Honor Blackman was great, but Diana Rigg was just incredible. You won't find better chemistry than shared between her and Patrick Macnee. Emma Peel remains one of the greatest television characters - I really wish Rigg had stuck around for one more season before departing.

I loved the show. The Steed & Peel pairing was my favorite. I never worried that the plots were ridiculous. Entertaining, that's all I wanted.

"Mrs Peel! We're needed!" The REAL The Avengers! Nothing will ever take its place. Especially that damn movie!

When the series finished in Australia they repeated the Emma Peel episodes at something like 2am in the morning. I was still at school but was lucky enough to have a TV in my bedroom. I was such a fan of the show that I'd set an alarm so I could wake up in the middle of the night to watch them.

One of the best shows ever made.

Macnee was such an underappreciated actor, even in his dozen guest appearances in the 80s he comes close to stealing the show by sheer charisma alone

"Always keep your bowler on in times of stress and keep a watchout for those diabolical masterminds" Mrs Emma Peel final words to Steed before handing over to Tara.❤

A lot of those old British series had that tongue in cheek entertainment but the Avengers did it with STYLE.

Both Rigg and Macnee were treats whenever they appeared. They had style, they had grace, and Diana Rigg sure as hell gave good face.

I remember back in the 60's, here in the U.S. "The Avengers" with Diana Rigg was a weekly series must see. It was quirky and different when compared with American programming, which was basically bland and formulaic.

This is what I think of when people talk about The Avengers, not the american marvel thing Love this show ❤

I am 63 now , and I loved the AVENGERS , grew up with their style and wit. Very British, very nice. Loved Emma Peel at 11 , I was in LOVE !! 😍

Still love this show and still hold Diana Rigg/Emma Peel as the ideal woman.

To me the theme music of the later series was the theme music of the 60s. I loved Diana Rigg as much as I loved all of the British Television I grew up watching.

Utterly LOVE LOVE LOVE The Avengers! The theme music (4-6 Seasons) always fills me with an indescribable bittersweet nostalgia and the realization I and the others who appreciate this and other series are extremely fortunate for such series will likely never be made again. Too many factors acting in concert to produce such a series and such characters including in the real world to make Cathy, Emma and Tara such amazing ladies and Steed the consummate gentleman with an eye for appreciating the beauties but respecting them and caring for them as well. Truly a series with no equal, I don’t think it would be possible to make anything remotely comparable; the world is simply too different now in countless ways (good, bad and everything in between, lest anyone think I take only a negative view of the world and the changes we’ve witnessed). This show is one of a group that have that amazing status and meaning to me, some airing before I was even born, but intriguingly most share their production at a time of tumultuous changes in the world then as well though rarely does the outside “real” world get any true mention, perhaps most telling evidence of technology advances being that many of these series had earlier seasons filmed in Black and White changing to colour for a couple series before the darkness of cancellation. The Avengers, The Prisoner, Wild Wild West, Doctor Who, and others will forever have their place of honor and affection to me. “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is certainly apt as well as spot on. Truly gems from a brief but unquestionably unique period of this world!

As jokey as these reviews can be, there is clearly a lot of love for these older shows and movies. So enjoyable.

Diana Rigg was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. The word sassy was invented for her.

Honestly, that Steed/Peel era is still amazing now, especially the new HD scan version. I found it on the ITV player in lockdown and fell in love with it, was in awe of how fresh it felt considering it was 50+ years old!

I loved all the episodes of the avengers, never did see the new avengers.. the movie wasn't the same, it did have it's moments at times...

Can we just stop and appreciate that the Stam Fine music reflects the show being reviewed? Should definitely do a compilation!

Diana Rigg said when she found out the cameraman was getting paid more than her she asked for a pay rise. They said no, so she quit. Its a shame. If it wasn't for ABC's tightfisted sexisim we would've gotten at least two more seasons of Mrs Peel.

As a 16 year old (now 65) I watched it because of Diana Rigg....could not get enough of her! Because my GMother came from England the culture fascinated me.

I love every incarnation of this show. I wish someone would find more of the lost episodes from the first season. I can only hope.

Awesome show. I grew up watching the New Avengers and never saw the original until the mid 80’s. Emma Peel 😍

For me, Patrick Macnee will always be Count Ibley first and foremost. I didn't see this show until cable reruns in the late 80's. What I saw. I loved however. I always had a crush on Dianna Rigg as well. The Avengers, The Saint. The Prisoner, were all truly compelling television.

