Mrs Peel, We're Needed - Ministry bulletins

Just drive, she said

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:45:00 +1000

The transport for series 1 of The New Avengers has been updated, correcteed, appended and illustrated, and I've started on the fashion guide for the same series... stay tuned!

Come fly with me

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 09:00:00 +1000

The transport for series 1 and 2 have been updated and illustrated, spotted Val Musetti in Six Hands Across the Table and Harry 'Aitch' Fielder has identified Roy Everson in The See Through Man.

Reg'lar as clockwork

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:00:00 +1100

The regular guest cast page has been updated to pull directly from the cast and crew database making it much faster and more useable - but no good for search engines... swings and roundabouts.

Zero as a limit

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:45:00 +1100

A quick reworking of the cast and crew database as I've discovered a limit to the Javascript sorting limits - more than 10,000 records seems to be A Bridge Too Far without sending in some extra engineers.

Three-Handed Game

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:30:00 +1100

The New Avengers gets cast and crew lists generated from the database, and, as usual, a couple more extras have been identified. The database has expanded to 10,057 records, as it now covers informational data (I really need to make it a real database now).

Tara King reigns supreme

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:21:21 +1100

Series 6 gets cast and crew lists generated from the database as well, and a couple more extras have been identified along the way.

Mrs Peel gets some love

Wed, 6 Mar 2013 20:40:00 +1100

Series 4 and 5 get cast and crew lists generated from the database, correcting years of inconsistencies and, let's face it, mis-identifications and mistakes on the website.

Casting a line

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:15:00 +1100

The first three series get cast and crew lists generated from the database, stay tuned for the rest!.

Extra interests

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:10:00 +1100

A couple more mugshots for Series One - including Steed's "Puppy", and several of extras for Man-eater of Surrey Green, courtesy of Britmovies.

Spotlight Actors & Actresses, 1961

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:55:00 +1100

Well, not quite the 1961 Spotlight directory - if anyone has a copy, I'd love to buy it! Another fourteen actors are illustrated for Series One after a bit of painstaking research and watching lots of film; not all are to my usual standard, so expect more changes soon. By the way, my heartfelt thanks to Alan Hayes for his assistance.

I've also changed the carousel so it steps through the images rather than rushing through them. Don't forget, the enlargements are massive: 1200x900 - so if they appear smaller, make your browser window bigger! The sire responds to your device, so will fit in as required.

Happy birthday, Patrick Macnee

Wed, 6 Feb 2013 21:20:00 +1100

Our leading man turns 91 today, and to celebrate (sort of), the cast and crew database has been updated again, now with 9,439 records which now indicate differences between the broadcast credits and the correct details (marked in italics, for now); I'll be adding the general information (such as "PLUS 6 male and 3 female extras") and look to have a single source of truth from now on.

Credit where credit's due

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:30:00 +1100

The cast and crew database has been updated to cover new discoveries for Series One, correct minor inconsistencies in the data, and better credits for the crew, especially for The New Avengers - the episode pages will be updated in the next week or so to match.

Towards a sustainable tomorrow

Sun, 6 Jan 2013 11:10:00 +1100

The other shows pages have been reworked to use the same database as the cast and crew database, which makes them load faster and work better in the new design. The calendar also now uses the same data as the main screens.

Richard McGinlay has also kindly supplied four new title cars for Series 1 - reworking three and supplying one for the previously unillustrated Dance with Death.

"This is the modern world"

Tue, 1 Jan 2013 18:25:00 +1100

2013 starts with the launch of the new responsive design for the website; maybe Paul Weller sang those words, more years ago than I care to remember, in anticipation of this, rather than about Vespas and sharp suits. You may now happily use the site on any mobile device and it will adapt accordingly; if your screen is big enough, you'll get nice glossy magazine layouts. I've shed some of the redundant sections, but be wary of some of the more content-heavy sections which still have three or four column layouts; I'll modify them in the coming weeks to make them more responsive. Let me know if you encounter any problems!

Interrogators identified

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:15:00 +1000

Some bit part players identified in The Interrogators - thanks to Mike.

Cast updates

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:45:00 +1000

A range of updates to cast lists for Game, Super Secret Cypher Snatch, They Keep Killing Steed, The Rotters, Take Me to Your Leader and Who was that Man I saw you with? as new evidence comes to light; corrections to The Midas Touch and the first ever television appearance of industry stalwart Rocky Taylor in The Grandeur that was Rome - thanks to Gerald, Ron, Mike and, of course, Alan.

