Danger Man - The Complete First Season (5DVD)

The British tv series "Danger Man" exists in two versions with agent John Drake. First there was the half hour version (this set) which, contrary to Amazon's reviewer , was briefly shown in the U.S.Then there is the one hour version which was widely shown in the U.S. under the title "Secret Agent". But a change occured. In the half hour version John Drake is an American agent working for NATO although at times the NATO connection is fuzzy.McGoohan throughout the half hour series cuts back on the British accent.When the hour "Danger Man"/"Secret Agent" appeared Drake was now British and his accent given free reign.

What matters though is the quality of the shows. After 40 years they are still superb. Great scripts and actors with crisp no nonsense direction. McGoohan's Drake is equally no nonsense and he created one of television's most unforgettable characters. Fans of McGoohan's last tv series "The Prisoner" will find a few shocks here. Peter Swanwick, the Village's security controller, pops up in a few episodes as do several future Number 2's. The biggest shock though will come in the very first episode of this present series. Drake is in Rome tracking down a missing person . His only clue is a painting of an Italian village that he finds out is a real place. He goes there and it looks Italian. It is not though. It is Portmeirion in Wales, the resort village that would become The Village of "The Prisoner" ! So Patrick McGoohan's British TV career would span some 7 years and begin and end in the same place, Portmeirion, The Village.

Some additional bits...

He is American in this first series to appeal to American viewers and he tries to maintain a neutral accent.

As in the later hour-long Secret Agent series, he is an intelligence agency troubleshooter who is sent in to do "the messy jobs" (as he narrates in the intro.)

In the voiceover on the DVD for episode #2 he says he is from NATO, but his agency is left unnamed in the other intros. No doubt this is a clue that there were different versions of the half-hour intro for the UK and US markets. (The one-hour episodes shown on US TV had a different title - "Secret Agent" - and a different opening: with a twirling gun, a gloved hand firing three shots, and the Johnny Rivers song - all ending with a gunshot sound. More gunplay than in the actual episodes!)

The background shot is of the US Capitol dome. (In Secret Agent, there is often a shot of the dome of St Paul's.)

The half-hour shows don't have the plot complexity (most of the one-hour shows have a very realistic major setback or other plot twist at the half-way point) or the plot depth (the half-hour shows are nearly 100% action and suspense; McGoohan and the excellent guest stars have more time for characterization in the one-hour shows.)

And, of course, it is the later one-hour shows that bring out Drake's moral concerns and rebelliousness about his work.

As with the one-hour shows, they are beautifully plotted, written, acted, and filmed.

The half-hour shows are very satisfying and will give you a lift. I have to admit that some of the one-hour shows, being more realistic, can be a bit of a downer.

Get 'em all!