I've been a fan of The Avengers ever since I was 14 years old and my father said to me, "Watch this programme cos it's really good. I loved it as a kid and it's really original stuff. You have to excuse the poor special effects though!". So, I watched and became hooked really easily to this light-hearted drama written tongue-in-cheek with witty dialogue constantly being relayed between it's two leads. Like many other die-hard fans, my favourite seasons were four and five, which starred Diana Rigg as Emma Peel and the ever ready Patrick Macnee as John Steed. These were particularly good because of a number of factors, but mainly because the studio had begun doing filmed episodes rather than live-versions which Honor Blackman (and Ian Hendry before her) had to endure alongside Patrick Macnee in the previous seasons. Other factors included the colour that they began to portray in season five and the super-cool character of Emma Peel, a character that had rarely been shown before. Although Emma Peel was just as masculine as her predecessor, Cathy Gale, she had a more feminine side to her and her dialogue could not always be swapped with Steed's, as could Gale's in the previous seasons. Below, I've written (with a little help from my book on The Avengers) a short paragraph about my two favourite characters, John Steed and Emma Peel.
John Steed
John Steed was a professional undercover super-spy and while Emma stood for the future of Britain, Steed stood for the better part of it. A debonair gentleman, he was embodied in tradition and used every trick in the book to defeat his assailants. He rarely carried a firearm after season three, his usual weapon being a sword hidden inside his tightly furled umbrella, a vital accessory of Steed's, as was his metal-lined bowler hat and red carnation in the lapel of his jacket. He drove a 1926 Green Speed Six Bentley convertible although he had been seen behind the wheels of other cars such as a Vauxhall Saloon, Bentley 1926 4 Litre, a Bugatti and a 1928 Green Label Bentley. His apartment was situated in London near the Houses of Parliament and was full of family heirlooms. His exterior camouflaged a highly efficient operator and he distracted his opponents in amusing ways while he quietly got his man. Always with an eye for attractive and unusual women, he was always ready with one-liners and chat-up lines but they were never corny and he was always the perfect gentleman - England's most eligible bachelor!
The daughter of a wealthy shipowner, Emma Knight was married to test pilot ace Peter Peel. She was widowed when Peter went missing and presumed dead and was soon enlisted to help John Steed in his fight against crime. A cool British counterspy and a woman of independence, she was able to karate chop any assailant effortlessly into submission, preferring to use physical violence rather than her partner's method of using words. Like her predecessor Catherine Gale, Emma lived in Primrose Hill, London, in an L-shaped artist's studio and wore avant-garde clothes, as well as the odd black leather catsuit! She drove a high-speed powder blue 1964 Lotus Elan S2 and was a top-flight swordswoman, an expert with firearms and a dab hand with a longbow. She was an amateur while her partner was a professional but that didn't mean that she was inferior. If anything, she would always get even with Steed for any indignities inflicted upon her person. Emma wasn't always the typical damsel-in-distress, often finding her own way out of sticky situations. Anytime that she needed Steed's help, she always kept her cool until the last and was never found to be screaming for help - even when a circular saw threatened to give her a split personality!(Excuse that bad joke!!)
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