The Avengers (TV series)

The Avengers
TheAvengers60s.jpg

A 2008 calendar featuring the 60s series The Avengers
Genre Espionage / Fantasy
Created by Sydney Newman
Starring Patrick Macnee
Ian Hendry
Honor Blackman
Diana Rigg
Linda Thorson
Country of origin UK
No. of series 6
No. of episodes 161 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ITV/ABC/Thames
Original run January 7, 1961 – May 21, 1969

The Avengers is a 1960s British television series conceived in the Spy-Fi genre and set in cold war Britain. The Avengers centred on two characters, John Steed and his varying partners, usually women, working as government agents for the 'Ministry'. As the series progressed, the one-hour storylines combined elements of science fiction and fantasy with British eccentricity. The Avengers was produced from 1961 to 1969, longer than any other continuously running espionage series until 24.[1] By 1969 The Avengers was syndicated in more than 90 countries. Seven years later ITV resurrected the series as The New Avengers, with Patrick Macnee reprising his role as John Steed and Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt co-starring as his partners.

The 1960s programmes were produced by ABC Weekend Television, a contractor within the ITV network. The 1961 series was sparsely dubbed with library music, but opened with a jazz-influenced theme by John Dankworth. After a merger in July 1968 ABC Weekend Television became Thames Television who continued production of the series, although it was still broadcast under the ABC name. Incidental music was composed by Laurie Johnson, helped in the final season by Howard Blake [2]. The show's opening music, the Avengers Theme, which featured in later seasons was composed by Laurie Johnson.

The TV series preceded the first James Bond film Dr. No, by one year. Three of the series' stars—Macnee, Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg—later co-starred in Bond films. Joanna Lumley appeared in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service several years before her role in The New Avengers.

Contents

Programme premise and overview

The Avengers was marked by different eras as co-stars came and went. The only constant was John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee.

1961: With Dr David Keel (Ian Hendry)

The Avengers began with a medical doctor named David Keel (Ian Hendry) investigating the murder by a drug ring of Peggy, his office receptionist and wife-to-be. A stranger named John Steed, who was investigating the ring, appeared and together they set out to avenge her death in the first two episodes. Afterwards, Steed asked Keel to partner him as needed to solve crimes.

The Avengers followed Hendry's Police Surgeon, in which he played police surgeon Geoffrey Brent.[3] While Police Surgeon did not last long, viewers praised Hendry. Hendry was considered the star of the new series, receiving top billing over Macnee, and Steed did not appear in two episodes. Because of the practice in the television industry of reusing videotape at the time, the first series is thought lost, save for two complete episodes (one of which happens to be a non-Steed episode) and the first 15 minutes of the first episode as telerecordings.

As the series progressed, Steed began to be more established as a co-star, carrying the final episode solo. While the two stars used wit while discussing the crimes and dangers, the series benefited from the interplay — and often tension — between Keel's idealism and Steed's professionalism. As seen in the surviving episode The Frighteners, Steed also had helpers among the population who provided information, like the "Baker Street Irregulars" of Sherlock Holmes.

The other regular in the first series was Carol Wilson (Ingrid Hafner), the nurse and receptionist who replaced the slain Peggy. Carol assisted Keel and Steed in cases, without being a part of Steed's inner circle. Hafner had played opposite Hendry as a nurse in Police Surgeon[4].

1962–64: With Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman)

Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale.

Production of the first series was cut short by a strike. By the time production could begin on the second series, Hendry had quit to pursue a film career. Macnee was promoted to star and Steed became the focus of the series, initially working with a rotation of three different partners. Dr Martin King (Jon Rollason), a thinly disguised rewriting of Keel, saw action in only three episodes, as he was only intended to be a transition character between Keel and two new female partners. He appeared in three episodes produced from scripts written for the first series. Rollason later had a regular role on Coronation Street.

Nightclub singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens) appeared in six episodes. She was a complete "amateur", meaning that she did not have any professional crime-fighting skills as did the two doctors. She was excited to be participating in a "spy" adventure alongside secret agent Steed (although at least one episode — "The Removal Men" — indicates she isn't always enthusiastic). Nonetheless, she appears to be attracted to him and their relationship appears similar to that later displayed between Steed and Tara King. Her episodes featured musical interludes showcasing her singing performances. The character of Venus underwent some revision during the second series, becoming younger-looking in demeanour and dress. Stevens was better known in Britain as a host of various children's and teen-age television programmes.

