User Reviews

As a result of the popularity of 'The Saint' starring Roger Moore, I.T.C. made a number of shows in similar vein. Monty Berman and Dennis Spooner followed up 'The Baron' ( starring Steve Forrest and loosely based on John Creasey's books ) with this - a fondly remembered fantasy series about superhuman spies that preempted by a few years 'The Six Million Dollar Man'.

Craig Stirling ( Stuart Damon ), Richard Barrett ( William Gaunt ), and Sharron Macready ( Alexandra Bastedo ) are agents of NEMESIS, an espionage organisation whose headquarters is in Geneva ( the opening titles were played over shots of the Lac Leman fountain ). At the start of 'The Beginning', they break into Red China to steal the latest development in bacteriological warfare. Completing the job, they escape by plane. Red Chinese troops shoot it down. It crashes in the Himalayas. A strange elderly man ( Felix Aylmer ) in robes approaches the wreckage. When the agents awaken, they find that their bodies have been mended and that they now possess superhuman abilities, including lighting-fast reflexes and telepathy. After deciding not to tell Tremayne ( Anthony Nicholls ), their boss, they use their powers for good. Being superhuman certainly helped them survive such ordeals as being thrown out of a plane, tortured in an underground garage, shut in a freezer, and made to fight other agents with identical powers ( 'The Experiment' ).

Damon and Gaunt had an unmistakable on-screen chemistry as 'Craig' and 'Richard', while the luscious Bastedo pouted her way through her role as 'Sharron'. Nicholls made a wonderfully gruff Tremayne, and had an office that put Mr.Waverly's ( of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' ) to shame. Pressing a button on the desk could cause a wall ( on which a map of the world was prominently featured ) to reverse and display a screen on which films could be projected.

Most of the plots adhered to the standard spy/crime format beloved of I.T.C. shows, but a few had a touch of the fantastical to them, such as those written by the late Tony Williamson. 'Project Zero' is my personal favourite, although 'Shadow Of The Panther' gets involved with voodoo and zombies. Terry Nation and Brian Clemens also wrote some corkers, while Spooner's 'The Interrogation' compared favourably with 'The Prisoner'. Craig is imprisoned in a strange room from which there is no escape. He faces relentless questioning from a man played by Colin Blakely. The twist is that Tremayne ordered the interrogation after becoming suspicious of Craig's successful record as a spy. The final episode - 'Autokill' - had a brainwashed Barrett facing off against his friends.

The excellent theme tune was by Tony Hatch. Robert Farnon, Albert Elms, and Edwin Astley contributed incidental music. Guest stars included Kate O'Mara, Peter Wyngarde, Rupert Davies, Michael Gough, Paul Eddington, William Franklyn, and Donald Sutherland. John Garforth penned a novelisation entitled 'The Sixth Sense Is Death' for Panther, and the short-lived comic 'Joe 90 - Top Secret' ran a two-page strip ( whose stories were often more ambitious than the show's! ).

Though a hit in Britain, any chance it had of success in America was sabotaged by the network screening it - it chose to kick off with 'To Trap A Rat' instead of 'The Beginning'. Viewers watching must have been pretty confused.

I regret that there was never a second series; the concept had so much life left in it. Would Craig and Richard have been competitors for Sharron's affections? What if Tremayne had learnt of the Champions' powers? Did the Champions have any other abilities other than those we saw? We never found out, alas. Perhaps the mooted movie version will answer some of these questions.

I wasn't born until 4 years after this wonderful show first aired but luckily I managed to catch the reruns of the mid 90's and the rest is history......I was hooked. The premise was pretty simple; two hardened Nemesis agents, Richard Barrett and Craig Stirling ( William Gaunt and Stuart Damon) are partnered up with an expert (if not young) Doctor and Biologist (Sharron Macready) to head behind the bamboo curtain to retrieve a dangerous biological agent from being used by red china. Whilst making their escape, their plane is hit by machine gun fire and they crash in the heart of the Himalayas where their lives are saved by a mysterious and previously undiscovered civilisation who heal and enhance the senses of the trio, thus setting the scene for many exciting adventures to come...

The series lasted for 30 hour long episodes and I guess it was its relatively short lived, one season run that has set it up for cult status.

Monty Berman, the producer, was notorious for making things as cheaply as possible and sometimes the show suffered for this with incredibly tacky sets - particularly in Episodes such as "Happening" ( a studio deputising for the Australian outback) and the 'snow' sets of "Operation Deep Freeze" and "The Beginning" but if you can get past this, and focus on the characters and the story lines, the show was really a lot of fun. It had a great mix of adventure, and plenty of deadpan humour (mainly from some terrific one liners from William Gaunt).

