The
lowdown: 'The Avengers' is one of the most fondly remembered
British TV shows of the 1960s, combining action,
adventure and humour over
seven seasons from 1961 to 1969 on ITV1. The star of the show was British
Intelligence agent
John Steed (Patrick Macnee),
who was accompanied by a succession of beautiful, resourceful and independent
women.
Indeed, the characterisation
of women in 'The Avengers' was far ahead of other TV shows of the era,
and Diana Rigg's
portrayal of Emma Peel contributed
to the show's popularity. Strangely enough, the show lasted only one season
after
Rigg's departure. Sadly,
many of the early B&W episodes of 'The Avengers' have been lost, although
all of the episodes
featuring Diana Rigg and
her successor, Linda Thorson as Tara King, have survived, so old and new
fans of the show can
continue to enjoy 'The Avengers'
nearly four decades after it ended.
The
episode: 'Stay Tuned' was the 22nd episode of the sixth
season, and the 150th episode of the show. It was first
broadcast on 26 Feb 1969.
The episode begins with Steed packing for a holiday, but he has a visitor
and is knocked out.
Tara King then visits him,
and finds that he is again packing for a holiday, but she informs him that
he has just come home
from a three-week holiday
in France and Italy. He has souvenirs, dirty clothing and a photo of himself
with a young woman
to prove that he has been
on holiday, but he has no memory of it. Clearly something strange has happened
to Steed, and
his investigations lead
him to a house in Fitzherbert Street. Steed sees the girl from the photo
(played by Kate O'Mara,
no less) go into the house,
but when he goes to the house in question a strange man, Kreer (Roger Delgado
in a role that
is rather reminiscent of
the Master) answers the door and denies that the woman went into the house.
Steed and Tara both
break into the house, where
Steed is captured and Tara gets into a sword fight with Kreer, who literally
falls on his sword
and dies. It transpires
that the whole affair is an elaborate plot to brainwash Steed into killing
his boss, Mother.
The
verdict: The final season of 'The Avengers' is not very highly-regarded
by some fans, and it is true that Diana Rigg was
always going to be a hard
act to follow. However, Linda Thorson as Tara King is competent enough,
and the episodes in the
final series tended much
more toward the traditional spy/espionage genre than many Emma Peel ones,
which were often
based more on fantasy than
plausible reality - but then, nobody watched the Emma Peel episodes for
the credible plots!
It should also be noted
that in addition to the difficulties involved in introducing a new leading
lady, the Tara King era was
plagued by drama behind
the scenes, with the original producers having been replaced and then asked
to return when the
new production team proved
to be out of its depth. Many of the early episodes were the reworked scripts
of the short-lived
production team, while some
had been written for Diana Rigg. Nevertheless, despite such problems, the
final series has its
moments, and fans of the
series, and British drama of the era, should enjoy the Tara King episodes.
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