List of ''The Avengers'' episodes

This is an episode list for the 1960s British television series The Avengers. The series was aired in Britain, on ITV, between 1961 and 1969.

The first four series were made in black-and-white; the first three were pre-recorded on videotape (except where noted) with occasional filmed inserts. Beginning with series 4 the series moved to all-film production, shot using the single-camera method. From series 5 onward, the episodes were filmed in colour.

Series overview

Series Episodes UK Premiere UK Finale
1 26 7 January 1961 30 December 1961
2 26 29 September 1962 23 March 1963
3 26 28 September 1963 21 March 1964
4 26 2 October 1965 26 March 1966
5 24 14 January 1967 18 November 1967
6 33 25 September 1968 21 May 1969

Series 1 (1961)

Note: The only complete episodes known to exist complete from the debut series are Girl on the Trapeze (which does not feature John Steed), The Frighteners and Tunnel of Fear, plus the first 20 minutes – the first reel – of the premiere episode, Hot Snow, have been rediscovered.[1] The most recent discovery was in 2016, when Tunnel of Fear was found intact in a private collection.[2]

Cast: Unless noted in the table below, all episodes in the first series feature Ian Hendry (as Dr. David Keel) and Patrick Macnee (as John Steed).

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Guest cast Episode status
1-01 7 January 1961 Hot Snow Catherine Woodville, Philip Stone, Godfrey Quigley, Moira Redmond, Murray Melvin Only Act 1 (20 minutes) Intact
1-02 14 January 1961 Brought to Book Philip Stone, Robert James, Godfrey Quigley, Neil McCarthy, Charles Morgan, Michael Collins Missing
1-03 21 January 1961 Square Root of Evil Alex Scott, George Murcell, Heron Carvic, John Woodvine Broadcast live, missing
1-04 28 January 1961 Nightmare Broadcast live, missing
1-05 4 February 1961 Crescent Moon Roger Delgado, Patience Collier Broadcast live, missing
1-06 11 February 1961 Girl on the Trapeze (Keel only) Kenneth J. Warren, Edwin Richfield, Ivor Salter, David Grey Intact (as a 16 mm film telerecording, this episode was originally broadcast live)
1-07 18 February 1961 Diamond Cut Diamond Sandra Dorne Broadcast live, missing
1-08 24 February 1961 The Radioactive Man George Pravda, Gerald Sim Broadcast live, missing
1-09 4 March 1961 Ashes of Roses Mark Eden, Gordon Rollings Broadcast live, missing
1–10 18 March 1961 Hunt the Man Down Melissa Stribling Missing
1–11 1 April 1961 Please Don't Feed the Animals Tenniel Evans Missing
1–12 15 April 1961 Dance with Death Caroline Blakiston, Angela Douglas, Geoffrey Palmer Missing
1–13 29 April 1961 One for the Mortuary Frank Gatliff, Peter Madden Missing
1–14 13 May 1961 The Springers Charles Farrell, Arthur Howard, Douglas Muir, Brian Murphy, David Webb Missing
1–15 27 May 1961 The Frighteners Willoughby Goddard, Stratford Johns, Doris Hare, Philip Locke, Godfrey James Intact
1–16 10 June 1961 The Yellow Needle Wolfe Morris, Eric Dodson, Michael Barrington, Margaret Whiting Missing
1–17 24 June 1961 Death on the Slipway Nyree Dawn Porter, Peter Arne, Frank Thornton, Hamilton Dyce, Gary Watson, Tom Adams Missing
1–18 8 July 1961 Double Danger Kevin Brennan, Ron Pember Missing
1–19 22 July 1961 Toy Trap Tony Van Bridge Missing
1–20 5 August 1961 Tunnel of Fear John Salew, Morris Perry Intact[3]
1–21 19 August 1961 The Far Distant Dead (Keel only) Katharine Blake, Tom Adams, Reed De Rouen, Francis de Wolff Missing
1–22 2 September 1961 Kill the King Burt Kwouk, Peter Barkworth, Moira Redmond Missing
1–23 9 December 1961 Dead of Winter John Woodvine, Neil Hallett Missing
1–24 16 December 1961 The Deadly Air John Stratton, Allan Cuthbertson, Ann Bell, Geoffrey Bayldon, Michael Hawkins, Keith Anderson Missing
1–25 23 December 1961 A Change of Bait John Bailey, Tim Barrett, Henry Lincoln Missing
1–26 30 December 1961 Dragonsfield (Steed only) Sylva Langova, Alfred Burke, Barbara Shelley, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Michael Robbins, Eric Dodson, Keith Barron, Morris Perry Missing

Note: Following series 1 a lengthy Equity actor's strike prevented development of the second series, and Ian Hendry decided to depart the show. When the show eventually returned the premise had been considerably retooled, with Macnee moved to the lead role, accompanied by an attractive and highly capable female sidekick, and a much more whimsical tone.

Series 2 (1962–1963)

Cast: Series 2 featured Patrick Macnee as John Steed in all 26 episodes. Either Jon Rollason (as Dr. Martin King) or Julie Stevens (as Venus Smith) accompanied him as noted in the table; all other episodes feature Honor Blackman (as Dr. Cathy Gale).

