they should have ended the series before Diana Rigg left. It got very stale when they tried to save money by only having stories that only involved either Steed by himself or Emma Peel by herself. They must have got Linda Thorson on the cheap.
@@jamessievert9813 *_Yes, they did - the production was by a French / French-Canadian team and the profits and money went missing mid-season! The Avengers movie was a complete abomination, when it could have been so good. Having said that, the TV episodes were almost mini-movies._*
I think the feeling is they are making new episodes in heaven to enjoy... So if it never gets cancelled again, there will be an amazing number of seasons to come... Something to look forward to in death it seems.
Laurie Johnson not only knocked it out of the park with his first version of the theme, he made it iconic at the same time, and really epitomised the British element of the show as well. His New Avengers was an excellent update as well. Pure genius...
They should have just paid Diana Rigg exactly what she was worth. She was the quintessential Avenger. Really as important as John Steed to the story. ATV made a blunder.
@@gregoryhagen8801 So untrue. I watched it because both characters were great and Patrick Macnee was perfect as John Steed. Both contributed equally to the success of the show.
Once on Frasier, Daphne told how she once dressed as Emma Peel for Halloween in a catsuit and casually thought she still had it, the look on Niles face was priceless!
I have to say first, all Ladies played their characters very well in the Avengers, but my female favorite star in this legendary series was Diana Rigg aka Emma Peel. For me she was and will be always the only one Avengers Queen.
The season 4 and 5 theme song by Laurie Johnson is so much better than the one before it. One of the great TV theme songs of all time! I feel sorry for Linda Thorson who had the bad luck of following Diana Rigg.
Oh, how I loved Diana Rigg when I was around 13. Saw the series in the end of the 70s beginning 80s I guess. Those cat-suits were her best weapons. I was so happy to see her in her last role in "Game of thrones"
It was such wonderful time. It's amazing how much the world has changed since then. I feel sorry for the young people, they have no idea how it was, and I don't envy them on what they will have to face in the world in the days ahead.
No better then than now, race riots, Vietnam war, your car more likely to kill you in a crash, smog…. Nah each thinks it was better before but every period has been shit for its own reasons and your place in the world.
Great theme. But it's a shame the opening title graphics felt even more dated than the innovative Sixties ones. They should've just stuck with filming the actors in various poses and junked the awful cartoons.
@@FightCollective: Joanna Lumley was the classic case of the modern day expression "Sometimes it's better to be the girl who succeeds the girl who succeeds a legend", which pretty much sums up my assessment of Lumley's portrayal of Purdy. Of course she'd go on to bigger and better things with her hilarious role of Patsy on Absolutely Fabulous........
I grew up on watching The Avengers, in the early 2000's my mom showed me everything from Cathy Gale to Emma Peel to Tara King, and yeah out of all of them the 1965-1966 theme is the best. Timeless melody, great structure and groove - only thing missing is that great bongo/brushes overture from the intro to the first series in colour (I'm American but I like to spell it this way).
The later theme with Linda Thorsen grew on me, I was raised in the sixties and it took a while to warm up to her after Emma, but now many years later I realized she was the best partner for John Steed, youth and exuberance matched well with John's wisdom and temperament and it helped that she adored him in a special way that Emma could not express, but she could.
Can't say I agree with Thorson/ MacNee being the BEST pairing, but too many people--even MacNee--didn't give Thorson credit for creating a very different character than Emma Peel. As you said, her youth and exuberance was a nice foil to the more seasoned Steed which I think was a fine element to play on screen.
The show's evolution from a somber, quasi-realistic crime melodrama focalizing a pragmatic doctor and a charming-but-hardboiled agent into a goofy lightweight action series pitting a duo of comic spies against murderous robots, ambulatory extraterrestrial plants and brainwashed housecats is a strangely intriguing topic to me; it's basically equivalent to Z-Cars metamorphosing into 60s Batman.
Perhaps it was goofy lightweight action, but to me, a little girl in the 1960's, some of the most horrifying nightmares I had involved those murderous robots....
I like the compilation of the Avengers' themes. Not too keen on Dankworth's theme. When I was about ten I had a battery-operated portable tape recorder. The kind that used small reels. I used to tape theme music from various shows. The Avengers was one of them. That was over fifty years ago. I still have my tape recorder. Sweet memories.
The original Laurie Johnson theme for the Diana Rigg episodes was just such a perfect match for this memorable +influential TV caper show - one of the rare examples where a British composer delivered an outstanding and iconic soundtrack that compares with the very best of American TV show themes. Such a shame it was messed with in later incarnations of the show, but frankly that doesn’t really matter because we still have the Diana Rigg shows, now in high def, which are the only ones I ever wanted to watch anyway. Edit to add: there are also a few other exceptional British TV themes over the years, but I’ll leave you to work out which get onto *your* list!
I was a child when the Avengers was playing on American tv. I remember Diana Rigg the most. Loved her (almost as much as I loved Julie Newmar's Catwoman)! I was so upset when she left and Linda Thorson (who I called "Bigfoot") took over. Yes, I was bitter. LOL Such a love of the Avengers, my husband and I had the theme play when we walked out into the reception area, at our wedding. Oh, memories.... Thanks for this. It was great!
The last episode when Emma left Stead to be reunited with her “lost” husband was beyond 💔… Linda Thorson ascending the stairs learning how to make Stead’s tea…. Never a better team.
I loved these shows, particularly the Steed/Emma Peel episodes. Ironically, the one and only episode where you actually saw them kiss each other was when their bodies were taken over by two assassins ("Who's Who?).
I always loved to watch these episodes as a kid with my Mom & Dad. Patrick Mcnee & Diana Rigg were absolutely awesome & the theme music & whole intro with Diana shooting the cork of Patrick's bottle is the best..! Diana was such an amazing person.. Brings back so may good memories..!