The first episode of the second series to be broadcast introduced Steed's third partner, and the one who would change the show into the format it is most remembered for. Honor Blackman played Dr. Cathy Gale, a self-assured, quick-witted anthropologist who was skilled in judo and had a passion for wearing leather clothes.[5] Widowed during the Mau Mau years in Kenya, she was the "talented amateur" who saw her aid to Steed's cases as a service to her nation.

Gale was unlike any female character ever seen before on British TV and became a household name. Reportedly, part of her charm came from the fact that her earliest appearances were episodes in which dialogue written for Keel was simply transferred to her. By the start of the third series, Smith was dropped and Gale became Steed's only regular partner. The character was born on 5 October 1930 at midnight, either in Africa or she grew up in Africa (this makes her in her early-to-mid 30s during her tenure on the program, another point of contrast with other female characters in such series who tended to skew younger). In London, she lived at 14, Primrose Hill. The series established a level of sexual tension between the characters, although, as part of the evolving format of the series, writers were not allowed to let the characters go beyond flirting and innuendo. Despite this, the relationship between Steed and Gale was progressive for 1962-63. In the episode "The Golden Eggs", it is revealed that Gale lived in Steed's flat; her rent according to Steed was to keep the refrigerator well-stocked and to cook for him (she appears to do neither). It is also stated, however, that this was a temporary arrangement while Gale (for reasons not stated) looked for a new home, and that Steed was actually sleeping at a hotel.

During the first series, hints were dropped that Steed worked for a branch of British Intelligence, and this was expanded in the second series. Early on, Steed received orders from a series of different superiors, most notably men referred to only as "Charles" or "One-Ten" (Douglas Muir). By the third series, however, Steed was seen working on his own, the origins of his orders remaining a mystery.

Another change during the Gale era was the transformation of Steed from a rather rough-and-tumble trenchcoat-wearing agent into the stereotypical English gentleman, complete with Savile Row suit, bowler hat and umbrella, the latter two full of tricks, most notably a sword hidden within the umbrella handle and a steel plate concealed in the hat. This is alluded to in the French, German and Polish titles of the series, Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir ("Bowler hat and leather boots"), Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone ("With Umbrella, Charm and Bowler Hat") and Rewolwer i melonik ("A Revolver and a Bowler Hat"), respectively. With his impeccable manners, old world sophistication, and vintage automobiles, Steed came to represent the traditional Englishman of an earlier era. By contrast, his female counterparts (Gale, Peel, King) were youthful, forward-looking, and always dressed in the latest mod fashions. Gale's innovative leather outfits originally were adopted for practical reasons, in view of the many athletic fight scenes. Blackman became a star in Britain with her black leather fighting suit and leather boots (nicknamed "kinky boots") and her judo based fighting style.

After two series in this format, a film version of the show was in its initial planning stages by late 1963. The early story proposal would have paired Steed and Gale with a male/female duo of American agents, to make the movie appeal to the American market. Before the project could gain momentum, Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in Goldfinger, requiring her to leave the series.

Steed was obviously a military man and in "Death of a Batman", it was revealed that he was with I Corps in the Second World War and in Munich in 1945. In the episode "The Nutshell", the secret organisation to which Steed belongs is shown, and it is Gale's first visit to their HQ. In the 4th season episode "The Hour That Never Was", Steed goes to a reunion of his RAF regiment. In reality, Macnee served in the war as a naval lieutenant and came away with such a distaste for firearms that he insisted Steed never use a gun starting with the 1966-1967 season (though there were a few exceptions to this rule).

1965–68: With Emma Peel (Diana Rigg)

At this point in the show's history it was sold to United States television. It became one of the first British series to be aired on prime-time American television. ABC-TV paid the then-unheard of sum of $2 million for the first 26 episodes.

The U.S. deal meant that the producers could afford to shoot the series on 35mm film and from series four it was shot on film. It continued to be produced in monochrome.

