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RETURN OF THE SAINT

In 1978 ITC decided to revive their much loved Saint franchise with Ian Olgilvy in the lead, this time out although The Saint is still an adventurer always ready to save the country from crisis or help a damsel in distress there was a little more realism with actual location shooting and even one or two actual visits abroad.

A real treat, a nostalgia filled blast of classic seventies TV that doesn't take itself too seriously. Whilst still heavy on the Roger Mooresque suaveness and derring do Ian Olgilvy's Saint is a little more action oriented with episodes featuring a plot to blow up London, Arab terrorists, drug rings and assassinations (of course there is also plenty of Saint saving girl in peril style storylines too!).

With its great 70's fashions and concerns and a feel similar to shows such as The New Avengers or The Professionals The Return of the Saint is excellent (not to mention one very funky little theme tune). There is also great fun to be had in playing the famous guest stars, and this series attracted quite a large
volume of them including the likes of Carolyn Seymour, Britt Ekland, Judy Geeson, Rula Lenska, George Cole, Joss Ackland, Jenny Hanley, Linda Thorson and even the great Derren Nesbitt to name just a few.

extras (all on disc seven)
Return of the Saint is everything a DVD Box set should be, fantastic packaging, the complete run of episodes and choc full of extras. First up is The Saint Steps In... to the 70s - Narrated by Sir Roger Moore, this is a unique and exclusive documentary on the making of the series which features contributions from Ian Ogilvy, producer Robert S. Baker and others involved with the production of the series Written and produced by Ian Dickerson; There are also four exclusive audio commentaries featuring Ian Ogilvy, producer Robert S. Baker, production manager Malcolm Christopher and writer John Goldsmith; The Saint and the Brave Goose (which combined the two collision course episodes, given a run in theatres its presences indicates the level of completeness Network are aiming for); Episodic Image gallery with music suite; Title sequence storyboard gallery; Return of The Saint Script Archive - Presented here in PDF format are original scripts (plus some changes and meeting notes) for Return of the Saint. They are included here courtesy of Ian Dickerson. These PDFs can only be viewed on suitable software on a PC/Mac and cannot be viewed on your DVD player. The scripts are: Appointment in Florence, Assault Force, The Debt Collectors, The Diplomat’s Daughter, Hot Run, Nightmare Man, The Obono Affair, The Poppy Chain, Tower Bridge is Falling Down and Vicious Circle.

Also included is Prince of Darkness – an unproduced script in which the Saint fights vampires!

There is also a Promotional image gallery; Memorabilia image gallery; ITC Home Video trailer; European titles featuring vocal theme "Taking it Easy" by Oliver Onions; Previously unseen rushes from the title sequence (mute); Commercial Break Bumpers; Textless material (mute and made so that overseas countries could put on their own credits); The Saint at Elstree featurette - A plaque honouring Roger Moore is unveiled at Elstree Studios in December 2006; Return of The Saint annuals in PDF format (1979 & 1980); PDF of original colour publicity brochure and PDF of original Look In and TV Times articles.

Superb stuff not to be missed!!!

Distributor: Network DVD

Certificate: PG | Region: 2 | 7 disc set

Extras: Yes

cast
Ian Olgivy, Jenny Hanley, George Cole, Rula Lenska, Britt Ekland
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