I have seen various ITC shows in reruns on television, but not this one until recently. I wasn't expecting much after seeing another short-lived ITC show, The Baron (awful), but this one really shines. The production values on this show really show, with some fantastic cars (Citroen SM, Rolls Royce Slver Shadow, and Jensen Interceptor), stylish clothes, and actual location shooting. Granted some of this is 1970's kitsch, but it looks pretty glamorous compared to the excellent Saint series, which in my opinion was compromised somewhat by its lack of location work. Even big budget American shows like Mission:Impossible shied away from location work. It was always filmed at the studio, and the sets always looked familiar . . . but not The Protectors. The half-hour format format really lends itself to tight stories without excessive dialog. And Gerry Anderson really pulled together some great talent on this one, particularly the writers. One of the let downs is Robert Vaughn, who is okay, but doesn't seem very interested in what he is doing. Nevertheless, he is head and shoulders above Steve Forrest in the Saint ripoff, the Baron, though significantly short of the stylish Roger Moore. Its a shame this show didn't last longer as ITC had a good formula on its hands.
Review of The Protectors
