The Avengers

This super-stylish British series traded on espionage and fantasy with a hefty dose of mod style. Airing from 1961 to 1969., it went on to become internationally popular, eventually spawning a (rather bad) film starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. The show revolved around Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and John Steed (Patrick Macnee), two special agents who battled it out against mad scientists, murderers, and maniacs bent on world domination in rather silly and usually predictable, but always fun, plots. The wit and dry humor displayed by Peel and Steed gave the show much of its charm, as it relied heavily on the on-screen chemistry between Rigg and Macnee. However, Peel wasn’t always Macnee’s partner. This role was also often filled by a physician named Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) and an anthropologist name Catherine Gale, played by Honor Blackman of James Bond Pussy Galore fame. Peel was Steed’s third partner and provided an intelligent, strong, cool, and sophisticated role model for women while also serving as eye candy for the show’s male viewers. She was often depicted in a leather catsuit. Rigg would also go on to appear in the 1969 Bond picture, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She was succeeded by Steed’s next partner, Tara King, played by Linda Thorson but it is Peel who is still regarded as the quintessential Avengers star. The show also featured a young Joanna Lumley (as Purdey) who would go on to achieve stardom as Patsy on Absolutely Fabulous. (Coincidentally, she too appeared in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.) During its fourth season, the show was picked up in the U.S., where it aired for four seasons.

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