I can watch the Steed/Peel era episodes over and over again; Honor Blackmon and Diana Rigg are beautiful and completely understood why they were chosen to be James Bonds love interests. Among the other cast member like Patrick Macnee are top notch what a career he had. This was such a fun trip down memory lane this really tugs at my heart strings with the nostalgia being so strong and I long for the simple times when all these items were more recent, and we were unaware of world events and the dangers connected. I like your content and I have subscribed like your peers who have awesome content like this.

So well done! Thank you!! The series were my childhood and teenage TV-experience. I LOVED it! And of course at most the Diana Rigg episodes. With lovely regards from Vienna/Austria,

The theme music was very different in the Emma Peel days. Loved those seasons of the Avengers. Steed and Mrs Peel, what a team.

The most fabulous programme of my childhood.. Adventure, beauty, action.. The Avengers had it all... Diana Rigg.. ❤❤❤

Such brilliant, inventive TV, pure entertainment. In a word. Style. Dianna Rig was gorgeous.

One of the all time best series!

GREAT, thanks! Was too young to watch the shows with Honor Blackman here in Germany - but then came Emma Peel... and spoiled all of us boys - in the coolest way. ;-)))

The Honor series and Rigg series were two completely different shows. You had to enjoy them on each of their own merits. Both were excellent, but they had different tones, styles and types. You could tell the Blackman series was a James Bond contemporary and the Rigg series a Star Trek - Voyage to the Bottom to the Sea one. They were in two different eras. The early 60's vs the mod 60's.

Style and chemistry between them was the secret and make this super and exceptional serie unique!

One of my favourite TV series ever!!!

When I started watching the Avengers in the Mid 1960s, that when the gorgeous Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) joined the show, and I had huge crush on her. My sister used to tease me that she is the only reason that I watched the show (which was true). I cried when she left the show, and didn’t watch another episode. I probably watched each of her episodes at least twice, and her impeccable chemistry with the great Patrick MacNee who was an outstanding professional. I didn’t even know at the time that Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) got her start on that show. RIP, beautiful Diana Rigg

In France the series was known as "chapeau melon et bottes de cuir" (bowler hat and leather boots)

Diana Rigg also hosted the PBS series “Mystery!” from 1989-2003, which introduced her to a whole new generation of fans.

My ALL TIME favorite tv 📺 series from the states😻👍‼️

Thank you. Me and my best friends idolized this show during our earliest coming of age years. You can imagine why. I always expected Diana Rigg to become the number one film star in the world. She did well, but something or someone was holding her back from reaching the summit she belonged on. Watching The Avengers and this video renews my regret that I wasn't born in England.

Much like the decade it was made in, "The Avengers" changed and evolved throughout the course of the 1960's. Starting off as a straightforward crime drama with two guys in trench coats roaming the dark streets of London and finishing up as a larger than life, colorful spy series with tongue in cheek surreal undertones. The bedrock of the show was always Patrick Macnee who was the one constant aspect throughout its lengthy run. Ian Hendry's departure at the end of the first season was when the show stepped out of its conventional premise and became something far more interesting. A succession of intelligent, attractive, independent, ass-kicking leading ladies (Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson) propelled the show to incredible heights and would lay down a template that many other programs would follow for decades to come. In that regard, the series was truly a groundbreaker. Female characters were allowed to be more than pretty faces who needed to be rescued by the hero. A classic series and rightfully so.......

Diana Rigg is my favourite, but I love the Linda Thorson episodes. It is a shame that they were not as popular. It was the New Avengers that really did not do it for me.

I had a toy Steed umbrella… and it squirted water! Must have been a bizarre sight: a nine year old running around with an Avengers brolly and my dad’s old bowler! Unfortunately it didn’t come with its own Emma Peal… The 1960s were a great time to be a British kid!

I remember him in " A view to a kill" with Roger Moore, that was a chemistry, and character. And that 60s Tv show Avengers was the best of the TV of its era😘

I loved this show as a kid. The crazy characters and plots were great fun, and I'll never forget how Emma Peel looked in 'A Touch Of Brimstone'...Woof!! Fabulous! Great job covering this Stam...now you 'have' to do 'The New Avengers!' ;)

The first episode I saw was also From Venus, With Love! And I still get misty when Emma leaves the show. Nice retrospective.

Loved the show. Emma Peel was my favorite.

Glad you mentioned the Tara King episode Wish You Were Here. Though Emma Peel is great, and everyone's favorite (including mine), Tara was underrated, and this episode gave her a chance to shine. Other favorite episodes of the Tara King era include the Maltese Falcon spoof Legacy of Death, and Take-Over.

this has taken me right back to when I was a young lad and watched it all in black and White! It was such fun to watch back then and I still love it today just as much and love the line "Mrs.Peel, we are needed and used to look forward to the different way it was used! Thanks for giving us a look back to this wonderful days!

