Trivia Video

Castle De'ath · Post by **Castle De'ath** » Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:20 pm

Hello all, if you saw my previous topic in this section you should be aware that I now operate an Avengers based channel on YouTube. Lately I've been brainstorming various video ideas. I thought it would be neat to create a short trivia video for fans at home to play along with. But, I'm really no expert on the show. So, I thought I would ask you fine folks to contribute some pieces of trivia for the video. Full credit would be given in the description of course. So, how about a little round of Avengers trivia? Got any interesting tidbits you think would be worth adding to it? All levels of difficulty are accepted!

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:13 am

Good idea! I'll have to have a think.

There were some trivia bits on the "Granada Plus Points" on the 1990s/2000s repeats and early DVD releases in the UK, like how many glasses of campaign were consumed and how many bowler hats Steed wore, but I have a feeling some of those might've been made up! They usually played as the lead-in or out from commercial breaks.

Some of the edicts issued by the producer have some very interesting "do's and don'ts".

There is a fun little quiz here: http://theavengers.tv/forever/trivia.htm

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:14 am

You'll probably definitely want to include how Emma Peel got her name.

"A-Peel by Any Other Name. One of the most popular tales is how Emma Peel got her name. After Honor Blackman (who played Cathy Gale) left the series, concerns were raised about what to name her replacement character. The studio's press officer, Marie Donaldson, had a brainstorm: the character would have "man-appeal." This was shortened to "m-appeal." Emma Peel!" - from The Avengers Forever, David K. Smith's site.

Castle De'ath · Post by **Castle De'ath** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:20 pm

Frankymole wrote:You'll probably definitely want to include how Emma Peel got her name.

"A-Peel by Any Other Name. One of the most popular tales is how Emma Peel got her name. After Honor Blackman (who played Cathy Gale) left the series, concerns were raised about what to name her replacement character. The studio's press officer, Marie Donaldson, had a brainstorm: the character would have "man-appeal." This was shortened to "m-appeal." Emma Peel!" - from The Avengers Forever, David K. Smith's site.

That's a great one! I'll add it to the list. I'll also probably include something about Elizabeth Shepherds brief tenure as Emma Peel.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 3:17 pm

Castle De'ath wrote:
Frankymole wrote:You'll probably definitely want to include how Emma Peel got her name.

"A-Peel by Any Other Name. One of the most popular tales is how Emma Peel got her name. After Honor Blackman (who played Cathy Gale) left the series, concerns were raised about what to name her replacement character. The studio's press officer, Marie Donaldson, had a brainstorm: the character would have "man-appeal." This was shortened to "m-appeal." Emma Peel!" - from The Avengers Forever, David K. Smith's site.
That's a great one! I'll add it to the list. I'll also probably include something about Elizabeth Shepherds brief tenure as Emma Peel.

in it's day, David's site, was the place to go..for Avengers info, etc...

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:26 pm

Castle De'ath wrote: That's a great one! I'll add it to the list. I'll also probably include something about Elizabeth Shepherds brief tenure as Emma Peel.

David's site also contains an interesting bit about just how many actresses played Emma Peel. But he missed off Patricia Haines (Michael Caine's wife) who played her in the mind-swap episode "Who's Who???" Patricia also appears in the earliest full surviving episode, "Girl on the Trapeze", as the titular girl whose body is dragged from the river in the early scenes.

"Mrs Peel's Multiple Personalities... Emma Peel was played by five actors! Elizabeth Shepherd was originally cast as Steed's partner, but after filming one and a half episodes ("The Town of No Return" and "The Murder Market"), the general consensus was that she did not fit the part. This was an expensive decision to make, too, considering how much filming was done. But the switch to Diana Rigg, as history shows, paid off. The other three? She had two stunt doubles, Cyd Child and Annabelle Heath, and her radio show counterpart, Diane Appleby."

