The Avengers

1 9 6 1 - 1 9 6 9 (UK)
161 x 50 minute episodes

When The Avengers began in March 1961 it bore little resemblance to the flippant show we came to know and love - The quintessential British spy series set in a picture postcard Britain of castles, stately homes, village pubs and cricket greens. 

It starred a sophisticated spy who even out-Bonded James Bond. He drove a vintage Bentley, played polo, archery and fenced and fought baddies while wearing a bowler hat and carrying a furled brolly!

Jonathon Steed was a character who first appeared in the series Police Surgeon starring Ian Hendry.  Old Etonian Patrick Macnee virtually stole the show and in 1962 he replaced Hendry's character (Dr David Keel) as the lead character. To assist him, he was provided with a female colleague, Honor Blackman (who also played Pussy Galore in the 1964 Bond film, Goldfinger) featured as Mrs Catherine Gale. 

She was to be the first in a line of elegant, sexy and lethal partners. Catherine Gale was a widow, a Doctor of Anthropology, judo expert and the original girl on a motorcycle! She wore a leather combat suit, thigh high boots and a sexy hairstyle that never lost its composure and was cucumber-cool. She was a perfect match for Steed in his Savile Row suits, embroidered waistcoats and Chelsea Boots. 

Honor even succeeded, albeit inadvertently, in knocking out wrestler Jackie Pallo during rehearsals for a graveyard battle. As they fought with a shovel, Pallo toppled into the empty grave, banged his head and was rendered unconscious for ten minutes.

In 1964, Blackman left the show and Steed found a new partner, Emma Peel (the delectable Diana Rigg). Once again, Mrs Peel was a sleek, sexy, action-widow with a wicked karate chop and a nice line in sixties Mod fashion; stretch jerseys, cat suits, hipster pants and exotic dresses with flesh-revealing keyholes or suspenders. Diana was mystified to find that she received a lot of fan mail from schoolboys! 

For the final series of 33 episodes, Steed lost his second companion in 1968 (after Diana Rigg left after a row over wages). She was replaced by twenty year old Tara King (Linda Thorson) - a single girl with no martial arts skills but a solid punch, and very handy with her handbag!

Unfortunately Steed and Tara lacked the chemistry of the previous couplings and Mother  was introduced. Played by Patrick Newell, Mother was Steed's chubby "controller". The show was cancelled in 1969. It's loss was mourned all over the world.  The show they called Chapeau Melon et Bottes de Cuir ("Bowler hat and high leather boots") in France and Mit Schirm, Charm und  Melone ("With umbrella, charm and bowler hat") in Germany was so missed that six years later The New Avengers came to be. As Macnee was now 54 and far from lithe, the main role went to Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit (Ex SAS) and Joanna Lumley as the gorgeous and super-leggy Purdy.

The original series boasted some terrific tongue-in-cheek humor such as cover agencies with names like PURRR (The Philanthropic Union for Rescue, Relief and Recuperation of Cats) or GONN (The Guild of Noble Nannies).

The escapist fantasized espionage series was truly unique, and the illusion was perfect - This England had no factories, no poverty and (unfortunately) no sex. In fact, the following rules were specified by the producer, Brian Clemens: "No woman should be killed, no extras should populate the streets. We admitted to only one class and that was the upper. As a fantasy we would not show a uniformed policeman or a colored man. And you would not see anything as common as blood in The Avengers".

You will note there is no reference here to the recently remade Avengers movie starring Uma Thurman.  That is because there were only two good things about the film: 1) Uma Thurman, and 2) At least they kept the old theme music!