Entertaining video, though you are wrong on quite a few things. I grew up in Borehamwood, and during the making of The Avengers I spoke to Diana and John at least twice a week. The BBC did not buy Elstree Studios. The BBC took over ATV Studios a few hundred yards away, which was where Auf Weidersehen Pet, and The Muppet Show was made. My sister worked there. The lane they usually drove down at the end of most episodes was a country lane between Borehamwood and Shenley Village. Many areas around Shenley were used for filming, including Ridge. The bridge and lake that featured a lot was opposite the end of Alumn Lane, which had a house on it's entrance that was lived in by a friend of mine.which led to a long tree lined lane that led up towards Haberdashers Askes private school. Next to that was Elstree Aerodrome. The lane and the lake are now private, but originally it was used by walkers sometimes with their dogs. Eastenders is made at the old ATV Studio site across the road. A few hundred yards to the left of Elstree Studios used to be MGM ( British ) Studios. That was where Patrick McGoohan made his cult classic The Prisoner, and also where Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton made Where Eagles Dare. I have walked through some of the sets of The Avengers, The Saint, and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Elstree Studios was my playground growing up.

Watching the boxset of all the available remaining episodes was a joy. Some of the early episodes are surprisingly good, given budgetary constraints.

We're just here for Diana Rigg... :D

I must be alone in liking the Tara King years best? You should definitely do The New Avengers and The Professionals.

Being an oldie i remember watching The Avengers from way back in the 60's. I know Diana Rigg is easily the most popular of the girls but i always had/have a soft spot for Linda Thorson. She was straight out of acting school and got a bit of rough ride, unfairly imo. Great review of the series probably the best i have watched 👏

Top work as always Stam Fine, thanks for all your hard work Happy New Year

Fascinating. A lot of stuff I had no idea about, particularly the early seasons - I was totally unaware that Cathy Gale had not even been in the first season! Pity they stuffed up the movie so badly in the 90's, I saw it in the cinema at the time, very bad indeed. Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel is still simply luminous though.

Diana was my first love growing up

My absolute fav program of all time.. I just loved watching these two together.. they were both so cool.

Wow, I didn’t realize the group in A Touch of Bridgestone was SUCH an obvious inspiration for the Hellfire Club in X-Men… and it’s obvious Emma Frost was based on Emma Peel… explains why I like her so much lol

Charlotte Rampling, Roy Kinnear, Victor Spinetti, Peter Bowles, Peter Cushing, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Cargill...Christ, who wasn't in The Avengers?

We in Canada 🇨🇦 had The Avengers in late'60s or early '70s - never Honor, both Emma and Tara. Diana Rigg & Mission Impossible's Barbara Bain were my youthful self's dream women.

Diana and Patrick loved each other (her words) and it comes through on screen.

The Avengers was such a great show. There aren't that many series where it can change every season yet still remain itself. My favorite version will always be the fourth season where anything can happen in that cold opening, followed by anything else up to the ending. Giant plant monster? Drowning in the middle of field? Being kidnapped on your way kidnapping someone else? IT CAN HAPPEN HERE: Sign from "Porky in Wackyland", may as well be Avengerland. The Fifth season lost me when they felt they had to add the "Mrs Peel, we're needed" bit, setting up the definite formula with a boundary when previously, it could have been anything.

The only episodes I remember from my childhood were the robot (Cybernaut) ones (28:44). They scared the hell out of me when I was 6 or 7! I happened to see them again a year ago and was stunned at how bad and goofy they were and how much they took me in!

Excellent work! I love the Avengers and thoroughly enjoyed the retrospective and history of the program, main actors, characters, etc. The Kardashian jab was priceless! 😂❤

Loved this delve into the series. Growing up in England in the 60’s snd 70’s I was transfixed to the weird stories, the weirder they got (in the later 60’s) the more they fascinated me. I think it was Brian Clemmens that spearheaded the show, what an imagination. Thanks for uploading (subbed).

Back then Diana Rigg was the most beautiful woman walking the planet. Fite me!

This was really great, thanks for cutting it all together. You have a hilarious take on it all.

Absolutely love this show. So glad you included the hat eye exam, a hilarious scene! I was lucky enough to meet Patrick Macnee at his autobiography book signing, he was very kind and gracious.

