If not Linda, then who?

moorlock2003 · Post by **moorlock2003** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:10 am

None of the women mentioned above as an imagined partner for Steed instead of Linda Thorson had the one ingredient that she had - stunning looks; an absolute requirement.

Philippa · Post by **Philippa** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:55 am

I beg to differ on that one.
In my opinion Joanna Lumley definitely has the required stunning looks, and she definitely had them back then in the late 60's.

DiVicenzo · Post by **DiVicenzo** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:08 am

Timeless A-Peel wrote:
Dandy Forsdyke wrote:
Philippa wrote:Oh I didn't even know she auditioned for the stage production! Where did you read that?
And you're right, Joanna had no acting experience whatsoever, they would've never picked her back then..
I can't remember now, but it must be one of the Rogers books or his fanzines. There's nothing to be found by the quick web-search I just did...
It pops up in a few places--my Rogers and Gillis guide, and probably another of his books as well. It also says in the former that a young Joanna was excited to meet Diana once, and got her autograph. No idea if that's true, or if it happened onset in OHMSS (when she really wasn't that young--they make her sound like a teenager).

The autograph story is in Joanna's first autobiography or a biography and it wasn't on OHMSS but at a theatre stage door!

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:07 pm

DiVicenzo wrote:
Timeless A-Peel wrote:
Dandy Forsdyke wrote: I can't remember now, but it must be one of the Rogers books or his fanzines. There's nothing to be found by the quick web-search I just did...
It pops up in a few places--my Rogers and Gillis guide, and probably another of his books as well. It also says in the former that a young Joanna was excited to meet Diana once, and got her autograph. No idea if that's true, or if it happened onset in OHMSS (when she really wasn't that young--they make her sound like a teenager).

The autograph story is in Joanna's first autobiography or a biography and it wasn't on OHMSS but at a theatre stage door!

Ah, yes, I knew I'd seen it somewhere (these facts tend to float around unachored in my brain. I've read too many books and articles on this series to know what came from where anymore). Thanks Barry!

cyberrich · Post by **cyberrich** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:11 pm

Interesting to read some of your replies to this thread that I started a few weeks ago. My feeling is that I am happy they picked Linda. After a few unsure performances when she was still gaining confidence, everything suddenly gelled with her performances. If you watch them in production order you'll see what I mean. By the late spring of '68 she was giving a very assured performance. Her best ever was in Who was that man I saw you with? So, Linda was perfect for the modern surreal feel of season 6. Had the Avengers continued into the early 70s, out of all the suggestions so far, Catherine Schell would be my choice for Steed's new partner in the season that was never made! Bridging the gap between Linda and TNA. We can only guess as to the wonderful episodes that would have been made.

darren · Post by **darren** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:02 pm

cyberrich wrote:Interesting to read some of your replies to this thread that I started a few weeks ago. My feeling is that I am happy they picked Linda. After a few unsure performances when she was still gaining confidence, everything suddenly gelled with her performances. If you watch them in production order you'll see what I mean. By the late spring of '68 she was giving a very assured performance. Her best ever was in Who was that man I saw you with? So, Linda was perfect for the modern surreal feel of season 6. Had the Avengers continued into the early 70s, out of all the suggestions so far, Catherine Schell would be my choice for Steed's new partner in the season that was never made! Bridging the gap between Linda and TNA. We can only guess as to the wonderful episodes that would have been made.

I think the reason that Linda thrives in episodes like "Who was that man i saw you with?" is because she got a great script to work on that wrote to her strengths. Tara was written very inconsistently mostly. It's all credit to Linda that she made any sense of the character considering how all over the place Tara was at times.

I think that Linda works well with the more team aspect that the series developed for season 6 (with Mother and the involvement of other agents in the department).

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 12:28 am

Philippa wrote:I beg to differ on that one.
In my opinion Joanna Lumley definitely has the required stunning looks, and she definitely had them back then in the late 60's.

She wouldn't have been a very successful model otherwise... I also think Australia's Annette Andre was particularly striking.

Philippa · Post by **Philippa** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:17 am

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:
Philippa wrote:I beg to differ on that one.
In my opinion Joanna Lumley definitely has the required stunning looks, and she definitely had them back then in the late 60's.
She wouldn't have been a very successful model otherwise...

I rest my case

DrAndreq · Post by **DrAndreq** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:40 am

I think Anneke Wills (The £500,000 breakfast, Doctor Who) could have made a good Tara, she's the epitome of 60s style!

DiVicenzo · Post by **DiVicenzo** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:49 am

DrAndreq wrote:I think Anneke Wills (The £500,000 breakfast, Doctor Who) could have made a good Tara, she's the epitome of 60s style!

Trivia: She was also married to Michael Gough who was in 'The Correct Way To Kill' - I liked her actually.