The Champions (TV Series) The Beginning (1968) User Reviews

Really looking forward to the next 29 episodes.

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 28 August 2015]

Craig Stirling, Sharron Macready, and Richard Barrett are agents for an organization known as Nemesis. They're sent on a mission to China to retrieve a sample of a biological agent. On the way back, their plane is hit and they crash high in the Himalayan mountains. Fortunately, the three are found and nursed back to health by an unknown, mysterious civilization. Not only are they healed, they are given extraordinary powers. They use their newly found super-strength, hearing, and telepathy to escape the Chinese and make their way back to Geneva. However, they have vowed to keep everything about what happened to them and their new powers a secret.

If this were not the origin episode, I'd probably rate The Beginning lower. But as the episode that sets-up the rest of the series, it's perfect. The special powers are introduced slowly which I appreciate. It gives the whole thing a bit of mystery and a reason to keep watching. The three leads are all more than adequate. Stuart Damon, as Craig Stirling, probably comes off looking the best. The supporting cast is surprisingly strong with noteworthy performances from Felix Aylmer and the always enjoyable Burt Kwouk. I've always loved the look of these 60s era ITC productions. Every where you look, it's pure eye-candy. The Beginning actually succeeds in providing some tension, particularly at the start of the episode. Not knowing the characters, I wasn't sure who would make it out of China. Overall, it's a nice way to begin a series.

I've always wanted to watch The Champions, but for one reason or another, never have. If The Beginning is any indication of what's to come, I'm really looking forward to the next 29 episodes.

Of its era

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 12 August 2021]

Not a bad episode, a solid introduction to the show. Dated a little particularly in the depiction of Felix Aylmer as an elderly lama bestowing magic abilities on to our heroes; a modern superhero show this certainly isn't. It's better when chronicling the Red Chinese peril with guest star Burt Kwouk in a cliched role. Very cheesy at times but of the era so I can forgive it that.

"We're...different. Very, very different.".

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 28 September 2010]

'The Saint' ( starring Roger Moore ) had been such a hit in the U.S.A. that in the mid-'60's I.T.C. started churning out glossy adventure shows by the score. 'The Baron' starred Steve Forrest as American antiques dealer 'John Mannering' and 'Man In A Suitcase' had Richard Bradford as disgraced secret agent turned private eye 'McGill'. Good though they were, there was no disguising the fact they were variations on a theme. Dennis Spooner, one of I.T.C.'s top writers, then had an idea for a show so outrageous no-one could possibly think it a rip-off of the adventures of 'Simon Templar'.

'The Champions' opens in China. Three agents of international security bureau NEMESIS break into the country to collect specimens of a lethal bacterium created by Chinese scientists. The agents in question are hard-bitten American 'Craig Stirling' ( Stuart Damon ), ever-so British 'Richard Barrett' ( William Gaunt ) and ice cool 'Sharron Macready' ( Alexandra Bastedo ). Their characters are barely established before the mission gets underway. We learn enough to know that they do not trust one another. Having accomplished their mission, our heroes flee from the Red Chinese army in a jet, only to be shot down over the snowy Himalayas. This is where the fun begins, as they are rescued by an enigmatic old man ( Felix Aylmer ) from an ancient Tibetan civilisation long thought dead. The stranger 'mends' their damaged bodies, making improvements along the way. They now have greatly enhanced senses of sight, smell and hearing, for instance, as well as greater physical strength and extra sensory perception. When one Champion is in danger, the others sense it. No sooner have the Champs recovered than the Chinese soldiers are nearly upon them...

This is a good opener, despite it not really affording the Champs much of a chance to use their new powers. Richard gets to jump onto a rock and Craig belts a few soldiers, but that's it. We would have to tune in for later episodes to see what else they could do. Sharron gets to do little other than look pretty and scream. That whirring sound effect heard whenever the Champs use their powers had been heard in other shows, most notably 'The High Terrace' episode of 'The Baron'.

