I've never watched Ace of Wands.

I don't know your criteria for choosing which series to review but you might want to have a look at "Doom Patrol", possibly the most batcrap crazy TV show ever made. Currently showing on ITVX.

Not looking great for Bond at the moment, but then its all speculation. I have faith Barbara will do/make the right decisions. I'm also from the valleys, great to see a fellow Welshman on here. Not many of us.

With other franchises staggering, I’m more excited now than I was about the original run, perhaps because I was a viewer, not a *superfan*, at the time. I’m less precious about it, and won’t approach every new instalment with protective anxiety the way I do with, say, Doctor Who.

Excellent video,thanks. Just discovered your channel via a Blake's 7 video you did and I'm really enjoying it all.

Back to my formative years in the 1960s. Sunday afternoon tv, the Champions followed by the golden shot.

Great review Paul. Saw this this evening and I’m happy to endorse your comments and opinions. Much like Speak No Evil the premise is people being far too polite and deferential in the face of an overpowering personality with their own unique take on life. I see Grant’s mesmeric performance is up for a BAFTA in a couple of weeks and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s in with a chance. Probably not, but it’s still nice to see him nominated. A24 are certainly leading the way in terms of edgy genre filmmaking these past few years, and I always relish a new release from them.

Another great review, Paul. I have very fond memories of the Champions from my youth and I remember avidly collecting the bubble gum trading cards. I seemed to remember that they incorporated codebreaker puzzles. I also still have the paperback novel that you mentioned. I agree that it was fairly formulaic but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was glossy and glamorous as all those ITC series were at the time. I'm still fond of it and own the excellent Network dvd boxset. I was also very fortunate to meet Alexandra Bastedo some years ago at a memorabilia event. So all in all I was a big fan. Look forward to your review of Department S. One of my favourite ITC series.

Maybe they should hire Neil Gaiman. Chances are he's not that busy.

MGM was bought by Amazon in 2021, and as the principal distributor of the James Bond films means EoN rely on them for worldwide release.

Believe the Movie came out in 2025 👍🏼

Great review, loved the show as a kid and enjoy it now, but I think you are right about it's shortcomings. Some of the episodes tended to under-use the powers as well. It's one of those programmes I would like to see remade but not made too OTT.

Good review, man, I went to see companion there for myself earlier actually and i have to say i really enjoyed it! Good to see you loved it as well! 👍

Love your Intro 😊

Hi Paul, good review. I have fond memories of watching this as a kid on Sunday afternoons in the late 70's or early 80's in the UK. Funnily enough, I've just got the dvd boxset for xmas and I've watched almost all of the episodes so far. I am enjoying them immensely and i do love seeing the old British actors too. The best episodes for me are the ones set in the UK, as the ones set abroad suffer from too many fake backgrounds and obvious sets because of the limited budget. I agree with you that Alexandra Bastedo is not the best actor, but she is criminally underused in the majority of episodes, she should have been given more to do like Emma Peel in the Avengers. Also, as well as being formulaic, a fair few of the episodes have enough plot holes in them to sink a submarine. My favourite episodes are The Night People, Nutcracker and Autokill. Least favourites: Operation Deep Freeze and Twelve Hours.

Hello Paul, I have recently discovered your channel and having been born in 1958 your reviews of classic shows really take me back to my childhood. I must thank you for reuniting me with "Ace of wands" as I had forgotten the shows title but the theme tune and the name Tarot have been occasionally popping to mind in the intervening fifty plus years. Thanks again and keep up the good work. Regards Chris

Need to do a Christmas Special with Vindaloo Singh (Christmas Songs) having a Christmas Curry.

