NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Avengers (TV series)

The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. The programmes were made by TV company Associated British Corporation, and created by its Head of Drama Sydney Newman. It was an early example of the spy-fi genre, combining secret agent storylines with science fiction elements. With 161 episodes produced over the course of six seasons, it is currently the second-longest running espionage series produced for English-language television, surpassed only by the American series Mission: Impossible at 171 episodes. Download high resolution version (528x838, 99 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Dame (Enid) Diana (Elizabeth) Rigg, DBE, (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. ... Spy-fi is a fan name for television series and movies - especially those from the 1960s - that blend the espionage genre with elements of science fiction. ... Sydney Cecil Newman OC (April 1, 1917â€”October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, best remembered for the pioneering work he undertook in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. ... Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Ian Hendry (b. ... Honor Blackman (born in London, England on 12 December 1927, although many sources have listed her date of birth as 22 August 1926) is a British actress. ... Dame (Enid) Diana (Elizabeth) Rigg, DBE, (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. ... Linda as Rosemary King in Emmerdale. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... This is an episode list for the 1960s British television series The Avengers. ... ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ... Smaug in his lair: an illustration for the fantasy The Hobbit Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Associated British Corporation (otherwise known as ABC Television or ABC Weekend TV) was one of a number of commercial television companies set up in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to safeguard their business by getting involved in television which was taking away their cinema audiences. ... Sydney Cecil Newman OC (April 1, 1917â€”October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, best remembered for the pioneering work he undertook in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. ... Spy-fi is a fan name for television series and movies - especially those from the 1960s - that blend the espionage genre with elements of science fiction. ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ...

Programme premise and overview

During the course of its run, The Avengers was marked by different eras as different co-stars came and went. The only constant was John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee. John Steed is a fictional character, played by Patrick Macnee, on the British series The Avengers and The New Avengers. ... Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ...

With Dr David Keel (Ian Hendry)

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

The Avengers was a successor (but not, as sometimes stated, a direct sequel) to Hendry's earlier series Police Surgeon, in which he played a similar character. While Police Surgeon did not last long, viewer letters had praised Hendry's work in it. Hendry was considered the star of the new series, receiving top billing over Macnee, and Steed did not even appear in two of the episodes. Because of the practice in the British television industry (followed until the 1970s) of junking and deleting episodes of old programmes deemed no longer of commercial value, most episodes of the first season are considered lost, save for two complete episodes recently located, and the first 15 minutes or so of the premiere episode. A sequel is a work of fiction in literature, film, and other creative works that is produced after a completed work, and is set in the same universe but at a later time. ... Police Surgeon is a television series made by the Associated British Corporation and starring Ian Hendry as Dr Geoffrey Brent. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

In the first season broadcast in 1961, Steed began as a secondary character, the protagonist being Keel; as the season progressed, Steed began to be established as a co-star, carrying the final episode solo. While the two stars used wry wit while discussing the crimes and dangers, the series benefited from the interplay — and, often, the tension — between Keel's idealism and Steed's hard professionalism. As seen in the surviving episode The Frighteners, Steed also had a group of helpers scattered among the general population who provided information, not unlike the "Baker Street Irregulars" of Sherlock Holmes. A Secondary character is a character in a movie, play, musical, story, ect. ... The Baker Street Irregulars are several different groups, all named after the original, from various Sherlock Holmes stories. ... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ...

