Classic Television: The Avengers
The TV series The Avengers
The series aired in the United Kingdom from January 1961 until May 1969, and comprised 161 episodes. The Avengers
The majority of the show's popularity was due to the pairing of Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg as agents John Steed and Emma Peel. While this duo are probably the best remembered and most loved, there was certainly more to the series than Steed with Peel. This is my homage to television at its best...the style of the Sixties lives on in The Avengers
The Avengers Opening Titles
Remind Yourself Just How Cool TV Could Be!
Enjoy the opening titles from several of the series' incarnations...
The Avengers TV intro (1965)
The Avengers TV intro (1968)
The Avengers opening titles
How It All Began
The First Season: Ian Hendry & Patrick Macnee
The Avengers was a replacement for the short-lived TV series Police Surgeon, produced by ABC-TV in the UK, and ran from September to December 1960. It starred Ian Hendry as Dr. Geoffrey Brent, but when it was suddenly cancelled he was asked to pair up with Patrick Macnee. Thus, The Avengers was born with Hendry playing Dr. David Keel and Macnee, John Steed. At this point, Hendry was considered the star of the show with Macnee as his mysterious, sometimes ruthless sidekick.
The first two episodes featured Steed and Keel avenging the shooting death of Keel's fianceé, Peggy, by members of a drug ring. Unfortunately, only the first twenty minutes of this introduction are known to exist (from the episode Hot Snow), along with two other full episodes from this first season: The Frighteners and Girl on a Trapeze.
Season One: The Frighteners
This episode appears on The Avengers - Vol. 17 of The Complete Emma Peel Megaset Collector's Edition DVD
THE AVENGERS (1961) The Frighteners
Existing Avengers Season 1 Episodes On DVD
The Avengers
Vol. 17 of The Complete Emma Peel Megaset Collector's Edition
This DVD includes what remains of the Ian Hendry episodes...and more!
Ian Hendry Biography
The First Avenger: Ian Hendry
Ian Hendry (January 13, 1931—December 24, 1984) was an English film and television actor. He is best known for his work on several British TV series of the early 1960s such as The Avengers, and for his roles in 1970s films such as Get Carter (1971).
Hendry was born in Ipswich and educated at Culford School. Hendry's film and TV career began in 1959 and within a year he had landed the lead role of Dr. Geoffrey Brent in the crime series Police Surgeon. The series only ran for twelve episodes...
Patrick Macnee and The Avengers
The Inside Story
The Avengers:
The Inside Story
Lavishly illustrated, with many unpublished stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and snaps from Macnee's private collection, this is a very personal portrait of the world's best-loved cult action-adventure series, and its classic sequel, The New Avengers.
In unflinching detail, Macnee reveals the true story behind the show, including his relationships with all four Avengers girls - Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson and Joanna Lumley - on and off the set!
Dedicated to Patrick Macnee
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Patrick Macnee
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Patrick Macnee is probably best remembered for his role as the urbane super sleuth, John Steed, in the Sixties television series, The Avengers. While he will be forever identified with this role, Macnee has also carved out a successful career as a t...
The Avengers: The 1962 Opening Titles
The Avengers TV intro (1962)
Enter Honor Blackman
Seasons Two & Three: Cathy Gale
During the first season of The Avengers, an actor's strike halted production in 1961 at episode 26, and it did not resume for almost a year. Once production was due to recommence, Ian Hendry had decided to leave the show for a movie career. The producers asked Patrick Macnee to continue which he agreed to do. Macnee, thus, became the lynch pin of the series.With this decision, actor Jon Rollason temporarily replaced Hendry for three episodes at the beginning of season two, playing Dr. Martin King. However, it was decided that a woman should be Steed's new crime-fighting partner.
Cathy Gale would become the first liberated female character created for television. Honor Blackman
won the role (albeit Nyree Dawn Porter was the producers' first choice), and her first filmed episode was "Death Dispatch" in June, 1962.
Honor Blackman
completed 43 episodes during her tenure. By 1964, for reasons which are still unclear, she had decided to leave and accept the role of Pussy Galore in the upcoming James Bond extravaganza, Goldfinger. This left The Avengers without a female lead, but after several months the production team started to look in earnest for a replacement. Eventually, an actress was found and she would take the series to new levels and the television world by storm... Honor Blackman Biography
The First Avenger Girl
Honor Blackman (born 22 August 1925Film & TV Database , BFIGRO Birth register SEP 1925 4a 294 W HAM mmn = Stokes) is an English actress, who is perhaps best known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.