Previously the series had been shot on 405-line videotape using a multicamera setup, with very little provision for editing and virtually no location footage. The videotapes were subsequently wiped although all season 2 and 3 episodes survive as 16mm film telerecordings.

The transfer to film meant that episodes would be shot using the single camera setup, giving the production greater flexibility. The videotaped episodes had looked cheap and studio bound, but the fourth series introduced outdoor location shots which greatly improved the look of the series. All location work on series four was filmed mute, with the soundtrack created in post production. Dialogue scenes had to be filmed in studio, leading to some jarring jumps between location and studio footage.

The use of film rather than videotape was essential because the British 405-line video was technically incompatible with, and visually inferior to, U.S. standards. It was reported at the time that the average budget for each episode was £56,000, high for the British industry. The fourth season aired in the U.S. from March to December 1966.

New female partner Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) debuted this season, in October 1965. The name of the character derived from a comment by writers, during development, that they wanted a character with "man appeal". In an early attempt to incorporate this concept into the character's name, she was called "Samantha Peel", shortened to the awkward "Mantha Peel,"[6] Eventually the writers began referring to the idea by the verbal shorthand, "M. Appeal."[7], which gave rise to the character's ultimate name of "Emma Peel." The character, whose husband went missing while flying over the Amazon, retained the self-assuredness of Gale, combined with superior fighting skills, intelligence, and a contemporary fashion sense.

After more than 60 actresses had been auditioned, the first choice to play this role was actress Elizabeth Shepherd. However, after filming one and a half episodes, Shepherd was released, as her on-screen personality did not seem as interesting as that of Blackman's Gale. Another 20 actresses were auditioned before the show's casting director suggested that producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell check out a televised drama featuring the relatively unknown Rigg. Her screen test with Macnee showed that the two immediately worked well together, and a new era in Avengers history began.

Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel

A prologue was added to the beginning of all the fourth season episodes for the American transmissions. This was to clarify some initial confusion audiences had regarding the characters and their mission. In the opener, a waiter holding a champagne bottle falls dead onto a human-sized chessboard; a dagger protruding from a target on his back. Steed and Mrs. Peel (dressed in her trademark leather catsuit) walk up to the body as the voice over explains: "Extraordinary crimes against the people, and the state, have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as The Avengers." During this voice over, Steed pours two drinks from the wine bottle and Mrs. Peel replaces her gun in her boot. They clink glasses and depart together. Fade to black and then the opening titles proper begin.

By contrast to the Gale episodes, there was a lighter comic touch evident, both in Steed and Peel's conversations and in the ways they reacted to other characters and situations. Earlier series of the show had a much more hard-edged tone, with the Blackman episodes including some surprisingly serious espionage dramas (when viewed through the prism of the later, better-known period). The harder tone of the previous series almost completely disappeared, as Steed and Peel visibly enjoyed topping each other's witticisms.

Science fiction fantasy elements (a style later known as Spy-fi) emerged in stories. The duo would encounter giant alien carnivorous plants ("The Man-Eater Of Surrey Green"), and killer robots ("The Cybernauts").

There was also a notable fetishistic undercurrent in many episodes—most notably the 4th season's "A Touch of Brimstone", in which Mrs. Peel dressed as a dominatrix to become the "Queen of Sin". In this, Rigg wore a self-designed ensemble of corset, laced boots and spiked collar. Tight-fitting fashion for Gale and Peel was one of the notable features of the shows; Macnee and Blackman had even released a novelty song called "Kinky Boots". (Some of the clothes seen in The Avengers were designed at the studio of John Sutcliffe, who also published the AtomAge fetish magazine).

In her fourth episode, "Death at Bargain Prices", Mrs. Peel takes an undercover job at a department store. Her uniform for promoting space-age toys is an elaborate leather catsuit plus silver boots, sash, and welder's gloves. The suit, minus the silver accessories, became her signature outfit which she wore, primarily for fight scenes, in early episodes (and in the titles).

