31 July 2008

A is for The Avengers


Clearly an essential part of what made the Sixties something special, 'The Avengers' was a distinctive series made by the British TV company ABC, created by its Head of Drama Sydney Newman (who also helped create 'Doctor Who'). An early example of 'spy-fi', combining secret agent storylines with science fiction elements, it featured a number of regular characters, working with the suave John Steed. Arguably the most popular of his assistants was the lovely Mrs Peel, who was especially written to give the show man appeal (M-appeal, Emma Peel, geddit?). The show saw a later spin-off with a pretty good sequel called 'The New Avengers', and a dreadful film adaption in 1998 (which I unfortunately paid good money to see - more on this under 'Y is for Yaaagh!'). Well. it's usually bad news when people try to remake a classic.

No comments: