"Always keep your bowler on..." - Departing words
of
Emma Peel
(Diana Rigg) on the spy
adventure THE AVENGERS/ABC/1966-69
(Episode No. 131 "The Forget-Me-Knot).
Her full words of advice to her
longtime partner John Steed (Patrick
Macnee) were "Always keep your bowler on
in times of stress-and a watchful eye open
for diabolical masterminds!" A compliant
Steed replied, "I'll remember." Emma
kisses him on the cheek and says "Goodbye
Steed." As she nears the door, Steed calls
"Emma," pauses and then says "Thanks."

Leaving Steed's apartment, Emma
encounters his new incoming partner Tara
King (Linda Thorson) on his apartment
staircase. There, she imparted these words
of wisdom. "Ahem. He (Steed) likes his tea
stirred anti-clockwise" (miming a stirring
motion with her finger).
As Steed looked
out his apartment window to see Emma one
last time, she glanced back in a final
goodbye gesture (coincidentally, Emma's
husband who greeted her at the car, looked
surprising like Steed himself).
TRIVIA NOTE: On the finale of THE AVENGERS
episode "Too Many Christmas Trees" as Emma
Peel is opening Christmas mail, she reads
a post card aloud. "Best wishes for the
future, Cathy." Steed responds, "Mrs.
Gale! How nice of her to remember me. What
can she doing in Fort Knox?" Mrs.
Catherine Gale (played by Honor Blackman)
was Steed's former partner. Fort Knox, of
course, was a tongue-in cheek reference to
the fact the Honor Blackman left the
series to take the role of Pussy Galore, a
imposing aviatrix involved in a plot to
contaminate the gold reserve at Fort Knox
in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).
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