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Guest cast
2-01 29 September 1962 Mr. Teddy Bear Michael Robbins, John Ruddock, Michael Collins
2-02 6 October 1962 Propellant 23 Catherine Woodville, Justine Lord, Nicholas Courtney, Geoffrey Palmer
2-03 13 October 1962 The Decapod (with Venus Smith) Philip Madoc, Paul Stassino, Wolfe Morris, Raymond Adamson, Valentino Musetti
2-04 20 October 1962 Bullseye Ronald Radd, Judy Parfitt, Bernard Kay, Fred Ferris
2-05 27 October 1962 Mission to Montreal (with Dr. Martin King) Patricia English, Mark Eden, Alan Curtis, John Bennett, Pamela Ann Davy
2-06 3 November 1962 The Removal Men (with Venus Smith) Edwin Richfield, Edina Ronay, Reed De Rouen
2-07 10 November 1962 The Mauritius Penny Alfred Burke, David Langton, Sylva Langova, Richard Vernon, Anthony Rogers
2-08 17 November 1962 Death of a Great Dane Frederick Jaeger, John Laurie, Leslie French, Roger Maxwell
2-09 24 November 1962 The Sell Out (with Dr. Martin King) Frank Gatliff, Carleton Hobbs, Arthur Hewlett
2–10 1 December 1962 Death on the Rocks Naomi Chance, Hamilton Dyce, Gerald Cross
2–11 8 December 1962 Traitor in Zebra William Gaunt, Richard Leech, John Sharp, Noel Coleman
2–12 15 December 1962 The Big Thinker Tenniel Evans, Antony Booth
2–13 22 December 1962 Death Dispatch Gerald Harper
2–14 29 December 1962 Dead on Course (with Dr. Martin King) Donal Donnelly, Bruce Boa, Edward Kelsey
2–15 5 January 1963 Intercrime Julia Arnall, Kenneth J. Warren, Angela Browne, Jerome Willis, Patrick Holt, Alan Browning
2–16 12 January 1963 Immortal Clay Paul Eddington, James Bree, Gary Watson, Steve Plytas
2–17 19 January 1963 Box of Tricks (with Venus Smith) Edgar Wreford, Royston Tickner, Robert Hartley
2–18 26 January 1963 Warlock Peter Arne, John Hollis
2–19 2 February 1963 The Golden Eggs Peter Arne, Donald Eccles
2–20 9 February 1963 School for Traitors (with Venus Smith) Anthony Nicholls, Melissa Stribling, Reginald Marsh
2–21 16 February 1963 The White Dwarf Philip Latham, Peter Copley, George A. Cooper, Constance Chapman, Keith Pyott, George Roubicek
2–22 23 February 1963 Man in the Mirror (with Venus Smith) Ray Barrett, Michael Gover, David Graham
2–23 2 March 1963 Conspiracy of Silence Robert Rietti, Sandra Dorne
2–24 9 March 1963 A Chorus of Frogs (with Venus Smith) John Carson, Eric Pohlmann, Frank Gatliff, Michael Gover
2–25 16 March 1963 Six Hands Across a Table Guy Doleman, Campbell Singer, Philip Madoc, Edward de Souza, John Wentworth, Ilona Rodgers
2–26 23 March 1963 Killer Whale Patrick Magee, Morris Perry, John Bailey, Ken Farrington, John Tate

NOTE: The episode Death of a Great Dane was later re-made during series 5 as "The £50,000 Breakfast".

Series 3 (1963–1964)

Cast: Series 3 stars Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Honor Blackman as Dr. Cathy Gale. It was the last series to be shot "as-live" on videotape.

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Guest cast
3-01 28 September 1963 Brief for Murder John Laurie, Michael Goldie, Fred Ferris
3-02 5 October 1963 The Undertakers Lee Patterson, Jan Holden, Patrick Holt, Lally Bowers, Mandy Miller
3-03 12 October 1963 Man with Two Shadows Geoffrey Palmer, Paul Whitsun-Jones
3-04 19 October 1963 The Nutshell Charles Tingwell, John Cater, Patricia Haines, Edina Ronay
3-05 26 October 1963 Death of a Batman André Morell, Philip Madoc
3-06 2 November 1963 November Five David Davies, David Langton
3-07 9 November 1963 The Gilded Cage Patrick Magee, Edric Connor, Norman Chappell
3-08 16 November 1963 Second Sight John Carson, Peter Bowles, Ronald Adam
3-09 23 November 1963 The Medicine Men Peter Barkworth, Harold Innocent
3–10 30 November 1963 The Grandeur That Was Rome Hugh Burden
3–11 7 December 1963 The Golden Fleece Warren Mitchell, Tenniel Evans, Michael Hawkins, Robert Lee, Barbara Yu Ling
3–12 14 December 1963 Don't Look Behind You Kenneth Colley, Janine Gray
3–13 21 December 1963 Death a la Carte Robert James, Gordon Rollings, David Nettheim, Valentino Musetti, Henry Lincoln, Ken Parry
3–14 28 December 1963 Dressed to Kill Leonard Rossiter, Richard Leech, John Junkin, Anneke Wills
3–15 4 January 1964 The White Elephant Godfrey Quigley, Edwin Richfield, Judy Parfitt
3–16 11 January 1964 The Little Wonders Kenneth J. Warren, David Bauer, Lois Maxwell, Harry Landis, Tony Steedman, Christopher Robbie
3–17 18 January 1964 The Wringer Peter Sallis, Gerald Sim, Barry Letts, Paul Whitsun-Jones
3–18 25 January 1964 Mandrake John Le Mesurier, Annette Andre, Philip Locke
3–19 1 February 1964 The Secrets Broker Patricia English, John Ringham, Jack May, Ronald Allen, Valentino Musetti
3–20 8 February 1964 Trojan Horse Basil Dignam, T. P. McKenna, Derek Newark
3–21 15 February 1964 Build a Better Mousetrap Athene Seyler, Nora Nicholson, John Tate
3–22 22 February 1964 The Outside-In Man Ronald Radd, James Maxwell, Valentino Musetti, Eddie Powell
3–23 29 February 1964 The Charmers Fenella Fielding, Warren Mitchell, Vivian Pickles, Frank Mills
3–24 7 March 1964 Concerto Nigel Stock, Sandor Elès
3–25 14 March 1964 Esprit de Corps Duncan Macrae, Roy Kinnear, John Thaw, Hugh Morton
3–26 21 March 1964 Lobster Quadrille Burt Kwouk, Leslie Sands, Gary Watson, Jennie Linden, Valentino Musetti

NOTE: The episode "Don't Look Behind You" was later re-made for series 5 as "The Joker," "The Charmers" was re-made, again for series 5, as "The Correct Way to Kill" and "Dressed to Kill" was in large part re-made, once again for series 5, as "The Superlative Seven". At the end of the third series Honor Blackman left the series to star in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger".