Takes me back to when I was a kid. Sit and watch this on a Friday night with my late mum, sharing peanuts and chocolate. Was in love with Emma Peel.... fantastic programme and Macnee was excellent as Steed....miss those days..and my mum..😢😢😢😢

Amazing analysis. A real tribute to a great TV program.

A great wrap up. Nothing was missed 🥇

The Avengers has been my favorite TV show for over 20 years. I discovered it by way of that awful 1998 movie, which may have put me off the show had it not been for my insatiable curiosity. My first episode was "The Murder Market" and from there I was smitten.

Congratulations, this is really an excellent work . Very clever and professional 👍 I totally agree with your analysis .... Emma Peel , has never been replaced and obviously Patrick Macnee felt a bit lonely on screen after that.

My first crush was on Diana Rig. Absolutely loved the show during her years.

My first and forever Love....Emma Peel. RIP Diana. Oh and JS love ya too.

My dad used to watch the re-runs in the early 80's and I became a young fan as a result.

It isn't often mentioned that Joanna Lumley _also_ was in the same James Bond film as Diana Rigg. Rigg also played Mrs. Pumphrey in the recent remake of _All Creatures Great and Small._

Such a wonderful video by you with very clever dialogue. One of the best channels on KZfaq.

Mrs Peel series…my absolute favourite! I have the boxed set and watch it regularly.

I loved this show. I bought random episodes on videotape in the early 90s. I had a few Tar King episodes and tried to like her, but one episode at the end glitch into the tag ending for The Quick Quick Slow Death, and really showed that nothing beat the classic Steed and Mrs. Peel.

Excellent, thank you. Probably my favourite TV series. Followed by the A Team. I am pretty good at recognising popular (and obscure) actors turning up in different series but never noticed Blakes's Sevens Gareth Thomas in there. I think my favourite episode is The Gravediggers. 1, because it has Wanda Ventham in it and 2, because Ronald Fraser seems to be having such a great time as Sir Horace Winslip. The whole bit with him in the mock train carriage for lunch is brilliantly done and when he's driving his little train he's obviously enjoying every minute of it.

When I was younger, we used to watch this show and it was pretty good show

MacNee refused a gun as he had seen too many of his friends blown to bits in the war. Later in the early seventies he'd hang out, literally, in the nudist colony up by Mullholland Drive, with no other than Ushi Digard. Two legends. Looks like taking a percentage of the series cashed him up. Wonder if he ever was a Canadian citizen.

Emma Peel's catsuits are iconic :) I watched The Avengers & The New Avangers as a kid with my mom in the early 70s. IIRC, it aired on ABC (channel 7 in our area) very late on Fri nights after the news. It was a fun watch. I recognized the theme music immediately. Classic.

Well done, ol' chap!

A fabulous, pithy, witty series. Love it as a kid.and her period. Forget the new "Avengers".

As a 7-year-old american kid, the episode Castle De'ath appealed to my imagination like nothing before or since. The Light at the Edge of the World was another atmospheric delight a few years later.

Very nicely done. 🫡

My favourite episode was "The House That Jack Built". I also loved the episode that Benny Hill appeared in (as a villain) but forgot the episode name. Would be great to see an Avengers documentary on the guest stars and guest villains.

The episode of Frasier when their Dad recalled the boys wearing bowler hats as kids as a tribute to the Avengers.

" The Avengers" was the coolest show ever! Patrick Macnee was incredible as John Steed. He was the sexiest man on the television. I still enjoy watching my dvds of the show. I love all of Macnee's work. A very talented actor. He's been my idol since I was 4yrs.old. Macnee maybe gone but not forgotten. Patrick Macnee is a shining star in heaven now. Love that man forever. My life-long crush.

Given how many times Steed's character changed it would be a feat to try to explain it all in one continuity. Like Steed is gradually retired to a Village-like walled estate, with plots to keep him distracted from escaping.

I loved the theme music opening each show. The Avengers and Hawaii 5-0 had the best theme music of all time.

Excellent video I love the black & white episodes

I reckon Emma Peel was every British schoolboy's fantasy in the mid-60s. Apart from that, it was brilliantly surreal.

You are my favorite channel on KZfaq. I had no idea Sydney Newman came up with this too.

Thanks for this. So much part of my childhood and interesting insight into the history of television production.

Very witty and informative commentary of the stylish "Avengers" show. I must admit that I have used some of Steed's (and John Drake's) more flirty and playful lines in real life, without attribution of course, but to great effect. Thanks for the revisit of the show !

Great nostalgia , subscribed and hopefully more of the same great videos.