The Avengers International Fan Forum

Gambit - there's just more to go on, so his charm is more evident - although I am sure Dr Keel was great, there is nothing really left to judge him by.

I've seen one Keel story but it's Gambit, without a doubt.

I think Keel was a terrific character and Ian Hendry brought so much to the role (from what we've been lucky to see), but Gareth Hunt's Gambit is such a great character. So much so that I never really minded that he overshadowed Steed in TNA S1. Beautifully played by Gareth.

Such a shame both of these actors are no longer with us...

Mike Gambit's following has certainly grown faster,over the years, than any other Avenger. I remember my pen-pal at the time dissmissed him as a "spear carrier" and merely "an Avengers extra".

I really like David Keel from what I've seen, Ian Hendry was a superb actor but I have to go with Mike Gambit. I adore his rapport with Purdey, all those daft conversations that they have. He had some wonderfully cheesey lines which Gareth Hunt managed to bring to life with perfection. A really loveable character.

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:Mike Gambit's following has certainly grown faster,over the years, than any other Avenger. I remember my pen-pal at the time dissmissed him as a "spear carrier" and merely "an Avengers extra".

Well, he had nowhere to go but up, really, did he? Along with Tara he took the most abuse over the years, so he was due a reevaluation. It's interesting reading fanzines from the time the show came out, because most of the fans seemed to like him. Sometime in the eighties or nineties everyone got all bitter about TNA as a whole for some funny reason and pretty much refused to talk about it in the same sentence as the rest of the series. It was like that when I started watching the show. I'm kind of glad now, because I had no expectations, and I hooked on to Gambit right away. I still think it was a mistake to sideline him in season two for more Purdey/Steed fawning. But it certainly is nice to see an uptick in his popularity in recent years.

I think it was because there was no-one like Gambit in the original series. Purdey was cut from the same cloth as her predecessors and was recognisably an Avenger girl.

I know we talk about the Gambit prototypes in the TK era, but there was no-one long lasting that Gambit was like in the older series. He wasn't at all like Dr. Keel or Steed. He was something new and therefore took awhile to adjust.

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:I think it was because there was no-one like Gambit in the original series. Purdey was cut from the same cloth as her predecessors and was recognisably an Avenger girl.

I know we talk about the Gambit prototypes in the TK era, but there was no-one long lasting that Gambit was like in the older series. He wasn't at all like Dr. Keel or Steed. He was something new and therefore took awhile to adjust.

I understand why he was difficult to accept as a character--he threw off the "Steed and a girl" formula. What I don't get is why he seems to have gone down fairly well in 1976/77, and by the eighties everyone seemed to have a hate-on for both the character and TNA. It seems like a pretty rapid about-face. Or were all the publications just biased?

I voted for Keel because I do like what I've got to go off but it's not to say I don't appreciate the character of Gambit - yes, he does look good in those suits too

cybermanz wrote:I voted for Keel because I do like what I've got to go off but it's not to say I don't appreciate the character of Gambit - yes, he does look good in those suits too

Maybe my opinion of Dr. Keel would go up even more if they gave him a better wardrobe.