Was there anyone ever so Mod as Patrick Macnee playing John Steed? Was there ever any man who dressed so perfectly and so stylishly? Who just looked so right every single day of his imaginary life?

 

Well, hang on – I say imaginary, but were John Steed and Patrick Macnee really one and the same? Was Steed just Macnee with a hefty wardrobe budget and a gorgeous girl in tow? Possibly. Whenever I’ve seen Macnee interviewed over the years he has looked and sounded exactly like his most famous character, and I can’t help thinking but that if the two ever got confused then the real Macnee wouldn’t be too unhappy.

 

That’s understandable. His alter ego is simply the coolest guy ever to walk through a television screen. Never mind Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner or David McCallum in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (and that’s more Macs than an overcoat shop), Macnee’s John Steed defined male cool.

 

Patrick Macnee was born in London in 1922 – which means he was into his forties before he came to his most famous role. His parents separated when he was young on account of his mother’s preference for sharing her bed with women rather than men. Despite being a lone parent (with live-in lady friends) his mother, Dorothea, put the lad through Eton. His impeccable diction and manners were the real thing; this wasn’t some jumped up parvenu. In fact, believe it or not, he was at Eton with my wife’s dad.

 

He started his acting career over in Canada, before moving south of the border. He became an American citizen in 1959, and at that point thought that he was destined to live his life in the USA. His career as an actor never really set the world on fire and he moved over to working as a television producer.

 

When the first series of The Avengers was being cast, the well-established British actor Ian Hendry was given the lead, and Patrick was recruited for a minor role (already called John Steed). ABC Television’s Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, had taken Patrick out for lunch to discuss the part, and told him that he saw it as a ‘George Saunders’ sort of role. He described the character as ‘sardonic, suave and cynical’, and added that he had an eye for both elegant clothes and attractive women. He was also to be utterly ruthless in getting his own way. Newman told Patrick that he thought he would be perfect for the part, which, said to anyone other than an actor would hardly have been a compliment.

 

Newman had noted the new genre of secret agent films, and with a light drama slot to fill in his schedules he decided that something along those lines would be perfect. He already had a fair hit on his hands with a series called Police Surgeon, of which twelve half-hour episodes had been made and shown in late 1960. That wasn’t going to be re-commissioned though and Newman wanted something similar but better.

 

He also already had a star for his new series. Ian Hendry had impressed him in Police Surgeon and he saw him as the lead in the new show. The basic story line was to be that Hendry played Dr David Keel, whose fiancée had been shot and murdered by a drug boss (a bit advanced for the times) and he was, naturally, out for revenge. Given that, it was to be called The Avengers, but at that point it was going to be a completely conventional crime series without any of the stylishness we now know and love.

 

Dr Keel was to be helped in his vengeance by an accomplice, a shadowy secret agent sort of geezer, and this was the role that Newman thought was right for Patrick.

 

Twenty eight episodes were made, and went out live – yes, live – in early 1961. The story line progressed from that first revenge thing, and similarly the Steed character evolved. Ian Hendry was missing from the last episode broadcast, because he was keen to move on and he was worried about being typecast. The producers didn’t want the show to die though, so they made the inspired decision to move John Steed up to top billing and recruit a female side-kick for him.

 

The female lead was to be called Cathy Gale, and she was – amazingly for the times - as strong a personality as Steed was. She had a PhD in anthropology and was the widow of a Kenyan farmer who had been murdered by the Mau Mau. She was to be an expert in absolutely everything; more than a match for any man, and of course particularly good at unarmed combat.
They recruited the then 34 year-old Honor Blackman to play her, and that was simply perfect casting. She was a classically trained actress, having been a pupil of the Guildhall School of Acting in London.

 

I’ve always wanted there to have been some secret sexual submissive in the Avengers story, who saw out his fantasies by making Mrs Gale such a dominatrix, but the reality is that most of that came from Honor herself. She got together with the clothes designer Michael Whittaker, who realised that an action girl was more likely to wear trousers and boots (which were just coming into fashion) rather than silly girlie skirts. Honor says that the black leather was all her idea, and looking at her you can believe it, ahem. The show was to become, need I say, a fetishist’s delight.

