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The Avengers : Synopsis, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Filming Locations

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The Avengers

The Avengers Dates : 1961 - 1969
161 episodes of 50 min
First broadcasting : 4 avril 1967
Creator(s) : Sydney Newman et Leonard White
Producer(s) : Leonard White - John Bryce - Brian Clemens - Julian Wintle
Music : Johnny Dankworth - Laurie Johnson
Web surfers's rate : 10/10 for 7 rates - Rate

French Traduire

Synopsis

Patrick Macnee, Melon hat on his head and umbrella on the arm, plays the secret agent John Steed throughout the two series (The Avengers and The New Avengers). In the first season (unprecedented in France, apart from an episode) of The Avengers, Steed is only a secondary character, the hero being Doctor David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). The latter is a doctor whose fiancée is killed by drug traffickers. Steed, a kind of unofficial police officer, helps the doctor to avenge the death of his fiancée (by arrested the culprit), hence the English title of the series, which means the Avengers. Then Steed trains the doctor in other missions where they will fight together against crime.

In the second season, Ian Hendry left, and Doctor Martin King (Jon Rollason) will attend Steed for three episodes. Steed has become the hero. He will then have a female partner, Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman) or Venus Smith (Julie Stevens), in six episodes.

In the third season, Cathy Gale will be Steed's only partner. They form a shock duo, it is beautiful and effective, often dressed in leather (hence the French title of the series). It is elegant and shows an unalterable phlegm and a very British humor. The series is now very successful. The scenarios progress in quality, probably thanks to the arrival of Brian Clemens. The name of this screenwriter-producer remains forever attached to this series to which he gave his letters of nobility.

The fourth season sees Emma Peel appear (played by Diana Rigg) replacing Cathy Gale. She is Auburn, champion of the fight and is not afraid of anything. We feel a real complicity between the actors, their dialogues being often in double sense.

The fifth season, still with Ms. Peel ("We need us ..."), marks the transition to color. Known actors will come and go (Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, Peter Cushing). It will be the last season of Diana Rigg which, after a few films in the cinema, returns to the theater.

So we will have to find a new partner for Steed in the sixth season. It will be Tara King (played by Linda Thorson), a playful and often provocative young girl. Other recurring characters appear: the chef, Mother-Grand (Patrick Newell) and his female and silent bodyguard, Rhonda Parker.

The series ends at the end of this season in 1969, in full worldwide. Indeed, it becomes more and more expensive to produce and the American producer withdrawing from the project, the British cannot resolve to produce it alone.

Hat Melon and Leather Boots (or The Avengers in English) is a British television series which was broadcast between 1961 and 1969. The series features Patrick Macnee as a secret agent John Steed and knew different co-tettes at Wounds, notably Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, Diana Rigg as Emma Peel and Linda Thorson as Tara King.

The series was a mixture of spying and science fiction, with episodes that staged supernatural threats, advanced weapons and secret organizations. Steed was often accompanied by his teammates, who helped him to resolve the cases he had in hand.

The character of Steed was known for his elegance, his sophistication and his sense of humor, as well as for his use of umbrellas, secret weapons and luxury cars. The series was greeted for its distinctive aesthetics and light tone, and was one of the first television programs to showcase strong and independent women in leading roles.

Although the series has become cult over the years, it has also aroused criticism for its stereotypical use of female characters and for its lack of ethnic diversity. Despite this, it remains one of the most emblematic television programs of the time and continues to influence popular culture.

The Actors

Patrick MacNee - John Steed

Patrick MacNee


(John Steed)

Diana Rigg - Emma Peel

Diana Rigg


(Emma Peel)

Photos

Photos The Avengers n_0 Photos The Avengers n_1 Photos The Avengers n_2 Photos The Avengers n_3 Photos The Avengers n_4 Photos The Avengers n_5 Photos The Avengers n_6 Photos The Avengers n_7 Photos The Avengers n_8 Photos The Avengers n_9

Trivia

In 1976, the series was reborn under the British title The New Avengers (literally, the New Avengers), with two partners this time for Steed: the beautiful and intrepid Purdey sans-nom-de-Famille (Joanna Lumley, the future Patsy D'Absolutely Fabulous) and the dashing Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt). The character of Gambit is created for the action scenes, Patrick Macnee starting to age. There will be two seasons of thirteen episodes. The last seven go outside of Great Britain, three in France and four in Canada. The series is more realistic, less delusional than the first version, even if we find the British humor of Steed and the verbal jousts of Gambit and Purdey.

Honor Blackman will run in a James Bond, Goldfinger. Diana Rigg also in the secret service of His Majesty, where Joanna Lumley also has a role. And Patrick Macnee will be dangerously yours.

In 1998 was released the film Hat Melon and Leather Boots, based on the series, with Ralph Fiennes in the role of Steed, Uma Thurman in that of Emma Peel and Sean Connery, the former interpreter of James Bond, in the role of the villain. Patrick Macnee makes an appearance in the role of invisible colonel.

Diana Rigg, in a role close to that of Emma Peel, will appear in two short films, Diadem and The Minikillers.

Filming

Filming locations:

Authors of the card

  • Creation date: 2010/02/08 by stef5702

. Source(s) : http://www.imdb.fr

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