Six or Seven seasons?

[Timeless A-Peel]

What order the episodes were transmitted means absolutely nothing in terms of determining seasons. The writers were told not to have the characters mention the events of any previous episodes simply because no one had any control over what order they would be shown in. In the US, TNA was considered to have only one, 25-episode season (K is for Kill being edited together for a "feature-length" story), but I don't think anyone would argue that there weren't two seasons. I have to say that I agree that the "production break" doesn't seem like enough to declare a whole new "season." Yes, I know they shipped the last eight Emmas out with some Taras, but a "full shipment" does not a season make. They're all colour Emma Peel episodes. They fit together as a coherent whole. Diana Rigg was supposed to make 26 of them until they made Forget-Me-Not and excused her from the other one. Sounds like one season to me.

[cyberrich]

There is clearly only one colour Mrs Peel season. No drama series of that era ever had only 8 episodes. The magic number was 26, which often still applies today 40-odd years later. All other seasons of The Avengers also have 26 episodes, apart from Tara's 33, and the few weeks vacation break in between two episodes does not a new season make. I rest my case.

[kim]

I have a feeling that this is a subject that is never going to be resolved.

One way to look at it is to ask, what comprises a season? In the US a season starts in September and ends in late May or June. Repeats of the season are shown during the summer months and a new season with new episodes start again in September.

A series may have five, ten, twenty, twentyfive episodes (roughly) per season.

To complicate matters even more, if a summer filler series suddenly becomes a hit, new episodes may start as late as January to complete season one with season two begining in September.

The above isn't a hundred percent accurate by any means, but it gives you a rough idea of how seasons are set in the US. If there is a similar airing in the UK, then you could do some sort of dateline and come up with a fair idea of how many actual seasons there were of the Avengers.

Just a thought.

[Allard]

I have added a poll to this topic, go to the top of this page to vote.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

I'd be interested to know why there was such a marathon TK season. 33 episodes is an odd number when the average was 25 and easily exceeds both New Avengers seasons.

[Alan]

I wonder if it might have been extended because Clemens and Fennell were brought on board late in the day? How does it John Bryce had completed a handful of episodes, and commenced work on some more, all of which got used in some form. Perhaps Clemens and Fennell were hired to make 26 episodes of their own and there were 7 other episodes there or nearly there that made up the extended run that we now accept as a single Series 6 (or 7 if that is your way of looking at it).

It's certainly something that needs explaining.

[Alan]

I have a feeling that this is a subject that is never going to be resolved.

One way to look at it is to ask, what comprises a season? In the US a season starts in September and ends in late May or June. Repeats of the season are shown during the summer months and a new season with new episodes start again in September.

A series may have five, ten, twenty, twentyfive episodes (roughly) per season.

To complicate matters even more, if a summer filler series suddenly becomes a hit, new episodes may start as late as January to complete season one with season two begining in September.

The above isn't a hundred percent accurate by any means, but it gives you a rough idea of how seasons are set in the US. If there is a similar airing in the UK, then you could do some sort of dateline and come up with a fair idea of how many actual seasons there were of the Avengers.

Just a thought.

I'm afraid that while what you say is illuminating and interesting, there was never such a system in the UK - series could start at any time and would vary in number of episodes. There is nothing such as the mid-season replacement here (thank goodness), either.

Another poster mentions British series being made in either 13 or 26 episode blocks at the time. Well, that's not entirely accurate - ITC series (which one could say were the most comparable) were being made in runs of 26, 28 and 30 episodes at the time.

[Frankymole]

There is clearly only one colour Mrs Peel season. No drama series of that era ever had only 8 episodes. The magic number was 26, which often still applies today 40-odd years later. All other seasons of The Avengers also have 26 episodes, apart from Tara's 33, and the few weeks vacation break in between two episodes does not a new season make. I rest my case.

Good. But it wasn't intended to be 8 episodes, was it? Following a six-week break after the completion of "Who's Who???" in April 1967, the production team returned to Borehamwood to complete a further ten episodes. Along with the sixteen from the fifth season these were intended to be sold as a 26-episode package to the American networks.

In the end, it didn't turn out that way. The schedule was tight - the first episode was due to go out as part of the ITV autumn package in September 1967, at which point the team would still be filming the later episodes - and if anything went wrong, the consequences could be disastrous.

Something did go wrong - Diana Rigg wanted to leave. There are changes: the "Mrs Peel, We're Needed" sequences disappeared in the sixth season. Ultimately, only 8 of the planned 10 episodes were completed (the season ending, somewhat prematurely, with the broadcast of "Mission... Highly Improbable" on 18 November 1967.) The episode "The Forget-Me-Knot", begun in September, was abandoned before completion due to hierarchical changes taking place behind the camera.

The 7 episodes of production block 6B (Tara's first) were than completed following her announcement as the new "Avengers girl" in October 1967. There was a gap before the final production block (6B) of 26 episodes - effectively a season in production terms.

[kim]

There is nothing such as the mid-season replacement here (thank goodness), either.

Lucky you! So much of the mid-season/summer fillers are just god-awful in my opinion.

[Alan]

The 7 episodes of production block 6B (Tara's first) were than completed following her announcement as the new "Avengers girl" in October 1967. There was a gap before the final production block (6B) of 26 episodes - effectively a season in production terms.

That's all very tidy, but there's no significant break in production. A couple of weeks max (and that's after 8 episodes, not 7). The information on TAF about the completion of filming on Look Stop Me is not correct - it wrapped on 19th March, not 29th February 1968 (it's a cut and paste error - Have Guns-Will Haggle wrapped on 29th February, and TAF has that correct).