Bearded Anthony Nicholls played their gruff boss 'Commander W.L. Tremayne'. If you judge a spy show by the office of the guy in charge, then 'The Champions' has to be John Le Carre. Tremayne's office made M's from the 007 films seem prehistoric, boasting a panoramic view of the Geneva fountain, and a map of the world stretched across an entire wall ( which could be reversed at the touch of a button to reveal a cinema-sized screen ). When I first saw this, I vowed to sign on with NEMESIS when I grew up.

Familiar I.T.C. faces Kenneth J.Warren and Joseph Furst are around, as is good old Burt 'Kato' Kwouk as one of the bad guys. Felix Aylmer is suitably inscrutable as 'the old man'. The ending was originally supposed to have had the Champs debating whether or not to tell Tremayne about their powers ( ultimately, they do not ). Incredibly, in America, 'The Beginning' was not shown as the first episode. 'To Trap A Rat' was. Although a good instalment, it must have left audiences bewildered. It would have been like 'The Prisoner' commencing with 'Checkmate'.

Images from this episode later appeared on bubble gum cards released to coincide with the first run.

Great, action-packed opening episode to this fine series

[shakspryn · 10/10 · 3 June 2019]

This is the set-up episode which establishes the main characters and how they acquire their super powers. It is full of action and excitement! I would say this is easily one of the five best of the 30 episodes.

One of the many good points: here, our three heroes are in the story from the beginning. We don't waste time with a lot of bland and forgettable build-up. It's blast-off from the get-go here.

Viewers may notice that the show did not have a big budget for special effects, sets, etc. But, hey, they were doing their best to make an exciting show with the budget they had, so no points off for budgets, in my view

Much more important is that the three main characters each have ample charm and relate very well to each other. This is kind of good episode that a fan will want to watch more than once. Excellent on all counts.

Not the greatest start.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 8 February 2023]

On a mission in China, trio of agents,Sharron MacReady, Craig Stirling, Richard Barrett and Sharron MacReady are shot down whilst escaping, fortunately the are attended to by a Tibetan Lama.

I was so excited to get going with The Champions, I've heard great things, and when I saw the cast list, including Gaunt and Bastedo, I was even more excited.

All I can say, I hope it gets a bit better, I wasn't blown away by this opening episode, as always I'm seeing it from the prism of the time, and taking its age into account, but this was a very clunky start.

It falls into the trap of having the damsel in distress, Sharron, being saved by the two macho men, I hope it is imaginative enough not to just be that going forward, it's so far off The Avengers it's unreal.

No issues with the acting or the visuals, all pretty good, the issue for me here was the story.

Some interest, but not the start I'd hoped for.

5/10.

The Beginning

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 16 November 2022]

William Gaunt once claimed back in the 1980s that the production crew for ITC series The Champions never ventured too far from Elstree studios.

I think the audience noticed the blue screen work even when this was first broadcast back in the 1960s.

The Beginning is very much how the threesome from Geneva based Nemesis got their powers.

Craig Stirling (Stuart Damon) Richard Barrett (William Gaunt) and Sharron Macready (Alexandra Bastedo) are agents on a mission to obtain some insects used for germ warfare in China.

As they escape, their plane is shot and it crash lands in Tibet. They are injured but a few days later when they awake they have made a miraculous recovery courtesy of a monk from a closed off city.

Not only that they have also gained supowers of speed and strength. Any one of them can sense when the others are in trouble.

The skills come into use as they deal with the pursuing Chinese military.

I was not even born when this was original broadcast. When repeated on ITV in the 1980s I found it schlocky.

Looking at the pilot episode again, it does border on laughable. It took ages for Macready to get that maggot. Then there was that Chinese double agent helping Nemesis whose silly ill timed smirk gives him away.

The dialogue between Barrett and Macready who is on her first mission was risible as they try to establish a backstory for her.

I'm afraid if you take off the nostalgic spectacles. This is heading for the wooden spoon.

Maybe the later episodes will get better.