what would you change?

[Cariheart]

Hmm...thinking hard-well, hardly thinking really cause to me it's the most sensible ending to the show(pre-TNA that is). Firstly, I'ld like to say I've never seen the episode Bizarre but I have seen that final scene- how ridiculous! Even for The Avengers! No, I would have Steed and King getting the recognition they deserve for their duty to protect queen and country by promoting King to higher rank and honouring Steed with a metal of the highest honour of course! Something along those lines.

yes and perhaps a little kisisng scene between steed and tara...

Ah..but my daydreams have Steed and Emma together again and doing just a tad more than kissing...but that's for another post (cough).

[Mrs. Peel]

Hmm...thinking hard-well, hardly thinking really cause to me it's the most sensible ending to the show(pre-TNA that is). Firstly, I'ld like to say I've never seen the episode Bizarre but I have seen that final scene- how ridiculous! Even for The Avengers! No, I would have Steed and King getting the recognition they deserve for their duty to protect queen and country by promoting King to higher rank and honouring Steed with a metal of the highest honour of course! Something along those lines.

yes and perhaps a little kisisng scene between steed and tara...

Ah..but my daydreams have Steed and Emma together again and doing just a tad more than kissing...but that's for another post (cough).

my daydreams too ...

[Dandy Forsdyke]

Kissing is very un-Avengers ....

In my third (and final) New Avengers season I'd have special appearances by Tara King, and particularly Cathy Gale who was never in a filmed or colour episode but was still young enough to run around in leather.

[Timeless A-Peel]

In my third (and final) New Avengers season I'd have special appearances by Tara King, and particularly Cathy Gale who was never in a filmed or colour episode but was still young enough to run around in leather.

Good one, Dandy. I'd have loved to see appearances by Tara and Cathy (and Emma). TNA was always very aware of its history, so it would fit. It'd be fun to see them interact with Purdey and Gambit (Purdey, I suspect, wouldn't be thrilled with the competition ).

[Mrs. Peel]

It would be interesting if Cathy, Emma, Tara and Purdey would meet each other...

[Dandy Forsdyke]

In my third (and final) New Avengers season I'd have special appearances by Tara King, and particularly Cathy Gale who was never in a filmed or colour episode but was still young enough to run around in leather.

Good one, Dandy. I'd have loved to see appearances by Tara and Cathy (and Emma). TNA was always very aware of its history, so it would fit. It'd be fun to see them interact with Purdey and Gambit (Purdey, I suspect, wouldn't be thrilled with the competition ).

The last episodes, filmed in Canada, could easily have had Tara turn up.

I always thought it was appropriate that The Avengers finally made it to Canada, considering it's history, but they should have made more of it - have them all finally reporting to a boss called Sydney perhaps?

The tag could have been Gambit talking to Tara and asking how she and Steed came down off the rocket ...

[Timeless A-Peel]

Good one, Dandy. I'd have loved to see appearances by Tara and Cathy (and Emma). TNA was always very aware of its history, so it would fit. It'd be fun to see them interact with Purdey and Gambit (Purdey, I suspect, wouldn't be thrilled with the competition ).

The last episodes, filmed in Canada, could easily have had Tara turn up.

I always thought it was appropriate that The Avengers finally made it to Canada, considering it's history, but they should have made more of it - have them all finally reporting to a boss called Sydney perhaps?

The tag could have been Gambit talking to Tara and asking how she and Steed came down off the rocket ...

It would have been a wonderful in-joke to have Tara reappear in Canada (bonus if she got to talking about that space trip to Gambit ). But the Canadian episodes are something else I dearly wish I could change. Canada produces such good TV--really! We have great actors and writers and directors. I don't know who they had doing the hiring, but they could have done a better job. The first thing I would have done is take it out of Toronto. Toronto wasn't a good choice for the Avengers. I would've moved it to Ottawa, which looks much more British, or Victoria (if they were willing to get out of Ontario). If they wanted to do panaromas, I'd send them to Lake Louise. There are so many great Canadian settings they could have used. I'd have liked them to exploit those. And less of the cringeworthy Canadian lumberjackish stereotyping please.

[Mona]

I am of the firm belief that Mother had taken some sort of medication, perhaps a pain med due to his paralyzing injury, and the whole rocket bit was a very intense hallucination.

As we know via a toaster, Steed was not entirely that handy with mechanics.

As we also know via his black book, charisma, good looks, charm and libido, Mother's hallucination of Steed and Tara "up there" no doubt became quite graphic; or maybe that is my own hallucination kicking in!