Avengers Inspiration
Kinky Boots
Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman Sing?
kinky boots
A Tribute to Honor Blackman
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Honor Blackman
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British actress Honor Blackman (born August 22, 1925) is probably best remembered for her roles as Cathy Gale in the cult TV series, The Avengers, as well as Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie, Goldfinger.
Cathy Gale on DVD (1962 & 1963)
The Avengers '62 - Complete Set
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The Avengers '63, Set 1
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The Avengers '63, Set 2
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The Avengers - '63 Set 3
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The Avengers - '63 Set 4
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1964
The Avengers '64, Set 1
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The Avengers '64, Set 2
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The Avengers Arrive In America
The Avengers Stateside
With financial backing from the Americans, the series transferred to film - albeit in black and white. With this transfer and sale, the American audience needed an introduction to The Avengers.
Below are the full credits to the black and white Diana Rigg season including the introductory sequence used at the beginning of each episode shown in the USA, but not seen in the UK.
This also introduced Diana Rigg to American viewers.
Avengers Opening 1965
Mrs Peel...We're Needed!
The Avengers Season Four: Diana Rigg
Initially, Elizabeth Shepherd was chosen for the role of Mrs. Emma Peel in 1965. However, this decision backfired when, after completing the episode "The Town of No Return" and half of "The Murder Market", the producers released her, stating that she was not right for the part.Consequently, additional searches had to be undertaken and one focused on an actress who had recently appeared in an ITV play, "The Hothouse". Diana Rigg
only auditioned "for a giggle" and felt that she would never be seriously considered for the role of Mrs. Peel. But, as TV history recalls, she not only won the part but was also about to take the television world by storm!The Avengers had arrived. This period of the show's history was to feature a lighter comic touch in contrast to the much more hard-edged tone evident in the Blackman episodes. Steed and Peel's humor-laden conversations became a mainstay of the programme as they visibly enjoyed trying to top each other's witticisms.
This less serious style lent itself ideally to episodes that were now characterized by an overt science fiction tone, with dastardly masterminds creating havoc each week. Peel and Steed had to deal with giant carnivorous plants, being shrunk to miniature, killer robots, mind-transferring machines and invisible enemies. The series also parodied its American contemporaries with episodes The Girl From Auntie and Mission...Highly Improbable, for example.
In addition to the humor, there was also an underlying fetishism aspect in many of the episodes - particularly one controversial episode for the time, "A Touch of Brimstone". Mrs Peel, dressed in a dominatrix outfit (designed by Diana Rigg
), had the American censors in uproar and Rigg's "Queen of Sin" was not seen in the US when the series first aired there. Tight-fitting leather fashion for Mrs. Gale, and to some extent, Mrs. Peel was one of the classic features of the shows, although Rigg only wore leather on a few occasions, preferring instead her more flexible "Emmapeelers" in later episodes.Diana Rigg's arrival coincided with the programme's sale to US television. This resulted in making it the first British series to be aired on prime-time American television and a change was made to the opening credits of the first Emma Peel season. A brief prologue was added, referred to as the "chessboard sequence", explaining the concept of the series and introducing the characters to the American audience.
Global sales and fame followed...
Is That You, Mrs Peel?
Elizabeth Shepherd as Emma Peel
Every Avengers fan knows that Diana Rigg was Mrs. Emma Peel. But were you aware that she was not the first actress to be hired to play the role?
Elizabeth Shepherd filmed all of the first aired episode "The Town of No Return" and part of another episode "The Murder Market," but it was soon announced that her services were no longer required.
Why? Well, no-one is certain of the actual reasons, but the consensus seems to be that she simply was not right for the part. This decision to get rid of her appears to be compounded by her penchant for an extravagant wardrobe, along with a tendency to rewrite dialogue on the set.
The producers, therefore, made the risky choice of re-casting the role, but history shows that the selection of Diana Rigg was worth the risk. (All filming was re-recorded with Diana Rigg and it is uncertain whether the Shepherd takes still exist).
Below, you can see what Mrs. Peel may have looked like had Elizabeth Shepherd stuck around.
Elizabeth Shepherd (the first actress chosen for Emma Peel)
Elizabeth Shepherd (the first actress chosen for Emma Peel)
Diana Rigg Biography
More Information On Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg DBE (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Tracy Bond in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service''.
The Avengers On Your Wall
The Avengers Photographs
Diana Rigg
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Patrick MacNee
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Emma Peel Becomes...The Queen of Sin
The Avengers: A Touch of Brimstone (1965-66)
The much talked about episode filmed in 1965 in which Diana Rigg's character becomes the racy "Queen of Sin".