As well as these last two, I am sure there must've been many other non-speaking doubles too. Patricia Haines remains the only actress to have made it to air speaking the words of Emma Peel.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:37 pm

Frankymole wrote:
Castle De'ath wrote: That's a great one! I'll add it to the list. I'll also probably include something about Elizabeth Shepherds brief tenure as Emma Peel.
David's site also contains an interesting bit about just how many actresses played Emma Peel. But he missed off Patricia Haines (Michael Caine's wife) who played her in the mind-swap episode "Who's Who???" Patricia also appears in the earliest full surviving episode, "Girl on the Trapeze", as the titular girl whose body is dragged from the river in the early scenes.

"Mrs Peel's Multiple Personalities... Emma Peel was played by five actors! Elizabeth Shepherd was originally cast as Steed's partner, but after filming one and a half episodes ("The Town of No Return" and "The Murder Market"), the general consensus was that she did not fit the part. This was an expensive decision to make, too, considering how much filming was done. But the switch to Diana Rigg, as history shows, paid off. The other three? She had two stunt doubles, Cyd Child and Annabelle Heath, and her radio show counterpart, Diane Appleby."

As well as these last two, I am sure there must've been many other non-speaking doubles too. Patricia Haines remains the only actress to have made it to air speaking the words of Emma Peel.

all very good points..and noted...Shepherd wasn't given the chance to settle into the role..perhaps in an alternative universe, she got that chance....then again, maybe Ian Hendry, remained on the show, and MacNee departed...

but looking back, Rigg was the right choice...and hendry was smart to ankle the series...

Castle De'ath · Post by **Castle De'ath** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:12 pm

Frankymole wrote:
Castle De'ath wrote: That's a great one! I'll add it to the list. I'll also probably include something about Elizabeth Shepherds brief tenure as Emma Peel.
David's site also contains an interesting bit about just how many actresses played Emma Peel. But he missed off Patricia Haines (Michael Caine's wife) who played her in the mind-swap episode "Who's Who???" Patricia also appears in the earliest full surviving episode, "Girl on the Trapeze", as the titular girl whose body is dragged from the river in the early scenes.

"Mrs Peel's Multiple Personalities... Emma Peel was played by five actors! Elizabeth Shepherd was originally cast as Steed's partner, but after filming one and a half episodes ("The Town of No Return" and "The Murder Market"), the general consensus was that she did not fit the part. This was an expensive decision to make, too, considering how much filming was done. But the switch to Diana Rigg, as history shows, paid off. The other three? She had two stunt doubles, Cyd Child and Annabelle Heath, and her radio show counterpart, Diane Appleby."

As well as these last two, I am sure there must've been many other non-speaking doubles too. Patricia Haines remains the only actress to have made it to air speaking the words of Emma Peel.

Wowza! I had no clue how many "other" Emma's there were. As an aside, is there any more information on the sacking of Miss Shepherd? I've only heard variations of what David described there...I've always wanted to get the full scoop.

On another note, I have a question slated about how The Forget-Me-Knot was the only episode in which Steed calls Mrs. Peel "Emma". But, upon rewatching Honey For The Prince, I realized that he actually refers to her as solely "Emma" as he introduces her to Prince Ali before her six-veiled dance. That makes two exceptions rather than one.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:30 pm

Castle De'ath wrote: Wowza! I had no clue how many "other" Emma's there were. As an aside, is there any more information on the sacking of Miss Shepherd? I've only heard variations of what David described there...I've always wanted to get the full scoop.

There was some discussion of it on another thread recently, can't remember which one though. Different people have different stories, I heard director Peter Graham Scott's from his own lips but he was speaking on the understanding he wasn't being recorded! Basically, she wanted full script control (along with her husband) and made unrealistic demands and came up with some ideas which were really at odds with what the production team wanted, so she made herself impossible to work with.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:32 pm

mousemeat wrote: all very good points..and noted...Shepherd wasn't given the chance to settle into the role..perhaps in an alternative universe, she got that chance....then again, maybe Ian Hendry, remained on the show, and MacNee departed...

but looking back, Rigg was the right choice...and hendry was smart to ankle the series...

It would certainly have been interesting to see Hendry and Honor in an episode together. Both excellent film actors. Sadly I suspect they'd only have put him with Venus Smith!!