The chemistry of Steed/Peel is unbeatable! The best formation, indeed.. The Laurie Johnson theme captured the Steed-Peel relationship, intelligent, dynamic, and witty..
Even today after all these years the avengers is still one of the best shows ever to come out of the box in the corner , never saw the hendry stuff , I came in late in the 7o s so I love the new avengers too but steed and mrs peel can’t be beat ❤
For a time in the early 80’s, before they had their own late night lineup, CBS ran New Avengers episodes in late night, I always found it odd that Purdey had no first name
Loved the show when I was growing up. It was one of the few British television shows to make it to the USA in the 1960's. Don't remember seeing it until the beautiful and talented Diana Rigg was on the show. Also loved The Saint and Danger Man (retitled Secret Agent Man for us with a rockin' Johnny Rivers theme song)
I was checking into a hotel during a road trip from Vancouver BC to Toronto ON back in 2019 (you know, when the world was still relatively free to travel), and kept hearing music that sounded super familiar. I finally got out my phone and Shazam'd it, and it was the Laurie Johnson Avengers theme music. I hadn't heard it since I was a kid and A&E used to show the reruns in the 90s. Love it, and love the show. Thanks for posting this!
The Steed/Peel seasons had the best theme. Steed/King sounds a bit dated with the Swinging 60's touch. But the Steed/Peel theme sounds timeless. Best theme music ever.
@@majorneptunejr The poster named bogeysbaby is apparently writing about the Steed/King theme which has the same melody as the Steed/Peel theme but was re-recorded with a new arrangement. The Steed/King theme has a different horn solo than the previous version: that horn solo is probably what bogeysbaby meant by "the Swinging '60s touch."
@@majorneptunejr actually.......you need to go back. While the essential tune is the same, the first few beats are different, it is speeded up in sections and there are some different instruments play a more prominent role.
She's the Reason why I am determined to keep on watching through this utterly distinctive boring Programme of a series. Currently I have reached the Middle of the second Season. A tough boring way yet still to go I fear.
Remember season 4- 5 when I was a young child. Every girl wanted to be Diana Rigg!!!! When hearing the theme tune, takes me right back. OMG the Purdy haircuts when we were teenagers 😂 Thank you for sharing
To think that I had never even heard of Johnny Dankworth! Thanks Xord for making this available to us. The early 60s were a golden era of British culture.
I am german, Brittas boyfriend, born 1965. In those days my homeregion was more rural than now, today i no more feel , being at home'. It is no more the Germany i knew and liked. As a conservative rural man, i doubt about the worth and necessarity of many modern things of Western society. But it is allways a pleasure for me, to forget modern times for some hours, to watch an older movie, in which a correct dressed Gentleman is the Hero.
@@gary.h.turner That's how I learned who he was. I had a big crush on Cleo Laine back in the day, and grew to appreciate Dankworth when I heard more of his music. He was remarkable.
The ironic thing is that Patrick MacNee hated guns. That was why he never carried one. He had fought in World War 2 and seen friends die. I believe I read in an interview he said after the war he never wanted to handle one again.
Linda Thorson was very pretty and IMHO a good actress, but of course she took on a very thankless role, since it's impossible to come even close to Diana Rigg, who was ravishing and could switch from "not taking any of this seriously, with a wink and a huge smile" to being seriously, genuinely scared - and back - at will. Can't beat perfection.
I think there was one opening that included a narrator's intoning something along the lines of, "Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents who are extraordinary."
"Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as.. (bongo roll) The Avengers!" LOL 👍😁
@@sams9894 Here in Canada, we had the Honor Blackman episodes a few months after the UK on the CTV network.. I believe they were in syndication in the US?
the Avengers, nothing on TV I liked more than the Steed / Peel series the best mix ever forever in my heart McNee / Rigg. From Italy a true fan of the avengers
At least in the United States this program never recovered after the loss of the late great Dame Diana Rigg. She was one of my first female heroes, a real 60's liberated woman...Educated, fearless, timeless style & ready to show the"men" she can do the job
The Rigg/McNee themes will ALWAYS be the definitive theme tunes to me. But my personal favourite will always be the New Avengers theme tune as this was my first exposure to the franchise.
I'm sorry but for me it's only Steed/Peel. They are amazing together. Emma Peel is the epitome of feminine perfection. She is intelligent, mature, witty, sensitive, caring, capable and can not only fight well but can shoot the cork off a champagne bottle from multiple feet away. They really are the British Dynamic Duo. RIP Patrick and Diana.
Every time that June Randall (RIP and died in 2015) did continuity (early form of negative cutter) for The Avengers TV series and later Bond films [among others], it was stellar work behind-the-scenes for post-production=God bless you Mrs. Randall! 🎥📺👩🎨
Unfortunately, that's not true; they just didn't have the tech we have now, and media convention worldwide back then kept news and entertainment much more separate than is done today. A lot of what would be considered news today was hidden from the public. What was on the radio, on TV, at the theater, and in the movies was sanitized until about 1968, when young people started getting decision-making media jobs in cities like NYC, London and LA, and reality slowly broke in. There are lots of documentaries and history books about the 60s and 70s that could tell you what happened in those decades. Yes, a lot of it was wonderful and awesome, but there was a LOT happening that was mean and prejudiced for no reasons except ego and greed.
@@thepepperpot3809 still amazes me though, how could they get away with making such a bizarre tv show. I don't really know if that was the standard or people just didn't care about realism on media. Either way, I love it
@@clonosaurios People were trying to escape reality, so, yeah, it makes sense that a show like this existed. Many of the big hits of 60s TV were nutty or in some way escapist, at least in the US and UK. I don't know about other countries.
