THE UNTOUCHABLES - Series 3 (1961) (import)

Season three of the Untouchables aired in the U.S. from 12th October 1961 with the episode The Troubleshooter through to 5th July 1962 with The Monkey Wrench. All 28 episodes of season three are gathered together on this 7 disc U.K. DVD collection and the volumes 1 and 2 mentioned on the box refers to the two collections of this material released in the U.S. last year.

Like the previously released seasons 1 and 2 this third series is in black and white, full frame (4:3 ratio) and has been digitally remastered with restored mono sound for this DVD release from CBS studios. Season 3 was the pen-ultimate season with the final season of thirty episodes running from 25th September 1962 through to 21st May 1963 in the U.S. Unfortunately there is still no release date for season 4 on DVD in the U.S. so we may have to wait quite a while longer to conclude Elliot Ness' adventures with a U.K. release of the final season.

If you have the Untouchables seasons 1 and 2 on DVD then you will probably want to continue your collection with season 3 which has just been released in the U.K. I remember these stories from the mid to late sixties on U.K TV and they are still as iconic today as they were then, and probably say as much about that decade as they do about the thirties! A truly classic piece of TV which is recommended to all who value high production values and film noir visual styles.

I watched this show on late night reruns in Germany in the late-70s and have been waiting since then to see these again. As is the case with the other DVDs in this series this next installment is of excellent quality both in audio and video. Robert Stack shines as the great Eliot Ness, crime fighter of the 1930's. Black and white TV noir: dark wet streets, light and dark chiaroscuro shadows, feds, gangsters, machine guns, the roaring twenties and depression era 30s and the best character actors of all time guest starring on the show. Plus Walter Winchell as narrator which gives the series a documentary feel. This show has it all.

I purchased this on a whim, after all it was only just over the cost of a cinema ticket for many more hours of entertainment, and many others had recommended it. Even before I had finished the second disc I had the other two series sitting on my shelf ready to view. If you are not of an age to remember the output of TV over the 60's and 70's, and have grown up on the output of todays channels you might be in for something of a shock, but it is a shock that might inspire you to search out other such gems of television from this era. Warning, it is in black and white, but then this only adds to the whole atmosphere of Chicago in the 1920's. The stories are of corruption, murder, back handers, boot legging, fiddling, the number racket, etc, etc, no its nothing to do with the government of today, why should that pop into my mind? Anyway, with scripts that are so true to form that its not the sort of entertainment that one just switches off half way through. The actual visual quality is outstanding, and even though I do not use an upscaling DVD player, my Toshiba TV with Resolution+ certainly does a good job of imitating an HD picture, so good some people have actually asked me if it is HD version. If you like old gangster pictures, black and white, with good scripts and visual techniques, give it a whirl, what have you got to lose? the price of a cinema ticket more or less. What have you got to gain? the sort of television 'they' should be making today instead of all that filler material 'they' bombard the screens with nowadays. Since purchasing this DVD set, and numerous other, I have virtually stopped watching current day television, and from what I read I am not the only one. I have given it 5 stars, I would have given it 10.THEY DO NOT MAKE TELEVISION LIKE THIS TODAY.