Spy Versus Spy Versus Spy

There are more first-run programs on the summer television schedule than ever before, but so far shows like ''North Shore'' and ''The Ultimate Love Test'' have nothing to offer viewers other than newness. Meanwhile, a trio of reruns from decades ago — BBC America's new Friday night line-up of ''The Avengers,'' ''The Saint'' and the ''The Prisoner'' — delivers truly original programming.

All three programs were produced between 1966 and 1969, but they feel surprisingly contemporary — there's not a hippie in sight, and their detached cool suggests current fashion and design trends. The characters' clothes are impeccably tailored, they are surrounded by sleek furniture and they drive sexy cars — the life to which every metrosexual in an Eames chair or a Mini Cooper aspires.

BBC America will show 57 episodes of ''The Avengers'' in the 8 p.m. slot — 25 with Diana Rigg in her signature Emma Peel role and 32 with her successor, Linda Thorson. Those with Ms. Rigg capture ''The Avengers'' at its 1967 peak, the screen crackling with the charisma of Peel and Patrick Macnee's John Steed. The plots are formulaic — mysterious events occur; Steed, the Pierre Cardin-clad secret agent, calls in his amateur aide, the cat suit-wearing Ms. Rigg; and the investigating begins. The key to the show's appeal is the chemistry between Steed and Peel, and its original success was in part due to the mystery of the characters' relationship — are they or aren't they? That seems less central now — the flirty push-and-pull was novel in the 1960's, but it's been a required dynamic for every show since ''Moonlighting.'' In any case, it's quite obvious that Ms. Rigg's karate-chopping Peel would stomp all over the bowler-hatted Steed.

So instead of sexual tension, we have entertaining and cheerful presentations of plot flourishes that are still outlandishly fantastical — a standard criminal on ''The Avengers'' might travel through time or be invisible. Almost 40 years later, the anxieties behind the mysteries (involving corporate treachery or false information being peddled to governments) seem less escapist, but the presentation is so breezy you rarely sense anyone is in danger. You also never forget that ''The Avengers'' is a product of its era — the lo-fi special effects are a dead giveaway — but you are happy to be swept along to the conclusion of each episode, where Steed and Peel ride into the sunset. Chastely, of course.

Roger Moore's portrayal of Simon Templar, hero of Leslie Charteris's ''Saint'' novels, is similarly lustrous — here's a man who dons a wet suit, swims at night to infiltrate a K.G.B. safe house and emerges with hair beautifully coiffured, looking like a male model. BBC America has 43 color episodes of Seasons 3 and 4 and has been screening the show since April; it will be restarted this Friday at 9 at the beginning of the third season. It is amusing to see Mr. Moore as the vain and charming Templar, whose less-than-saintly past as a jewel thief is glossed over — his notoriety, in fact, only seems to help him. Templar's mysterious background is never explained — he's a loner who travels to help those in need, always with the cloud of his rumored profession hanging over him. This week's episode is a typical one for ''The Saint'': a Russian scientist wants to defect, the scientist disappears, his beautiful daughter seeks Templar's help.

Mr. Moore graduated from the series to replace Sean Connery as James Bond, where he removed the lethal, angry edge Ian Fleming had written into that character. His blithe characterization works better on ''The Saint'': Mr. Moore's portrayal may be shallow, but he looks great and everyone goes home happy.

Whether by accident or design, BBC America has left Friday night's best until last. If you accept ''The Avengers'' and ''The Saint'' at face value, you will be jolted out of your comfort zone by ''The Prisoner,'' the classic 1967 series created by and starring Patrick McGoohan. Each episode is likely to gnaw at you slowly, and you won't feel reassured when the short series concludes. There are a mere 17 episodes — Mr. McGoohan wanted to produce only seven, but was required to do more to sell the series to CBS — and all begin by reprising the basic plot: an unnamed spy (Mr. McGoohan) angrily resigns and is packing a suitcase when he is gassed, only to wake in a place known as the Village. No one uses names — Mr. McGoohan's character is simply No. 6 — and many episodes start with the same conversation between No. 6 and No. 2, who is played by a succession of actors. No. 2 wants to know why the prisoner has resigned; the character is replaced in virtually every episode, apparently dispensed with for failing to discover the information. When told he is now known as No. 6, Mr. McGoohan's character declares: ''I am not a number. I am a free man.'' No. 2, who sits in a futuristic control room in a Philippe Starck-like bubble chair, just laughs.

''The Avengers,'' ''The Saint'' and ''The Prisoner'' present different countenances of Britain's Mod period — the first two jovially embrace the splashy, colorful Pop art of the 60's, the third, the era's paranoid minimalism. Series with a political framework are always at risk of being dated, and the cold war backdrops of these three spy programs definitely reflect an old world order. But in a cable television universe where reruns are still standard fare, this threesome demonstrate that vibrant art direction and storytelling can go a long way toward agelessness.

Published by The New York Times, July 4, 2004.