DVD: Universal 8238384. 11 hours 12 minutes 13 episodes with no extras. Price: £14.97(UK) but shop around for the best deal). stars: Lindsay Wagner, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks and loads of guest-stars...

check out website: www.universal-playback.com

Having picked up the 3 DVDs that covered 'The Bionic Woman's origins and a couple adventures, its nice to see Universal releasing them by season now. If you missed out on those you'll have to wait seasons two and three release of 'The Six Million Dollar Man' before seeing them there.



Jaime Summers (actress Lindsay Wagner) is a childhood sweetheart of the aforementioned Steve Austin who rekindles their relationship. They go skydiving and Jaime's parachute candles and she is badly hurt in the fall. Austin convinces his boss, OSI chief Oscar Goldman that Jaime should be made bionic. The surgery gives her a new pair of legs, right arm and bionic hearing in one ear. Jaime's body begins to reject her bionics and head trauma causes a reaction whenever she sees Austin and she apparently dies on the operating table.

In real life, the double episodes were a massive success and plans were made to bring her back. This was also one of the few occasions that the writer of 'Cyborg' who created the book that 'The Six Million Dollar Man' came from, Martin Caiden, did anything for his consultancy fee. He suggested that Jaime be put on ice, literally, until medical and technology caught up. Jaime was repaired for a second time and although she could remember Steve Austin, she couldn't remember being in love with him. Steve went back to his own assignments, occasionally dropping in to seeing her and Jaime, who could no longer play pro-tennis becomes a school teacher at Ventura Air Base, doing the odd mission for the OSI.

This then is the first thirteen episodes of Jaime Summers' new life starting from this point. These days it would be called a half season and I'm surprised that just for completest sake they didn't include the four 'Six Million Dollar Man' episodes she first appeared in with this set. They're going to have to resolve this problem when there's a three parter between the two shows a couple seasons down the line of what to do between series anyway.

Lindsay Wagner was also in an unusual situation that she could have some say in what she did with the role, insisting that the violence was brought down and she wouldn't just be a female Steve Austin. With the exception of one episode, 'Fly Jaime', which was a remake of a mostly non-violent 'The Six Million Dollar Man' episode 'Survival Of The Fittest', this aim was kept up. Many of her assignments were undercover, rescue or protection rather than going in to stir up trouble. Certainly, it would have been rather odd seeing Austin in a beauty pageant. Of particular note are 'Angel Of Mercy' as a rescue mission, 'Jaime's Mother' for keeping everyone guessing when it was first shown and 'Mirror Image' using lookalikes. If you want a taste of 70s bionics, then this isn't a bad way to pass the time and Lindsay is a sweetie.

GF Willmetts