Series 4 (1965–1966)

Cast: Series 4 starred Patrick Macnee (as John Steed) and Diana Rigg (as Mrs Emma Peel). It was the last series to be made in Black & White, but also the first series to be shot entirely on film as opposed to mainly on videotape.

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Plot summary Guest cast
4-01 2 October 1965 The Town of No Return Steed and Emma visit Little Bazeley by the Sea on the trail of several murdered agents – a town which strangers rarely leave alive - and discover it is being secretly infiltrated by enemy agents. Alan MacNaughtan, Terence Alexander, Patrick Newell, Robert Brown, Jeremy Burnham, Juliet Harmer
4-02 9 October 1965 The Gravediggers A hospital for railwaymen is a front for a plot to destroy Britain’s early warning radar system. Ronald Fraser, Paul Massie, Caroline Blakiston, Charles Lamb, Wanda Ventham, Ray Austin, Steven Berkoff, Bryan Mosley, Lloyd Lamble
4-03 16 October 1965 The Cybernauts Industrialists are being killed off with inhuman efficiency by an assassin who is just that – inhuman! Michael Gough, Frederick Jaeger, Bernard Horsfall, Burt Kwouk, John Hollis, Ronald Leigh-Hunt
4-04 23 October 1965 Death at Bargain Prices The murder of an agent carrying a receipt from a department store leads Mrs Peel to join its sales staff, where she stumbles upon sinister plot involving nuclear terrorism. André Morell, T. P. McKenna, Allan Cuthbertson, George Selway, John Cater, Peter Howell, Ronnie Stevens, Diane Clare
4-05 30 October 1965 Castle De'ath A Scottish castle is the scene for a family feud – and a plot to engineer a fishing crisis. Gordon Jackson, Robert Urquhart, James Copeland, Jack Lambert, Russell Waters
4-06 6 November 1965 The Master Minds After an apparently respectable politician is caught trying to steal top-secret documents, Steed and Emma discover a plot by renegade intellectuals to steal a nuclear missile. Bernard Archard, Patricia Haines, Ian MacNaughton, John Wentworth
4-07 13 November 1965 The Murder Market Steed and Emma pose as eligible singles in order to infiltrate an assassination service posing as a matchmaking agency. Patrick Cargill, Suzanne Lloyd, Naomi Chance, Peter Bayliss, John Woodvine, Edward Underdown
4-08 20 November 1965 A Surfeit of H2O After two men are drowned by sudden freak rainstorms, Steed’s attention is drawn to a winery under a suspiciously cloudy sky. Noel Purcell, Sue Lloyd, Talfryn Thomas, Albert Lieven, Geoffrey Palmer, John Bennett
4-09 27 November 1965 The Hour That Never Was After crashing their car, Steed and Emma visit an airfield and find a baffling mystery of stopped clocks, dead milkmen and a naughty dentist. Gerald Harper, Dudley Foster, Roy Kinnear, Roger Booth, David Morrell
4–10 4 December 1965 Dial a Deadly Number The duo combat malfeasance in the London financial world after paged businessmen start dropping dead from heart attacks. Clifford Evans, Jan Holden, Anthony Newlands, John Carson, Peter Bowles, Gerald Sim, Michael Trubshawe, Norman Chappell, John Bailey, Edward Cast
4–11 11 December 1965 Man-Eater of Surrey Green Steed and Emma encounter their most bizarre enemy yet – a carnivorous alien plant with plans for world domination. Derek Farr, Athene Seyler, Gillian Lewis, David Hutcheson, Joby Blanshard
4–12 18 December 1965 Two's A Crowd Steed "creates" a double of himself to outwit an enemy master spy who loves deadly toys. Warren Mitchell, Alec Mango, Wolfe Morris, Julian Glover, John Bluthal
4–13 25 December 1965 Too Many Christmas Trees A villainous mastermind steal secrets telepathically from agent's brains, killing the subjects in the process - and Steed is next on the list. Mervyn Johns, Edwin Richfield, Jeanette Sterke, Alex Scott, Robert James, Barry Warren
4–14 1 January 1966 Silent Dust Rural villains hold the British government to ransom with a devastating new biological weapon; our heroes join the hunt. William Franklyn, Jack Watson, Conrad Phillips, Norman Bird, Isobel Black, Charles Lloyd-Pack, Aubrey Morris, Robert Dorning
4–15 8 January 1966 Room Without a View Dr Wadkin is one of seven scientists to go missing. When he reappears and attacks his wife, the trail leads Steed and Mrs Peel to a shady tycoon and Room 621 of the Chessman Hotel. Paul Whitsun-Jones, Peter Jeffrey, Richard Bebb, Philip Latham, Peter Arne, Vernon Dobtcheff, Peter Madden
4–16 15 January 1966 Small Game for Big Hunters English tropical jungle harbours pompous professor, mad colonel, war-painted spy, and bioweapon against an African nation. Bill Fraser, James Villiers, Liam Redmond, Peter Burton, Paul Danquah, Tom Gill
4–17 22 January 1966 The Girl from AUNTIE An Emma impersonator and a string of murders puts Steed onto the trail of a villainous art dealer. Liz Fraser, Alfred Burke, Bernard Cribbins, David Bauer, Mary Merrall, Sylvia Coleridge, Yolande Turner, Maurice Browning
4–18 29 January 1966 The Thirteenth Hole Death on a golf course brings Emma into a sand trap, Steed into a tournament, and light upon a spy ring Patrick Allen, Hugh Manning, Peter Jones, Victor Maddern, Francis Matthews, Donald Hewlett, Richard Marner
4–19 5 February 1966 Quick-Quick Slow Death Spy death leads to investigation of a dance school, unattached bachelors, and a tattoo. Eunice Gayson, John Woodnutt, Maurice Kaufmann, Graham Armitage
4–20 12 February 1966 The Danger Makers Several military officers are engaging in reckless daredevil antics – all part of an unscrupulous psychiatrist's plan to steal the Crown jewels. Nigel Davenport, Douglas Wilmer, Fabia Drake, Moray Watson, Adrian Ropes, Richard Coleman
4–21 19 February 1966 A Touch of Brimstone An eccentric band of libertines (called the Hellfire Club) who commit deadly practical jokes is revealed to have much bigger plans in mind. Peter Wyngarde, Carol Cleveland, Colin Jeavons, Jeremy Young, Steve Plytas, Alf Joint
4–22 26 February 1966 What the Butler Saw Steed enlists at a butler training school to find out who is selling military secrets to the enemy. Denis Quilley, John Le Mesurier, Thorley Walters, Kynaston Reeves, Howard Marion-Crawford, Humphrey Lestocq, Ewan Hooper
4–23 5 March 1966 The House That Jack Built Emma inherits an electronic key to the house of her late, unknown uncle – and finds herself trapped in a maze, target of a former employee’s mind-bending revenge. Michael Goodliffe, Keith Pyott
4–24 12 March 1966 A Sense of History Steed and Emma investigate an assassination plot among a university's boisterously merry men. Nigel Stock, John Barron, John Glyn-Jones, John Ringham, Patrick Mower, Robin Phillips, Peter Blythe, Peter Bourne
4–25 19 March 1966 How to Succeed ... at Murder Efficient, militant, physically fit and bespangled secretaries are assassinating key businessmen – but who's behind the curtain? Sarah Lawson, Angela Browne, Jerome Willis, Christopher Benjamin, Kevin Brennan
4–26 26 March 1966 Honey for the Prince Genie brings Steed and Emma to fantasy world of cricket, harem dance, and creative assassination. Ron Moody, Zia Mohyeddin, George Pastell, Roland Curram, Bruno Barnabe, Jon Laurimore, Peter Diamond, Ken Parry, Richard Graydon

