The Avengers International Fan Forum

I always thought that the notion the Avengers couldn't be paid for any more an odd idea, since the UK went on produce television content.

Maybe the show had run its course in creativity, but there is no rule set in stone that you couldn't make the show on what was available for other contemporary series. It's just the taste of viewers that would make a reduced budget show commercially unviable.

I wonder how many shows nowadays would have the plug pulled without US sales, Midsomer Murders?



By the way on the six or seven series: I acknowledge the late Peels early Tara's are an own block as how the were ordered from America.

Whatever is correct, a season per Steed's Partner is still the most practical to talk about the Avengers.

Allard wrote:I always thought that the notion the Avengers couldn't be paid for any more an odd idea, since the UK went on produce television content.

Maybe the show had run its course in creativity, but there is no rule set in stone that you couldn't make the show on what was available for other contemporary series. It's just the taste of viewers that would make a reduced budget show commercially unviable.

I wonder how many shows nowadays would have the plug pulled without US sales, Midsomer Murders?



By the way on the six or seven series: I acknowledge the late Peels early Tara's are an own block as how the were ordered from America.


Whatever is correct, a season per Steed's Partner is still the most practical to talk about the Avengers.

I would concur..100 %

mousemeat wrote: and yeah, there's some decent even classy american programming being done, thru both the commercial networks (ABC/CBS'NBC) plus HBO, PBS, Cinemax, etc....stuff like playhouse 90, etc....as well as the usual trashy programming as well........and not only did Macnee moved to the states, to live and get acting work, he become a U.S. Citizen as well....

Patrick was doing the triangular circuit of the USA, Canada and UK for TV plays etc long before The Avengers. Which goes to show that Ian Hendry doing the same would not have been far-fetched at all. But he wasn't interested in staying in TV, he wanted to do movies.

Frankymole wrote:

mousemeat wrote: and yeah, there's some decent even classy american programming being done, thru both the commercial networks (ABC/CBS'NBC) plus HBO, PBS, Cinemax, etc....stuff like playhouse 90, etc....as well as the usual trashy programming as well........and not only did Macnee moved to the states, to live and get acting work, he become a U.S. Citizen as well....

Patrick was doing the triangular circuit of the USA, Canada and UK for TV plays etc long before The Avengers. Which goes to show that Ian Hendry doing the same would not have been far-fetched at all. But he wasn't interested in staying in TV, he wanted to do movies.

exactly...My first knowledge of Patrick came from a broadway cast LP on RCA -Victor. mid to late 1950's...and of course, he went on to many other projects..as he was building a resume of sorts..Hendry, ever as good as Patrick was..in regards to his acting chops, didn't feather his acting nest...as much..of course, his on going problems with alcohol , might have been a factor..but who's to say ?

I voted for the third option "I have another or no opinion on this matter."

My other opinion is this: British television never has seasons. They are series, however you count them.

Yes, the only way I saw "season" used on UK television in the 20th century was to describe the quarter of the year when all the new programmes were coming, usually Autumn (not "Fall"!) so it was "the Autumn season on BBC kicks off with..." and then lists of programmes (or new series!)...

Or "Season's Greetings!" at Christmas, of course!

Ian Wegg wrote:I voted for the third option "I have another or no opinion on this matter."

My other opinion is this: British television never has seasons. They are series, however you count them.

may be correct..but in reality, it's moot point. seasons / series, it's still all the same.

From Piers's "This week in The Avengers" calendar... "Friday, 6 May 1967 - Series Five comes to an end on British television with the broadcast of "Who's Who???". The last eight Diana Rigg episodes will not be transmitted for another five months."

So are the final 8 Diana Rigg stories season 6 on their own, or as part of some or all of Tara's?

Frankymole wrote:From Piers's "This week in The Avengers" calendar... "Friday, 6 May 1967 - Series Five comes to an end on British television with the broadcast of "Who's Who???". The last eight Diana Rigg episodes will not be transmitted for another five months."

So are the final 8 Diana Rigg stories season 6 on their own, or as part of some or all of Tara's?

good point....myself, i would consider them season 6.

It's a thorny question, to be sure. The paperwork for the series indicated they planned a fifth series of 26 episodes, but only just managed 25 if you count "The Forget-Me Knot", and that's definitely part of series 6 officially (although I list it under both series 5 and 6, due to it being screened in Emma Peel reruns for so many years).

The calendar is technically correct, but it varied depending on where you lived because of the vagaries of the ITV network.

Who's Who??? was first broadcast on 3 May 1967 in the Tyne Tees region.
Southern, Anglia and ATV followed on 5 May, and Midlands & North on 6 May. However, most other regions didn't show it until 1968.

Return of the Cybernauts first screened on 27 September 1967 on Grampian, ATV London on the 28th, Southern on the 29th, Midlands and the North on the 30th - but other regions showed it in October or November, or the following year.

In the Channel area, it was shown only two weeks after they did the first run of Who's Who???, that is, 27 July and 7 August 1968.

I refer to series 5A and 5B on my pages to account for this.

https://www.dissolute.com.au/the-avenge ... /series-5/

Maybe I should revise my calendar entries... it was compiled from the Slow Dazzle calendars initially, and then expanded upon.