The Avengers - The
collective nickname for a team of British agents working for her
majesty's secret service on the fantasy espionage drama THE
AVENGERS/ABC/1966-69. The Avengers consisted of the debonair
John Steed (Patrick Macnee) who was distinguished by his
trademark derby, umbrella and sharply designed but conservative
suits; and Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) whose wardrobe catered to
leather freaks. Honor Blackman later left to play "Pussy Galore"
in a James Bond feature film Goldfinger (1964) and was
replaced by Elizabeth Sheppard.
"Extraordinary crimes against the
people and the State have to be avenged by agents extraordinary.
Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his
partner Emma Peel, talented amateur -- otherwise known as the
Avengers."
When the series
was syndicated to America in 1966 Steed was teamed with
Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), a slender, karate-kicking widow. Her brightly
colored jumpsuits with lots of zippers were called Emma Peelers.
Emma Peel lived on Primrose Hill in London and used an Italian
Baretta 7.65 hand gun.
The Emma Peel character was best
described in one episode by a crazed film director Z.Z. Von
Schnerck (Kenneth J. Warren) who said "I needed you, Mrs. Peel,
a woman of beauty, of action, a woman who could become desperate
and yet remain strong, a woman who could become confused and yet
remain intelligent, who could fight back and yet remain
feminine. You, and only you, Emma Peel, have all these
qualifications."
When Mrs. Peel's
lost husband returned on the March 20, 1968 episode "The
Forget-Me-Not," a curvaceous Tara King (Linda Thorson) became
Steed's new partner until the end of the series run. Emma's
parting remark to her replacement was to remember that Steed
liked his tea stirred counterclockwise (a tongue in cheek
reference to secret agent James Bond who preferred his Martinis
shaken not stirred).
In 1976 the
series was revived in Britain as THE NEW AVENGERS and later in
the USA for the CBS late night lineup in 1978. Steed's new
colleagues included the cool, blonde known as Purdey (Joanna
Lumley) and the highly efficient, Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt).
TRIVIA NOTE: In the process of
creating a new character to fill the void left by Honor
Blackman's departure writer Marie Donaldson played with the
phrase "Man Appeal." She distilled it further to "M" appeal and
finally to "Emma Peel." A motion picture remake entitled
The
Avengers (1998) starred Uma Thurman as Dr. Emma Peel and Ralph
Fiennes as John Steed.