[Mona]

Hello, Timeless,

As you said, no one is going to change any minds, but your comments below were provocative enough for me that I feel compelled to respond to some of them.

TIMELESS: I don't think Cathy had a thing for Steed at all.

****Re: Cathy and Steed. We are left at the end of the very intriguing and enjoyable episode "Man With Two Shadows" with the implication that Cathy could identify Steed solely by viewing his body...that infers that at some point she has seen it unclothed. The two of them then burst out laughing which puts such a possible memory at least in a positive light. I think she did want him, and perhaps early on they did indeed sleep together, but then Cathy realized that Steed was not ready to settle down and commit to her, so she stopped any further sexual intimacy. She was not willing to simply be one more mare in his stable. Steed remembered and wanted more, so thus his playful advances.

TIMELESS: I always find it bemusing when people use Purdey’s affection for one of her partners to nix any affection for the other. Here’s my take on it.Steed and Purdey had no chemistry. Zilch. Let’s get that out of the way right from the start. As much as Joanna and Patrick may have enjoyed working together, they just never clicked onscreen.

****Well, chemistry is perhaps subjective per viewer. In my mind and with my watching the shows, there was chemistry there, indeed. Purdey and Steed together was very good viewing, easy to watch, some good banter and they developed into a solid, dependable friendship. Certainly, Steed was closer to Purdey in some ways than he was with any other woman we saw him with--he shared things about himself to her which we never heard him doing with even Emma (for instance, his horrific injuries after his first go over the Berlin wall).

TIMELESS: I think he wants to keep Purdey at arm’s length.

****I appreciate that's your own personal point of view. However, the shows writers and producers did not see things the same way, apparently, with Purdey essentially living at Steed's home in numerous episodes in the second season, with that apparent implication. One doesn't have to buy into the nuances, but they were put there by TNA.

TIMELESS: Now Purdey, well, Purdey has a few issues. We get a very good insight into Purdey’s reasons for acting the way she does in “Obsession.” She was engaged to a man who went off the rails, tried to murder a diplomat, then slapped her around when she tried to stop him. Needless to say, this left her with a couple issues when it came to relationships—she’s afraid to get into anything serious lest it all go bad and she ends up hurt again. Steed, to her, is safe ground. If he keeps her at arm’s length, then nothing terrible’s going to happen, and if they did have some sort of liaison, I think it’d be fleeting and nothing much would come of it. So either way he’s well-within her comfort zone. She can flirt with him quite safely and never have to worry about it going somewhere that might get too serious.

****That's a very nice Purdey analysis, Timeless; an interesting psychoanalysis of her. I agree that Steed and Purdey would not become any type of permanent item, for the only reason that Steed's heart is solely affixed to Emma Peel. No one is saying that they got married! Steed, Purdey, Gambit, probably everyone knows that Steed's heart is loyal to his love for Emma. That doesn't mean that Purdey and Steed didn't still develop an intimacy, based on those open and apparent rules.

TIMELESS: Now we come to the nub of the matter. Does Purdey have any romantic interests in Gambit? Absolutely. No question. In an alternate universe with no Larry Doomer, Purdey and Gambit would have been lovers ages ago.

****Of course, I strongly disagree. But, again, it's interesting to me to read your narrative and get behind a mindset which is quite foreign to me. A keen benefit of this type of Forum. I learn a lot reading posts here and it does make me think.

TIMELESS: Purdey’s been burned by Larry, she’s scared of anything serious, and Gambit’s serious. Very serious. I genuinely think Purdey is the girl Gambit’s willing to give up all the others for. I’ve never bought the idea that he just wants her as the next conquest, or because she’s the first to ever turn him down. Gambit has no problem getting women. Why chase Purdey? Isn’t that a lot of work just to be able to brag about in the office the next day? Reading Gambit as all guns and sex is very simplistic, and doesn’t pay service to the layers they gave the characters in TNA, Gambit included. No, he’s willing to go the distance. He’s still hoping for “one of these days,” and he makes it known. That puts the ball firmly in Purdey’s court, and it leads to her instigate their push-pull relationship.

****Well, I think the above is an interesting discussion but I'm not sure we see anything of the sort in TNA. We know Gambit wants Purdey, but I can't say I ever say anything along the lines of him settling down with her. I would say the show seemed to put Gambit solidly in the line of his work as an agent, with that being what he took seriously first and foremost. I never saw any expression of him wanting to become permanently involved with any woman. In fact, his use of women seemed to be presented as it was, really, solely about the sex, and his primary focus in life was being an agent.