Peel's avant-garde fashions, featuring bold accents and high-contrast geometric patterns, emphasized her youthful, contemporary personality. She represented the modern England of the Sixties – just as Steed, with his vintage style and mannerisms, personified Edwardian era nostalgia. According to Macnee in his book The Avengers and Me, Rigg disliked wearing leather and insisted on a new line of fabric athletic wear for the 5th season. Pierre Cardin was brought in to design a new wardrobe for both Rigg and Macnee. In America, TV Guide ran a four-page photospread on Rigg's new "Emmapeeler" outfits (June 10–16, 1967). Eight tight-fitting jumpsuits in a variety of bright colors were created using the stretch fabric crimplene.

Another memorable feature of the show from this point onwards was its automobiles. Steed's signature cars were vintage 1926–1928 Bentley racing or town cars, including Blower Bentleys and Bentley Speed Sixes, while Peel drove a sporty Lotus Elan convertible which, like her clothes, emphasized her independence and vitality. During the first Peel series, each episode would end with a short, comedic scene of the duo leaving the scene of their most recent adventure in some unusual vehicle.

The relationship between Steed and Gale differed noticeably from that of Steed and Peel, with a layer of conflict in the former that was rarely seen in the latter — Gale on occasion openly resenting being used by Steed, often without her permission. There was also a level of sexual tension between Steed and Gale that was absent when Peel arrived. In both cases, the exact relationship between the partners was left ambiguous, although they seemed to have carte blanche to visit each other's homes whenever they pleased and it was not uncommon to see an episode in which Steed spent the night at Gale's or Peel's home, or vice-versa. Although nothing "improper" was displayed, the obviously much closer chemistry between the Steed and Peel characters constantly suggests something happening in the background.

Fifth series

After one filmed series (of 26 episodes) in black and white, The Avengers began filming in colour for the fifth season in 1966. It would be three years before Britain's ITV network began full colour broadcasting.

This season was broadcast in the U.S. from January to May 1967. The American prologue of the previous season was rejigged for the colour episodes. It opened with the caption The Avengers In Color (required by American Broadcasting Company for colour series at that time). This was followed by Steed unwrapping the foil from a champagne bottle and Peel shooting the cork away.

The first 16 fifth series episodes begin with Peel receiving a call-to-duty message from Steed: "Mrs. Peel, we're needed." The messages would be received in increasingly bizarre ways as the season progressed. It might appear in a newspaper she was reading; on one occasion Steed appeared on her television set, interrupting an old science-fiction movie (actually clips from their Year Four episode "The Cybernauts") to call her to work. In a scene of Mrs Peel redecorating her apartment (while drinking champagne), she peels off a strip of wallpaper, revealing the message painted on the wall beneath. In another instance Emma enters Steed's flat to find he has just fallen down the stairs, and he painfully gasps, "Mrs. Peel, you're needed."

The season also introduced a comic tag line caption to the episode title, using the format of "Steed [does this], Emma [does that]." For example "The Joker" had the opening caption: "Steed trumps an ace, Emma plays a lone hand".

The "Mrs. Peel, we're needed" scenes and the alternate tag lines were dropped after the first 16 episodes, after a break in production, for financial reasons. They were deemed by the U.K. networks as disposable if The Avengers was to return to ITV screens. Nevertheless, Dave Rogers' book The Avengers Anew lists a set for every Steed/Peel episode except "The Forget-Me-Knot", the opening titles of which are formatted as in the final season, where writers and directors were credited immediately following the episode title, so such a couplet was not an option there.

Stories were increasingly characterised by a futuristic, science fiction bent, with mad scientists and their creations leaving havoc. The duo dealt with being shrunk to doll size ("Mission... Highly Improbable"), pet cats being electrically altered into ferocious and lethal 'miniature tigers' ("The Hidden Tiger"), killer automata ("Return of The Cybernauts"), mind-transferring machines ("Who's Who???"), and invisible foes ("The See-Through Man").

The series parodied its American contemporaries with episodes such as "The Girl From AUNTIE", "Mission... Highly Improbable" and "The Winged Avenger" (spoofing The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible and Batman, respectively). The show still carried the basic format — Steed and his associate were charged with solving the problem in the space of a 50-minute episode, thus preserving the safety of 1960s Britain.

