The final season of The Avengers was such a shame. Linda Thorson was a poor choice and by then Patrick Macnee was getting a bit long in the tooth. Together they looked more like father and daughter then partners. The scripts were terrible and very final episode was just plain sad. The character of Mother played by Patrick Newell also helped wreck The Avengers, what a stupid idea.
Charlotte Rampling almost replaced Diana Rigg and that would have been interesting.
@stationranger Although I do agree that the Tara King season was the worst, I think your statement about Patrick MacNee is completely wrong. He was by no means "too long in the tooth" to play Steed. As a matter of fact, he was still perfect as Steed almost a decade later in The New Avengers!
@ChucksCherubs Macnee himself noted that he appeared too old (saying that Linda Thorsen looked more like his daughter than a partner) in the final season of the original show. That said even a long in the tooth Macnee in the show's worst season is better that a Ralph Fienes as Steed in the 1998 Avengers movie.
@ChucksCherubs - Patrick Macnee was reluctant to do "The New Avengers" at first and declined the initial offer. Being in his mid fifties, the actor felt too old to be doing all the action sequences required of him.
To sweeten the deal, the producers decided to add a third partner to the equation (Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit) who would be tackling most of the rough and tumble stuff. Macnee then agreed to do the show and the rest is history.....
I prefer the older episodes with Honor Blackman. The production values were poor but the stories were good. By the time Ms Rigg came along the show was completely silly and stupid which is a shame.
@jazzfan19605 Disagreed. The Emma Peel era was awesome. The fact that both Diana and Honor did their own stunts made it all the more surreal. She kicked some major butt. And the reason I became a fan of the show was it had two independent women, they were British, and it was part sci-fi meets spy-fi.
Plattowin58. Steed and Cathy had a link with One Ten in the first 2 series but really nothing established, Steed /Emma again nothing established. When asked it was mentioned by producers that Steed worked for MI5 and a half.
Not until the intro of 'Mother' in the Tara King series that it indicated that Steed worked for a secret service but although the government knew of their work there wasn't an official name, like MI5 for example
Genius Villians with outrageous plots to take over the world. You didn't see anything like this on Mission:Impossible or Get Smart.
Jantv81 1 month ago
The final season of The Avengers was such a shame. Linda Thorson was a poor choice and by then Patrick Macnee was getting a bit long in the tooth. Together they looked more like father and daughter then partners. The scripts were terrible and very final episode was just plain sad. The character of Mother played by Patrick Newell also helped wreck The Avengers, what a stupid idea.
Charlotte Rampling almost replaced Diana Rigg and that would have been interesting.
stationranger 6 months ago
@stationranger Although I do agree that the Tara King season was the worst, I think your statement about Patrick MacNee is completely wrong. He was by no means "too long in the tooth" to play Steed. As a matter of fact, he was still perfect as Steed almost a decade later in The New Avengers!
ChucksCherubs 1 month ago
@ChucksCherubs Macnee himself noted that he appeared too old (saying that Linda Thorsen looked more like his daughter than a partner) in the final season of the original show. That said even a long in the tooth Macnee in the show's worst season is better that a Ralph Fienes as Steed in the 1998 Avengers movie.
stationranger 1 month ago
@stationranger So why did he star in The New Avengers almost a decade later?
ChucksCherubs 1 month ago
@ChucksCherubs That is a question only Macnee could answer but I'm guessing the money was good.
stationranger 1 month ago
@ChucksCherubs - Patrick Macnee was reluctant to do "The New Avengers" at first and declined the initial offer. Being in his mid fifties, the actor felt too old to be doing all the action sequences required of him.
To sweeten the deal, the producers decided to add a third partner to the equation (Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit) who would be tackling most of the rough and tumble stuff. Macnee then agreed to do the show and the rest is history.....
woohooboy 3 weeks ago
I prefer the older episodes with Honor Blackman. The production values were poor but the stories were good. By the time Ms Rigg came along the show was completely silly and stupid which is a shame.
jazzfan19605 8 months ago
@jazzfan19605 That's right, but Emma Peel era was fitted for younger generations.
Francesko263 8 months ago
@Francesko263 I agree.
jazzfan19605 8 months ago
@jazzfan19605 Disagreed. The Emma Peel era was awesome. The fact that both Diana and Honor did their own stunts made it all the more surreal. She kicked some major butt. And the reason I became a fan of the show was it had two independent women, they were British, and it was part sci-fi meets spy-fi.
Jantv81 1 month ago
Honor Blackman, still sexy and the real serious Avengers deal. Tara King, Linda Thorsen is a dead ringer for my first.....................
GreenmanXIV 11 months ago
They forgot three actors, Julie Stevens, an actor whose name I forget, and Ian Hendry who the series was actually created for.
bardar27 2 years ago
Jon Rollason was the other actor
tapeduk 2 years ago
Thank you! I lost my Avengers book in a fire.
bardar27 2 years ago
I thought it was on ABC in England
bardar27 2 years ago
@bardar27 it was. it aired on american tv in March of 1966.
Jantv81 1 year ago
Not crazy about the script or Joan Collins' reading of it, but the interview material is good.
moorlock2003 2 years ago
Plattowin58. Steed and Cathy had a link with One Ten in the first 2 series but really nothing established, Steed /Emma again nothing established. When asked it was mentioned by producers that Steed worked for MI5 and a half.
Not until the intro of 'Mother' in the Tara King series that it indicated that Steed worked for a secret service but although the government knew of their work there wasn't an official name, like MI5 for example
ji621 3 years ago 3
What was the agency they worked for ? Was it Scottland Yard or MI6 ? Or some other agency ?
Play2Win58 3 years ago