The Avengers "Universe"

[Dandy Forsdyke]

Agree with Timeless. Plus there would be no way of knowing when either Noon Doomsday or Department S would be broadcast at the writing stage - or whenever that line was included.

An in-joke doesn't have to be for the viewer, it could be for the crew or anyone 'in the know' be it a reference to Fort Knox, Department S, 'JB', a file with the name 'Cathy Gale', 'Emma Peel' on it, or even a store called 'Purdey's' (from the movie). An in-joke might be for one's own amusement.

Are these called 'Easter eggs' these days? I was reading a comic book website where it stated a certain comic artist would always include a drawing of Popeye somewhere in a panel of every comic he drew as a kind of 'signature'. This was referred to as an 'Easter egg'.

In any case the two series were quite close in some respects - Linda Thorson and Rosemary Nichols even shared the same wardrobe on occasion.

[mousemeat]

Not sure if this is in the right section as it's not really about a spin-off, but listening to the radio I heard the presenter mention that "this film is set in the same universe as The Avengers". Sadly, he was talking about Captain America and the forthcoming Marvel Avengers film, but it started me thinking about what might exist in the Steed Avengers universe. I don't mean cinema films or television programmes with an Avengers feel, but ones which either make a reference to events in The Avengers or vice versa.

An obvious one is Goldfinger (Mrs Gale working undercover with James Bond), which is alluded to in both Lobster Quadrille and Too Many Christmas Trees.

There might also be a reference to events in The Maltese Falcon in Legacy of Death. However, I've never actually watched the Maltese Falcon, so I'm not too sure.

Any other suggestions?

good point....makes much sense...

[Timeless A-Peel]

Agree with Timeless. Plus there would be no way of knowing when either Noon Doomsday or Department S would be broadcast at the writing stage - or whenever that line was included.

An in-joke doesn't have to be for the viewer, it could be for the crew or anyone 'in the know' be it a reference to Fort Knox, Department S, 'JB', a file with the name 'Cathy Gale', 'Emma Peel' on it, or even a store called 'Purdey's' (from the movie). An in-joke might be for one's own amusement.

Are these called 'Easter eggs' these days? I was reading a comic book website where it stated a certain comic artist would always include a drawing of Popeye somewhere in a panel of every comic he drew as a kind of 'signature'. This was referred to as an 'Easter egg'.

In any case the two series were quite close in some respects - Linda Thorson and Rosemary Nichols even shared the same wardrobe on occasion.

Not just wardrobe, but hair extensions! I know I've spotted particular ones Linda used on Rosemary Nichols on more than one occasion. But then, Annabelle was pretty obviously a Tara clone, so I suppose it made sense to share. Recycling was rife at Elstree--they reused Alexandra Bastedo's costumes from The Champions two years later by giving them to Annette Andre for Randall and Hopkirk. Two women with more different body types I can't imagine, but they made it work somehow.

Back to the Department S link, Dandy's right when he says the in-joke didn't even have to be for the benefit of the audience--writers throw in things for their own amusement all the time. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I doubt it was a coincidence, even if it was just thrown in to save the time it would take to think up a name for another department.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

I'd still like to hunt down the reference to 'Mrs Peel' in an episode of The Saint!

[darren]

But, but, but... Noon Doomsday was produced before Department S was ever broadcast!

It was broadcast two weeks after the first-ever episode of Department S was, do you think they'd bother with an in-joke for a show that wasn't even known to the public at the time of filming?

Well, both series were shooting at Elstree at the same time (along with Randall and Hopkirk), so the two shows definitely would have been aware of each other pre-broadcast. If they knew the episode was going to run shortly after the Department S premiere, that would have made it the perfect in-joke to slip in, right when the series was in the press a lot for its premiere, and people would be likely to notice it. Or maybe it was just a bit of writer's whimsy on Terry Nation's part. Maybe he was writing scripts for both at the same time, and did it for his own amusement. Or maybe he just needed a name for the department and nicked it. There are loads of explanations.

Noon Doomsday was a total Brian Clemens rewrite as we found out a fairly recently - Clemens totally rewrote it after Nation delivered a script with little of what they discussed featured - this then encouraged Nation be more thorough in his writing to prevent any further rewriting. So it was more probably a Clemens line who would have been well aware of Department S not just through it being made at the same studio but his best friend Dennis Spooner created and script edited it.

[Timeless A-Peel]

I'd still like to hunt down the reference to 'Mrs Peel' in an episode of The Saint!

I actually found it ages ago. I bought 2 A&E Saint sets from the bargain bin, and of the roughly dozen episodes in there, that was one of them. I haven't watched anymore Saint since then, but I really lucked out on that front.

[Frankymole]

Noon Doomsday was a total Brian Clemens rewrite as we found out a fairly recently - Clemens totally rewrote it after Nation delivered a script with little of what they discussed featured - this then encouraged Nation be more thorough in his writing to prevent any further rewriting. So it was more probably a Clemens line who would have been well aware of Department S not just through it being made at the same studio but his best friend Dennis Spooner created and script edited it.

In the 60s and 70s Nation, Clemens and Spooner all shared offices close to each other in various studios at Elstree/Borehamwood anyway and kept commissioning each other for scripts for whichever series they were script supervising on. They were constantly chatting about what they were doing now and next.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

There are some Avengers 'connections' here...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054518/movieconnections

[paulpdjh]

Thanks for posting the link, Dandy. That's interesting.

I remember watching an episode of the 1990s TV comedy, The Hello Girls, which featured The Avengers. The programme was set in a telephone exchange in the early 1960s. At the end of one episode the two supervisors were shown watching a Cathy Gale Avengers episode on TV.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

Thanks for posting the link, Dandy. That's interesting.

I remember watching an episode of the 1990s TV comedy, The Hello Girls, which featured The Avengers. The programme was set in a telephone exchange in the early 1960s. At the end of one episode the two supervisors were shown watching a Cathy Gale Avengers episode on TV.

I remember that too now you mention it. I'm sure when one of the characters tuned in we saw a glimpse of a Cathy Gale episode, but ... with Laurie Johnson's music. Oops.