Comedy was evident in the names and acronyms of the organizations. For example, in "The Living Dead", two rival groups examine reported ghost sightings: FOG (Friends Of Ghosts) and SMOG (Scientific Measurement Of Ghosts). "The Hidden Tiger" features the Philanthropic Union for Rescue, Relief and Recuperation of Cats — PURRR — led by characters named Cheshire, Manx, and Angora.

The series also occasionally adopted a metafictional tone, coming close to breaking the fourth wall. In the Season 5 episode "Something Nasty in the Nursery" Peel directly references the series's storytelling convention of having potentially-helpful sources of information killed off just before she or Steed arrive. This then occurs a few minutes later. In the tag scene for the same episode, Steed and Peel tell viewers - indirectly - to tune in next week.

Rigg's departure

Rigg was initially unhappy with the way she was treated by the show's producers. During her first series she learned she was being paid less than the camera man. She demanded a raise which put her more on par with her co-star, or she would leave the show. The producers gave in, thanks to the show's great popularity in the US.[8]

At the end of the fifth season in 1967, Rigg left to pursue other projects. This included following Honor Blackman to play a leading role in a James Bond film, in this case On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Rigg and Macnee have remained lifelong friends.

1968–69: With Tara King (Linda Thorson)

When Diana Rigg left the series in October 1967, British executives considered that the formula that had made the series so successful could not be pursued. Thus, they decided that a "return to realism" was appropriate for the sixth season (1968–69): Brian Clemens and Albert Fennel were replaced by John Bryce, producer of most of the Cathy-Gale era episodes.

Bryce had a difficult situation in hand: he had to find a replacement for Diana Rigg and shoot the first seven episodes of the new season, that were supposed to be shipped to America together with the last eight Emma Peel colour episodes.

Newcomer Linda Thorson was signed as the new female costar and chose the name "Tara King" for her character. Bryce wanted Tara King to be blonde, so Thorson's brown hair was bleached, but the process badly damaged it so she mostly wore wigs. Her natural brown hair would not be seen until episode "All done with mirrors".

Production of the first seven episodes of the sixth season began. However financial problems and internal difficulties undermined Bryce's effort. He only managed to complete three episodes: "Invitation to a Killing" (a 90-minute episode introducing Tara King), "The Great, Great Britain Crime" (some of its original footage was reused in the 1969 episode "Homicide and Old Lace") and "Invasion of the Earthmen" (which survived relatively intact except for the scenes where Tara wears a brunette wig.)

After a rough cut screening of these episodes to studio executives, Bryce was fired and Clemens and Fennel were summoned back. At their return, a fourth episode called "The Murderous Connection" was in its second day of production. After revising the script, it was renamed as "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" and production was resumed. Production of the episode "Split!", which was a leftover from the Emma Peel colour season, proceeded, and two completely new episodes were shot: "Get-A-Way", and "Look (stop me if you've heard this one) but there were these two fellers".

Clemens and Fennel decided to film a new episode to introduce Tara King. This, the third episode filmed for the sixth season, was titled "The Forget-Me-Knot" and bade farewell to Emma Peel and introduced her successor, a trained but inexperienced agent named Tara King. It would be broadcast as the first episode of the sixth season. Tara debuts in dynamic style: when Steed is called to Headquarters, he is attacked and knocked down by trainee agent King who mistakes him for her training partner. Thorson played the role with more innocence in mind and at heart; and unlike the previous partnerships with Cathy and Emma, the writers allowed subtle hints of romance to blossom between Steed and King. King also differed from Steed's previous partners in that she was a fully fledged (albeit inexperienced) agent working for Steed's organisation; his previous partners had all been (in the words of the prologue used for American broadcasts of the first Rigg series) talented amateurs.

No farewell for Emma Peel had been shot when Diana Rigg left the series. She was therefore recalled to participate in the episode, and in a farewell sequence which appeared as the tag scene of this episode. It was explained that Peel's husband, Peter Peel, was found alive and rescued, and she left the British secret service to be with him. Peel visits Steed to say goodbye, and while leaving she passes the torch to her successor on the stairway leading to Steed's apartment with the remark "He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise." Peel leaves and drives off with Peter. From Steed's viewpoint looking out the window to the roadway below, Peter bares a striking resemblance Steed, only with a moustache.