The other regular character appearing in the first season was Carol Wilson (Ingrid Hafner), the nurse/receptionist who replaced the slain Peggy. Carol assisted Dr Keel and Steed in various ways in their cases, without being a part of Steed's 'inner circle' in the way that Keel was. Hafner had also played opposite Hendry as a nurse in Police Surgeon. Ingrid Hafner is a British actress, best remembered for her role as Carol Wilson in the first season of the television series The Avengers. ... Inner circle may refer to: The Inner Circle, a secret organization in Max Payne The Inner Circle, an early name for the central circuit route of the London Underground that is now known as the Circle Line friendship networks, where inner circle may describe the closest of friends a social... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

With Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman)

Production of the first season was cut short by a strike. By the time it was settled and production could begin on the show's second season, Hendry had quit to pursue a film career. Macnee was promoted to series 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 David Keel, saw action in only three episodes, as he was only intended to be a 'transition' character between Dr Keel and the two new female partners. He appeared in three unused scripts left from the first season. Rollason later had a regular role on Coronation Street. Coronation Street is Britains longest-running television soap opera, first broadcast on Friday December 9, 1960, in the Granada region of ITV. The programme is consistently the highest-rated programme on British television. ...

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 so 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 season, becoming younger-looking in demeanour and dress. Stevens was better known in Britain as a host of various children's/teen-age television programmes. Julie Stevens, born 20 December 1936 in Prestwich, England is a British actress. ...

The first episode of the second season 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. 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. Honor Blackman (born in London, England on 12 December 1927, although many sources have listed her date of birth as 22 August 1926) is a British actress. ... Judo ), meaning gentle way, is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budÅ) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. ... The Mau Mau Uprising was an insurgency by Kenyan rebels against the British colonial administration from 1952 to 1960. ...

Gale was unlike any female character seen before on British TV and became a household name. Reportedly, part of her charm came from the fact her earliest appearances were episodes in which dialogue written for David Keel was simply transferred to her. By the start of the third season, Venus Smith was dropped and Gale became Steed's only regular partner. 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. Sexual tension is a plot device employed in movies and books wherein two or more of the characters sexually long for one another, but the consummation of their desires is postponed or never occurs. ...

During the first season, hints were dropped that Steed worked for a branch of British Intelligence, and this was expanded in the second season. Early on, Steed received orders from a series of different superiors, most notably men referred to only as "Charles" or "One-Ten". By the third season, 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 Saville 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. Blackman became a TV superstar in Britain with her leather boots (nicknamed "kinky boots") and her high-kicking fighting style. This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... This is a copyrighted promotional photo with a known source. ... Savile Row is a road in the City of Westminster in central London. ... The bowler hat is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester of Holkham, in 1850. ... â€œParasolâ€ redirects here. ... Kinky boots are boots which are intended for or by some people are connected to some kind of shoe fetishism and thus a form of fetish clothing. ...

The Avengers had not yet been shown in America, 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; as noted by websites such as The Nitpicker's Guide to the Avengers, 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 John Steed to another character, prompting Patrick Macnee to ad lib a joke to cover the error). In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ... An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... See AdLib for the computer sound card manufacturer. ...

The very 'Britishness' of it was another 'strike' against it. In addition, the more relaxed standards of British media would have required some moments to be censored in America; in Mr Teddy Bear, Steed is seen stripping down to his underwear for decontamination, and in Death Dispatch Gale is seen talking to Steed on the telephone while wearing nothing from the waist up but a black-lace brassiere. Bra - front Bra - back A brassiere ( ; , commonly referred to as a bra, ) is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. ...

After two seasons in this format, a movie 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 tapped to appear opposite Sean Connery in the Bond film, Goldfinger, requiring her to leave the series. Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in a number of films. ... For the villain in this film, see Auric Goldfinger. ...

Arrival of Emma Peel (Diana Rigg)

A new female partner appeared in October 1965: Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg). The name of the character derived from the phrase "'M' Appeal" or "Man Appeal".[1] The character, whose husband went missing while on a South American exploration, retained the self-assuredness of Cathy Gale, combined with superior fighting skills, intelligence, and fashion sense. The Avengers, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), appear on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Dame (Enid) Diana (Elizabeth) Rigg, DBE, (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. ...

After more than 60 actresses had been auditioned, the first choice to play this role was actress Elizabeth Shepherd. However, after shooting one and a half episodes, Shepherd was released, as her on-screen personality did not seem as interesting as that of Blackman's Cathy 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 began in Avengers history. Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936 in London, England) is a British character actress whose work has spanned the stage and both the big and small screens. ...

