Mother (The Avengers)
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"Mother" is the codename given to the wheelchair-bound male British government official who gives orders to John Steed and Tara King in the last season of the British TV series The Avengers. In the television series, the character of "Mother" is portrayed by Patrick Newell; in the movie, he is portrayed by Jim Broadbent.
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[edit] Background
The position of "Mother" is reminiscent of that of M in the James Bond movies: he is the spider at the centre of the web of intrigue, supervising and coordinating the activities of Steed and other agents.
There is a school of thought in Avengers fandom that identifies "Mother" as Sir George Collins, a sometime Minister of the Crown and close relative of the Attorney General, who appeared in an earlier episode of the series (Something Nasty in the Nursery). This speculation is largely based on the rather tenuous evidence that both Collins and "Mother" were portrayed by the same actor (Patrick Newell). Although Sir George Collins would fit the profile of "Mother"'s otherwise mysterious background, the main counterargument is that he is not disabled. However, it is possible that "Mother" received his disabling injury after his appearance as Sir George; some remarks in both the television series (episode The Forget-Me Knot) and the film suggest that the accident that paralyzed him happened in the relatively recent past.
Neither the TV series nor the film suggest why this individual has the codename "Mother". In the 1990 novel The Avengers: Too Many Targets by John Peel and Dave Rogers, and based upon the television series, agents working for Mother gave him that nickname behind his back; upon overhearing it being used, he liked it and adopted it officially as a codename. (Like most spin-off fiction from established franchises, the canonicity of this is unclear.)
[edit] Bases and Locations
In spite of his disability, he is characteristically mobile, continuously moving his headquarters from such traditional locations as a stately home to more eccentric locales such as a double-decker bus or under water. Mother has a new base in practically every episode. Such locations are...
- An exercising gym.
- A stately home.
- The top of a double-decker bus.
- A base only accessible through the side of a phone box.
- Testing a new under water base for the Navy.
- Steed's apartment.
- A jeep in the fog of England.
- A room with the walls covered in paintings.
- An underground room for practising cricket, entered by falling down an open manhole.
- An old wine cellar or basement.
There is one aspect that has been the same for almost every base: Mother is surrounded by phones.
This compulsion to present a moving target is more than mere whimsy; the plots of many of the episodes revolve around attempts to kill "Mother," so his position is obviously a hazardous one.
[edit] Other Family Members
The humor of "Mother" as a codename for a man is further exploited by placing him opposite a blind female British government official, second to him in rank, called "Father", who only appeared in one episode and again in the 1998 film.
In another episode, Mother says over the phone that he will send information to "Grandmother", who must be another government official, perhaps higher in rank than Mother.
In the Tom Stoppard play Hapgood the (female) senior secret agent Hapgood also has the nickname or codename 'Mother'.
[edit] Rhonda
Mother can always be seen with his assistant, Rhonda. She is a tall, statuesque blonde woman who never speaks. Mother commented on this in one episode, saying that her quietness was lovely and when she tried to say something after that, he stopped her and said not to spoil it. In another episode, she appears to speak, but this is revealed to be an act of ventriloquism on Mother's part.
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