Bryce's original episode introducing Tara, "Invitation to a Killing", was revised as a regular 60-minute episode named "Have Guns Will Haggle". These episodes, together with "Invasion of the Earthmen" and the last eight Peel colour episodes, were shipped to America in February 1968.

Another change returned the series to its roots by having Steed once again take orders from a British government official, this time "Mother". Mother was actually a man in a wheelchair, played by Patrick Newell who had played different roles in two earlier episodes. Mother's headquarters would shift from place to place, including one episode in which his complete office was on the top level of a double-decker bus; several James Bond films of the 1970s would make use of a similar gimmick for Bond's briefings. Also added as a regular was Mother's Amazonian and mute assistant, Rhonda (Rhonda Parker).

There was one appearance by an agency official code-named "Father", a blind older woman played by Iris Russell who had appeared in the series several times previously in other roles. Steed is paired with Lady Diana Forbes Blakeney (Jennifer Croxton), in the episode "Killer", while King is on holiday.

Vehicle wise, while Steed continued to drive vintage Bentleys, Mother was transported in Rolls-Royce cars and Tara King preferred an AC 428 and a Lotus Europa (some of this had already begun in the Gale episodes, as Gale occasionally used a Triumph motorcycle).

The revised series continued to be broadcast in America. The episodes with Linda Thorson as King proved to be highly rated in Europe and the UK. In the United States however, the ABC network which carried the series chose to air it opposite the number one show in the country at the time, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Steed and King couldn't compete, and the show was cancelled in the US. Without this vital commercial backing, production could not continue in Britain either, and the series ended in May 1969. The final scene of the final episode ("Bizarre") has Steed and King, champagne glasses in hand, accidentally launching themselves into orbit aboard a rocket, as Mother breaks the fourth wall and says to the audience, "They'll be back!" before adding in shock, "They're unchaperoned up there!"

Production team

The production team changed during the series' long run, particularly between the third and fourth series, but the influence of Brian Clemens was felt throughout. He wrote the second episode and became the series' most prolific scriptwriter. Succeeding producers Leonard White and John Bryce, Julian Wintle became the producer of the 4th series with Brian Clemens credited as Associate Producer and Albert Fennell credited as "In charge of production".

Raymond Austin became the fight arranger for series 4 and 5, introducing kung fu to the series. Later he became one of the mainstay directors of both the Avengers and the New Avengers.

Johnny Dankworth composed The Avengers' original theme tune, a syncopated jazz number, which was reworked for the third series. When Rigg joined the series, the new title sequence was accompanied by a fresh theme by Laurie Johnson, a catchy, brassy tune designed to promote the "English eccentricity" of the show, initially issued on an LP, entitled The Shake. Johnson re-scored the theme, adding a counter melody on trumpet, when Linda Thorson joined the series. The newly scored theme was first heard during the closing titles of the episode "The Forget-Me-Knot", which introduced Thorson. Johnson also provided incidental music, and subsequently collaborated with Clemens on other projects, including the theme for the later New Avengers revival. Owing to professional commitments in films, Johnson requested assistance from his keyboard player, Howard Blake, who scored some of the last season's episodes, and wrote additional music for other episodes, which Johnson did not have time to complete.

The New Avengers

The sustained popularity of the King episodes in France led to a 1975 French television advert for a brand of champagne, featuring both Thorson and Macnee reprising their roles. The advert's success spurred financing interest in France to create new Avengers episodes.

As a result, the series was revived as The New Avengers, with Macnee reprising his role as Steed, this time with two new partners, Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley). This new series aired on ITV in the UK (1976/1977), CTV in Canada, CBS in the United States (1978) and TF1 in France in 1976 and 1977. The final four episodes were almost completely produced by Canadian interests and were filmed in that country, they carried the title The New Avengers in Canada.

Reception in North America

The Avengers was not picked up immediately in the US, even through syndication. This was partly due to its "live studio" look, which American television had left behind several years earlier. Episodes were often videotaped the same day they were transmitted (a few were even performed live), and as such there was little opportunity for retakes, these early episodes were fraught with technical errors (for example, during the episode "Immortal Clay", the camera hits something during a scene making it appear as if a sudden earthquake had occurred) and fluffed dialogue (in "School for Traitors", Julie Stevens stumbles trying to introduce Steed to another character, prompting Macnee to ad lib a joke to cover the error).