Starting with this series, the production budget was increased considerably, location shooting was used extensively. With an eye toward getting the series shown on US television the show was now shot using 35mm film instead of being videotaped, leading to an increase in picture quality. This brought The Avengers in line with other contemporary ITV series such as Danger Man (airing in the US as Secret Agent) and The Saint.

Actress Elizabeth Shepherd was originally cast as Emma Peel; one complete episode, "The Town of No Return," was filmed. Partway through filming of the second episode, "The Murder Market," the producers closed down production in order to recast the part. The Shepherd footage has never been televised and is believed to be lost. Canal+ claimed they had the original footage, then later retracted this claim. Publicity photos of Shepherd as Mrs. Peel survive.

For American broadcast, all episodes of the 1965–1966 series included a specially-shot prologue preceding the main credits, showing Steed and Peel walking across a giant chessboard while a narrator introduces the characters and the concept of the series. This opening never aired in the UK and wasn't widely seen in the show's home country until the DVD release.

"The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse" was filmed in colour on the set of "Honey for the Prince" and was, as Brian Clemens originally wrote it, intended to be tagged on to the end of the final b/w episode transmitted in America to advertise the upcoming colour episodes (though the b/w sequence titled "Preamble for USA," written by Clemens to introduce the item, which was to have featured Rigg and Macnee explaining/introducing this short colour test film, is either lost or was never filmed). It was also cut down into a trailer for the colour episodes coming soon to ABC Network in America. Just like the prologue to the b/w Rigg episodes, it was never meant to be screened anywhere but the US. There is a myth that it was to have originally been a twenty-minute mini-episode, but the version presently available on video is three minutes long and doesn't appear to be missing any substantial narrative content.

Series 5 (1967)

Cast: This series featured Patrick Macnee (as John Steed) and Diana Rigg (as Emma Peel). From this series onwards, all episodes are in colour.