The classic Avengers episodes are generally considered to be those featuring Macnee and Rigg. By contrast to the Cathy 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 seasons 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 edges of the previous seasons almost completely disappeared, as Steed and Peel visibly enjoyed topping each other's witticisms.

Additionally, many episodes were characterised by a futuristic, science fiction bent to many of the tales, with mad scientists and their creations leaving havoc in their wake. The duo dealt with giant alien carnivorous plants (The Man-Eater Of Surrey Green), being shrunk to doll size (Mission . . . Highly Improbable), pet cats being electrically altered into 'miniature tigers' (The Hidden Tiger), killer automatons (The Cybernauts and Return Of The Cybernauts), mind-transferring machines (Who's Who???), and invisible foes (The See-Through Man). The series also poked fun at its American contemporaries with episodes such as The Girl From AUNTIE and Mission ... Highly Improbable (spoofing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible). 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 on a regular basis. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The Cybernauts is the third episode of the fourth season of The Avengers television series. ... The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was an American television series that ran on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968, for 105 episodes (see 1964 in television and 1968 in television). ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ...

Comedy was also evident in the names/acronyms of the organizations Steed and Peel encountered. In The Living Dead, two duelling 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 folk named Cheshire, Manx, and Angora. Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ...

There was also a notable fetishistic undercurrent in many episodes (most notably the black-and-white episode "A Touch of Brimstone", in which Mrs Peel dressed as a dominatrix to become the "Queen Of Sin"). Tight-fitting fashion for both 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 by the clothing designer John Sutcliffe, who also published the AtomAge fetish magazine). Image File history File links Emma-Peel_Avengers-Intro. ... Image File history File links Emma-Peel_Avengers-Intro. ... Dame (Enid) Diana (Elizabeth) Rigg, DBE, (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. ... The basic idea of sexual fetishism is sexual arousal and satisfaction through an inanimate object, the fetish. ... A Touch of Brimstone is an infamous 1966 episode of the TV show The Avengers which featured intimations of orgiastic rituals and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) dressed as the Queen of Sin in a spiked dog collar, whale-bone corset, and fetish boots. ... A dominatrix (from the Latin dominatrix, meaning a female ruler or mistress; plural dominatrices) or mistress is a woman who takes the dominant role in bondage and discipline, domination and submission or sado-masochistic sexual practices, which are commonly abbreviated as BDSM. The male equivalent is Master. ... Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman, stars of the 1960s TV series The Avengers, released a song called Kinky Boots, based on their characters in the series. ... For the football and rugby union player see John Willie Sutcliffe The British fashion designer and fetish photographer John Sutcliffe (died 1987) was famous in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as a designer of clothes for aficionados of leather, rubber and PVC fetishism, with an emphasis on rubber and leather... AtomAge magazine (later AtomAge International magazine) was a fetish magazine published in Britain by the clothes designer John Sutcliffe in the 1970s as an offshoot of his AtomAge fetish clothing business. ... A fetish magazine is a magazine devoted to sexual fetishism. ...