Cast 'database'

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 06:05:00 +1000

I've uploaded a simple cast and crew look-up form - it has 9,263 records, covering all 187 episodes on The Avengers, old and New. Give it a go and let me know if you have any issues; I did all my testing with Opera and Firefox which handled the huge table with no difficulty.

The New Avengers in Canada

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +1000

Series Two of 'The New Avengers' has been re-illustrated with better cast photos, adding 64 additional extras - mostly in Obsession (10 party guests), K is for Kill (22 soldiers in part 1, 3 in part 2), The Gladiators (15 tourists). Once again, just one trivia update, see if you can spot it. Some of the images are poor, I'll do a proper reviewing when there's a remastered set. 35th Anniversary was last year, so maybe we can hope for a 40th...

Don't believe anything

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:30:00 +1000

Diana Rigg passed Linda Thorson on the stairs a month early than you all thought.

For years, it has been widely believed that Diana Rigg filmed her final scene in The Forget-Me-Knot with Linda Thorson on 18 January 1968 but diligent researcher Denis recently been unearthed the promotional photograph of the scene in Dutch newspapers dated 21 December 1967. Never believe anything without evidence! That's how religions start...

Give me strength...

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:45:00 +1000

I'm re-capturing all the French and Russian soldiers in K is for Kill and the title seems quite appropriate.

Livin' in the Seventies

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 06:45:00 +1000

Series One of 'The New Avengers' has been re-illustrated with better cast photos, adding 106 additional extras and deleting 4 duplications. Notably, The Eagle's Nest gained 43, mostly nazi monks, and The Midas Touch gained 42, mostly in the museum and party scenes. Dirtier by the Dozen gains 6, but loses all 4 duplications as well. Sadly, some of the images are poor, there being no remastered DVDs or Bluray to source, so there is just one trivia update, see if you can spot it!

Double Danger rewrite

Thu, 5 Jul 2012 17:00:00 +1000

Another update for Series One: it seems I had the wrong end of this stick regarding the rewrite of Double Danger. It was Gerald Verner who wrote the original and was outraged at John Lucarotti's rewritten script, rather than the other way around. Context is everything!

Brought Back to Book

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:45:00 +1000

A rare update for Series One: Brought to Book gets several new cast photos, with thanks to our kind benefactor.

"I spend all my money on new noses"

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:45:00 +1000

Way-out surgeon Circe Bishop announces the completion of (this round of) updates for Series Six.

Requiem (added 8 extras and 30 more trivia items),
Take-Over (added 12 more trivia items),
Bizarre (added 1 extra [Jack Arrow!] and 18 more trivia items).

"Execution Department, Please"

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:25:00 +1000

The best line in the worst episode. More updates for Series Six.

Who Was That Man I Saw You With? (added 21 more trivia items),
Pandora (added 15 more trivia items),
Thingumajig (added 10 more trivia items),
Homicide and Old Lace (added seven cast members and 29 more trivia items - and new respect for a bad episode).

jQuery is here

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 10:00:00 +1000

I noticed the litebox had a conflict with adf.ly so, ten minutes later, I'd deployed jQuery and rewritten all my scripts. Shazam! Much better cast photo displays. (BTW, adf.ly will only appear a maximum of ten times a day, so don't let it put you off).

"I can't bear traps"

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:30:00 +1000

More updates for Series Six

Stay tuned (added 28 more trivia items),
Take Me to Your Leader (added two cast members and 18 more trivia items),
Fog (16 more trivia items)

Print yourself a calendar

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:30:00 +1000

I've improved the layout of the Glossy Calendar view for the Avengers Calendar - you still might need to paste the output into Word or another programme to get the page breaks exactly where you want them though.

A True Sense of History

Fri, 18 May 2012 22:20:00 +1000

I'm still working on episode updates but I thought, as there was no decent calendar this year, to rework my burgeoning Avengers Calendar to give it a new option to do traditional calendar month layouts, with a big glossy random picture for each month. No two the same!

Vectis Auction of Avengers memorabilia

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:05:00 +1000

Teeside auction house Vectis have an auction at 10:30am GMT, 15 May 2012, which includes a lot of "The Avengers" items - corgi toys, books, contact sheets, publicity stills, stage play programme, and more. Examine the lots in the auction here. Remember you can search the lots for Avengers material and bid online.