Simpler for white, cis male, middle or upper class people with a safe deferment from the draft who weren’t sickened by second hand smoke and had girlfriends with access to birth control pills. On balance the world is a better place now - technology, medical advances, less reliance on mutual assured destruction - but if I could go back as a teenager, I would, although I admit in the 1970s I was worried about global cooling.
When I worked in London throughout the nineties I passed Honor Blackman on the street a few times in Kennsington and Chealsea. Most people probably did'nt even know who she was. Was to young when she was in it, but I deffinitely remember Diana Rigg.
I always loved the horn lilting at the beginning of the song at 9:08. I'm always a sucker for the unexpected strings or trumpets coming in as a surprise in songs. I always loved this show as a small child. The funny thing is, all my neighborhood girl friends and I always got into fights over who was going to be Mrs. Peel, but I don't remember anyone fighting over who was going to be Tara King.🤔😁. Maybe by that time we were a few years older by then. LOL!! I always liked Tara King's clothes, though, I remember that.
I don't think the Dankworth-scored seasons were ever broadcast in the US. The Johnson score is the most widely known and played a big role in the show's popularity. It's fabulous! I've read about how Macnee, Rigg and the producers decided on how to portray the relationship between "John Steed" and "Emma Peel" and it fits exactly how I reacted to it at the time. It was meant to be almost maddeningly vague and ripe for the viewer's imagination to infer anything at all! It was really quite brilliant and certainly appropos for the 60's. And they also made the deliberate decision to never show anyone dressed in any kind of uniform to insure the series wouldn't become dated. Here's a piece or trivia: When deciding on the character name for Rigg, they chose "Emma Peel" as an inside joke -- the term "M appeal" is slang in advertising circles for "sex appeal." For example, the female used in the Noxzema television ad campaign of the era ("Take it off. Take it all off.") was Gunilla Knutsson, 1961's Miss Sweden, who would have been chosen because she had "M Appeal" and Diana Rigg certainly had that in spades!
Thanks for that fascinating piece of information. I absolutely never knew that. But without being aware that the name was it kind of prank I knew that she was absolutely stunning. I think she remains the most beautiful woman I've ever seen on the screen.
The ONLY series that could stand side by side with the original mission impossible television series here in the states. It's a shame that the thought never crossed anyone's mind back in the day, but it truly would have been MIND-BLOWING if there could have been a mission impossible/the avengers crossover episode back then. Could you imagine john steed teaming up with jim phelps?
It would have cool to have a crossover HOWEVER the tone of both shows were vastly different. "Mission" was a no nonsense spy thriller. The emphasis was on the assignment. Little was given to character development/interplay. All we knew of the team was that they were highly skilled and ultra cool under pressure. "The Avengers" by contrast existed in a surreal world that was tongue in cheek. A place populated by larger than life villains and witty repartee was frequently exchanged by its series leads.
Though Steed had four female assistants they all had a different sort of relationship with him. With Cathy Gale, Steed was more of the annoying brother than colleague. With Emma Peel it was a sort of husband/wife relationship where the two bounced doff each other. With Tara King Steed was the benevolent uncle type who felt responsible for her. With Purdy (and Gambit) Steed was more of the dear close friend than just a colleague. It just shows how good the writing and the originality was on the Avengers at the time. Its a 60s TV show that is still entertaining even over sixty years onwards.
I used to love this show! The "technology" that existed was controlled by us and was at our service. Today our time is more dangerous, more technological and less romantic. And we are controlled by technology! There are NO more heroes today to match the current demands! And our old heroes are leaving us... RIP: Sean Connery, Robert Vaughn, Roger Moore, Robert Conrad, Diana Rigg, Patrick Mcnee and many more! 😔
1970, we got our first color television. I was an 8 yr old boy. My father pulled out the On button, this came on. There she was Mrs Peel in that yellow jumpsuit. My heart got sideline by a freight train.. There was Diana Rigg then everyone else..
Born in 1971, I discovered this series when I was little. (The New Avengers) I was not aware of it all these past years and I discovered the whole universe of The Avengers way after.
My first exposure to The Avengers was in Texas in the late 1970's on the local CBS affiliate at around Midnight. It was John Steed and Mike Gambit, but I fell in love with Joanna Lumley as Purdy. The whole show was style and class with action and really impressed 12 year old me, and I thought all of Britain was this groovy and exciting. To my mind, it always will be Bowlers and Champaign, incredible villains thwarted and beautiful women delivering the coup de grace, everything England is to the world. And that theme music! Breathtakingly driving and exciting!
Nobody remembers Johnny Dankworths theme despite the fact it's the original and was used for half of the shows run. I didn't even know Laurie Johnson's theme wasn't the only one the show had
And interestingly enough, the episodes with the Dankworth opening theme seemed to be far grittier than the Laurie Johnson opening themed episodes.......
Here in AU I missed the earliest series but loved Dianna Rigg and Joanna Lumley, great UK TV. We never mention the final Canadian season tho, it was a shocker. Thanks for the flashbacks. 👍
I loved this show. It was one of my favorites. I had a crush on Patrick Macnee and I always wanted to be sexy and cool like Mrs. Peel. I think Diana Rigg was the best of Steads partners.
My late parents didn't like The Avengers programmes on TV and considered them to be impossible Tosh! I don't remember seeing any of the episodes but now have a couple of boxed-sets DVD's of the mid to late series. However I find them enjoying and amusing because of the stories being somewhat far fetched. My preferred series are those with Steed/Peel in them but that doesn't mean I don't like the others. I find the outdoor shots showing London in the '60's fascinating as they show how times have changed.
