Diana Rigg Replacement Screentests

Rodders · Post by **Rodders** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:05 pm

Lhbizness wrote:Diana Rigg is a hard act to follow, period. So was Honor Blackman. But you have to admit that Tara is not a particularly strong or well-drawn character, script-wise, and so any actress would have had an uphill battle.

I personally would have loved to see Annette Andre in the part, simply because she'd already proven that she and Macnee had excellent chemistry (and she might have delivered the more...insipid lines with a bit of panache).

She was wonderful opposite Macnee in Mandrake; great chemistry between them. My father was there when they were recording it and there was clearly a great rapport.

Richy · Post by **Richy** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:10 pm

Rodders, was your father involved in the series?

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:05 pm

Richy wrote:Annette Andre would have been good. Not sure about Gabrielle Drake though. She was nearly Purdey in TNA, Victoria Waterfield and Jo Grant in Dr Who.

Richy

If Annette Andre had been cast in The Avengers then someone else would have had to play Jeannie Hopkirk in the original Randall and Hopkirk, which entererd production at the same studio (Associated British Elstree) in June 1968, as The Avengers was still in production then.

darren · Post by **darren** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:23 pm

Richy wrote:Rodders, was your father involved in the series?

I'll jump in with:

Rodney's father is writer Roger Marshall who wrote -

The Removal Men (with Jeremy Scott)
Death of a Great Dane (with Jeremy Scott)
The Golden Fleece (with Phyllis Norman)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station (re-written by Brian Clemens, credited as Brian Sheriff)

Conspiracy of Silence
Death of a Batman

The Gilded Cage
Mandrake

The Hour That Never Was
Dial a Deadly Number
Silent Dust
Room Without a View
The Girl from Auntie
The Danger Makers

The £50,000 Breakfast

Richy · Post by **Richy** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:24 pm

That's true and nobady could have played that part better than here.

Richy · Post by **Richy** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:46 pm

Wow, thanks Daren. Theya re some of my favourite episodes

Johnny O · Post by **Johnny O** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:34 am

Richy wrote:Annette Andre would have been good. Not sure about Gabrielle Drake though. She was nearly Purdey in TNA, Victoria Waterfield and Jo Grant in Dr Who.

I'd forgotten about Annette. She would have been a good pick indeed.

I really like Gabrielle Drake and she was the best thing about UFO. However, I can't imagine her as Tara and even less so as Purdey. I know that's partly because it's so hard to imagine anyone but the actresses who actually did it, but she doesn't seem right for either role. She would have been hopelessly miscast as Jo Grant for sure. Mind you Shakira Caine and Rula Lenska were both up for Jo Grant too and I cannot imagine two more inappropriate actresses for that part. Apart from Hattie Jacques. And Ann Haydon Jones and her husband Pip...

Richy · Post by **Richy** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:57 am

I agree about Gabrielle Drake as Jo Grant, however I think Rula Lenska would have made a different Jo. She was Jon Pertwee's choice according to Barry Letts and the character was originally concieved as being more on par with a Avengers girl.

Johnny O · Post by **Johnny O** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 7:35 am

Richy wrote:I agree about Gabrielle Drake as Jo Grant, however I think Rula Lenska would have made a different Jo. She was Jon Pertwee's choice according to Barry Letts and the character was originally concieved as being more on par with a Avengers girl.

Actually the story goes that Jon Pertwee saw Katy Manning in the lobby of TV Centre, but he didn't know who she was. He told Barry Letts he'd seen the perfect girl for the part of Jo Grant and that they should bring her in. Since Letts didn't know who he was talking about, there was nothing he could do. He eventually saw around 200 actresses and Rula Lenska, Yuette Stensgard, Gabrielle Drake, Anouska Hempel, Cheryl Hall, Sally McCracken and Shakira Caine were all shortlisted. At the very last minute, Katy Manning showed up and at first Letts refused to see her as he felt he'd found the actress he wanted. He agreed to audition her and knew immediately she was perfect. When he told Jon Pertwee and introduced them to each other, Pertwee exclaimed "I told you she was the right girl!"

Meanwhile, back in Avengerworld...

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:28 pm

Richy wrote:Mike R, I can see Jane Merrow in the role, also I think Valerie Van Ost, Reed and Peach would have been good too. Would love to have been able to see the complete list of actresses who were considered. Alas I guess we will never know.

myself, Van Ost would have been fine, but hey, Thorson was the best possible replacement