows Tremayne the opportunity to do something interesting. He was always wasted in his little book-end appearances, and this fleshes him out a bit more.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 13]
Twelve Hours
Shown 14th February 2006 [Tuesday]
The Greek PM visits Holy Loch in Scotland. Richard and Sharron are responsible for his security. But unfortunately someone tries an assassination attempt - aboard a nuke sub!
The sub is trapped on the sea floor with 12 hours of oxygen. Sharron and Richard must perform emergency surgery on the PM. Meanwhile Chief Engineer Mike Pratt [ Randal and Hopkirk, Deceased ], with his blonde hair and South African accent, plots mutiny.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 14]
The Search
Shown 21st February 2006 [Tuesday]
The show has a tendency to recycle plots and props. This episode is no exception, with Nazi WW2 veterans aboard a submarine!
Someone hijacks a NATO sub, equipped with nukes. And like James Bond in Thunderball , Craig is sent to recover the nukes!
When Craig runs into trouble, Richard and Sharron must step in to save him.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 15]
The Gilded Cage
Shown 8 Jan 69
Richard is kidnapped and kept in a luxurious apartment. His captors somehow know that he once decoded a very difficult cypher. They want him to decode something for them ...
Craig tracks Richard down single-handed. Sharron pops up at the start, clad in a bikini, and delivers some good advice.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 16]
Shadow of the Panther
Shown 21st March 2006 [Tuesday]
A Nemesis Agent dies mysteriously in a hotel in Haiti.
Sharron is sent to investigate. She meets friendly Canadian Donald Sutherland [ Don't Look Now ].
When Sharron doesn't contact HQ, the boss sends in Craig and Richard.
A witch-doctor is hypnotising people. Can the Champions' superpowers save them?
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 17]
A Case of Lemmings
Shown 11th April 2006 [Tuesday]
3 Interpol Agents commit suicide. Nemesis is called in to stage an impartial investigation.
The Champions discover that the dead Agents all participated in Mafia cases. However, they only have a couple of days to solve the mystery.
Sharon goes undercover as a sexy gangster-groupie. She looks the part in a big-hair blonde wig.
Can Craig's superpowers defeat a suicide-inducing drug?.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 18]
The Interrogation
Shown 18th April 2006 [Tuesday]
Craig returns from a solo mission in Hong Kong. He wakes up in a cell, where he's interrogated by a masterful manipulator.
The interrogation, a mix of halucinogens and mind-f*cks, is excellent.
The ending is emotional and original, for its time. In these more cynical days, it feels slightly less powerful.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 19]
The Mission
Shown 25th April 2006 [Tuesday]
Someone is running a face-change clinic [in an English Country mansion] for on-the-run crooks. Like ep The Champions [Season 1, Episode 7] The Survivors , this features Nazi War Criminals on the run.
Craig and Sharron go undercover as a gangster and his moll. Craig gets a creepy pencil-moustache, while 19-year-old Sharron looks a lot older when she has too much makeup on.
Richard poses as a tramp, and gets himself selected as organ-donor by the villains.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 20]
The Silent Enemy
Shown 2nd May 2006 [Tuesday]
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 21]
The Body Snatchers
Shown 9th May 2006 [Tuesday]
Richard investigates mysterious goings-on at a remote mansion. Bernard Lee [ Dr No, Live and Let Die is behind an evil plot.
Illegal clinic in an English country mansion? This is just like The Champions [Season 1, Episode 19] The Mission .
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 22]
Get Me Out of Here!
Shown 16th May 2006 [Tuesday]
A lady scientist is held under house arrest in Cuba. The trio must bust her out and get her to USA safely.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 23]
The Night People
Shown 23rd May 2006 [Tuesday]
A poacher in the grounds of an English Country mansion is attacked by KKK men with a voodoo doll.
Alexandra Bastedo goes to Cornwall for her vacation. None of the locals speaks with a regional accent, but she doesn't seem to notice.
Craig and Richard are in Haiti, perhaps cleaning up after The Champions [Season 1, Episode 16] Shadow of the Panther . They return to England and search for Sharron, but she's MIA ...
The locals fear the rich folk in the mansion are into witchcraft. Not Paganism, more of a 1960s flower-power white-witch thing. With voodoo dolls!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 24]
Project Zero
Shown 6th June 2006 [Tuesday]
Someone is recruiting top military scientists from the UK, for a secret project. A bit like in Dark Crusader by Alastair MacLean.
Richard goes undercover, posing as a scientist. But using his real name!
The villains' security is so good that the others can't follow. So they go undercover themselves. Good job, too, since Richard gets an explosive collar ...
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 25]
Desert Journey
Shown 13th June 2006 [Tuesday]
A small landlocked country in the Sahara, bordered by Algeria and Libya, is victim of a terrorist plot. Well-organised agents attempt to assassinate government official Roger Delgado [ Dr Who ].
Sharon dresses as a party-girl, to seduce a playboy who's also the exiled King!
Sharon and Craig transport the playboy across the desert, facing treachery and ambush.
This ep has high production values, and though there may be stock footage it blends well with the primary scenes.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 26]
Full Circle
Shown 27th June 2006 [Tuesday]
In England, a burglar breaks into a foreign embassy and photographs some documents. When arrested a few minutes later, there is no sign of the film.
Craig and Richard go undercover in prison to folow the burglar and find the film. But the ambassador has hired an evil Mr Steed and Mrs Peel duo to break the burglar out as well!
Sharon's intro scene at the start comes from a previous ep. She gets a couple of scenes half way through - Tremayne sends her to help Richard, who then sends her back to HQ. In fact we see less of her than we do of the huge fountain in Geneva - the spray must be 200 feet high!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 27]
Nutcracker
Shown 2 Apr 69
Shown 11th October 2007 [Thursday]
A British Government VIP is caught breaking into the M7 vault in London, trying to steal secret NATO files. M7 calls in the Champions to test the security of their vault. Strange coincidence, because the vault's security system is so complex that only the Champions' secret powers could possibly defeat it.
The Champions realise that the break-in was an inside job, so they start snooping around. And like so many other episodes, one gets captured and has to be rescued!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 28]
The Final Countdown
Shown 16 Apr 69
Shown 1st August 2006 [Tuesday]
A Lufwaffe Air Marshall is released from a Russian POW camp. He gets together wth his hard-core Nazi buddies, and tries to get a WW2-era superweapon.
The Champions have to locate and defuse a nuclear bomb!
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 29]
The Gun-Runners
Shown 23 Apr 69
Shown 8th August 2006 [Tuesday]
In the Burmese jungle [or a sound-stage with a few tropical plants] a police expedition to recover some WW2 rifles is massacred by schmeisser-wielding Mafiosos.
The Champions are sent to outsmart an English arms dealer who is betraying his country by arming Commie rebels.
The Champions [Season 1, Episode 30]
Autokill
Shown 30 Apr 69
Shown 15th August 2006 [Tuesday]
A sinister organisation is brainwashing Nemesis Agents, then sending them to kill the Agency's senior staff. This time Tremayne isn't just the book-end exposition man, he's an important part of the plot!
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