 

Steed’s wardrobe had been moving towards Edwardian styles during the first series, and he encouraged the wardrobe people to go further with that. He wanted velvet collars, gold watch chains and the hint of a ruff here and there – who wouldn’t? He designed a lot of his own clothes, insisting on a single button and a low waist. His favourite accessories were extravagant cuff links and tie pins. He and The Beatles were both very early pioneers of chunky-heeled, high-sided ‘Chelsea boots’, with elastic panels on both sides. Always black and always very shiny.

 

The humour and the surreal feel of the plots and the sets simply evolved. It seems that no one set out to create it. It didn’t exactly emerge fully formed for the second series, but evolved. When it was in full flow it wasn’t like anything else on television. If you turned the set on and just happened to catch the programme, you knew immediately that it was The Avengers.

 

The pairing of Steed with Mrs Gale was hugely successful. Two series of thirteen episodes were made, and both Patrick and Honor became famous. Patrick, despite being undeniably middle aged, was one of the coolest men in Swinging Britain. His clothes were copied by many, but few had the style he had and were able to look as good as he did.

 

In 1965 Honor Blackman was replaced by Diana Rigg, who became perhaps the archetypal Avengers girl. She played a new character – well, a new version of Cathy Gale – named Emma Peel. She was equally strong and independent but had a touch of vulnerability which Cathy hadn’t had; in some ways more a girl than a woman. She was all ruthless secret agent when it came to dealing with the baddies though. Whereas Cathy Gale had brought judo (or jujitsu, as it was called) to the show, Emma Peel used kung-fu, and in just about every episode could be seen slinging a ne’er-do-well across the set. Her clothes were less ‘leathery’ than Cathy Gale’s, and much more Mod. The costumes were designed by Alun Hughes – at Diana’s suggestion - and were simple but elegant, and very mid-Sixties – though Mrs Peel also appeared in some sort of fancy dress or other on a regular basis, often for the flimsiest of reasons. On yes, and in absolutely everything she wore Diana Rigg was one of the most effortlessly sexy women in Britain, which was of course a great help. Meanwhile, Patrick was being dressed by Cardin.

 

John Steed and Emma Peel were one of the strongest and most stylish icons on Swinging London and the original – and genuine - Cool Britannia. She was never very happy in the role though. She has said that it was a very unfriendly operation, and her only friends were her driver and Patrick himself. After the first series, which was a massive success, she asked for more money from the producers. She had been on £150 a week but demanded £450. The bosses, very wisely, gave her what she was asking.

 

The storylines became more and more bizarre, the plots more surreal and the sets more stylised and other-worldly – and the show went from strength to strength. By 1967 the programme was being shown in more than 70 countries and had brought in over £5 million.
At the end of the second series, in 1968, Diana decided she had had enough and left. The bosses then made a controversial choice and cast Linda Thorson, straight out of drama school, as her replacement. The series’ writers, Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell had become the show’s joint producers, and they were very unhappy with the appointment. Linda was to play a new heroine, Tara King, the unmarried daughter of a wealthy farmer. Linda announced to the press that in future the Avengers girl would wear less leather and more lace – which wasn’t exactly what the audience wanted to hear. The heyday of The Avengers was over.

Linda made 32 episodes through 1969, and then the decision was taken to kill the show. It was the right thing to do. What was undoubtedly the wrong thing to do was then reprise the format as The New Avengers with Joanna Lumley, a new boy – Gareth Hunt, and of course Patrick Macnee. Every thing was wrong; the relationship between the two main characters was broken up by the existence of a third, the glorious theme tune was ruined, John Steed appeared in a hideously un-Steed-like blazer, the sense of light-hearted stylishness had gone, and – perhaps worst of all – they all drove British Leyland cars. The show died a natural death. As did the overly fetishistic 1971 stage show which was spun off from the TV series. And the less we say about the Ralph Fiennes/Uma Thurman 1998 film of the same name, very much the better.