So, I have the complete set of DVDs for all Avengers series. I watched Gambit and Purdey, so I am a little biased toward the New Avengers. However, when I get the time, I plan to watch them all from the very first episode and see Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson in their respective roles as Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King.
Growing up in NYC and not liking the crap on TV like "The Love Boat", "Three's Company" and "Fantasy Island", I stuck to reruns of British shows like "Monty Python" and this wonderful show. I had a huge crush for "Emma Peel". I read that the name came out of the search by the producers to find a woman who had "Man Appeal". After repeating that phrase during production, the came up with "Emma Peel". Brilliant how that worked.
Is there any film or TV character that made an umbrella so cool as John Steed? It's a good thing it rarely rains where I live, or I would have one too, then I would need a Saville suit, a bowler, and perhaps a 1950s TF series MG. Of course me trying to pull that off here in the former colonies would of looked rather ridiculous and I would of been laughed at behind my back, unless of course, I had Diana Rigg or Honor Blackman riding in the car with me.
Bentley. Whole point of Avengers was contrasting old school Steed with modern feminist partners, was no more "real" than Holmes, Christie, Woodhouse, Waugh, Shakespeare or the Bible.
It's been reported that Diana did not like that catsuit - the back zip limited her ability to do her own stunt work and she is on record as saying it was difficult to take off - although the design does not make it look like that! I'm sure someone here can list the episodes in which she wore it - I think it should have featured in a few more - would have done wonders for the viewing figures. Those were the days ...l.
The 65-68 Black and white stop motion is the Best! Diana Riggs cat suit is out of this world. My brother said that "Mrs. Peel was his first Love" it's easy to see why.
![Lil Uzi Vert - Chill Bae [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D7F42F_JM3U/mqdefault.jpg)
The chemistry of Steed/Peel is unbeatable! The best formation, indeed.
Agreed, but I did love Linda Thorson. And what were they thinking with "The New Avengers"? Someone must have thought there was money to be made.
@@jamessievert9813 thank God I never saw this, lol.
they should have ended the series before Diana Rigg left.
It got very stale when they tried to save money by only having stories that only involved either Steed by himself or Emma Peel by herself.
They must have got Linda Thorson on the cheap.
@@jamessievert9813
*_Yes, they did - the production was by a French / French-Canadian team and the profits and money went missing mid-season! The Avengers movie was a complete abomination, when it could have been so good. Having said that, the TV episodes were almost mini-movies._*
@@jamessievert9813 Well, The New Avengers wasn't a complete loss because it added the wonderful Joanna Lumley as Purdey to the canon.
Laurie Johnson was responsible for many memorable themes including The Professionals and he's still with us at the ripe old age of 96.
not anymore
RIP Patrick MacNee and now Diana Rigg. They are together at long last and nothing can cancel them out in heaven.
Yes. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steed and Mrs Peel
@@stuarthargreaves3745 And Mother.
Are they having an affair in heaven? What does Mr Rigg and Mrs MacNee think about it?
I think the feeling is they are making new episodes in heaven to enjoy...
So if it never gets cancelled again, there will be an amazing number of seasons to come...
Something to look forward to in death it seems.
The Laurie Johnson theme is THE BEST!
All my childhood , every saturday afternoon
Funny!
Yes : 100% agree.
That's the one many of us recall from our childhood... broadcast in the US on the American Broadcasting Company (abc), coincidentally.
100 percent Laurie was the best.
when i was just 7y old and we watched the avengers and his umbrella and miss peel judo action . what was a golden time .
The show really evolved into presenting a lot of style. One of TVs finest programs ever.
Diana Rigg would have been the most awesome Catwoman in Batman
She was too good an actress for such a silly role.
You are quite right.
Batman would have stood no chance.
Very,very true.
She's more of a Wonder Woman
Laurie Johnson not only knocked it out of the park with his first version of the theme, he made it iconic at the same time, and really epitomised the British element of the show as well. His New Avengers was an excellent update as well. Pure genius...
They should have just paid Diana Rigg exactly what she was worth. She was the quintessential Avenger. Really as important as John Steed to the story. ATV made a blunder.
She left the series because ATV was too stingy to pay her more money?
She did all the thinking & the fighting. Steed was basically along for the ride. The show was all about her.
@@gregoryhagen8801 So untrue. I watched it because both characters were great and Patrick Macnee was perfect as John Steed. Both contributed equally to the success of the show.
Both actors made the show work each brought there own style Diana rigg played the perfect foil to John steed character end of
@@colinmcphan Absolutely
Once on Frasier, Daphne told how she once dressed as Emma Peel for Halloween in a catsuit and casually thought she still had it, the look on Niles face was priceless!
😊 Oh I'm sure it was.
I have to say first, all Ladies played their characters very well in the Avengers, but my female favorite star in this legendary series was Diana Rigg aka Emma Peel. For me she was and will be always the only one Avengers Queen.
❤LEGENDARY QUEEN❤
She is the definitive avenger girl but I also love Tara Cathy and my beloved Purdey ❤
She was undoubtedly a magnificent female lead.
Diana *is* Emma Peel.
Had a massive crush on Agent Peel as a little kid.
The Laurie Johnson theme captured the Steed-Peel relationship, intelligent, dynamic, and witty.
It was also very hip. It has some great retro staying power
The season 4 and 5 theme song by Laurie Johnson is so much better than the one before it. One of the great TV theme songs of all time! I feel sorry for Linda Thorson who had the bad luck of following Diana Rigg.
_She was too young for such a demanding role._
Very true.
And us Americans wanted Dame Diana and nobody else but!
What a marvellous series that was .I am too young to remember the earlier series but i do remember Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson .RIP Patrick and Diana
Oh, how I loved Diana Rigg when I was around 13. Saw the series in the end of the 70s beginning 80s I guess. Those cat-suits were her best weapons. I was so happy to see her in her last role in "Game of thrones"
Also in 'The Detectorists' and in 'Doctor Who:The Crimson Horror' alongside her real life daughter.