Another memorable feature of the show from this point on was its automobiles. Steed's signature cars were 1926 - 1928 Bentley racing/town cars, including Blower Bentleys and Bentley Speed Sixes, while Peel drove a Lotus Elan. 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.) During the first Emma Peel season, each episode would end with a short, comedic scene of the duo leaving the scene of their most recent adventure in a variety of unusual vehicles. Bentley Motors Limited is a British based manufacturer of luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. ... Famous for his statement theres no replacement for displacement, Walter Owen Bentley upped the displacement of his 3 Litre sports car in 1926, producing the 4Â½ Litre. ... Desiring more power, Walter Owen Bentley added two cylinders to the straight-4 engine used in his 4Â½ Liter car, creating the 6Â½ Liter Bentley in 1926. ... Lotus Elan is the name of two convertible automobiles and one fixed head coupÃ© produced by Lotus Cars. ... Mother is the codename given to the wheelchair-bound male British government official who gives orders to John Steed and Tara King in the last season of the British TV series The Avengers. ... Rolls-Royce car may refer to vehicles produced by: Rolls-Royce Limited (1906-1973) Rolls-Royce Motors (1973-2003) Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (2003-present) // Rolls-Royce cars Rolls-Royce Limited vehicles 1904-1906 10 hp 1905-1905 15 hp 1905-1908 20 hp 1905-1906 30 hp 1905-1906... A.C. Royal Roadster 1924 A.C. 16/70 Sports Drophead CoupÃ© 1935 A.C. ACE 2-Seater Sports A.C. Greyhound Saloon 1962 1999 Cobra Replica 1971 AC Frua AC Cars Group Ltd. ... Lotus Europa (S2 Federal) The Lotus Europa, built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975, was among the first production road cars to feature a mid-engine rear wheel drive design. ... Triumph Motorcycles is an English motorcycle manufacturer, originally based in Coventry. ...

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 Emma 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 Cathy Gale's/Emma Peel's home, or vice versa. Although nothing "improper" was ever displayed, the obviously much closer chemistry between the Steed/Peel characters constantly suggests that something of the sort is happening in the background.

The arrival of Rigg coincided with the show's sale to US television. This made it one of the first British series to be aired on prime-time American television, alongside traditional US shows. A change was made to the opening credits of the first Emma Peel season with the addition of a brief prologue explaining the concept of the series and introducing the characters. The decision of the US's ABC to schedule The Avengers was made easier by the "British Invasion" of pop music and fashion, dating from the huge success of The Beatles and others who followed them into the American market. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic - President George Walker Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The American Broadcasting Company ( oftenly known as ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. ...

Previously the series had been shot on 405-line videotape, with very little provision for editing and virtually no location footage. This meant that to all intents and purposes the Blackman episodes were shot live in the studio. A number of these were wiped, the survivors being in the form of 16mm film telerecordings (see below). Bottom view of VHS videotape cassette with magnetic tape exposed Videotape is a means of recording images and sound onto magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... (Redirected from 16mm film) 16mm film was initially created in the 1920s as an inexpensive amateur alternative to the conventional 35 mm film format. ... Telerecording (known as kinescoping in the USA) is the British name for a process pioneered during the 1940s for the storing of electronically-shot television programmes on film, which was used for the preservation, re-broadcasting and sale of television programmes before the use of commercial broadcast-quality videotape became...

The US deal meant that the producers could afford to shoot the series on 35mm film. In any case, the change was essential because British videotapes were incompatible with US standards. The transfer to film meant that episodes could be shot like films, giving the show much greater flexibility. After one filmed season (of 26 episodes) in black and white, The Avengers began filming in colour in 1967, although it would be two years before British viewers could see it that way. These colour episodes came with a new stylised opening sequence, involving Steed unwrapping the foil from a Champagne bottle and Peel shooting the cork away, especially advertising the episodes with a title of The Avengers In Colour. Simulated 35 mm film with soundtracks _ The outermost strips (on either side) contain the SDDS soundtrack as an image of a digital signal. ... Champagne is often consumed as part of a celebration Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. ...

The Steed/Peel episodes began with a comic visual 'tag line,' with a caption displayed on-screen using the format of "Steed [does this], Emma [does that]." For example, the episode Death At Bargain Prices dealt with trying to prevent an atomic bomb from being detonated inside a London department store. The opening caption informed the viewer that "Steed fights in Ladies' Underwear". The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... The interior of a typical Macys department store. ...

