Steed exemplifies the past.
Emma redefines the future.
To accurately determine the quota of wry smiles, witty quips and glasses of champagne shared between John Steed and Emma Peel during their two series together on The Avengers would require mathematical aptitude perhaps beyond the skills of even the greatest of diabolical masterminds.
At the height of its power, Britain’s original spy-fi show crammed more comedy, action and ludicrous characters into its hour than any other. Each week a new antagonist, each week a new convoluted plot to develop evil weapons, hold global powers to ransom, and other ‘extraordinary crimes against the people and the state’.
Gentleman spy John Steed and talented amateur Emma Peel would leap into their vintage Bentley and Lotus Elan, respectively, and search for obligatory clues, question bemused victims, or hunt down disgruntled supervillains with implausible plans to take over the world.
As even the hardiest fan will acknowledge, for its six series on air The Avengers was largely nonsense. But what wonderfully entertaining and incomparably innovative nonsense it was.
Partners In Crime Fighting
Throughout the show’s lifetime, chivalrous Steed had a number of assistants. And like most cult shows of its kind, fans have their favourites. But Emma Peel was the best. Let’s all agree on that, for the sake of not provoking the legions dedicated to the memory of her particularly sophisticated brand of self-aware bon-vivantism.
It’s the two seasons featuring this science-loving society girl which seem to have stuck more permanently in the minds of an audience who still watch the show or write about it in fan forums half a century later.
In her portrayal of Mrs. Peel, Diana Rigg brought her stage skills to the fore, often playing it larger than life with comic asides as only an experienced theatre actor can. She gave the show an energetic poise with her aptitude for physical action and obvious talent for verbal jousting.
In return, Macnee honed his already popular charismatic nonchalance even further, turning the charm up to eleven and never once letting the craziness of the storylines derail his faultless portrayal of the quintessential English man-about-town.
Together they tackled a weekly conveyor belt of mad inventors, power-crazed eccentrics and secret enemy organisations in a way that only kitsch characters on a British Saturday night show could – with equal parts panache and whimsy.
Out of sync with their contemporaries, they fought crime with hardly a gun in sight, just Emma’s accomplished karate skills and Steed’s hidden sword brolly and steel-lined bowler.
It was always the bad guys who had the guns. The good guys had the smarts to outwit them.
Empower Play
Of course, all of this began many twisted cases earlier in 1961, in black and white, shot as live onto early videotape. Macnee starred alongside actor Ian Hendry as Dr David Keel, whose wife’s murder it was that provided the original crime to be avenged.
When Hendry left after the first series, the show accidentally created the original ‘empowered female co-lead’ by replacing Hendry’s part with a female character without changing the scripts. Physically and verbally sparring with her male co-stars on an even footing, Honor Blackman played Steed’s new partner Cathy Gale, who gave as good as she got.
Two years later, Blackman left to play Bond girl Pussy Galore leaving the producers to find a worthy replacement. They reportedly auditioned 60 young actresses for the new character who, on early scripts, was called ‘Mantha Peel’. That dreadful writer’s in-joke on ‘Man Appeal’ was thankfully changed to Emma Peel (M-Appeal… same in-joke, more palatable outcome) and Rigg was eventually selected when initial choice Elizabeth Shepherd fell foul of a ‘not quite right’ ruling after shooting an episode and a half.
Hitting Its Stride
With Brian Clemens leading the style and tone of every script, the storylines of The Avengers were, by series four in 1967, crystallising into the quirky confectionary that became its trademark, setting it apart from the usual police procedurals and detective dramas.
Now shot on black and white film at Associated British Elstree Studios, The Avengers refused to conform to formula.
This was a busy period for Britain’s TV factories. The likes of Danger Man, The Saint, The Baron, Man In A Suitcase and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) were filling the schedules, with the UK’s familiar roster of busy actors often appearing in many of them in quick succession.
But its flamboyant plots, impressive sets and pithy dialogue meant that Steed and Mrs Peel’s blend of intrigue and escapism kept them on the front pages of the TV guides and inside the fashion magazines – he for his sartorial tailoring, she for her one-piece fighting attire.
Colour Me Curious
Steed and Emma’s second series together took the next big leap, to colour film. The writers began adding stylised ‘Mrs. Peel – We’re needed’ introductions so new audiences understood that the seemingly jobless pair were being dispatched to assist higher authorities and weren’t just a couple of champagne-swilling English dandies entertaining themselves.
