Video Xtra by Neil Murray

I Spy Everyone's Favourite UNCLE

Heart-Throb Illya Kuryakin, the spy who came in from the old, is returning to our small screens.

Kuryakin -- alias the every-youthful David McCallum -- is back in the form of two tapes for sale from early episodes of his 60's hit TV series The man From U.N.C.L.E.

It's a trip down memory lane for 58-year-old David, who played the Russian agent in a turtleneck-sweater alongside Americans Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll).

Even now, the role is one that David is never allowed to forget.

He says: "I was doing a film when the wardrobe mistress suggested I wear a turtleneck.

She said: 'They were very popular in the 60's.'

"I gave her a rather strange look and she said: 'Oh, my God, it was you, wasn't it!'"

The series, which ran for scores of episodes and became a massive hit around the world, took a tongue-in-cheek look at the Cold War.

At the peak of its popularity, David was mobbed by 3,000 students at Louisiana State University.

"The police had to push me into the ladies room for my own protection," he said.

"But then the girls started pouring in through the windows.

"I lost a lot of hair and I got my tie off just in time to avoid being strangled!"

David said: "The series affected my life totally.  When it finally ended, I married Katherine.

"This year we've been married for 25 years, so out of it came a great sense of stability."