Departure of Emma Peel and the introduction of Tara King (Linda Thorson)

Rigg was never happy with the way she was treated on the show (she discovered at one point that she was being paid less than the cameraman) and she left in 1967 to pursue other projects (including, like Blackman, a Bond film). No farewell episode had been shot, but despite now being out of contract, Rigg agreed to film an episode that explained her departure. At its end, Emma's husband, Peter Peel, was found alive and rescued, and she left the British secret service in order to be with him, "passing the torch" to her successor on the stairway to Steed's apartment with the remark "He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise." (From Steed's viewpoint looking out the window to the driveway below, Peter remarkably resembles Steed.) On Her Majestys Secret Service is the sixth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the only one to star George Lazenby as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond, and the first and only film in which Bond settles on a single woman and marries her. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, is the United Kingdoms external intelligence agency. ...

This episode, the first of the 1968/69 season, also introduced Emma's successor, an inexperienced agent named Tara King, played by Canadian actress Linda Thorson, in very dynamic style (when Steed is called to Headquarters, he is attacked and knocked down by trainee agent Tara who doesn't realize who he is!). 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 Tara. Tara 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 season) talented amateurs. Tara King is a model who worked with Playboy in the late 1990s. ... Linda as Rosemary King in Emmerdale. ...

Another change returned the series to its roots by having Steed once again take orders from a British government official, this time the wheelchair-bound "Mother" (Patrick Newell, who had played different roles in two previous episodes), who was in fact an obese man. 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. Image File history File links Steed-tara. ... Image File history File links Steed-tara. ... Paraplegia is a condition in which the lower part of a persons body is paralyzed and cannot willfully function. ... Mother is the codename given to the wheelchair-bound male British government official who gives orders to John Steed and Tara King in the last season of the British TV series The Avengers. ... Patrick Newell (March 27, 1932 - July 22, 1988) was a British actor known for his large size. ... Obesity is an excess storage of fat and can affect any mammal, such as the mouse on the left. ... A London AEC Routemaster, RML 2473 (JJD 473D), on route 7 approaching Ladbroke Grove tube station in April 2002. ... Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ...

The revised series continued to be broadcast in America. The episodes with Linda Thorson as Tara 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 Tara 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 Tara, 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!" Rowan & Martins Laugh-In was a United States comedy television show broadcast from January 22, 1968 through 1973 over the NBC network. ... Champagne is often consumed as part of a celebration Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Production team

The production team changed during the series' long run, particularly between the third and fourth seasons, but the influence of Brian Clemens was felt throughout. He wrote the second episode and became The Avengers'' most prolific scriptwriter. Succeeding producers Leonard White and John Bryce, Clemens became associate producer towards the end of the third season, with Albert Fennell credited as "In charge of production". Brian Clemens (born 1931 in Croydon, England) is a screenwriter and television producer, possibly best known for his work on The Avengers and The Professionals. ... Albert Fennell (b Chiswick 1920-1988) was a British film and television producer. ...

Johnny Dankworth composed The Avengers' original theme tune, a syncopated jazz number, which was reworked for the third season. When Diana 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. Johnson also provided incidental music, and subsequently collaborated with Clemens on other projects, including the theme for the later New Avengers revival. Sir John Dankworth CBE Born in London, England, in 1927, was brought up in a musical environment amongst a family of musicians. ... Laurie Johnson (born February 17, 1927, in Hampstead, England) is a British film and television composer. ...

The New Avengers

The sustained popularity of the Tara King episodes in France led to a 1975 French television commercial for a brand of champagne, featuring both Thorson and Macnee reprising their roles. The commercial's success spurred financing interest in France to create new Avengers episodes. A 1970s New Avengers paperback features Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and the ubiquitous John Steed (Patrick Macnee). ...

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, CTV in Canada, and CBS in the United States 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. Alan Leonard Hunt (7 February 1943 â€“ 13 March 2007) was an English actor, known as Gareth Hunt, who is best remembered for playing the footman Frederick Norton in Upstairs, Downstairs and Mike Gambit in The New Avengers. ... Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as Sapphire & Steel. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ... CTV is Canadas largest privately owned English language television network. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ...