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Guest cast
5-01 14 January 1967 From Venus with Love – Astronomers studying the planet Venus are being killed, by what appears to be a death-ray, as Steed and Mrs Peel investigate reports of an invasion from space. Jon Pertwee guest stars. Barbara Shelley, Philip Locke, Jon Pertwee, Derek Newark, Jeremy Lloyd, Adrian Ropes, Arthur Cox, Paul Gillard, Kenneth Benda
5-02 21 January 1967 The Fear Merchants – Executives in the ceramics industry are driven out of their minds with fear at the behest of a competitor, by the application of science. Patrick Cargill, Brian Wilde, Garfield Morgan, Annette Carell, Andrew Keir, Jeremy Burnham, Edward Burnham, Bernard Horsfall, Ruth Trouncer, Declan Mulholland
5-03 28 January 1967 Escape in Time – An organisation is apparently sending criminals into the past to escape arrest. Peter Bowles, Geoffrey Bayldon, Judy Parfitt, Imogen Hassall, Nicholas Smith, Clifford Earl, Edward Caddick
5-04 4 February 1967 The See-Through Man – A Russian spymaster seemingly purchases the secret of invisibility from an eccentric English scientist, in order to penetrate British security. Warren Mitchell, Moira Lister, Roy Kinnear, Jonathan Elsom, John Nettleton, Harvey Hall
5-05 11 February 1967 The Bird Who Knew Too Much – Steed and Emma chase a missing parrot that holds a clue to Soviet espionage activities. Ron Moody, Ilona Rodgers, Kenneth Cope, Michael Coles, John Wood, Anthony Valentine, John Lee
5-06 18 February 1967 The Winged Avenger - A comicbook character is brought to life to commit murder, killing a number of men in the publishing industry – by walking up walls. Nigel Green, Jack MacGowran, Neil Hallett, Colin Jeavons, John Garrie, Donald Pickering, William Fox, Ann Sidney
5-07 25 February 1967 The Living Dead – The late Duke of Benedict, who perished in a mining disaster, returns to haunt a sleepy English village. But is he really dead? Julian Glover, Pamela Ann Davy, Howard Marion-Crawford, Jack Woolgar, Jack Watson, Edward Underdown, John Cater, Vernon Dobtcheff, Alister Williamson
5-08 4 March 1967 The Hidden Tiger – Men and animals are being mauled to death in rural England by what seems to be a tiger or puma; but no one who sees it lives to tell the tale. Ronnie Barker, Lyndon Brook, Gabrielle Drake, John Phillips, Stanley Meadows, Jack Gwillim, Frederick Treves
5-09 11 March 1967 The Correct Way to Kill – Seeking an organisation of murderous City gents, who are assassinating both British and enemy agents, Steed gets a glamorous but tall Russian partner, and Emma a short-lived one. Anna Quayle, Michael Gough, Philip Madoc, Terence Alexander, Peter Barkworth, Graham Armitage, Timothy Bateson, Edwin Apps
5–10 18 March 1967 Never, Never Say Die – A motorist finds that wherever he goes he’s involved in yet another traffic accident, repeatedly killing the same pedestrian – Dr Frank N. Stone (Christopher Lee). Christopher Lee, Jeremy Young, Patricia English, David Kernan, Christopher Benjamin, John Junkin, Peter Dennis, Arnold Ridley
5–11 1 April 1967 Epic – A demented movie mogul with an Eric von Stroheim fixation lures Mrs Peel to an abandoned movie studio, to star in a film of her own death. Peter Wyngarde, Isa Miranda, Kenneth J. Warren, David Lodge
5–12 8 April 1967 The Superlative Seven – A mysterious invitation that strands him on a remote island, with six companions who are murdered one by one, makes Steed a Little Indian. Charlotte Rampling, Brian Blessed, James Maxwell, Hugh Manning, Leon Greene, Donald Sutherland, John Hollis
5–13 15 April 1967 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station – In a spoof of the movie The Lady Vanishes, a bride and groom keep catching the same railway train, to a station that doesn't exist. Steed starts to suspect that a novel espionage network is being created when the agent following them vanishes. James Hayter, John Laurie, Drewe Henley, Isla Blair, Tim Barrett, Richard Caldicot, Dyson Lovell, Michael Nightingale
5–14 22 April 1967 Something Nasty in the Nursery – Government ministers revert suddenly to childhood, when exposed to a new type of nerve gas. Dudley Foster, Yootha Joyce, Paul Eddington, Clive Dunn, Patrick Newell, Trevor Bannister, Paul Hardwick, Dennis Chinnery
5–15 29 April 1967 The Joker – Mrs Peel is lured to a big, lonely country house by a man who wants revenge. Peter Jeffrey, Ronald Lacey, John Stone
5–16 6 May 1967 Who's Who? – A pair of assassins changing their minds (for Steed's and Emma's) bring double trouble. Freddie Jones, Patricia Haines, Campbell Singer, Peter Reynolds, Arnold Diamond
5–17 30 September 1967 Return of the Cybernauts – Scientists are being kidnapped. Mrs Peel is to be the next victim: receiving a new wristwatch the Cybernauts can home-in on, from a deceitful admirer. Peter Cushing, Frederick Jaeger, Charles Tingwell, Fulton Mackay, Roger Hammond, Noel Coleman, Aimi MacDonald, Redmond Phillips
5–18 7 October 1967 Death's Door – Top Civil Servants are manipulated into believing that if they go through the door to a vital conference they will die. Clifford Evans, Allan Cuthbertson, William Lucas, Marne Maitland
5–19 14 October 1967 The £50,000 Breakfast – A Switzerland-bound ventriloquist in a coma has a bellyful of diamonds. This is a remake of episode 2.08 'Death of a Great Dane'. Cecil Parker, Yolande Turner, David Langton, Anneke Wills, Cardew Robinson, Nigel Lambert, Jon Laurimore
5–20 21 October 1967 Dead Man's Treasure – A missing briefcase full of secrets propels Steed and Emma into a treasure hunt by car. Arthur Lowe, Valerie Van Ost, Edwin Richfield, Neil McCarthy, Norman Bowler, Ivor Dean
5–21 28 October 1967 You Have Just Been Murdered – Millionaires are being blackmailed into paying a mystery enemy not to murder them, as he repeatedly demonstrates how vulnerable to assassination they are. Barrie Ingham, Robert Flemyng, George Murcell, Leslie French, Geoffrey Chater, Simon Oates, Frank Maher
5–22 4 November 1967 The Positive-Negative Man – Scientists are being eliminated by a highly-charged hitman, whose touch brings instant death by electrocution. Ray McAnally, Michael Latimer, Caroline Blakiston, Peter Blythe, Sandor Elès, Bill Wallis
5–23 11 November 1967 Murdersville – A childhood chum of Mrs Peel’s retires to a quiet, friendly little English village – that is now the headquarters of Murder Incorporated. Colin Blakely, John Ronane, Ronald Hines, John Sharp, Sheila Fearn, Eric Flynn, Norman Chappell, Tony Caunter, John Chandos
5–24 18 November 1967 Mission: Highly Improbable – In a spoof of the television series Mission: Impossible, a new ray machine which makes everything smaller miniaturises Steed! Ronald Radd, Jane Merrow, Noel Howlett, Francis Matthews, Richard Leech, Stefan Gryff, Nicholas Courtney, Kevin Stoney, Nosher Powell

The Fear Merchants was the first episode of the Avengers to be produced/filmed in colour, although From Venus with Love aired first.