This show always takes me back to a far nicer place and time, if only we could all go back to the 60s.
Amen
It was such wonderful time. It's amazing how much the world has changed since then. I feel sorry for the young people, they have no idea how it was, and I don't envy them on what they will have to face in the world in the days ahead.
@@frankkolton1780 trouble!
Oh how nostalgia clouds our vision.
No better then than now, race riots, Vietnam war, your car more likely to kill you in a crash, smog…. Nah each thinks it was better before but every period has been shit for its own reasons and your place in the world.
Mrs.Emma Peel I love you forever. RIP
Classiest TV show of all time!
RIP Laurie Johnson. 96 years, what a great run. Your brilliant music will live on!
Loved the New Avengers theme. When that music started , you always knew something exciting was about to happen.
Great theme. But it's a shame the opening title graphics felt even more dated than the innovative Sixties ones. They should've just stuck with filming the actors in various poses and junked the awful cartoons.
Yeah, epic theme tune, so percussive and powerful
Shame we didn't see more from the New Avengers. I always loved Purdy and Gambit as new additions. They had a great chemistry with Patrick McNee
@@FightCollective: Joanna Lumley was the classic case of the modern day expression "Sometimes it's better to be the girl who succeeds the girl who succeeds a legend", which pretty much sums up my assessment of Lumley's portrayal of Purdy. Of course she'd go on to bigger and better things with her hilarious role of Patsy on Absolutely Fabulous........
I loved the bass and rock vibe of the theme song.
I grew up on watching The Avengers, in the early 2000's my mom showed me everything from Cathy Gale to Emma Peel to Tara King, and yeah out of all of them the 1965-1966 theme is the best. Timeless melody, great structure and groove - only thing missing is that great bongo/brushes overture from the intro to the first series in colour (I'm American but I like to spell it this way).
That clink of the glasses and then - the music.
Best opening to a series!.love the ricochet when Emma shoots the cork out!
The later theme with Linda Thorsen grew on me, I was raised in the sixties and it took a while to warm up to her after Emma, but now many years later I realized she was the best partner for John Steed, youth and exuberance matched well with John's wisdom and temperament and it helped that she adored him in a special way that Emma could not express, but she could.
Can't say I agree with Thorson/ MacNee being the BEST pairing, but too many people--even MacNee--didn't give Thorson credit for creating a very different character than Emma Peel. As you said, her youth and exuberance was a nice foil to the more seasoned Steed which I think was a fine element to play on screen.
The show's evolution from a somber, quasi-realistic crime melodrama focalizing a pragmatic doctor and a charming-but-hardboiled agent into a goofy lightweight action series pitting a duo of comic spies against murderous robots, ambulatory extraterrestrial plants and brainwashed housecats is a strangely intriguing topic to me; it's basically equivalent to Z-Cars metamorphosing into 60s Batman.
Perhaps it was goofy lightweight action, but to me, a little girl in the 1960's, some of the most horrifying nightmares I had involved those murderous robots....
@@maggierestivo5256 +1, I must admit!
@@maggierestivo5256What about the episode-The House That Jack Built? You really got to see Mrs. Peel being Vulnerable and in a Desperate Situation.
@@queenglamazona8789 Oh, that was an awesome episode!!! One of my favorites. Thanks for reminding me of it! :)
🤣
I like the compilation of the Avengers' themes. Not too keen on Dankworth's theme. When I was about ten I had a battery-operated portable tape recorder. The kind that used small reels. I used to tape theme music from various shows. The Avengers was one of them. That was over fifty years ago. I still have my tape recorder. Sweet memories.
The original Laurie Johnson theme for the Diana Rigg episodes was just such a perfect match for this memorable +influential TV caper show - one of the rare examples where a British composer delivered an outstanding and iconic soundtrack that compares with the very best of American TV show themes. Such a shame it was messed with in later incarnations of the show, but frankly that doesn’t really matter because we still have the Diana Rigg shows, now in high def, which are the only ones I ever wanted to watch anyway.
Edit to add: there are also a few other exceptional British TV themes over the years, but I’ll leave you to work out which get onto *your* list!
I was a child when the Avengers was playing on American tv. I remember Diana Rigg the most. Loved her (almost as much as I loved Julie Newmar's Catwoman)! I was so upset when she left and Linda Thorson (who I called "Bigfoot") took over. Yes, I was bitter. LOL Such a love of the Avengers, my husband and I had the theme play when we walked out into the reception area, at our wedding. Oh, memories.... Thanks for this. It was great!
If there was an award for the best tv intro ever, it has the ones with Dame Diana Rigg, , and Sir Patrick McNee, RIP
Laurie Johnson's Avengers score is still one of the best TV themes of all time.
The last episode when Emma left Stead to be reunited with her “lost” husband was beyond 💔… Linda Thorson ascending the stairs learning how to make Stead’s tea…. Never a better team.
And the look she gave - her husband was a spitting image of Steed.
It actually was Patrick Macnee
Her farewell to Steed was so sad and touching..
One of the Unforgettable Moments on Television. 😢
He likes his tea stirred anticlockwise.
I loved these shows, particularly the Steed/Emma Peel episodes. Ironically, the one and only episode where you actually saw them kiss each other was when their bodies were taken over by two assassins ("Who's Who?).
I loved this series growing up. My favourite were the black and white ones with Diana Rigg. She looked awesome in black and white.
I always loved to watch these episodes as a kid with my Mom & Dad. Patrick Mcnee & Diana Rigg were absolutely awesome & the theme music & whole intro with Diana shooting the cork of Patrick's bottle is the best..! Diana was such an amazing person.. Brings back so may good memories..!