Rebroadcasts and DVD

North American audiences saw the Cathy Gale/Venus Smith/Dr King episodes of the series for the first time in the early 1990s, when they were broadcast on A&E. Until recently, no David Keel episode of the series had ever been shown outside of Britain; to date only a couple of complete episodes from the show's first season are even known to exist, 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 20 minutes, up to the original commercial break). 16mm 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 Emma Peel and Tara King episodes. BBC Four in Britain currently broadcasts episodes of the 'Emma Peel' series at 7.10pm on Thursdays. In the United States, BBC America regularly airs episodes from the Peel / King eras -- currently, they air weekday afternoons. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Biography is one of A&Es longest-running and most popular programs. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or, incorrectly, Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, which was launched on March 29, 1998, available on both cable and satellite. ...

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 early 2006, A&E issued a new "megabox" collection of the complete Emma 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-season episodes, plus the extant 20 minutes of the premiere. A&E has yet to announce whether similar "megabox" reissues will occur with the Gale and King episodes. In April 2006, a complete set of Gale-era episodes broadcast in 1962 was released, and it was stated that this was the final Avengers release.

Episodes

There were six seasons of The Avengers (divided into seven by some sources), running from 1961 to 1969. Only two episodes of the first season still exist in their entirety. This is an episode list for the 1960s British television series The Avengers. ...

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 Patrick 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 Venus 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 Tara King, but the covers often show Emma Peel instead. John Peel (born 1954) is a British writer, best known for his books connected to several television series. ...

A 4 volume low volume fan fiction set produced in Australian but authorised. A Plague of Demons typifies Laumers fast-paced approach, with a protagonist given super human powers by surgery battling against alien dog-creatures and their apparently human allies. ... Tim Heald (born January 28, 1944) is a British author, biographer, journalist and public speaker. ...

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. Dave Rogers (born 25 August 1975) is an English footballer who currently (as of 2006) plays for Irish club Shelbourne. ... John Peel (born 1954) is a British writer, best known for his books connected to several television series. ... Peter Haining is a well-known journalist and author who lives and works in London. ...

Very few Avengers-related comic books have been published in North America, due in part to the fact that 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). 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. Marvel Comics (Stan Lee is behind many of the superheros) is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ... The Avengers are a fictional superhero team that appear in the Marvel Universe. ... Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing cteated for comic books distributed to newstands. ... Preprinted marking on each piece of a bulk mailing which shows that postage has been paid by the sender. ... Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several influential indendent publishers during the 1980s. ...

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 movie based on Rigg and Macnee's characters from the TV series, starring Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes, received poor reviews from critics and fans alike. The Avengers is a 1998 film based on the British cult television series of the same name from the 1960s. ... Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American born Australian actor, director, and producer. ... Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an Oscar-nominated American film actress. ... Ralph Fiennes, (IPA: ), born 22 December 1962 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England), is a Tony Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Genie Award-nominated English actor. ...

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 television until 1976.^{[citation needed]} Most of the episodes were adapted from the John Steed/Emma Peel stories, with a few John Steed/Tara King episodes (changing the female character to Emma Peel). Donald Monat played Steed and Diane Appleby Mrs Peel, with Hugh Rouse as the tongue-in-cheek narrator. The stories were adapted into between 5 and 7 episodes of approximately 15 minutes each (including adverts) and stripped across the week on the SABC. Tony Jay (February 2, 1933 - August 13, 2006) was an English/American actor. ... SABC is an abbreviation for either South African Broadcasting Corporation - in South Africa or Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council - in the United Kingdom ...

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: A Sony TC-630 reel-to-reel recorder, once a common household object. ...

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. Simon Oates is a British actor best known for his roles on television. ... Sue Lloyd is a British model turned actress with many notable film and television credits to her name. ... Kate OMara as the Rani in Doctor Who Kate OMara (born August 10, 1939 in Leicester) is an English actress. ...

Contents