Hi Paul, I remember this terrifying the living daylights out of me as a teenager in 1984! I caught it again about a month ago while searching through iPlayer. It still hits hard all these years later, even more so as Im now a dad and grandad. Also with the Russia/Ukraine war still going on, some bits make for uneasy viewing watching it now. Knowing what was coming combined with stoney narration and tv reports gives the first half a pervading sense of dread and unease seeing normal, everyday people going about their business and getting more paranoid as the hostilities escalate so far away from them. Then the bomb hits, and for an 80s BBC made show, it doesn't shy away from the full horror of a nuclear attack. The scenes of total silence as the screen goes white as everyone is vaporized is still horrific and chilling to the bone all these years later!!!

We weren't allowed ITV or the BBC Light Service (Radio 2!). The man from DER came and removed the two spare channel buttons from the TV. We didn't get ITV till Channel 4 launched so I didn't see Thunderbirds till I was in my late teens.

Wonderfully summarised video Paul. We love the classic shows of the 60's despite all their faults. The biggest of course was the complete lack of character development and depth, followed by any continuity. And of course being aimed at the U.S market, the majority of the ITC glossy shows had this problem more than Doctor Who and anything the BBC might have made. Just look at the enjoyable Irwin Allen shows as to how the market they were aimed at wanted their TV made.

Ahhh 'Low' Grade....

Always felt that William Gaunt was the most charismatic of the three, putting a little charm into what little he was given! Alexsandro Bestada's charms, though, weren't in her acting! I think one of her strongest moments was actually playing a villain in "Randell & Hopkirk Deceased" fighting with Annete Andre in the cemetery! Yes, I think this is one instance where a well done modern reboot would work!

Sound keeps cutting out for me. Anyone else?

Almost forgot. How about a review of "The Medusa Touch" (1978)? Richard Burton is on top form as the psychiatric patient who thinks he can cause disasters. It came to mind because I finally found a free,legal download of Peter van Greenaway's original novel which, like all his other books is long out of print. A physical copy goes for over£300.

I loved The Champions in 1968 but like a lot of ancient TV, it takes some sitting through these days. The plane crash in the first episode seems to last about a week.

Love all the itc series. Currently watching the b/w episodes of the saint on dvd

I liked the show when seeing reruns and episodes on VHS as a kid, but... Yeah, nothing you say here is wrong.

Great review.I sort of agree with you that this series hasnt stood the test of time.I watched it when it came out,im as old as that lama now!.And it did strike me as being very serious unlike say the other ITC series.Almost apart from them.The super powers were a bit come and go the only one that got used every week was the hearing ability with that sound effect.The best thing for me about the series was that title music and the classy opening and closing titles.It did have potential but largely fell into ITC proceedural with some guys with a few powers.Which was a shame as it could have been more.Some episodes are very good but get swamped on the whole by mediocre ones.I like the series but in small amounts.Its not go to ITC stuff for me.Got to be in the mood for it.

More than anything, what I want out of a future Red Dwarf seriese, is a satisfying ending to the show. We've reached the point where, as much as I'd love to see ever more seriese. the creation of a "the end" is more important. Perhapse instead of numbering this short season, they could title it "the final season" That way they could inject one, maybe two new seasons into the sequence retroactively.

Doug Naylor has said he would never write a final episode and I think thats the best way personally. And I have a feeling that it may yet still return once more...

I first discovered Doomwatch when BBC Video released 4 episodes on 2 VHS cassettes, as I wasn't born when it was originally shown on BBC1. I also still have my VHS recordings made off UK Gold when they repeated Doomwatch in the 1990's. My mum remembers watching this but is convinced they all were killed off at the end, but I wonder if she's just remembering the end of Series 1 when Toby Wren was killed off.

The Vanishing is the US remake of a superior Dutch film if I recall.

Yeah alot of charity shops dont sells DVD's anymore as they are worth so little. I think the silly low prices are mainly for films. I think as far as TV series are concerned they have probably gone through the bottom prices and now as some are OOP prices may get silly. So get stuff while you can. I've wondering as far as Blakes 7 is concerned as nothing has been said about series 2 on BR is it going to happen?