Banned in the US at the time, but shown in the UK in an edited version - due to the use of whips - unsurprisingly, this is the all-time highest rated episode in The Avengers history at the time it was being broadcast.
And guess who created that notorious outfit? The answer: Diana Rigg herself!
Ms. Rigg recalls that one of the worst parts of filming this particular episode was spending the whole day holding a snake, and being told by the owner that it might urinate on her at any moment!
The living, breathing "Queen of Sin" can be seen in the video excerpt below, as she enters The Hellfire Club clutching THAT snake. Diana Rigg looking her finest!
Diana Rigg as The Queen of Sin
Collectors Corner
The Avengers Store
- The Avengers Store
- Have you just discovered The Avengers, or are you a long time fan? Whichever category you fall in, you will find all you need to either start or complete your collection here at The Avengers Store!
Rigg On Peel
25 March 2002: The New Zealand Herald - Peter Calder
Avenger Emma Peel's thoroughly modern femininity came about by chance, says the actor who played her. Emma Peel was actually a bloke. Or so says the woman who gave life to the better-looking one of the Avengers.Dame Diana Rigg, as she has been these eight years, is now the sexagenarian doyenne of the English acting establishment. But she's anxious to set the record straight: Emma Peel was, well, was meant to be a man.
This comes as a shock to one who can remember, as though it were yesterday (and who's to say it wasn't?) fevered fantasies of unzipping THAT one-piece leather suit, who thrills at the thought of that insouciant blend of danger and demureness, the dimples that deepened when she smiled.
Her co-star was called Mr Steed (the show was littered with knowing innuendo - Mrs Peel, indeed! - which seems arch and camp now but was a giddy delight at the time).
So it's exciting finally to speak to her, no matter that she refers to herself, royally, as "one" and says, unlike Mrs Peel, that she spends much of her time "pottering around".
"I wonder if we can talk about The Avengers for a minute," I say, "although I suppose you're sick to death of the subject ... "
"Not at all," she coos.
" ... because I remember that I was 14 and I was soooo [a sense of mounting panic that I've leaned too long on the vowel] in love with you."
Silence.
Quite a long silence, in fact. A silence that fills the phone line between here and London to overflowing before my notes swim back into focus.
"I didn't actually know the programme," she says, dropping her voice as if afraid we'll be overheard, "because I didn't have a television. I just thought it would be a bit of a hoot.
"The studio was overrun with incredibly ambitious young women jostling to get the part and I never expected to get it."
She fancied her chances so little, in fact, that she turned up late for the call-backs, the auditioning-process equivalent of a second ballot.
"I'd gone off to have lunch with a friend who lived nearby and we had a few glasses of wine and they were a bit cross with me."
The rest is history, sort of, although it's a history that remembers only Mrs Peel and not her less-celebrated progenitors. She was not John Steed's first companion in crime-fighting; indeed, she didn't even show up until series four, the last in black and white, by which time the show was well-established in the schedules.
The second and third series had been the domain of Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman, who went off to be the Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger). And John Steed's partner in the original was played by Ian Hendry.So the Avengers, as conceived, were two men. And Rigg says that explains a lot about Mrs Peel. Seen by late-century cultural theorists as a transgressive, proto-feminist figure, she was just a woman reading a man's lines.
"They just changed the person and kept the same lines. So they happened on something quite by chance. And they realised they had a very successful formula."
"Very successful" rather understates it. The Avengers took America by storm, an unusual achievement in an era when British television didn't usually survive the Atlantic crossing. It became the template for a dozen guy-gal crimefighter shows, from Hart to Hart to Moonlighting. And whatever the reason for Mrs Peel's thoroughly modern femininity, it created a cultural revolution.
In a piece on the website salon.com, Robin Dougherty remarks that at the time Emma Peel was dispatching villains "Samantha's husband, Darrin, on Bewitched, was forbidding her to employ her witchly powers, reducing her to vacuuming.
"Not only had Rigg's character broken all the rules that said good girls don't hit their attackers, she also exercised a bold new sexual and social freedom, living alone and quite independently."
What's most extraordinary about Rigg, of course, is that Emma Peel did not become a golden shackle to her professional development. And the theatrical dame certainly doesn't try to distance herself from it.
"No, not at all," she says. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. There are things one has done in the past that one would rather weren't resurrected. But The Avengers has kept its style.
"There are times when one thinks: 'I've been around for 40 years and some people think The Avengers is the sum of what one's done.' And the fact of the matter is it happened 30 years ago. But I can't complain because it certainly put me on the map."
More Great Cult British TV Crimebusters
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byFrom Black & White To Color
The Avengers: The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse
Just a bit of fun, but note that both Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee are primarily dressed in black and white!