I enjoyed the show so much and Linda Thorson had a difficult task following Diana Rigg but she was great too!
Only saw Steed and Mrs Peel. The duo was smashing ❤ and the 1965 theme song was capital!!! Especially with the mad bongo solo.
The chemistry of Steed/Peel is unbeatable! The best formation, indeed.. The Laurie Johnson theme captured the Steed-Peel relationship, intelligent, dynamic, and witty..
Absolutely
Even today after all these years the avengers is still one of the best shows ever to come out of the box in the corner , never saw the hendry stuff , I came in late in the 7o s so I love the new avengers too but steed and mrs peel can’t be beat ❤
For a time in the early 80’s, before they had their own late night lineup, CBS ran New Avengers episodes in late night, I always found it odd that Purdey had no first name
@@jennifersman7990 purdey was her first name , we just never found out her last name
I'm putting my money on "Purdey shotgun " 😊
Has to be the Diana Rigg time. The fashions, the music, culture and most of all Her!
First opening and ending from Tara King's Era were quite stylish, as Mrs. Peel's ones.
Loved the show when I was growing up. It was one of the few British television shows to make it to the USA in the 1960's. Don't remember seeing it until the beautiful and talented Diana Rigg was on the show. Also loved The Saint and Danger Man (retitled Secret Agent Man for us with a rockin' Johnny Rivers theme song)
Had brunch with Pat Macnee in the Hollywood Beverley Hilton. Such a lovely gentleman. Still missed to this very day.
I was checking into a hotel during a road trip from Vancouver BC to Toronto ON back in 2019 (you know, when the world was still relatively free to travel), and kept hearing music that sounded super familiar. I finally got out my phone and Shazam'd it, and it was the Laurie Johnson Avengers theme music. I hadn't heard it since I was a kid and A&E used to show the reruns in the 90s. Love it, and love the show. Thanks for posting this!
The Steed/Peel seasons had the best theme. Steed/King sounds a bit dated with the Swinging 60's touch. But the Steed/Peel theme sounds timeless. Best theme music ever.
Are you talking about the New Avengers ? Steed/Peel and Steed/King had the same theme.
@@majorneptunejr The poster named bogeysbaby is apparently writing about the Steed/King theme which has the same melody as the Steed/Peel theme but was re-recorded with a new arrangement. The Steed/King theme has a different horn solo than the previous version: that horn solo is probably what bogeysbaby meant by "the Swinging '60s touch."
@@majorneptunejr actually.......you need to go back. While the essential tune is the same, the first few beats are different, it is speeded up in sections and there are some different instruments play a more prominent role.
They were the same only there was a horn lilting throughout the theme during the Steed/King era.
Loved the Avengers.
Emma Peel was one of my Favorite Characters on Television.
I always wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
as a child growing of in the Netherlands I used to love the Avangers. And Emma Peel was my hero!
Loved watching Diana and Patrick as a child
Diana Rigg was the best!!
But Linda Thorson was lovely.
I prefer Diana Rigg too ! 🙏🌺
Mrs Peel
She's the Reason why I am determined to keep on watching through this utterly distinctive boring Programme of a series. Currently I have reached the Middle of the second Season. A tough boring way yet still to go I fear.
Assolutamente vero❤
Remember season 4- 5 when I was a young child. Every girl wanted to be Diana Rigg!!!! When hearing the theme tune, takes me right back. OMG the Purdy haircuts when we were teenagers 😂
Thank you for sharing
To think that I had never even heard of Johnny Dankworth! Thanks Xord for making this available to us. The early 60s were a golden era of British culture.
I am german, Brittas boyfriend, born 1965. In those days my homeregion was more rural than now, today i no more feel , being at home'. It is no more the Germany i knew and liked. As a conservative rural man, i doubt about the worth and necessarity of many modern things of Western society.
But it is allways a pleasure for me, to forget modern times for some hours, to watch an older movie, in which a correct dressed Gentleman is the Hero.
Johnny Dankworth - husband of that great songstress Cleo Laine.
@@gary.h.turner That's how I learned who he was. I had a big crush on Cleo Laine back in the day, and grew to appreciate Dankworth when I heard more of his music. He was remarkable.
The ironic thing is that Patrick MacNee hated guns. That was why he never carried one. He had fought in World War 2 and seen friends die. I believe I read in an interview he said after the war he never wanted to handle one again.
He used his umbrella 😂
Linda Thorson was very pretty and IMHO a good actress, but of course she took on a very thankless role, since it's impossible to come even close to Diana Rigg, who was ravishing and could switch from "not taking any of this seriously, with a wink and a huge smile" to being seriously, genuinely scared - and back - at will. Can't beat perfection.
Mrs Peel we're needed. For me John Steed and Emma Peel are the ultimate avengers.
I think there was one opening that included a narrator's intoning something along the lines of, "Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents who are extraordinary."
That was the rare "Chessboard Opening." See the thread just above this one; R.Williams found it.
The intro for the U.S. market as the Emma Peel era was the first to be broadcast here in the states!
That would be season 4(?).
"Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as.. (bongo roll) The Avengers!" LOL 👍😁
@@sams9894 Here in Canada, we had the Honor Blackman episodes a few months after the UK on the CTV network.. I believe they were in syndication in the US?
the Avengers, nothing on TV I liked more than the Steed / Peel series the best mix ever forever in my heart McNee / Rigg.
From Italy a true fan of the avengers
Sigla fantastica grande Laurie Johnson 👍
Emma Peel ? Forse la mia prima cotta...
The Avengers theme has certainly evolved, still.makes me smile after alll these years
Love the little trumpet motif for Tara.