Trivia contest

Fri, 11 May 2012 20:08:00 +1000

After listening to the excellent commentary for Love All I've added another 4 trivia items. I've stepped back in time, too, and updated trivia for episodes from Series Three (Brief for Murder, The Nutshell, The Undertakers, Build a Better Mousetrap, The Gilded Cage, The Charmers and Lobster Quadrille and Lobster Quadrille : cast and crew); Four (The Gravediggers, The Murder Market, A Surfeit of H2O, The Hour that Never Was, & Man-eater of Surrey Green); and Five (The See-Through Man, Epic, The Superlative Seven, Something Nasty In The Nursery, Dead Man's Treasure, You Have Just Been Murdered, & Mission... Highly Improbable) as well.

"They'll never fit this into paperback"

Tue, 8 May 2012 23:20:00 +1000

So says Steed as a weighty manuscript is dispenses by the piano computer in Love All, updated today : 3 more extras and 24 more trivia items.

"Do you think the world's ended and they forgot to tell us?"

Fri, 4 May 2012 21:30:00 +1000

So says Merlin to Steed in The Morning After, updated today.

The Morning After (added 18 extras and 26 more trivia items)

"You don't believe all this rot, do you?"

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:15:00 +1000

So says Tara to the villain in The Rotters, updated today.

The Rotters (added 11 more trivia items),
The Interrogators (added 33 extras and 14 more trivia items)

"Patrick Macnee is just like he is on screen; charming and suave, very hard to read his thoughts"

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:20:00 +1000

More updates for Series Six. Three episodes get their own makeover:

They Keep Killing Steed (added 31 extras and 20 more trivia items),
Wish You Were Here (added 24 extras and 16 more trivia items),
Killer (added 27 more trivia items)

The extras for the first two episodes nearly broke me... They Keep Killing Steed took 9 days to complete.

"Plucky, but from the wrong side of the hill"

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:20:00 +1100

More updates for Series Six. Five episodes get their own makeover:

Super Secret Cypher Snatch (added 26 more trivia items),
Game (added 21 more trivia items),
False Witness (added 14 more trivia items),
Noon Doomsday (added an extra and 12 more trivia items),
Legacy of Death (added an extra and 11 more trivia items)

Rhonda and Mother now have even better mugshots, taken from Noon Doomsday and Super Secret Cypher Snatch (this update's title is from False Witness).

I shall need two technical nurses, ...

Sun, 4 Mar 2012 21:35:00 +1100

...a stand-by programmer and an electrical aneasthetist.
More updates for Series Six. Four episodes get their own makeover:

My Wildest Dream (added 15 more trivia items),
Whoever Shot Poor George/XR40? (added 13 more trivia items),
You'll Catch Your Death (added 15 more trivia items),
All Done with Mirrors (added an extra and 14 more trivia items)

All the mugshots are 500x400 (or smaller for some of the bit parts). Mother and Rhonda get gorgeous new mugshots, taken from You'll Catch Your Death (the quote for this update's title is from Whoever Shot Poor George/XR40?).

I need to check PayPal more often!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:05:00 +1100

A big thank you to everyone who has supported us with a PayPal payment.

Runaway people escape with Lizard Vodka

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:35:00 +1100

Announcing the beginning of a makeover for Series Six, I've taken this image from Get-a-way!, which guest stars the fabulous Peter Bowles.
Six episodes get their own makeover:

Invasion of the Earthmen (dropped one duplicated cast member and 11 more trivia items),
The Curious Case of the Countless Clues (added a doorman and 7 more trivia items),
Split! (32 more trivia items),
Get-a-way! (added 3 extras and 8 more trivia items),
Have Guns, Will Haggle (added 8 extras and 10 more trivia items),
Look - (stop me if you've heard this one) but There Were These Two Fellers... (19 more trivia items)

All the mugshots are 500x400 (or smaller for some of the bit parts). Steed and Tara get gorgeous new 800x640 mugshots, taken from Get-a-way!.

Happy birthday, Steed

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 07:25:00 +1100

Happy 90^th birthday, Patrick Macnee. This site wouldn't exist without you.

Credit where credit's due

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:55:00 +1100

In honour of his impending 90^th birthday, I've dedicated the website to Patrick Macnee and returned to the brown colour scheme.

Uncredited - until now

Mon, 9 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +1100

Thanks to the kind folk of the Britmovies forum, some extras have been identified for several Tara King episodes - Game (Max Faulkner), Super Secret Cypher Snatch (Paddy Ryan and Arthur Howell), and You'll Catch Your Death (Eden Fox).