The Patrick Macnee/Diana Rigg Avengers remains on one the most stylish, elegant, winsome television series of all time – with the earlier Macnee/Blackman version just behind it. It was classic television. It was British TV at its Sixties best. And most importantly, it was pure Mod.

 

CARS OF THE STARS

 

THE AVENGERS

Patrick Macnee/John Steed       1928 supercharged Bentley
Honor Blackman/Cathy Gale       Triumph motorcycle
Diana Rigg/Emma Peel                 Lotus Elan
Linda Thorson/Tara King             AC 427, then Lotus Europa

THE NEW AVENGERS
Patrick Macnee/John Steed       Jaguar Broadspeed XJC
Joanna Lumley/Purdey                MGB/Jaguar XJS
Gareth Hunt/Gambit                       XJS/Range Rover/Triumph TR7

 

All the cars used in The New Avengers were supplied by British Leyland, which was going through its worst patch (when they made the Allegro with the square steering wheel). Most were hideous, and unreliability caused the cast and crew endless headaches.

 

TIMELINE

 

1961   First episode transmitted, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee supporting
1962   Series starts, pairing Honor Blackman with Patrick Mcnee
1965   Honor leaves the show, to be replaced by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel
1965   A Touch Of Brimstone banned in the USA
1966   The show goes into colour
1967   Diana Rigg nominated for an Emmy in the USA for her performance
1969   Diana Rigg is replaced by Linda Thorson          
1971   The Avengers stage show opens in London, starring Kate O’Mara, Sue Lloyd and Simon Oates
1972   The Avengers radio series begins in South Africa       
1976   The New Avengers first aired, with Patrick Macnee, Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt

 

TOP TWENTY AVENGERS FACTS

 

• Diana Rigg was born in Doncaster
• One of Patrick Mcnee’s cousins was the TV magician David Nixon
• Patrick Mcnee’s autobiography was called Blind In One Ear
• Gareth Hunt got his acting break as Frederick in the series Upstairs Downstairs
• Honor Blackman was a high profile champion of the Liberal party in the Sixties
• In 2004 Honor Blackman appeared in Coronation Street
• Diana Rigg played Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
• Joanna Lumley was also in OHMSS, in a tiny walk-on part
• Linda Thorson was in Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Steed’s full name was John Wickham Henry de Trafford Steed
• In the stage show Steed was John Wickham Gascoyne Berresford Steed
• Emma Peel was derived from ‘M Appeal’ meaning ‘man appeal’
• Emma, a widow, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, Sir John Knight
• The ‘authorised biography’ of John Steed was called Jealous In Honour
• Honor Blackman has got the most enormous boobies
• Gareth Hunt was a sailor for six years before jumping ship (for which he was jailed)
• Joanna Lumley was born  in Kashmir, where the Kashmir comes from
• Joanna has been in Steptoe And Son, Coronation Street, Are You Being Served? and that really annoying insurance advert.
• In France Linda Thorson was by far the most popular Avengers girl
• The bowler hat was invented by Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester of Holkham in 1850 as protection for his gamekeepers

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

 

Canadian-born Linda Thorson is 59 this year. She is still acting, though she never saw the success achieved by Patrick’s other co-stars.

 

Diana Rigg is now a Dame Commander of the British Empire and is a tall Doric column of the theatrical establishment. She is 63 this year.

 

For Patrick Mcnee, 84 this year, his role in The Avengers was the biggest thing he ever did, but it made him a star. He lives in the USA with his third wife.

 

Honor Blackman, now 79, went on to be a Bond girl and is now a geriatric pin-up, fancied like mad by men who wear beige trousers with elasticated tops.

 

Gorgeous pouting Gareth Hunt, 63, has spent forty years selling coffee on TV and is now best known as an item of rhyming slang.

 

Queen of TV commercials, Joanna Lumley, 60, was a huge hit as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous and is now owned and operated by the National Trust.