Hands down, the Laurie Johnson theme scores were the best.
Without Doubt ... ❤🎉
At least in the United States this program never recovered after the loss of the late great Dame Diana Rigg. She was one of my first female heroes, a real 60's liberated woman...Educated, fearless, timeless style & ready to show the"men" she can do the job
and she drove a red E-type Jaguar!
God I remember this very good show
Season Four was the best. I loved the formulaic story telling and the way each episode ended with Steed and Mrs Peel exiting in a different vehicle
The Rigg/McNee themes will ALWAYS be the definitive theme tunes to me. But my personal favourite will always be the New Avengers theme tune as this was my first exposure to the franchise.
I'm sorry but for me it's only Steed/Peel. They are amazing together. Emma Peel is the epitome of feminine perfection. She is intelligent, mature, witty, sensitive, caring, capable and can not only fight well but can shoot the cork off a champagne bottle from multiple feet away. They really are the British Dynamic Duo. RIP Patrick and Diana.
Every time that June Randall (RIP and died in 2015) did continuity (early form of negative cutter) for The Avengers TV series and later Bond films [among others], it was stellar work behind-the-scenes for post-production=God bless you Mrs. Randall! 🎥📺👩🎨
I've never lived in the 60s/70s, but since I watched this show I've got the impression life was simpler back then
Unfortunately, that's not true; they just didn't have the tech we have now, and media convention worldwide back then kept news and entertainment much more separate than is done today. A lot of what would be considered news today was hidden from the public.
What was on the radio, on TV, at the theater, and in the movies was sanitized until about 1968, when young people started getting decision-making media jobs in cities like NYC, London and LA, and reality slowly broke in.
There are lots of documentaries and history books about the 60s and 70s that could tell you what happened in those decades. Yes, a lot of it was wonderful and awesome, but there was a LOT happening that was mean and prejudiced for no reasons except ego and greed.
@@thepepperpot3809 shit, you're right. It's nothing but an illusion
@@thepepperpot3809 still amazes me though, how could they get away with making such a bizarre tv show. I don't really know if that was the standard or people just didn't care about realism on media. Either way, I love it
@@clonosaurios People were trying to escape reality, so, yeah, it makes sense that a show like this existed. Many of the big hits of 60s TV were nutty or in some way escapist, at least in the US and UK. I don't know about other countries.
Simpler for white, cis male, middle or upper class people with a safe deferment from the draft who weren’t sickened by second hand smoke and had girlfriends with access to birth control pills. On balance the world is a better place now - technology, medical advances, less reliance on mutual assured destruction - but if I could go back as a teenager, I would, although I admit in the 1970s I was worried about global cooling.
This is My Avengers. Steed and Mrs. Peel was an unbeatable duo.
When I worked in London throughout the nineties I passed Honor Blackman on the street a few times in Kennsington and Chealsea.
Most people probably did'nt even know who she was.
Was to young when she was in it, but I deffinitely remember Diana Rigg.
I always loved the horn lilting at the beginning of the song at 9:08. I'm always a sucker for the unexpected strings or trumpets coming in as a surprise in songs.
I always loved this show as a small child. The funny thing is, all my neighborhood girl friends and I always got into fights over who was going to be Mrs. Peel, but I don't remember anyone fighting over who was going to be Tara King.🤔😁. Maybe by that time we were a few years older by then. LOL!! I always liked Tara King's clothes, though, I remember that.
Back when avengers was actually good
The music of Laurie Johnson is far away better than the previous theme.
I don't think the Dankworth-scored seasons were ever broadcast in the US. The Johnson score is the most widely known and played a big role in the show's popularity. It's fabulous! I've read about how Macnee, Rigg and the producers decided on how to portray the relationship between "John Steed" and "Emma Peel" and it fits exactly how I reacted to it at the time. It was meant to be almost maddeningly vague and ripe for the viewer's imagination to infer anything at all! It was really quite brilliant and certainly appropos for the 60's. And they also made the deliberate decision to never show anyone dressed in any kind of uniform to insure the series wouldn't become dated. Here's a piece or trivia: When deciding on the character name for Rigg, they chose "Emma Peel" as an inside joke -- the term "M appeal" is slang in advertising circles for "sex appeal." For example, the female used in the Noxzema television ad campaign of the era ("Take it off. Take it all off.") was Gunilla Knutsson, 1961's Miss Sweden, who would have been chosen because she had "M Appeal" and Diana Rigg certainly had that in spades!
Thanks for that fascinating piece of information. I absolutely never knew that. But without being aware that the name was it kind of prank I knew that she was absolutely stunning. I think she remains the most beautiful woman I've ever seen on the screen.
In order to sell in to the US market they went over to colour, so no B&W episodes would have been shown in the US.
so good!!! my favorite tv show growing up... all my youth encapsulated in these wonderful sequences...
The 60ties.....last decade of real excellent soundtracks
The 70’s were great also. Think Harry O Streets of San Francisco and NBC Mystery Movie.
@@davidbrown386 agree.....Streets of Frisco, never forgotten this intro
The ONLY series that could stand side by side with the original mission impossible television series here in the states. It's a shame that the thought never crossed anyone's mind back in the day, but it truly would have been MIND-BLOWING if there could have been a mission impossible/the avengers crossover episode back then. Could you imagine john steed teaming up with jim phelps?
Phelps was cool and that crossover would have been amazing, but I think Dan Briggs was a bit more nuanced. Besides, Dan was the original.
@@slactweak OMF'NG!!!! i completely forgot about dan briggs. That would have been pretty cool,too
Unfortunately today’s generation only knows him as a traitor, and are only interested in circus act stunts
I liked The Wild Wild West!
It would have cool to have a crossover HOWEVER the tone of both shows were vastly different.