Series 6 (1968–1969)

Cast: All episodes feature Patrick Macnee (as John Steed) and Linda Thorson (as Tara King). Patrick Newell (as "Mother") features in approximately three-quarters of the episodes.

Episode No. Original air date (UK) Episode title Guest cast
6-01 25 September 1968 The Forget-Me-Knot – A new drug which causes instant amnesia makes his fellow agents forget Steed. Diana Rigg bows out as Mrs Emma Peel and her replacement, Miss Tara King, is introduced – the two women pass each other on the stairs and Peel advises King about how to prepare Steed's tea – together with Steed’s new boss: a plump, jovial man, code-named Mother (who, in a spoof of the US television series Ironside, runs the department from his wheelchair). Patrick Kavanagh, Jeremy Burnham, Jeremy Young, Alan Lake, Douglas Sheldon, John Lee, Leon Lissek
6-02 2 October 1968 Game – An ex-soldier, thought to be dead, takes his revenge on Steed and three other former Army officers, who helped to Court Martial him, by trapping them into participating in a series of deadly games that invariably end in death. Peter Jeffrey, Garfield Morgan, Anthony Newlands, Alex Scott, Aubrey Richards
6-03 9 October 1968 Super Secret Cypher Snatch – An espionage ring is stealing secrets from the Government's top secret Cypher HQ, by posing as window cleaners. MI-12 are assigned to the case, but when their man Jarett is murdered Steed takes over, to investigate Classy Glass Cleaning. But Tara, posing as a new secretary inside Cypher HQ, swears no one has penetrated its security. John Carlisle, Simon Oates, Allan Cuthbertson, Ivor Dean, Angela Scoular, Nicholas Smith, David Quilter, Clifford Earl
6-04 16 October 1968 You'll Catch Your Death – Empty envelopes are delivered to top Government officials, who are then found dead. The only clue is that each man seems to have died from a fit of sneezing. Steed investigates a clinic for researching the common cold, which seems to have purchased some unusual stationery supplies. Ronald Culver, Valentine Dyall, Fulton Mackay, Sylvia Kay, Dudley Sutton, Charles Lloyd-Pack, Henry McGee, Hamilton Dyce, Bruno Barnabe, Geoffrey Chater, Willoughby Gray
6-05 23 October 1968 Split! – When agents in Lord Barnes’s department at the Ministry of Top Secret Information are murdered, all the evidence points to an enemy agent named Kartovski. The snag is that Kartovski was killed by Steed five years earlier. Nigel Davenport, Julian Glover, Bernard Archard, Iain Anders, Christopher Benjamin
6-06 30 October 1968 Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40? – A mystery enemy is targeting Britain's most important government computer with a series of sabotage attempts. Steed investigates the machine's designer, following up a clue the computer has provided, and plants Tara in his household as a spy. Dennis Price, Clifford Evans, Judy Parfitt, Anthony Nicholls, Frank Windsor, Adrian Ropes, Arthur Cox, Tony Wright, Valerie Leon
6-07 6 November 1968 False Witness – When all the witnesses involved in the prosecution of Lord Edgefield, suspected of blackmailing key security and foreign service personnel, suddenly start lying - including Tara - Steed must discover how they have been got at. Meanwhile, Tara becomes suspicious of DreemyKreem Dairies, but discovers she is literally incapable of telling anyone. John Bennett, Barry Warren, Tony Steedman, Simon Lack, Arthur Pentelow, Jimmy Gardner
6-08 13 November 1968 All Done with Mirrors – Secrets are leaking from a defence research establishment, thanks to a new invention: an eavesdropping device which can use any shiny surface to reflect and amplify sound waves. But with Steed unavailable, Tara must investigate with only an inexperienced new agent for support. Dinsdale Landen, Peter Copley, Edwin Richfield, Michael Trubshawe, Nora Nicholson, Tenniel Evans, Michael Nightingale, Robert Sidaway, David Grey
6-09 20 November 1968 Legacy of Death – For revenge on Steed, an old enemy leaves him a deadly legacy in his Will: a jewelled oriental dagger worth a million dollars, known as the Falcon, which various dangerous men are anxious to acquire. Steed is cast in the role of Sam Spade, in a spoof of the Humphrey Bogart movie The Maltese Falcon, with dead bodies piling up in his apartment as one man after another tries to kill him to get hold of the item. Ronald Lacey guest stars as Mr Green, and Stratford Johns as Mr Street, in a homage to Bogart's co-star, Sydney Greenstreet. Stratford Johns, Ronald Lacey, Richard Hurndall, John Hollis, Tutte Lemkow, Michael Bilton
6–10 27 November 1968 Noon Doomsday – An injured Steed is being treated in a top secret hospital, with an assassin named Kafka, the former head of Murder International, on his trail. With the aid of an accomplice on the inside, Kafka penetrates the security guarding the hospital, and Tara finds herself in a race against time to save the helpless Steed. T. P. McKenna, Ray Brooks, Griffith Jones, Lyndon Brook, Peter Bromilow, Patrick Newell, Peter Halliday, Anthony Ainley, John Glyn-Jones
6–11 4 December 1968 Look — (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) — But There Were These Two Fellers... – Two old-time Music Hall performers dressed as clowns (one played by real life Music Hall star Jimmy Jewel), with assistance from a group of ex-vaudeville acts, are killing the businessmen they blame for closing down the variety theatres which were their livelihood. Jimmy Jewel, Julian Chagrin, Bernard Cribbins, John Cleese, William Kendall, John Woodvine, Garry Marsh, Bill Shine, Richard Young, Robert James, Talfryn Thomas
6–12 11 December 1968 Have Guns — Will Haggle – Steed attends an Underworld auction and bids for three thousand stolen state-of-the art rifles to try to prevent them falling into the wrong hands. Johnny Sekka, Nicola Pagett, Roy Stewart, Timothy Bateson, Michael Turner
6–13 18 December 1968 They Keep Killing Steed – Enemy agents disguised as Steed penetrate a peace conference for which he is in charge of security, to assassinate the delegates. With Steed also present, trying to stop them, chaos supervenes because no one can tell the real Steed from the imposters. As Tara investigates she finds herself falling over dead Steeds wherever she goes! Ian Ogilvy, Ray McAnally, Norman Jones, Bernard Horsfall, Angharad Rees
6–14 1 January 1969 The Interrogators – Agents in Steed's department are being fooled into giving away secrets, by men posing as Army officers at a fake Government training establishment. And their next victim will be... Tara King. Christopher Lee, Philip Bond, Glynn Edwards, Neil McCarthy, Cardew Robinson
6–15 8 January 1969 The Rotters – Steed investigates a firm named WormDoom, whose proprietor, a businessman widely thought a bit of a rotter, is killing off his business competitors, all experts on timber decay. To get at his victims he has stolen a new chemical which, while simulating dry rot, causes wood to rot instantaneously: turning doors, walls and windows all to powder. Gerald Sim, Jerome Willis, Eric Barker, John Nettleton, Frank Middlemass, Harold Innocent, Amy Dalby, John Stone, Charles Morgan, Noel Davis
6–16 15 January 1969 Invasion of the Earthmen – Steed and Tara investigate an unusual school: a military academy for young men and women, that hides a secret astronaut training centre. William Lucas, Christian Roberts, Lucy Fleming, Chris Chittell, Warren Clarke, George Roubicek
