The Champions

Oh, the 60's were a great era for all genres from action to sci-fi to comedy. Will we ever reclaim those days?

The Champions was an outstanding fantasy show about three agents who worked for Nemesis, an international agency. In the pilot episode they were given powers by a mysterious monk. They had powers of telepathy, super strength and other powers.

As for the adventures themselves, the Champions battled villains who were threatening no less than the world itself. The Champions were a bit too powerful at times but it was still fun seeing them beat the bad guys. And for a male like myself, it was fun to see the beautiful Alexandra Bastedo kicking butt.

The Champions was one of many great 60's shows.

This is a suprisingly good series. The basic story is that three people crash in the Himalayas and are rescued by monks and taught mystical powers. They then return to civilisation and become sort of special agents, using their powers for good.

It sounds cheesy, but it is actually good fun. The special powers are understated - exceptional hearing, healing and telepathy are among them and whilst playing a key role in the shows, are by no means the central aspect which the series revolves around (unlike later series such as the Hulk etc.)

If you can get to see this series, it'll pleasantly surprise you.

Three secret agents crash their plane in Tibet, but are saved by the people of a lost civilisation who endow them with the powers of super humans.

Fun fantasy series which has had some good actors and directors working on it including John Gilling (THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, THE REPTILE for Hammer), veteran cinematographer-director Freddie Francis (who won an Oscar for SONS AND LOVERS) and Cyril Frankel who worked on just about every cult British TV show from that era. On the acting side John Carson and Gerald Harper have made guest appearances. It was the skills of all the people involved, not forgetting Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt who made nonsensical material credible to watch.

This show has been re-run on BBC 2 in the mid-1990's and several of the episodes are out on video and DVD.

I don't know what was the more "out-there" ITC fantasy series from the late 60's, this or the equally wonderful "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)". I think I'll call it a draw and a high-scoring one at that.

As a child of 8, I slavishly watched this series on first release so my warm memories of it are very strong and long-lasting, completely over-powering my critical faculties screaming how improbable and incredulous the concept and plot-lines were.

The three actors in the lead roles gelled together so well, Stuart Damon, the handsome, smooth-talking athletic American, Richard Gaunt the more grounded, thoughtful Britisher second wheel while Alexandra Bastedo provided the glamour and feminine wiles, triggering a major crush in my boyhood self.

The trio's special powers weren't so all-powerful as to make them immune from danger (unlike say Steve Austin's in the next decade) and they invariably relied on teamwork to get the job done, usually to the consternation of their permanently flummoxed boss Anthony Nicholls.

Looking back, I just feel so pleased that I started watching TV as a boy when adventure series like this were airing, including "The Avengers","Mission Impossible", "Department S" and others too numerous to mention. How lucky for us nostalgia-freaks that they are almost all readily available again on DVD or streaming channels.

I was 10 years old when this show was on TV. By far it was my favorite. The actors were very credible. Alexandra Bastedo was just gorgeous.... I just order the DVD (15 episodes). They didn't have super-powers. They just had superior human skills (strength, hearing, sight). The 3 actors were very good in their rolls, very believable. There was a good story in each episode. At the time, there were no special effects or explosions everywhere, so the script was suppose to be good, and the characters performs were great. There was no fancy stuff, like in other shows. They didn't try to make a joke every 2 minutes to make a light show. I highly recommend this TV show to anybody that like good stuff.