You *Really* Need to Watch the Classic British Spy Series, 'The Avengers'!
Part Two – The Mrs. Peel Seasons
In Part One of my review of The Avengers, I focused on the Mrs. Gale seasons, the male/female partner format that first earned the show fame in Britain and formed the pattern for what followed as the show’s most successful and famed seasons, the seasons featuring Mrs. Peel.
At Season 4, the show that I remembered from my childhood finally arrived! And what a transformation! This was due to the series being sold to ABC in 1966 to be shown in primetime in America, and the budget was impacted impressively. With a new theme song, outdoor filming locations, and shot in 35mm film (although at first still in black and white), the improvement in quality is notable.
Mrs. Gale (Honor Blackman) went on to join 007 and was replaced by Mrs. Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg. While Honor is unquestionably a beautiful woman, this is often veiled by the low-quality recording of the episodes. Such is not the case for Diana Rigg in these better-quality episodes—she is quite breathtaking from beginning to end.
And her character is just as formidable as Mrs. Gale, in both her cunningness and fighting abilities. There is also a marked difference in chemistry between Steed and Emma to that of Steed’s relationship Mrs. Gale. Emma and Steed clearly love one another, and it is evident from the opening credits of every episode. It seems to me more a love of between great friends than a romance. It’s a friendship more of a type that could quite easily be spoiled by a love affair, and they seem to understand this. They are always playful and joyful in each other’s company, even in the most perilous of moments.
I remember watching this show as a boy and being equally perplexed by Steed and Emma. Steed was the oddest spy I had yet seen. As I mentioned in my previous article, Steed did not act and dress like your typical hero on television and film, with a bowler hat and umbrella in place of a uniform and gun.
Rather than a cool James Bond-style Aston Martin, he primarily drives a green 1920s Bentley. Emma instead gets the neat little car, a Lotus Elan. Like Mrs. Gale before her, she starts out wearing a leather cat suit, that even more clearly emulates Catwoman. But in later shows wears equally becoming fabric outfits.
In the opening credits, she’s the one with the gun, showing off her skills as a marksman at the beginning of every show. Emma generally wins her fights although when she is captured it is generally circumstances beyond her control (an unseen henchman hits her on head, for example). But when she is captured, apart from an understandable concern to a direct danger, she never shows any fear what so ever. Even when she’s literally tied down on railroad tracks, she simply is never the standard “damsel in distress.” These oddities stood out in my memory of the show, making it not just another television show I caught as a boy. And watching it again as an adult, I can appreciate both characters better and find they do not disappoint upon revisiting them.
What’s also refreshingly different about Steed and Emma is that there’s absolutely no rivalry between them. No male or female egos are involved. They are true partners. Emma often drives when it’s her car, and Steed is happy to be the passenger. In a boat on the lake, he’s quite happy—the bounder—to let her do all the rowing, but she’s not demanding to do it either. She saves him often. He saves her quite often, and sometimes she saves herself before Steed can do it, but even there, there’s no underlying message about how she doesn’t need him. She’s confident enough to know that she cannot always be in command of every situation, that sometimes she needs help from her partner. The same is true for Steed, who readily puts Emma into dangerous situations, trusting her to take care of herself.
At this point in the series the influence of other 1960s shows on The Avengers is evident. Somewhat serious spy stories of previous seasons are replaced with comedic and fantastic story lines. Often episodes are parodies of American television, such as Mission Impossible, The Man from UNCLE, and Batman. By far, the funniest episode of the series is in Season 4, “What the Butler Saw,” where at one point Emma must endure attempts at seduction by an “RAF playboy.” This playboy is frustrated by constant interruptions from Steed (who is disguised as his butler), but also from “subtle” fighting moves by Emma to keep him at bay. Knowing what a formidable character Emma is makes it all the funnier in that the man unwittingly risks serious injury from her in his attempts to bed her.
Another memorable aspect of the series is the opening and closing credits. When binging a show, I’ve often found myself overcome by the temptation to skip through the opening sequence, having seen it more times than I care to. That has not been the case for me with The Avengers’ opening and closing credits. And I think it is one of the best of all time, for that matter. It quite well sums up the two characters and their joyful and fun interplay, ending with their silhouettes. There’s a timeless quality about it. They don’t do this anymore and perhaps they should.
My next posting on The Avengers will concern the closing episodes of the Mrs. Peel days and the conclusion of the 1960’s version of the show with her replacement, Miss King. I am not entirely hopeful these will be as good as the Mrs. Peel seasons, but there’s always hope!
You can catch this series on Amazon, starting with Season 2.