Avengers - The Strange Case of The Missing Corpse
The Avengers In Color
Season Five: Diana Rigg
The Cathy Gale episodes had been shot on videotape, with very little time for editing and almost no use of location footage. If you watch these earlier episodes closely, you can detect bloopers galore, with lines fluffed, cameras hitting props and production personnel appearing briefly in shot. To all intents and purposes the Blackman episodes were shot live in the studio.The US deal meant that the series could now be shot on film, giving the episodes a much greater flexibility. The first filmed Rigg season was produced in black and white, but by this time the American standard was for shows to be shot in color. US pressure, therefore, brought The Avengers into glorious color in 1967, although British viewers wouldn't benefit from this change for another two years. These color episodes sported a new opening sequence (which you can enjoy elsewhere on this page), involving Steed unwrapping a champagne bottle and Emma shooting the cork away.
The color episodes became ever more stylized. A change to each opening episode title was made together with a mini, comedic vignette to start each story, where Steed locates Emma to announce that: "Mrs. Peel - We're Needed!"
Missing from this season, however, were the short epilogs that had appeared in the black and white episodes, where Steed and Emma left in the final scene in or on a different mode of transport. These had been replaced by a short scene involving the duo at Steed's flat.
To further please the American network, the show's producers succumbed to other changes. Emma had used Karate in the monochrome stories, but the sensitive Americans had this changed to a more graceful Kung Fu for her fighting sequences in this color season. Fashionwise, the black leather catsuits became instead a set of colorful "Emmapeelers". Even the dialogue was modified to suit the American market! Lifts were now elevators and flats became apartments. To Americans, the show appeared to be the epitome of Britishness, but ironically, this was being eroded by the series' biggest investors.
Behind the scenes, Diana Rigg was expressing her displeasure with certain aspects of the show. More changes were afoot, and these would see the departure of Emma Peel and the introduction of a new partner for Steed...
Emma Peel on DVD
The Avengers - The Complete Emma Peel Megaset (2006 Collector's Edition)
Amazon Price: $98.99 (as of 10/13/2008)
List Price: $99.95
This is a fantastic buy and now, with the 17th disc containing interviews, clips from the first episodes of the Avengers (and a later one with an Emma Peel cameo) what more could one ask for as extras! The thin packaging makes this set easy to store, the discs themselves are well put together and the transfers are as good as you can get from old TV episodes. If you like things English, with a touch of leather or 60's outfits, then these discs are for you. Definitely a 5 star winner!
The avengers trailer for the Emma Peel era
Dedicated to Diana Rigg
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Diana Rigg
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Mention the name of Diana Rigg (born July 20, 1938) to most people and they conjure up a picture of the sexy, leather clad agent, Emma Peel, of the 1960s TV series, "The Avengers". However, there has been so much more to the actin...
Peel The Reel (1990)
A Video Must
Someone has cleverly (and painstakingly) put together a video with the musical backing, together with video clips to exactly match the dialogue. All clips come from the Diana Rigg/Emma Peel color season.
Great music track and great video. Enjoy!
If you cannot see the video below, please click Peel the Reel to enjoy it!
The Avengers (Peel the Reel)
Great Deals From The Avengers TV Series
Find Rare Avengers Collectibles
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRare Diana Rigg Footage
She stars in roles very similar to Emma Peel of The Avengers. Who knows why she made these, but here are clips from the two.
You might want to turn your speakers down!
secret agent gal
The Emma Peel Picture Gallery
Click An Image to Enlarge
The Avengers: Tara-Ra-Boom-Di-Ay!
Seasons Six & Seven: Linda Thorson
Rigg was never happy with the way she was treated on the show and she departed in 1967 to star in the Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". However, she agreed to return to film an episode that explains Emma's departure. "The Forget-Me-Not" ends with the news that Emma's husband, Peter Peel, is in fact alive and she leaves her role with Steed in order to be with him. As Steed looks out the window to the driveway below, Peter resembles Steed exactly.This episode also introduced Emma's successor, an inexperienced agent named Tara King, played by Canadian actress Linda Thorson
. Thorson played the role with more innocence and unlike the previous partnerships, there were hints of romance between Steed and Tara. Tara was a fully fledged agent working for Steed's organisation whereas his previous partners had all been talented amateurs.
Steed was once again taking orders from a government official. The wheelchair-bound "Mother" (Patrick Newell). Mother's headquarters would change from week to week, including one episode in which his office was located on the top level of a double-decker bus!
The series continued to be broadcast in America, but 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 Tara couldn't compete, and the The Avengers was ultimately cancelled in the US. Without this commercial backing, production could not continue in Britain either, and the series ended in May 1969.
screengrabs © Canal+
The Avengers Files
In The Avengers Files, cult-TV authority Andrew Pixley looks at every detail and nuance of the series, from the original stories and scripts to the making of the films. Abundantly illustrated with many never-before-seen stills and behind-the-scenes shots, this is the book that Avengers fans everywhere have been waiting for.
Enter Tara King
Linda Thorson Debuts on The Avengers
the avengers - goodbye mrs peel, hello tara king
Linda Thorson Biography
Linda Thorson (born Linda Robinson, June 18 1947, Toronto, Ontario), is a Canadian actress on TV and films, mostly in the UK and United States.
Deidicated to Linda Thorson
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Linda Thorson
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Linda Thorson (born 8 June, 1947) came to international attention in 1968, when she won the role of Tara King in the 60s cult classic TV show, "The Avengers". Only 20-years-old at the time, she had the daunting task of replacing Diana Rigg'...
Tara King on DVD
The Avengers '68 Set 1
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The Avengers '68 Set 2
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The Avengers '68, Set 3
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The Avengers '68 Set 4
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The Avengers '68: Set 5
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The Avengers Girls
Who Was Your Favorite?
Only two options available, so....
Emma Peel or Tara King?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byEmma Peel
walt says:
Emma was the sexiest ever.
Posted August 08, 2008
Emmeline says:
I think Emma Peel is the best!
Posted August 02, 2008
Johnny Egan says:
Um...duh! Tara King is great. Kathy Gale, outstanding. But Emma Peel.....sublime.
Posted May 25, 2008
Tara King
Majorpain says:
Tara seemed to have the best chemistry with John Steed. It was if he had a soulmate as well as a partner.
Posted October 11, 2008
The Avengers
40x30 Double Sided Poster
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Latest News For The Avengers
After 40 years, The Avengers and its cast are still making the headlines...
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Avengers Clips
A Compilation
The Avengers: Collector's Card Sets
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The Avengers Girls at the BAFTAs
The Avengers Award
The Avengers BAFTA Award - Diana Rigg
Dedicated to The New Avengers
To join Steed, Purdey and Gambit as the New Avengers - the 70s continuation of The Avengers franchise - please click the link below.Buy The New Avengers Boxset at Sendit.com
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The New Avengers: The TV Series
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The New Avengers: The TV Series and how it returned: Actress Linda Thorson (Tara King) was the final partner for John Steed in the original, classic Avengers series which ended in 1969. While American (and to some extent Britis...
~~THANKS FOR VISITING~~
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The Isle of Squid
The Avengers Encapsulated
The Avengers: A Video History
THE AVENGERS Mystery Channel promo
Essential Avengers Reading
The Complete Avengers: The Full Story of Britain's Smash Crime-Fighting Team!
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 10/13/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Television historian Dave Rogers has assembled into one volume the complete history of this long-running program, from the early episodes featuring Ian Hendry, through the glory days of Diana Rigg, to The New Avengers-and beyond. Drawing on extensive interviews with such Avengers cast members as Linda Thorson ("Tara King"), Patrick Newell ("Mother"), Honor Blackman ("Cathy Gale"), and, of course, Patrick Macnee - plus several of the show's writers - this volume provides:
An overview of the series
A complete, show-by-show episode guide
A comprehensive collectors' guide to Avengers memorabilia
More than 200 photographs of England's classiest crime fighters
An introduction by Avengers producer Brian Clemens.
The Avengers: Must-See TV
The Avengers Must See TV 1/3
The Avengers Must See TV 2/3
The Avengers Must See TV 3/3
Your Thoughts on The Avengers
Share Your Favorite Avengers Stories
Please rate this page above as appropriate and...
"Always keep your bowler on in time of stress, and watch out for diabolical masterminds." [Mrs Peel]
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AndyPo
Great lens (5*) and an excellent TV programme Posted October 07, 2008 |
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poddys
The New Avengers was rubbish and the Avengers Movie was awful, but the early Avengers, especially with Dianna Rigg was spectacular. I won't describe the effect Emma Peel had on me at 11 years old in the Touch Of Brimstone episode - she still looks hot in that outfit now! 5***** well deserved for a fantastic tribute lens. Posted September 12, 2008 |
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CleanerLife
This show is before my time, but it's legendary and still has an impact on me. I don't think many shows today can come close to even touching the greatness of The Avengers! Posted September 11, 2008 |
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harryfielder
Used to be a must see show in the 60s / 70s Posted September 11, 2008 |
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