Los invencibles del Némesis

I like The Saint but they made far too many episodes and a lot of the episodes were poor I think.

I first saw the Champions as a kid. Imagine the scene,Scotland early 1970s,school summer holidays and it always seems to be raining. Daytime tv was only on for a few hours I think. School holidays meant they showed old series like this. I could never get interested in Belle and Sebastian or White Horses but I like The Champions and Time Tunnel and things like that.

I suppose The Saint and Man In A Suitcase were for adults but The Champions was regarded as a kids show.

Anyway looking again at this series I am struck by how the plots are pretty good and the acting is pretty good. The plot idea (superpowers for ordinary people) is good. The plots meant that the series needed a bigger budget and different locations than the London based ITC series you might be used to.

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.

What a fantastic show! It's not perfect, but I enjoyed almost every single episode. The set-up: The Champions tells the story of Richard Barrett, Craig Stirling, and Sharron Macready. They are agents for an organization dedicated to law, order, and justice known as Nemesis. During a mission to China, their plane crashed in the mountains of Tibet. They were rescued by a secret civilization, nursed back to health, and given superpowers to use in their work with Nemesis. They keep their powers secret so they can best us them as they see fit.

The Champions stars William Gaunt, Stuart Damon, and Alexandra Bastedo as Richard, Craig, and Sharon. It's a strong core cast. Each of the three main actors brings something different to the show. They are joined by Anthony Nicholls as Tremayne, head of Nemesis. Each week, a new supporting cast was featured that included some very capable actors. Overall, the cast is a real plus to the show.

Next, the writing and directing are also responsible for making The Champions what it was. While I tend to favor the episodes written by Tony Williamson, there were a lot of talented people writing for the show. As for directors, The Champions employed some of my favorite directors working in England at the time. Names like Freddie Francis, Roy Ward Baker, John Giling, and Don Sharp popped up in the credits each week. It's a talented line-up.

As far as episodes go, I definitely have favorites. My top 5 would include: Project Zero (my absolute favorite), Shadow of the Panther, Nutcracker, The Dark Island, and Happening. It was hard picking just 5 as I rated 12 episodes an 8 or higher. Unfortunately, there were episodes that didn't quite measure up. The Iron Man, Reply Box 666, Twelve Hours, Full Circle, and The Interrogation didn't do it for me. i realize the last pick might be controversial as there are many fans of that particular episode.

While I really enjoy The Champions, it's not perfect. I have three complaints worth writing about. First, the unequal screen time given to the three main characters. As I wrote in a couple of episode reviews, Sharon too often has little to do other than play the damsel in distress. More Sharon would have been a good thing. Second, there are several instances in The Champions where their super powers are put in check for the sake of the plot. For example, in Full Circle, Richard gets destroyed by three attackers who he should have easily tossed aside. Third, even after 30 episodes, Richard, Craig, and Sharon still feel like 2-D characters. We learn almost nothing about them beyond their roles at Nemesis. They never seem like real people. Still, these quibbles are minor when compared to my overall enjoyment of The Champions.

I suppose that if I had to list one more issue I have The Champions it is that it ended after one season. I would have loved more.

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.

You can tell by the Buddhist overtones in the first 2 episodes that Dennis Spooner was involved here. The Champions, or what I've seen of the series (6 episodes), is yet another in the long line of 60s-70s spy shows from Great Britain. But the marked difference here is the special abilities given to each of the main characters.

They all have unusual, superhuman powers which aid them in their crime-busting. It's a bit cheesy at times, but whatever gets the job done...

I know that The Champions are virtually unheard of in my native country, but the videos are commercially available in the UK. If you're fond of obscure technicolor british action-adventure, then you can't miss The Champions.

The only problem I have with the series so far: Why do so many British shows have American actors at the helm?