Hi, picked up hyperdrive staring nick frost and amanda hart in charity shop for a pound. Bargin. Perhaps 1 to add to your list for a future review. Not as good as red dwarf but I enjoyed it.

Imitation game is a brilliant film

Doomwatch had some great ideas but was ruined by the usual tatty tinpot - film it in an hour BBC budget. it should been (like Adam Adament) made by ITC and it would have shined.

I've been a fan since '88, very popular in Australia in it's day! Always hoped there would be just one more special to round off the saga.

Love this show! I am curious as to its future; they have settled their legal issues in court and can make more hope they continue. One thing though is I do t think a recast would ever work because the actors have these characters mastered; do t think it would work without them.

My favourite Kong film. Wonderfully romantic score by John Barry and the World Trade Centre finale gives it a haunting quality

Another great review, Paul. I really enjoyed these retro tv reviews. They really are you forte! This is a series that had slipped off my radar. Inspired by this review I have just watched episode 1 on KZbin albeit an AI enhanced version which is somewhat interesting to say the least. Nonetheless I really enjoyed it. I will now watch it on Talking Pictures tv as you suggest. Although being an avid physical media addiction l will no doubt look at picking up the dvd. I'm a huge Robert Powell admirer and I agree he is a major USP of the series. He exudes effortless 70's cool as does Simon Oates. I was a big fan of Powell's portrayal of Richard Hannay in the 70's big screen 39 Steps and the following tv series. Interestingly Robert Powell originates from area where I was brought up near Eccles and is a contempory of mine. I recall that used to occasionaly collect his mother's bread order from the local bakers where my mother worked during the late 70's. He was quite the celebrity. I thought the writing of this first episode was excellent. It's a fascinating premise. No doubt I will hugely enjoy rewatching this series. Thanks yet again for this content. It's pleasing to see that you continue to pick up subscribers and grow the channel. Well deserved!

These days Ridge would have been on a Police Watch List long before he arrived at Doomwatch. One of the scariest things about this episode is the casual way the characters handle dangerously contaminated material. I love the way the aircraft's emergency landing is augmented by the addition of what appears to be a Fire Brigade training film showing a burning aircraft for no apparent reason, as there is no mention of a fire in the actual plot. Also Ridge breaking into a top secret establishment in broad daylight, out in the open and armed only with wire cutters and rubber gloves. Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis wrote "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater", a novel about a similar potential disaster but not actually connected to "Doomwatch" and "Brainwrack". which was about exhaust pollution causing brain damage. This was another science gone wrong story but again, not connected to "Doomwatch". Full marks to Talking Pictures for resurrecting "Doomwatch": they do a brilliant job with just a few people apparently working from a garden shed. It's a sad comment on the current state of British TV that the best things on are 50 year old episodes of "Z Cars".

The rats one I reckon James Herbert got some of his inspiration for classic horror Rat triology books.from it.

I've subscribed to it.

I've got complete series on DVD.

Great review.Great series.I always thought Dr Quist knew the Pertwee Dr from Season 7 and kept in touch!

British TV of that time was great for pessimistic doom laden science fiction. Doomwatch, Quatermass, Day of the Triffids, Survivors, The Changes. Quist )john Paul) looks and acts like a sterner version of the third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)

Great review Paul. Big fan of Doomwatch, it was way ahead of its time. I first saw it way back on VHS copies that were in circulation as I grew up, then on UK Gold and finally some while back I bought the surviving episodes on DVD. Big and bold and way ahead of its time as you rightly say, it suffered from that BBC issue of always being under funded and slightly under baked. Nevertheless series one was great TV. Its a shame Robert Powell moved on, it never quite recovered from that. Also Terence Dudley seems to have had the same long term effect here that he did on Survivors, and over rode the creators wishes, causing them to leave. Could it work now? - absolutely yes, and like Blakes 7, is a great shame that the Beeb don't consider a revival or licence it out to someone else.

Another cracking review, thanks Paul 👍