During this colour series, it seemed everyone wanted to guest-star on the show. Famous faces who popped up as evil ne’re-do-wells or outlandish boffins include Peter Cushing, Charlotte Rampling, Donald Sutherland, Penelope Keith, Christopher Lee, and future Doctor Who John Pertwee (Cushing had already played Doctor Who before him in two movie adaptations, although as true Whovians will tell you, these were non-canon).
Never taking itself too seriously, The Avengers often made jokes at the expense of its US contemporaries including Batman, Mission Impossible and The Man From Uncle.
That knowing self-awareness extended to one or two meta-moments, such as Emma subtly telling viewers to ‘Watch next week’ at the end of There’s Something Nasty In The Nursery. And she literally broke the fourth wall in Epic, in which she is drugged and awakens on a soundstage replica of her apartment (quite clearly the actual set used in the show itself). To close the episode Emma kicks down the apartment wall and exits with Steed.
Plottery Class
It’s no small skill turning a gritty revenge crime drama into a playground for sci-fi shenanigans, but somewhere between series two and three, that’s what the writers had done. Once shadowy spy Steed began dressing in Savile Row suits and exchanging thinly veiled innuendo with his female off-siders, reality packed its overnight bag and only returned home for occasional visits.
The plots of The Avengers were in a class of their own, swinging wildly from the plausible to the joyfully ludicrous.
A ballroom dance class where lonely men were killed and replaced with foreign spies (Quick, Quick Slow Death), would be followed by an overgrown intergalactic plant controlling the minds of scientists (Man-Eater of Surrey Green). One week Steed and Emma were swapping their minds with those of a pair of crooks (Who’s Who???), the next a disgruntled baddie was fake-killing millionaires to scare them into handing over cash (You Have Just Been Murdered).
These eclectic scripts were unified and held in balance by Clemens’ stewardship, Macnee’s debonair composure and Rigg’s playful exuberance. The pair were now international stars with the show being aired in around 90 countries. But, as we know, all good things must come to an end…
Return Of The Pilot Episode
When Diana Rigg decided to leave after two years of intense shooting to return to the stage as well as follow in Honor Blackman’s footsteps by starring in the next Bond film, Macnee begged her to stay. It’s a testament to their relationship that Brian Clemens was able to convince her to return the following year to film scenes for a farewell cross-over episode.
The Forget-Me-Knot sees Mrs Peel depart when her pilot husband returns after being missing presumed dead in the Amazonian jungle. The teary-eyed farewell Rigg and Macnee share in their brief final scene together is perhaps the most moving of the entire series.
Emma then literally crosses paths on the stairs to Steed’s apartment with new assistant Tara King (Linda Thorson) and imparts the sage advice…
“He likes his tea stirred anticlockwise.”
Mrs Peel – We’re still needed!
What has kept The Avengers alive in the eyes of fans is a rare concoction of nostalgia and timelessness. The show and its highly stylised world were never contemporary even when they aired in the sixties – nostalgic Steed with his bowler and faux-Edwardian apartment, Emma clad in synthetic futurism. Streets deserted of anyone who might pinpoint the show more specifically in a particular moment in time.
And so, The Avengers has traversed the decades and remained watchable more successfully than most. The humour is still funny. The outlandish storylines are still engaging. And the charm is still turned up to eleven.
Of course, with so much time under the bridge since first airing, a substantial mythology has built up around the show. So when StudioCanal acquired ownership and digitally remastered it for re-release a few years ago, it was a joy for fans — and certainly for writers like this one — that the DVD extras included a swag of original scripts, newspaper clippings, publicity press releases and dialogue sheets.
This ephemera gives us an insight into the inventive minds of the writers and captures the frenetic pace of production, reminding us of a time when destination television shows such as The Avengers were watched at once by millions – and writers didn’t let a silly thing like plausibility get in the way of entertainment.
As for our dashing and daring duo, we still love them, 50 years later. We still love them because, when faced with the most devious attempts to destroy everything they stood for, Steed and Mrs. Peel always prevailed just in time to share an unguarded moment of genuine affection before the credits rolled. Usually whilst uncorking a lively ’58. And most definitely with a tongue firmly in their cheeks.
image ©StudioCanal