Has there ever been... an Avengers Con?

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:07 pm

It certainly isn't a case of lack of support. My father has attended other conventions for lesser known shows such as for his Public Eye series, although he has commented that many of the audience were bordering on 'anorak'. I attended an Avengers conference at Leeds University in the mid 1990s when I talked about the show's 1965 format and I remember an American offering a paper on Emma Peel. (This was for academics rather than simply 'fans'.) Any convention - if it were to include experts who worked on it - would have to be relatively soon or there won't be any writers, directors, actors etc left to discuss TA.

Borgus Weems · Post by **Borgus Weems** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:56 pm

I voted anorak in the last election, so I think I could be counted on to vote Avengers Convention, were there to be one.

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:58 pm

Rodney wrote:It certainly isn't a case of lack of support. My father has attended other conventions for lesser known shows such as for his Public Eye series, although he has commented that many of the audience were bordering on 'anorak'.

Gosh! A "Public Eye" convention! Must have missed that. I know that the show got a lot of coverage at some of the wonderful Kaleidoscope events in Stourbridge, but I didn't know there'd been conventions.

I attended an Avengers conference at Leeds University in the mid 1990s when I talked about the show's 1965 format and I remember an American offering a paper on Emma Peel. (This was for academics rather than simply 'fans'.)

Sounds cool. The academic study of these shows is fascinating. Do you recall the other papers at all?

Any convention - if it were to include experts who worked on it - would have to be relatively soon or there won't be any writers, directors, actors etc left to discuss TA.

Agreed. The Treasure Hunt events haven't really been guest orientated. Linda Thorson, Brian Clemens and John Hough have all visited in recent years, and Dave Rogers used to be a regular in the early days.

There was an "Avengers" day at the Bradford Arts Cinema around 1990 which was organised in part by the team behind the short-lived "Bizarre" fanzine. That had various members of the production team as guests as I recall, and screenings from all the different eras of the show. Rather fun if memory serves me right.

All the best

Andrew

frank · Post by **frank** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:47 pm

The closets I saw to an Avengers con was back in the early 90s in Chicagoi this organization put on a big con of Brit sci-fi and fantasy. They had people associated with Dr Who of course but also Robin Hood and the Avengers. Linda Thorson and Dave Rogers were there representing the Avengers contingent. Both made very good guests with interesting stories and there was a fairly good size attendance at their panels if I recall.

Borgus Weems · Post by **Borgus Weems** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:11 pm

Andrew Pixley wrote:There was an "Avengers" day at the Bradford Arts Cinema around 1990 which was organised in part by the team behind the short-lived "Bizarre" fanzine. That had various members of the production team as guests as I recall, and screenings from all the different eras of the show. Rather fun if memory serves me right.

That sounds like a good time!

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:27 pm

The American who provided a talk on Peel produced a book later, although I seem to remember it was very dry and academic, he had a name like Jeremy Miller. The Public Eye session may well have been part of a Kaleidoscope do, my father doesn't remember.

ricardomartins · Post by **ricardomartins** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:38 pm

A convention for "The Avengers" has to be arranged - the best show on earth has to give some conferences, and reunions between fans.

I might very well come from Portugal to England just to participate in the Dead Man's Treasure Rally, even if no celebrity appears - i'll just go for the pleasure to be with a lot of Avengers fans at the same time.

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:30 am

Rodney wrote:The American who provided a talk on Peel produced a book later, although I seem to remember it was very dry and academic, he had a name like Jeremy Miller. The Public Eye session may well have been part of a Kaleidoscope do, my father doesn't remember.

You mean The Avengers by Toby Miller. And it is terribly dry and overly academic (you can overanalyze things, kids. True, the leather thing did evolve, but it originated for practical purposes, i.e. Honor's pants kept splitting open in fight scenes, something Gareth would also have trouble with 15 odd years later!). And it's incredibly error-ridden. If you're going to make a case for Steed and Dr. Keel and King having something going on, it might help if you supported it with episodes actually featuring one of those characters, and not Cathy Gale!

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:06 am

Hello Rodney

Rodney wrote:The American who provided a talk on Peel produced a book later, although I seem to remember it was very dry and academic, he had a name like Jeremy Miller.

Ahhh! Probably Toby Miller's book from the BFI. I did get that one and read it; as you say, very dry indeed. Not one of my favourites I'm afraid ... but then again, Toby probably wouldn't care for "The Avengers Files"!

The Public Eye session may well have been part of a Kaleidoscope do, my father doesn't remember.

The Kaleidoscope events really are some of the very best little gatherings for people with a serious interest in archive TV. They're very small little assemblies (about 40 people) with generally two rooms showing about 6 hours of material which is unlikely to appear imminently on DVD or get broadcast. They also get some wonderful guests from the industry to give intimate little talks about their work: Verity Lambert, Alan Plater, Jeremy Paul, Reginald Collin, Pamela Lonsdale, Juliet Harmer, etc. etc. And they're all free events as well; all the organisers ask for is that people try to donate to the collection buckets for the RNLI. They also publish some pretty hefty specialist books. Long may they continue! Terrific guys.

All the best

Andrew

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:25 am

Timeless A-Peel wrote: You mean The Avengers by Toby Miller. And it is terribly dry and overly academic (you can overanalyze things, kids. True, the leather thing did evolve, but it originated for practical purposes, i.e. Honor's pants kept splitting open in fight scenes, something Gareth would also have trouble with 15 odd years later!). And it's incredibly error-ridden. If you're going to make a case for Steed and Dr. Keel and King having something going on, it might help if you supported it with episodes actually featuring one of those characters, and not Cathy Gale!

The only Avengers (non-fiction) book I wasn't able to finish. Nice cover though...