Dynasty - Season 6 [DVD] [1985]

I have waited to get this for ages!! Cant wait to watch it!! The shoulder pads and cat fights!! Woo hoo!!

Dynasty was arguable at the peak of its success in `85/'86 and after slowly building to the climatic `royal wedding' cliff-hanger the previous series, season 6 picks over the cast and picks up the pace... unfortunately only going downhill.

In season 5, Dynasty was the number one primetime soap (finally beating Dallas to the top spot) and had featured a parade of Hollywood stars, including Rock Hudson and Ali MacGraw, while the end of season `Moldavian Massacre' was perhaps the ultimate cliff-hanger as the entire cast were gunned down by terrorists. Therein lies the problem...

Surprising for a well-planned terrorist attack, season 6 see's the entire permanent cast limp their way out of danger (leaving only Steven's occasional boyfriend Luke and special guest star Ali MacGraw dead on the Chapel floor). Within an episode they're all back in Denver (except Jeff Colby - John James - who's off to Los Angeles to make the start of `The Colby's') and Carrington storylines struggle to make sense as Denver is inundated with yet more Hollywood superstars (including Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwick and Ricardo Maltaban) as The Colby's are introduced.

Krystle (Linda Evans) is kidnapped by another Hollywood visitor (this time George Hamilton) while the English arrive (in the form of Christopher Cazenove, as Blake's brother Ben, and Kate O'Mara as Caress). The plots get increasing frantic, including Fallon's return `from the dead' (but in The Colby's, resulting in the characters of Blake, Steven and Dominique having to constantly commute between the two shows). At some point during season 6, confused 1980's TV viewers screamed `swizz!' and started to switch off.

Something happens mid-way through season 6 though - as if the writers took a weekend off, came back and said `let's try again' - as during the second part of the season the storyline's actually get back on track but too late to return the show to its former glory. Even setting fire to La Mirage (with half the cast in it) as the cliff-hanger is lacklustre, as the viewer's knew that they'd no doubt all pull through (and they did) in a repeat of the Moldavia aftermath.

The fashion is fun though and the `new faces' to do add interest but somehow - somehow!? - the launch of The Colby's (which coincided directly with this season), coupled with the arrival of so many `big names' (and consequently `big parts)' and, perhaps, with just an element of storyline-exhaustion after 3 terrific previous seasons, this is where Dynasty lost its way and started that downward spiral... shame really, but it's still a great season - just don't compare it to the earlier ones, overlook its flaws, and I'm sure you'll have a good time with this classic retro viewing!!

I don't want to knock the manufacturers of this DVD but the picture quality is worse than that of my videotapes from when I recorded it from the TV in the eighties. Not sure where they sourced it from but UK TV Gold used to show better copy transfers.
I have given this product 5 stars for the show but only 3 stars for the picture quality
Out of the 6 series that have been released so far this has got to have the worst transfer.
Having said that it is great to have this series on DVD. The packaging is excellent.
Please hurry up and release series 7, 8, 9 and the Reunion.