BIRTHDAY DOSSIER: PAUL A'S REVIEW OF THE HONEY WEST DVD COMPLETE SERIES

Hi Woodsy

Here is my review of the Honey West DVD set. I do recall seeing this set in a shop several years ago, but I did not buy it at the time, as I did not know very much about the series, and how great it is. If you want to have a look at the series before buying the DVD, it is available to view for free on You Tube. Anyone who liked The Avengers, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible should enjoy this series.

To recap, the Honey West TV series of 1965-66 was based on a series of books that had made their debut in 1957, beginning with This Girl For Hire. On television the character was introduced in an episode of the series Burke's Law in 1965. This was followed by a full series with Anne Francis as Honey, and John Ericson as her sidekick Sam Bolt. There were numerous changes from the books. It comprised 30 black and white episodes, all running 25 minutes. It is a really cracking action-adventure series about a female private eye and martial arts expert, who could have held her own with Emma Peel. Anne Francis would later play the re-named Honey Best on an episode of the revived Burke's Law in 1994.

There are several different DVD sets available, some of which include the original Burke's Law episode as an extra - alas, this is not included in my set, which is by VCI Entertainment. The copyright date on the discs is 2008, but the cover says 2009. Here, you get all 30 episodes, on four discs (each with a different picture of the cast), with a fairly limited range of extras. Discs 1 and 2 each include a small photo gallery of mainly black and white photographs. All have a selection of vintage TV commercials for a variety of products, only some of the ads on Discs 3 and 4 have any connection to the show. Total running time 900 minutes, which is 15 hours.

The blurb on the back cover gives a potted history of the show, but does not even mention the original books. This states that 'Honey West was the first dramatic TV show with a female star in an action-adventure role'. A highly dubious claim - there was certainly Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, with Irish McCalla, as far back as 1955. Possibly others as well. 

Given my love of the show, which did not screen in NZ in the 1960s and which I have only just discovered, I really enjoyed the episodes. It is fun, there is plenty of action, with comedy, and great fights - Honey is a dangerous lady. Car lovers will also enjoy it. 

Honey usually drives an AC Shelby Cobra, basically a small British sports car with an American V8 engine, although she has a Jaguar XKE (E Type) in one episode. For undercover and surveillance work there is a Ford Econoline van. In each episode there are many familiar faces from 1960s TV. The best known today would be Richard Kiel (Jaws in the Bond films) in King of the Mountain.

The DVD set is available in Britain, where it has a BBFC PG rating, which actually surprised me, given the level of violence in the show, and the way the BBFC usually hits violence with at least a fully restricted 12 rating. I got my copy from Amazon US, as Amazon UK no longer ships to NZ.

Paul Adams

New Zealand