6–17 22 January 1969 Killer – While Tara is on leave, Steed takes on a temporary new partner, the aristocratic Lady Diana Forbes-Blakeney. Together they confront REMAK: the Remote Electro Matic Agent Killer - a computerised assassin. Jennifer Croxton, Grant Taylor, William Franklyn, Richard Wattis, Harry Towb, John Bailey, Michael Ward, James Bree, Anthony Valentine, Clive Graham, Oliver MacGreevy
6–18 29 January 1969 The Morning After – A double-agent, codenamed Merlin, steals a new sleep gas and tries it out on Steed. Awaking 24 hours later, with Merlin his prisoner, Steed can find no one to hand him over to: everywhere he goes the streets are completely deserted. Peter Barkworth, Joss Ackland, Brian Blessed, Donald Douglas
6–19 5 February 1969 The Curious Case of the Countless Clues – In a spoof of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Doyle (Peter Jones) – equipped with pipe, cape and deerstalker hat – is investigating a seemingly careless criminal, who leaves masses of clues wherever he goes. But no one can solve the crimes, not even Steed - because all the clues are fakes: left behind by a blackmailer, who is planting them to incriminate wealthy men, as part of a sophisticated extortion racket. Anthony Bate, Kenneth Cope, Tony Selby, Peter Jones, Tracy Reed, Edward de Souza, George A. Cooper
6–20 12 February 1969 Wish You Were Here – In a spoof of the 1967 British TV series The Prisoner, Tara finds herself trapped in a posh prison without bars or guards, which, on the surface, appears to be merely an elegant hotel in a quiet English town. Liam Redmond, Robert Urquhart, Brook Williams, Dudley Foster, Derek Newark, Gary Watson, Louise Pajo, Richard Caldicot
6–21 19 February 1969 Love All – Steed investigates a publishing house which specialises in Romantic fiction, when looking into a mystery in which top Civil Servants are unexpectedly falling in love and betraying military secrets in 'pillow talk'. Terence Alexander, Patsy Rowlands, Brian Oulton, Frank Gatliff, Peter Stephens, Larry Taylor
6–22 26 February 1969 Stay Tuned – Steed returns from holiday with no memory of where he has been or what he has been doing for the past three weeks. He is behaving oddly, and seems to have been brainwashed: implanted with a post-hypnotic suggestion to kill someone in the department. Gary Bond, Kate O'Mara, Duncan Lamont, Howard Marion-Crawford, Roger Delgado, Harold Kasket, Ewan Roberts
6–23 5 March 1969 Take Me to Your Leader – Steed and Tara are tracking the movements of a red attaché case containing money and documents intended for a top enemy agent. The case also contains taped messages that inform a series of couriers where to take it. Patrick Barr, John Ronane, Michael Robbins, Penelope Keith, Hugh Cross, Michael Hawkins, Bryan Kendrick, Raymond Adamson
6–24 12 March 1969 Fog – The Gaslight Ghoul, a Victorian mass murderer similar to Jack the Ripper, strikes again a century later. In a fog-shrouded London, the Ghoul is intent on assassinating all the foreign delegates attending the international disarmament conference. Steed invents a fictitious additional Gaslight Ghoul murder in order to investigate a Gentlemen’s Club, dedicated to uncovering the identity of the Ghoul, which Steed suspects is involved in the new killings. Nigel Green, Guy Rolfe, Terence Brady, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Norman Chappell, Patsy Smart, John Garrie, Frederick Peisley, Arnold Diamond, John Barrard
6–25 19 March 1969 Who Was That Man I Saw You With? – Whilst on a top secret security assignment, Tara comes under suspicion of being a double-agent. She must cast similar suspicion on Steed if she is to prove that she has been framed. An enemy agent, Gregor Zaroff, hopes to put the Government's new anti-missile defence system, code named 'Field Marshall', out of action by convincing Steed and Mother that Tara has betrayed the system's secrets. William Marlowe, Ralph Michael, Alan MacNaughtan, Alan Wheatley, Bryan Marshall, Alan Browning
6–26 26 March 1969 Homicide and Old Lace – Mother's two elderly aunties are all a-twitter over an improbable tale that he spins them: a dastardly plot to steal the Crown Jewels, illustrated with clips from earlier episodes. Joyce Carey, Mary Merrall, Gerald Harper, Keith Baxter, Edward Brayshaw, Bryan Mosley, Donald Pickering, Gertan Klauber, Kevork Malikyan
6–27 2 April 1969 Thingumajig – A fiendish, and lethal, device that eats electricity, designed as the ultimate killing machine, gets loose in a rural English village and electrocutes everyone it comes into contact with. Jeremy Lloyd, Iain Cuthbertson, Willoughby Goddard, Hugh Manning, John Horsley, Edward Burnham, Vernon Dobtcheff, Russell Waters
6–28 7 April 1969 My Wildest Dream – Acme Precision Combine’s directors are dying. A series of quite ordinary men have been hypnotised into committing the murders - by making them believe it’s all a dream. Peter Vaughan, Derek Godfrey, Edward Fox, Susan Travers, Philip Madoc, Tom Kempinski, John Savident
6–29 16 April 1969 Requiem – Tara finds herself attending a Requiem service for Mother, when Steed inaugurates a one-man witness protection program for a key witness against Murder International: taking the witness to Fort Steed, a hiding place supposedly known only to him. But agents bent on murdering the witness boobytrap Steed's apartment. When the bomb explodes, Tara is severely injured - and Mother is killed. Now Tara must find Steed in time to warn him. Angela Douglas, John Cairney, John Paul, Denis Shaw, Katya Wyeth
6–30 23 April 1969 Take-Over – Steed is spending the weekend with two of his oldest friends, Bill and Laura Bassett, who, unknown to him, are being held prisoner in their own home by the other house guests. If they reveal this to Steed, or the reason why, he will be murdered: but he nevertheless begins to suspect something is amiss. Then an unsuspecting Tara blunders in. Tom Adams, Elizabeth Sellars, Michael Gwynn, Hilary Pritchard, Garfield Morgan, Keith Buckley, John Comer, Anthony Sagar
6–31 30 April 1969 Pandora – Tara is kidnapped by two brothers, who drug her and seek to brainwash her into believing that she is Pandora - a young woman she closely resembles, who was once engaged to their elderly father: a retired spy, codenamed the Fierce Rabbit. He had been a British agent in World War One, and Tara has to be convinced that she is now living in the year 1915. Julian Glover, James Cossins, Kathleen Byron, John Laurie, Geoffrey Whitehead, Peter Madden
6–32 14 May 1969 Get-a-Way – Three captured Russian spies, one of whom is assigned to assassinate Steed, escape from a seemingly escape-proof prison hidden in Oldhill Monastery. Steed investigates a suspicious consignment of vodka recently delivered there, whilst Tara finds a clue in a magazine article about camouflage. Andrew Keir, Peter Bowles, Peter Bayliss, Terence Longdon, Michael Culver, Michael Elwyn, Robert Russell
6–33 21 May 1969 Bizarre – When a man who was buried a year previously is found newly dead, Steed investigates the cemetery where the dead man was supposed to be. One exhumation leads to another, as more and more discrepancies are uncovered. Then Steed has himself buried alive - to see what transpires. Roy Kinnear, Fulton Mackay, George Innes, John Sharp, Sheila Burrell, Michael Balfour, Patrick Connor, Ron Pember

