Patrick McGoohan had already had a hit with his original Danger Man series at the beginning of the Sixties, but the success of the Bond movies saw the title revived and expanded in 1964, with John Drake returning in a new 60-minute format boasting bigger production values and smoother-paced, more character-driven storylines (not to mention that maddeningly catchy theme tune). But Bond it wasn’t; McGoohan was a man of unbending integrity with sufficient clout to ensure that his Drake persona avoided sex and violence and relied on his wits. So the revamped Danger Man offered complex tales of espionage and adventure in a Cold War setting rather than sex and super-villains (although such topics as neo-Nazis and witchcraft would provide some unusual episodes as well).
Network’s definitive set collects every episode of the show’s second incarnation over 13 discs and includes a 172-page book by Andrew Pixley to accompany them. My only regret is that there’s not a similar filmed documentary among the DVD extras, but all in all this a fantastic effort.