"Mission" was a no nonsense spy thriller. The emphasis was on the assignment.
Little was given to character development/interplay. All we knew of the team was that they were highly skilled and ultra cool under pressure.
"The Avengers" by contrast existed in a surreal world that was tongue in cheek. A place populated by larger than life villains and witty repartee was frequently exchanged by its series leads.
Personally for me my favourite is series 4 Laurie Johnsons theme and the black and white images is very classy.
Diana Rigg could have play 007 back in the day!
Close, she was Bond's wife.
Though Steed had four female assistants they all had a different sort of relationship with him. With Cathy Gale, Steed was more of the annoying brother than colleague. With Emma Peel it was a sort of husband/wife relationship where the two bounced doff each other. With Tara King Steed was the benevolent uncle type who felt responsible for her. With Purdy (and Gambit) Steed was more of the dear close friend than just a colleague. It just shows how good the writing and the originality was on the Avengers at the time. Its a 60s TV show that is still entertaining even over sixty years onwards.
I used to love this show! The "technology" that existed was controlled by us and was at our service. Today our time is more dangerous, more technological and less romantic. And we are controlled by technology! There are NO more heroes today to match the current demands! And our old heroes are leaving us... RIP: Sean Connery, Robert Vaughn, Roger Moore, Robert Conrad, Diana Rigg, Patrick Mcnee and many more! 😔
Watched that show as a kid. Loved it.
RIP Laurie Johnson
1970, we got our first color television. I was an 8 yr old boy. My father pulled out the On button, this came on.
There she was Mrs Peel in that yellow jumpsuit. My heart got sideline by a freight train..
There was Diana Rigg then everyone else..
This makes me feel so old....
Born in 1971, I discovered this series when I was little. (The New Avengers) I was not aware of it all these past years and I discovered the whole universe of The Avengers way after.
My first exposure to The Avengers was in Texas in the late 1970's on the local CBS affiliate at around Midnight. It was John Steed and Mike Gambit, but I fell in love with Joanna Lumley as Purdy. The whole show was style and class with action and really impressed 12 year old me, and I thought all of Britain was this groovy and exciting. To my mind, it always will be Bowlers and Champaign, incredible villains thwarted and beautiful women delivering the coup de grace, everything England is to the world. And that theme music! Breathtakingly driving and exciting!
Nobody remembers Johnny Dankworths theme despite the fact it's the original and was used for half of the shows run. I didn't even know Laurie Johnson's theme wasn't the only one the show had
And interestingly enough, the episodes with the Dankworth opening theme seemed to be far grittier than the Laurie Johnson opening themed episodes.......
Here in AU I missed the earliest series but loved Dianna Rigg and Joanna Lumley, great UK TV. We never mention the final Canadian season tho, it was a shocker. Thanks for the flashbacks. 👍
I loved this show. It was one of my favorites. I had a crush on Patrick Macnee and I always wanted to be sexy and cool like Mrs. Peel. I think Diana Rigg was the best of Steads partners.
My late parents didn't like The Avengers programmes on TV and considered them to be impossible Tosh! I don't remember seeing any of the episodes but now have a couple of boxed-sets DVD's of the mid to late series. However I find them enjoying and amusing because of the stories being somewhat far fetched. My preferred series are those with Steed/Peel in them but that doesn't mean I don't like the others. I find the outdoor shots showing London in the '60's fascinating as they show how times have changed.
So, I have the complete set of DVDs for all Avengers series. I watched Gambit and Purdey, so I am a little biased toward the New Avengers.
However, when I get the time, I plan to watch them all from the very first episode and see Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson in their respective roles as Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King.
Absolutely a joy to revisit, thank you 👍👍
Growing up in NYC and not liking the crap on TV like "The Love Boat", "Three's Company" and "Fantasy Island", I stuck to reruns of British shows like "Monty Python" and this wonderful show. I had a huge crush for "Emma Peel". I read that the name came out of the search by the producers to find a woman who had "Man Appeal". After repeating that phrase during production, the came up with "Emma Peel". Brilliant how that worked.
Loved the last 70s series part of my childhood memories the opening theme tune with union jack lion.
Fantastic. I was able to watch these when I was 6 years old & some were creepy then.
Linda Thorson was perfect as the replacement.. Super hot , beautiful.. and talented.💜💥
I think the best seasons were the Diana Right seasons!
I think your auto-correct has been Rigged! 😂
the new avengers was the best and took the series into a modern era, it would be interesting t see this redone
The season 4 intro with the theme by Laurie Johnson is the first one I remember seeing and the one I remember best.
Is there any film or TV character that made an umbrella so cool as John Steed? It's a good thing it rarely rains where I live, or I would have one too, then I would need a Saville suit, a bowler, and perhaps a 1950s TF series MG. Of course me trying to pull that off here in the former colonies would of looked rather ridiculous and I would of been laughed at behind my back, unless of course, I had Diana Rigg or Honor Blackman riding in the car with me.
Bentley. Whole point of Avengers was contrasting old school Steed with modern feminist partners, was no more "real" than Holmes, Christie, Woodhouse, Waugh, Shakespeare or the Bible.
It's been reported that Diana did not like that catsuit - the back zip limited her ability to do her own stunt work and she is on record as saying it was difficult to take off - although the design does not make it look like that! I'm sure someone here can list the episodes in which she wore it - I think it should have featured in a few more - would have done wonders for the viewing figures. Those were the days ...l.
I remember these shows well.
The year was 1969. I was 9 years old and I was madly in love with Ms Diana Riggs. What a beautiful woman.
The 65-68 Black and white stop motion is the Best! Diana Riggs cat suit is out of this world. My brother said that "Mrs. Peel was his first Love" it's easy to see why.