DISCOVER--the thirty best colour Man From UNCLE episodes
Although the pilot film for The Man from UNCLE provided a perfect template for the series, the earliest episodes stumbled around as this clever, classy new spy series tried to find its feet and format. When the series successfully distanced itself from Bond it found both its style and its audience. Despite this, many fans consider the first season, the only one not filmed in colour, to be the best. Received wisdom will tell you that the second season was okay, the third was awful, and the fourth a belated return to form. Personally, I think it's a little less simple and more complicated than that, with the first season being very much trial and error, and the 1966 second season episodes being perfection, but rather than get into all that here, this list separates the wheat from the chaff in the colour seasons, offering my votes for the best of the second, third, and fourth. I didn't plan it so precisely, but it comes out at twelve second season, twelve third season, and six from the shorter fourth. If you're already an UNCLE fan, you might disagree with me, and that's your prerogative, but if you're new to UNCLE, try these and take it from here...
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30 titles
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.6 (110)TV EpisodeDirectorJoseph SargentStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush is developing an "ultimate computer," which, if it becomes fully operational, will mean the criminal organization even more formidable. The device is housed in a Thrush facility that uses a South American prison as a front. Kuryakin infiltrates it as a prisoner while Solo pretends to be the husband of an international prison inspector, Salty Oliver.
- 1964–19681hTV-G8.3 (135)TV EpisodeDirectorAlf KjellinStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollA magician has developed a mind-reading device and offers it to UNCLE. The problem is Thrush, led by rivals Victor Marton and Miss Belmont, also is seeking the machine.
- DirectorTom GriesStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollSolo and Kuryakin investigate a Thrush operation which uses a a discotheque as a front.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThe search for a volcano-activating device takes Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) to Japan, where they must find Thrush's Far East headquarters.
- DirectorJud TaylorStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollMr. Robspierre, a descendant of the original Robspierre, plans to launch a nuclear missile and destroy France's vineyards. By doing so, he hopes to restore the virtue of France. Solo works to protect the daughter of a scientist Robspierre abducted while Kuryakin infiltrates Robspierre's operation.
- DirectorSeymour RobbieStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollSolo and Kuryakin lock horns with Colonel Hubris, a Thrush operative. They also run into trouble with the local police.
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.3 (90)TV EpisodeDirectorAlvin GanzerStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush wipes out UNCLE's Geneva station with a strain of small, almost invisible, killer bees. The criminal organization next wants to use the bees on UNCLE's New York headquarters.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush has a mole inside UNCLE's New York headquarters. All signs point to George Dennell, a good-natured UNCLE employee who envies enforcement agents such as Solo and Kuryakin. Dennell protests he is innocent and Solo takes a big chance on George.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollKuryakin, who has photographed Thrush codes needed by UNCLE, is captured by the criminal organization. He parachutes, with a stewardess, from a chartered aircraft over the North African desert. They end up at a Foreign Legion post, still manned by Basil Calhoun, who doesn't know the legion has been disbanded. Both Solo and Thrush are trying to get to Kuryakin.
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.3 (85)TV EpisodeDirectorJoseph SargentStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThe title refers to criminal Rafael Delgado, an expert diamond thief. He's involved with a band of criminals, who dress in British style (bowler hats and umbrellas) but who speak Italian. It's implied they are Mafia types trying to pass themselves off as British. Delgado, even while in prison, has pulled off a stunning robbery with the help of the gang. So many diamonds are missing it could affect the world's economy.
- 1964–19681hTV-G8.1 (87)TV EpisodeDirectorAlex MarchStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush mistakes Buzz Conway for a scientist. Solo and Kuryakin use that to their advantage while trying to smash a Thrush operation headed by Marvin Elom. Narcissus Darling, a Thrush femme fatale, also is involved.
- DirectorAlf KjellinStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollCount Zark, a Thrush agent, operates out of Transylvania and has developed a worldwide menace involving bats. Meanwhile, UNCLE is checking out a young woman who seems capable of reading the minds of others. Solo and Kuryakin discover how both events are related.
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.3 (94)TV EpisodeDirectorBarry ShearStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollA school on Long Island has a student body made up of teenaged children of scientists and other prominent people. Thrush is secretly running the facility and programming the students to steal secrets from their parents. Kuryakin acts as a bodyguard for the teenaged daughter of a scientist while Solo infiltrates the school.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.8 (93)TV EpisodeDirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollSolo is attacked by a cyborg (a mostly electronic being with some human organs) while on a mission. Later, it's discovered that a Thrush front company is seeking a $1 billion loan. Eventually, Solo and Kuryakin uncover a plot to mass produce cyborgs.
- DirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumNoel HarrisonSolo (Robert Vaughn) and Kuryakin (David McCallum) narrowly escape an attempt on their lives in Venice. Solo has caught pneumonia as a result of a swim in the Venice canals. As a result, he is replaced on the mission by Mark Slate (Noel Harrison). Slate is to prepare a stripper to take the place of a woman in the employ of Thrush (Joan Collins in a dual role).
- DirectorSherman MarksStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollMunitions magnate Brutus Thor intends to assassinate a Ghandi-like figure who protests for peace. Solo and Kuryakin must stop a plan to blow up a disarmament conference where Thor's target will deliver a major speech.
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.2 (71)TV EpisodeDirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush kidnaps the wife of a U.S. presidential candidate and substitutes a double.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.1 (71)TV EpisodeDirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollUNCLE and Thrush are seeking a Thrush code book in Algiers.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.7 (78)TV EpisodeDirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollScientist Dr. Adrian Cool informs UNCLE that his radio telescope is showing a spaceship heading to Earth. At the same time, Dr. Cool's daughter is kidnapped. All of this has been devised by evil industrialist Simon Sparrow as a means to grab power for himself.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.7 (73)TV EpisodeDirectorBarry ShearStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush hopes to use a "suspended animation" device, invented by Dr. A.C. Nillson, against UNCLE.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.2 (75)TV EpisodeDirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollKuryakin is stranded on a freighter carrying cargo bound for a Thrush operation. Thrush has a device that can cause tidal waves and is demanding $10 billion for not using it.
- 1964–19681hTV-G5.7 (76)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn BrahmStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollTunick, the leader of a former French colony, is the subject of a plot led by his No. 2 official. That official wants to manipulate Tunick into stealing Napoleon's tomb, a move that will embarrass the leader and drive him from office.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollSolo plants a stolen Thrush formula on an innocent woman tourist. Both UNCLE and Thrush are seeking the formula.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollAlexander Waverly is scheduled to receive an honorary degree at his alma mater, Blair University. UNCLE is on guard to protect Waverly against an assassination attempt by Thrush.
- DirectorAlf KjellinStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush plans to assassinate industrialist Mark Tenza and take over his business empire.
- 1964–19681hTV-G7.3 (73)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn BrahmStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollMandor, a former high-ranking Thrush official, supposedly has defected to UNCLE. In reality, he is providing information that will weaken his enemies within Thrush; Mandor is angling to take over Thrush in a power play. However, a former Mandor associate is hunting him. Mandor arranges it so that Illya Kuryakin is captured, forcing UNCLE to kill the Thrushman hunting Mandor. Napoleon Solo must rescue Kuryakin and then deal with Mandor.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.7 (70)TV EpisodeDirectorSherman MarksStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollBarnaby Partridge, an ambitious Thrush operative, runs a casino in the Caribbean, where he brainwashes prominent visitors. Solo recruits a businessman who's still in love with a woman in Partridge's employ. Kuryakin, meanwhile, is captured while infiltrating the casino. The Russian agent is programmed to kill Solo.
- 1964–19681hTV-G6.6 (70)TV EpisodeDirectorJames SheldonStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollUNCLE sends Solo and Petros, another agent, to Irbos, an island near Greece. They discover that Dr. Killman, a Thrush scientist, has enslaved the island's population to build a new destructive device. Filene, a Thrush official who has just arrived on the island, is accidentally killed during a fight. Solo takes his place, the basis of the episode title. Meanwhile, Petros is captured. Thrush is impatient and is ready to end Dr. Killman's project, complicating Solo's situation.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush, after an unsuccessful attempt to blow up UNCLE's New York headquarters, decides on a more elaborate scheme. The title refers to how Thrush's new plan takes various twists and turns. If Solo and Kuryakin don't figure out the puzzle, UNCLE headquarters will be demolished.
- DirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThrush covets a new nuclear submarine, which will be launched from England. The criminal organization also employs the woman who is engaged to marry Brian Morton, UNCLE's top enforcement agent in Europe. Waverly joins Solo and Kuryakin in England and takes a direct role in the affair.Obsessed with the popular culture of the 1960s and surrounding decades, Jon Abbott has been writing about film and TV for over thirty years in around two dozen different publications, trade, populist, and specialist. He is the author of several books, including
Irwin Allen Television Productions 1964-1970,
Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots,
The Elvis Films,
Cool TV of the 1960s: Three Shows That Changed the World,
and Strange New World: Sex Films of the 1970s.
See his Amazon author's page, and his other lists on the IMDB, all under the pre-fix DISCOVER.