TIMELESS: Purdey wants Gambit, but she’s afraid to get involved with someone again. In the meantime, she doesn’t want anyone else to have him, either. If she’s not interested in him, why does she care about his little black book? Why does she make snarky little jealous comments about his dates? She doesn’t seem to care about any of Steed’s women—on the contrary, she’s quite charitable about them. She liked Tricia, she smoothed things over with Suzy. But she’s always annoyed when she hears or sees anything about Gambit and another woman. Why does she care if he gets “carried away” with the lovely Olga? Why has she been gathering intel on his love life so she can quiz him about it in “To Catch a Rat”? What does she fob off Dr. LeParge in “K is for Kill”? (And why doesn’t she keep her eyes to herself whenever Gambit’s blanket slips in “The Three-Handed Game”?) Sometimes she gets brave and indulges herself, like when she kisses him in “Sleeper.” (Steed gets a peck on the cheek). Her reaction to his supposed demise in “Faces” speaks volumes. I could go on. There’s no shortage of examples.

****Good points, but it could also be interpreted that because Purdey realized Gambit was still in massive sleep around phase, he was completely not appropriate for any type of relationship. After all, as I said, she didn't take him home for dinner with her mother, as she had another agent. Perhaps her vetting of his love life even turned her more away from even considering being with him--1) because Steed was there and no one looks better than Steed and 2) Gambit wasn't showing any type of resolve or commitment to Purdey. I find it hard to believe that Gambit really wanted Purdey, and showed it by not telling her that, and by sleeping with any other woman he picked up. With Steed, at least, things were very clear--he cared VERY deeply about her, was open to sex as friends (inferred via Season Two), but nothing permanent could happen due to Emma Peel. And, when Steed is with Purdey, (Dead Men, Angels of Death, Medium Rare) he is not with any other woman. With Gambit, Purdey got no clarity of any sort, and just saw him always with someone else, obviously for sex. So, how would any woman naturally think "Gosh, then Gambit must really be ready to settle down with me." That seems like a huge leap to me.


TIMELESS: Sometimes the characterization took a wrong turn for the sake of the plot).

****Yeah, the whole "She's Purdey" at the end of "Obsession" also wreaks of obtuse chauvinism from Steed and Gambit.

TIMELESS: The whole emphasis on the Steed/Purdey relationship actually wreaks havoc with continuity in the process, and it weakens the dynamics—Steed and Purdey are both more fun with Gambit in the mix. By the time we drift toward the end of the season, you can see the writers were starting to realise things weren’t working, and they start putting Purdey and Gambit together again, and the spark comes back. By “Forward Base” they’re having nice little discussions about whether men would ever up and leave women they loved. Boy, I wonder what brought that on?

****Well, for me, I would be happy to see Gambit leave the show and just have it be Steed and Purdey. Purdey is my favorite Avengers female, so that would be a win-win for me!

****I'm also not sure what you mean that Steed and Purdey together upsets the continuity of the show. What continuity are you referring to?

****Forward Base is not an episode about Purdey and Gambit--the best scenes are with Steed fighting the man in the little shop and then him talking to Purdey and Gambit when they relay the man walked into the sea. One line exchanged between the two of them is hardly a decisive premise of their being together, or even referring to each other. That seems a bit of a reach.

TIMELESS: They just needed to get their mess together.

****Well, I hope they do one day for you. They can have a double wedding with Steed and Emma.

And now I'm tired!

[Frankymole]

It would have been a wonderful in-joke to have Tara reappear in Canada (bonus if she got to talking about that space trip to Gambit ). But the Canadian episodes are something else I dearly wish I could change. Canada produces such good TV--really! We have great actors and writers and directors. I don't know who they had doing the hiring, but they could have done a better job. The first thing I would have done is take it out of Toronto. Toronto wasn't a good choice for the Avengers. I would've moved it to Ottawa, which looks much more British, or Victoria (if they were willing to get out of Ontario). If they wanted to do panaromas, I'd send them to Lake Louise. There are so many great Canadian settings they could have used. I'd have liked them to exploit those. And less of the cringeworthy Canadian lumberjackish stereotyping please.

Whereabouts did Patrick Macnee work when he was based in Canadian television? Was it Toronto? I don't know if anyone he knew in the industry was still working in it then, and/or still in contact. It might have been nice if some of his old telly buddies had been able to help out with locations, casting etc.