John Bryce replaced Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell as producer for the start of series six. By the time Clemens and Fennell returned, three episodes had been filmed: two 90 minute episodes, named "Invitation To a Killing" and "The Great Great Britain Crime", as well as a standard length episode, "Invasion of the Earthmen". These were considered to be extremely flawed episodes, and likely would have been scrapped, except they didn't have time to film new episodes and still meet their American contract; so "Invitation To a Killing" was heavily edited and had several new shots filmed to become "Have Guns — Will Haggle", while "The Great Great Britain Crime" was heavily edited and had some old footage from previous episodes added, as well as some new footage, to become "Homicide and Old Lace". "Invasion of the Earthmen" was slightly edited as well. No known copies of the original versions of these episodes exist.[4]

This unusually long series of 33 episodes was divided into two separate series on its original US broadcast. It was produced in two batches: seven episodes (mostly without Patrick Newell as "Mother", and none with Rhonda Parker as "Rhonda") were added to the last eight Diana Rigg episodes for broadcast in the US in the spring of 1968: this made up the third series on ABC in America. On the original US broadcasts, these episodes featured the original 'Shooting Gallery' opening/closing titles featuring Tara in a tight fitting tan outfit with a short skirt, and gunshots as Steed and Tara are shot at by an unseen gunman, which was filmed by Harry Booth. The seven episodes that aired in the US in the spring of 1968 aired in the following order: "Split" on 1 February, "The Forget-Me-Knot" on 20 March, "Invasion of the Earthmen" on 27 March, "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" on 3 April, "Get-A-Way!" on 24 April, "Have Guns- will Haggle" on 1 May, and "Look- (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers..." on 8 May.[5] These seven episodes were added sporadically into the 26 episodes produced in the next block and transmitted in Britain as a single 33-episode run. The standard title sequences, the 'field/suits of armour' opening and 'playing card' ending, were filmed by Robert Fuest, originally for the first US transmission of the final 26 episodes, which made up the fourth series on the ABC network in America. These were tacked on to all 33 episodes when broadcast in the UK, apart from "The Forget-Me-Knot" which retained the amended Emma Peel opening credits and its original Tara King 'Shooting Gallery' end credit sequence.[6]

Notes:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Behind the Scenes: Dr David Keel Era at Avengers Forever!
  2. ↑ "The Avengers (1961) – Lost Episode ‘Tunnel Of Fear’ From The Very First Series Rediscovered After 55 Years!". Ian Hendry. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Avengers (1961) – Lost Episode ‘Tunnel Of Fear’ From The Very First Series Rediscovered After 55 Years!". Ian Hendry. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  4. ↑ The Tara King Era at Avengers Forever!
  5. ↑ "The Avengers : Series 6 : Episode Guide". Dissolute.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  6. ↑ Behind the Scenes: Tara King Era, Part 2 at Avengers Forever!

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