I don't recall where I read it now--I've read so many Avengers things I can't keep them all straight in my head. I know I read it fairly early into my interest in the series, though. Possibly in one of the series guides. All I know is that they had it down to the three--Honor, Fenella, and Nyree--and both Nyree and Fenella couldn't take it on because of other commitments, the implication being that it was offered to both of them and they had to turn it down. We all know the old story that Sydney Newman didn't want Honor because of her history of playing submissive, sweet English Rose types, and that when he went on vacation he left express instructions to get "anyone but Honor." So presumably they would have had to offer it to both women, and both would have to turn it down, to end up with Honor. The only thing I don't know is which of the two was the favourite--Fenella or Nyree. I don't know which one got offered it first.Dandy Forsdyke wrote:Timeless A-Peel wrote:They offered it both to her and Nyree Dawn Porter. They both turned it down due to other commitments. As they had it down to three, that left Honor, who pretty much got it by default, even though the casting director had been expressly instructed not to get her. Worked out in the end, though, didn't it?Dandy Forsdyke wrote: I honestly didn't know she had the role but didn't take it. I often wonder what Brian Clemens means about her being 'too English'. I wonder if he means he acting is too eccentric, or as someone else has suggested 'camp'.
Also have to agree with Barry that doing her own stunts would have been a lot to ask. There was no option for a stunt person in the video-era, so I suspect they would have made a Fenella-Cathy Gale a more traditional female side kick.
I know they offered it to Nyree Dawn Porter. It was also suggested by Marie Donaldson (the originator of M Appeal) they cast her after Honor left and Sidney Newman wanted "anyone but" Honor, but I didn't know Fenella was actually offered the part at all. Can you direct me to where you read this? I'm not saying you're mistaken, I'd just like to read it myself.
The casting of the show and the 'what if's also fascinate me. I've googled the auditionees lots of times. I would still like to know who nearly got Joanna's part in TNA, but Brian Clemens found out she had a dreadful laugh.
It is fun ruminating on the possibilities. Presumably you've already seen this:
http://home.scarlet.be/~pvandew1/avenge ... rekers.htm
There's always a bit of an inconsistency in terms of the TNA casting, because Brian Clemens makes out that he knew he wanted Gareth and Joanna right from the get-go because he'd seen them in Upstairs, Downstairs and The Abominable Dr. Phibes, respectively, and that he only went through the whole auditioning process because a) he wanted to convince Albert Fennell/Laurie Johnson/Mary Selway that he was right by letting them see who else was out there for themselves, and b) looking for a new Avengers girl was great publicity. This tends to add up because Selway wasn't too keen on Joanna: "We can't have gone through hundreds of girls just to end up with bloody Joanna Lumley!" On the flip side, Joanna says she had to beg for an audition (although she's since admitted she's exaggerated the story and it's more fiction than fact), and both Gareth and Joanna were convinced they didn't have a hope in hell of being cast (although that might have something to do with the whole table-breaking incident). Even the fact that they paired Gareth and Joanna up to be screentested is a bit suspicious--it was supposedly random, but really? So when everything seems to indicate that Clemens wanted Joanna, it seems a bit odd that he was so interested in someone else for the role. I don't know how close the "awful laugh" girl was to being cast. But one would assume it was one of the girls who got to the screentesting stage, which were:
Ann Zelda, Joanna, Cassandra Harris, Diana Quick, and Gabrielle Drake.
Interestingly, only three men were screentested: Gareth, Lewis Collins, and Harry Meacher, which makes me think they must have doubled up the testing, although Gareth never made any mention of that. He did say Patrick Mower was in with a good chance, but Mower was never short-listed.