The very Britishness of it was another issue. In addition, the more relaxed standards of British media would have required some moments to be censored in the U.S.; in Mr Teddy Bear, Steed is seen stripping down to his underwear for decontamination, and in Death Dispatch Mrs Gale is seen talking to Steed on the telephone while wearing a black-lace brassiere. Other aspects were more restrained because of British television rules; for example, the physical combat limitations. Gunshots had to miss and striking someone with a closed fist was not allowed. As a result, the Avengers defeated their opponent by throwing them repeatedly into walls, making them stumble and fall after pushing them into furniture, and slapping them in the face with an open hand. Compared to the more realistic fight scenes in U.S. shows like I Spy and The Wild Wild West, The Avengers was immediately tagged as being "too British".

Some of the content in the show did not sit well with American censors, in particular the episode "A Touch of Brimstone", which had a fetish-related storyline and climaxed with Emma Peel being drugged and donning a skimpy costume. The American broadcast network refused to air it,[9] although it was in fact one of five episodes from the initial Emma Peel season that were not initially broadcast by ABC.[10]

North American audiences saw the 1962-1964 Gale and Smith episodes of the series for the first time in the early 1990s, when they were broadcast on A&E. Until recently, no Keel episode of the series had been shown outside of Britain; to date only two complete episodes from the show's first series are known to exist ("The Frighteners", from which an extract can be seen playing on a television in the film Quadrophenia, and "Girl on the Trapeze", which was found in the UCLA Film Library via an internet search of their on-line database), the rest having been wiped years ago (an incomplete copy of the first episode was recently found in the United States, containing only the first 15 minutes, up to the original commercial break). 16 mm film copies of the Gale-era episodes survive (the original videotapes no longer exist) and have been released to DVD, as have the complete filmed series of Peel and King episodes. The two surviving complete Keel episodes, plus the remnant of the first episode, was released to DVD in North America as bonus features on A&E Home Video's Emma Peel Megaset box set.

A recent newspaper report suggested that Macnee himself was responsible for tracking down the original negatives of both series for remastering, because he was tired of seeing inferior copies.

In 2006, A&E issued the complete Peel era (with the DVDs now packaged in slimline cases); a bonus disc was included in the new edition, featuring the first DVD release of the two complete first-series episodes, plus the extant 15 minutes of the premiere. In April 2006, a complete set of Gale-era episodes broadcast in 1962 was released, and it was stated that this was the final collection of unreleased Avengers episodes. As of 2009, all Region 1 Avengers DVDs have been discontinued by A&E.

Reception in non-English-speaking countries

The Avengers was broadcast to over 120 countries.

Episodes

Six series of The Avengers were made between 1961 and 1969. Only two episodes of the first season still exist in their entirety.

Because of the enforced break in filming and transmission toward the end of production on season 5, due to financial problems, some sources such as television researcher Andrew Pixley as well as authors Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping in their book The Avengers Dossier: The Unauthorised and Unofficial Guide argue that the last 8 episodes produced after the break constitute a 'mini' season 6 and therefore there are 7 seasons in all. However it is clear that no one intended the last 8 to be anything other than a completion of season 5.

Spin-offs

Books and comics

A number of original novels were based upon the series in the 1960s, including two that were co-written by Macnee himself (making him one of the first actors to write licensed spin-off fiction of their own shows), and one 1990 release, Too Many Targets by John Peel that featured appearances by all of Steed's partners except Smith and Dr Martin King. The first three novels were only published in the UK, while the 1968-69 novels were only released in the US. Several of the 1968-69 novels feature King, but the covers often show Peel instead.

Novels

In addition, a short story by Peter Leslie entitled "What's a Ghoul Like You Doing in a Place Like This?" appeared in The Television Crimebusters Omnibus, edited by Peter Haining, 1994.

The Macnee novels Deadline and Dead Duck were reprinted by Titan Books in standard paperback in the early 1990s, the first time these books were distributed in the United States. In 1998 Titan reissued the books in trade paperback format (with the same covers) to coincide with the film's release.