The chemistry from the three leads was fantastic - you get the sense that they were really having a lot of fun making the show and this is borne out in the 2005 reunion documentary where the three reunite after over 35 years to reminisce about the show (and laugh about Anthony Nicholls awful wig!!). They all shared equal screen time and all had their moments to shine. I have to say, I was always a Richard Barrett fan - I loved his sardonic humour along with that dangerous edge - he was certainly a man you didn't cross, and those eyes........the bluest eyes you would probably see on TV. I have also followed Bill Gaunts career with interest since. However, Craig Stirling certainly would have had his legion of female fans and I am sure Alexandra Bastedo had a whole queue of male fans swooning over her too.

The show also had a plethora of guest stars to entice with, including Donald Sutherland, Jeremy Brett, Peter Wyngarde, Burt Kwouk, Anton Rodgers, Kate O'Mara, Jenny Linden, Paul Eddington and Colin Blakely.

Notable episodes for me were : "Auto Kill", "The Interrogation", "The Fanatics", "The Mission" and "The Gilded Cage" but I am sure every one has their personal favourites.

If you do get a chance to watch this show for the first time, or to re watch it after many years, remember to watch it in the context of the time it was made and just sit back and enjoy - the characters and the chemistry from the three leads is what made this wonderful show for me and I don't think I will ever tire of it.

Enjoy!

Spy shows have always proved popular over the years but very few of them have actually been worth watching ( at least that's what I think ). Monty Berman and Dennis Spooner's 1968 show 'The Champions', made by ITC, was a spy show with a difference - its characters possessed superhuman powers! Unlike earlier spy shows such as 'Callan', 'The Champions' was not so much dark drama, more fantasy.

The three main protagonists are pilot Craig Stirling ( Stuart Damon ), code-breaker Richard Barrett ( William Gaunt ) and doctor Sharron Macready ( the late Alexandra Bastedo ), all of whom are agents for NEMESIS - a united nations law enforcement group based in Geneva, where their boss is Tremayne ( Anthony Nichols ). On their first mission, the three are sent to China to obtain lethal bacterium specimens, only to have their plane shot down by the Red Chinese army, which then crashes in The Himalayas.

As their barely alive bodies lay amidst the debris and wreckage of their plane in the snowy wasteland of The Himalayas, a strange looking old man who belongs to an ancient Tibetian civilisation race thought to be long dead walks by and not only cures their injuries but also gives them superhuman powers such as telepathy, precognition and super-fast reflexes to name but several.

Their superhuman abilities soon becomes their weapon of defence against ordeals such as being left to die in a desert, being subjected to electrical torture or even being locked up in a freezer. Tremayne, alas, never learns of this.

The scripts were often beautifully written, with lines that crackled like logs on a fire which were delivered with such relish by an outstanding cast. Gorgeous Alexandra Bastedo's Macready served as the brains and eye candy whilst William Gaunt and Stuart Damon made a magnificent pairing as tough guys Barrett and Stirling. The late Anthony Nicolls also was perfectly cast as the gruff voiced Tremayne. One wonders if the show had carried on into a second series whether or not he would have found out about the Champions' abilities.

The wonderful theme tune was supplied by Tony Hatch, Robert Farns and Albert Elms. Edwin Astley ( who later wrote the excellent theme for 'Randall & Hopkirk ( Deceased )', another ITC show ) provided the show's incidental music. 'The Champions' was screened over in the States but sadly did not gel with American audiences as the network unwisely chose to screen first the edition 'To Trap A Rat' rather than 'The Beginning', which would have caused great confusion amongst viewers.

Thankfully, it is all out on DVD now, thus enabling it the chance to reach a new audience. For those who have not yet seen it, I must warn you that it is pretty slow moving so don't just give up on it after the first episode. Give it time to establish itself. Trust me, the rewards are well worth it. My favourite episode? 'The Invisible Man', for a wonderful performance from Peter Wyngarde, the future Jason King of 'Department S'.

I really like this series. I watched it when I was little. It was a great series. Too bad it only lasted 30 episodes. I still remember the theme. The opening was great. I really wish that they would have reruns now. This series took itself fairly serious as opposed to some other series at the same time. I remember the pilot. I wish they would have put these on dvds sooner. I really like British shows of the '60s. They had polish and a tongue in cheek sense of humor. I remember Patrick mcgoohan in secret agent man. He had polish. I also liked that their base was Geneva. It was a nice change of pace. I don't remember all the actors that well. I do remember Stuart Damon.

Very interesting idea, but acting it's a bit childish, there is no expression on the faces, line is same like kids talking on schools Events. Look at it every move is done in slow motion, there's no action to keep your attention very long.