Very few Avengers-related comic books have been published in North America, partly because the rights to the name "Avengers" are held by Marvel Comics for use with their superhero comic of the same title (Marvel also holds the rights to the New Avengers title). In one issue of the Avengers comic book, author Roy Thomas writes himself and his wife into a cameo where they're at a Hallowe'en party with the comic book Avengers. When he points them out ("And over in that corner are The Avengers"), his wife replies, "Oh wow, which one is Mrs. Peel?" Nonetheless, Gold Key Comics published one issue of John Steed and Emma Peel in 1968 (subtitled The Avengers only on the indicia page), which included newly-coloured and reformatted Avengers strips from the British weekly comic "TV Comic". A three-issue miniseries entitled Steed and Mrs Peel appeared in the early 1990s under the Eclipse Comics imprint.

Film

Plans for a motion picture based upon the series circulated during the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s, with Mel Gibson at one point being considered a front-runner for the role of Steed. Ultimately, the 1998 film based on Rigg and Macnee's characters from the TV series, starring Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes, received poor reviews from critics.

Radio series

Between 1972 and 1973 scripts from the TV series were adapted for radio by Tony Jay and Dennis Folbigge for broadcast in South Africa, which did not have national television until 1976.[13] Most of the episodes were adapted from the Steed and Peel stories, with a few Steed and Tara King episodes (changing the female character to Emma Peel). Donald Monat played Steed and Diane Appleby Peel, with Hugh Rouse as the tongue-in-cheek narrator. The stories were adapted into between five and seven episodes of approximately 15 minutes each (including adverts) and stripped across the week on the SABC.

Currently 21 complete serials survive, all from original reel-to-reel off-air recordings, as well as three episodes of Escape In Time, from a mixture of sources, including:

Four other scripts were written, but it is not known if they were ever used:

Stage play

There was also a British stage version of The Avengers in 1971. It starred three actors who had previously appeared as guest stars on the series itself — Simon Oates as Steed, Sue Lloyd as new partner Hannah Wild and Kate O'Mara as villainess Madame Gerda.

Popular culture

The TV series is mentioned in Frasier episode "Radio Wars". Frasier's father reminds his sons how they were picked on as children because they would emulate Steed by wearing bowler hats around the neighborhood. Daphne also states that she once dressed up like Mrs. Peel, wearing a skintight black leather catsuit, for Halloween.

In Get Smart episode "Run, Robot, Run" (1968), evil British agents "Snead" and "Mrs Neal" are spoofs of Steed and Mrs Peel.

In an episode of Married... with Children, Al Bundy tries to buy an Avengers video featuring Mrs Peel, but receives a Tara King episode instead.

In an episode of Leverage, Sophie and Hardison use the pseudonyms Emily Peel and Jonathan Steed.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ The American series Mission: Impossible holds the record for the largest number of episodes with 171.
  2. ↑ Owing to Johnson's schedule writing for the film Hot Millions
  3. ↑ BFI Screenonline: Police Surgeon (1960)
  4. ↑ BFI Screenonline: Police Surgeon (1960)
  5. ↑ TV Times issue 412, 20 September 1963, page 4, Inside Story Of The Avengers: Brief For Murder!, Crime Reporter, England.
  6. ↑ The Complete Avengers by Dave Rogers, page 87 (Boxtree Ltd., in Great Britain, 1989; St. Martin's Press, in America, 1989)
  7. ↑ books.google.com
  8. ↑ Tracy, Kathleen (2004). Diana Rigg: The Biography. BenBella Books. pp. 83. ISBN 193210027X. 
  9. ↑ The Avengers Forever: A Touch of Brimstone, accessed 9 December 2009
  10. ↑ The Avengers: Episode Guide to Season 4, accessed 9 December 2009
  11. ↑ The Avengers Forever: International Scene
  12. ↑ 송원섭의 피라미드
  13. ↑ "South Africa's television channels", International Marketing Council of South Africa, 16 October 2006
  14. ↑ XTC's "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" similarly evokes The Prisoner, set in Portmeirion.

External links