Documentary Evidence - There Were 6 Series of The Avengers!

[Johnny O]

Of course the videotaped series ended with Honor Blackman, and there were three of them (1961 / 1962-3 / 1963-4). The filmed series started with the B/W Emma Peels and there were three series of those too, Johnny. I don't quite get your point.

I think it's plain from this evidence that the team reset the count for the first film series (it being produced by ABC Films rather than ABC TV), with the colour Peels being counted as Series 2, and the Kings as Series 3.

I think Johnny means that all we can say for certain is that Tara's series is "series III" - there's nothing to indicate whether the Honor episodes were "series I" and ALL the Emma Peels were "Series II", for instance - anything before Tara is just speculation. Unless you have some documentation for the final Honors or early Emmas?

Exactly! That's the only thing that's been proven by this document: That the Tara episodes were referred to as series III! Nothing else has been proven. And we don't even know if ALL the Tara episodes were series III. Thingumajig was very late in the production run. It could easily be that earlier episodes were series II! Who knows? Not me! And this call sheet proves nothing. Sorry.

[Johnny O]

Of course the videotaped series ended with Honor Blackman, and there were three of them (1961 / 1962-3 / 1963-4). The filmed series started with the B/W Emma Peels and there were three series of those too, Johnny. I don't quite get your point.

I think it's plain from this evidence that the team reset the count for the first film series (it being produced by ABC Films rather than ABC TV), with the colour Peels being counted as Series 2, and the Kings as Series 3.

It's not plain at all. At least not to me!

[Alan]

Fair enough, Johnny. It's plain enough to me, though I agree that further evidence wouldn't go amiss.

[Allard]

It is of course true that this only proofs that Thingumajig was seen as part of series three by the production team. And saying that the Peel colours are therefore series 2 and the Peel monochromes are series 1 is strictly speaking pure speculation.

Yet this document does proof that there was something seen as series 1 and 2. Now, can we deduce or otherwise find out what constituted as a series to the production team?

I have never heard of a series being defined as being more than the episodes of a show for a period of one year. Please inform me if there are such cases but it's logic to assume that the production team would also have similar idea of what a series was.

This makes the theory that all the Gale's are a one series, all the Peels are one series and all the Tara's are one series unlikely.

As there is no reason to suspect the Tara King episodes to be considered as three series, ,the only logical starting point to start counting the series is at the start of filming (in stead of videotaping) and moving to another studio.

The only logical explanation seems to be, Peel monochrome series one, Peel colours series 2 and the Tara Kings series 3. Is this hard empirical evidence? No, but nothing speaks against this theory, and to make any other theory seem likely you would have to come up with some proof that that is the case.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

I would like to speculate that 1 and 2 come before 3, and that 3 comes after 1 and 2. I have no proof of this, of course, but this is what I believe ...

*Gazes at navel*

[Timeless A-Peel]

If the Gales are series 1, and the Peels are series 2, and the Taras series 3, where does poor Dr. Keel fit in? You're telling me the production team just decided to ignore a whole part of the show? Unless they were subscribing to the old "one, two, two and a half, two and three-quarters..." gag. Besides, they'd have to lump them together retroactively--someone would have to sit down and decide that they were going ignore Keel, that all the episodes featuring the same character should be lumped together and then would have to come up with "season III" as the correct label for Tara's episodes. Why would they do that? Restarting the numbering with season four makes much more sense. Remember that The Avengers not only switched to film with the Riggs, they also moved production bases, from Teddington to Elstree. Maybe "series III" indicates the third season produced at Elstree, referred to as such for administrative purposes?

[Allard]

Maybe "series III" indicates the third season produced at Elstree, referred to as such for administrative purposes?

I think you hit the nail on the head with that.

[Timeless A-Peel]

Maybe "series III" indicates the third season produced at Elstree, referred to as such for administrative purposes?

I think you hit the nail on the head with that.

I'm always surprised that the show's switching studios doesn't receive more attention. Presumably it would have instigated a fresh round of paperwork. From Elstree's standpoint, the first Rigg season would have been season one.

[Andrew Pixley]

If it's of any interest, I've just dug out my old file from the scripts, dialogue sheets and post-production paperwork on the filmed shows. Here are the titles, series numbers and episode numbers plus production codes which I noted down:

1: The Town of No Return E.64.10.1
The Murder Market E.64.10.2
The Master Minds E.64.10.3
Dial a Deadly Number E.64.10.4
Death at Bargain Prices E.64.10.5
6: Too Many Christmas Trees E.64.10.6
The Cybernauts E.64.10.7
8: The Gravediggers E.64.10.8
Room Without A View E.64.10.9
10: A Surfeit of H20 E.64.10.10
11: Two’s A Crowd E.64.10.11
Man-Eater of Surrey Green E.64.10.12
Strictly for the Worms E.64.10.13
14: The Hour That Never Was E.64.10.14
15: Castle De’Ath E.64.10.15
The Thirteenth Hole E.64.10.16
17: Small Game for Big Hunters E.64.10.17
18: The Girl from Auntie E.64.10.18
(19)The Quick-Quick-Slow Death E.64.10.19
20: The Danger Makers E.64.10.20
21: A Touch of Brimstone E.64.10.21
What the Butler Saw E.64.10.22
The House That Jack Built E.64.10.23
24: A Sense of History E.64.10.24
25: How to Suceed ... At Murder E.64.10.25
26: Honey for the Prince E.64.10.26
Series II Episode 1: The Fear Merchants E.66.6.1
Escape in Time E.66.6.2
Series II Episode 3: The Bird Who Knew Too Much E.66.6.3
Series II Episode 4: From Venus With Love E.66.6.4
Series II Episode 5: The See-Through Man E.66.6.5
Series II Episode 6: The Winged Avenger E.66.6.6
Series II Episode 7: The Living Dead E.66.6.7
Series II Episode 8: The Hidden Tiger E.66.6.8
The Correct Way To Kill E.66.6.9
(10) Never Never Say Die E.66.6.10
Series II Episode 11: Epic E.66.6.11
The Superlative Seven E.66.6.12
(13) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station E.66.6.13
Series II Episode 14: Something Nasty in the Nursey E.66.6.14
Series II Episode 15: The Joker E.66.6.15
Series II Episode 16: Who’s Who???? E.66.6.16
Death’s Door E.66.6.17
Return of the Cybernauts E.66.6.18
Dead Man’s Treasure E.66.6.19
Series II Episode 20: The £50,000 Breakfast E.66.6.20
Series II Episode 21: You Have Just Been Murdered E.66.6.21
The Positive Negative Man E.66.6.22
Series II Episode 23: Murdersville E.66.6.23
Series II Episode 24: Mission ... Highly Improbable E.66.6.24
The Forget Me Knot E.66.6.25
Invasion of the Earthmen E.66.6.26
Series II Episode 27: The Curious Case of the Countless Clues E.66.6.27
Series II Episode 28: Split! E.66.6.28
Series II Episode 29: Get-A-Way! E.66.6.29
Invitation to a Killing E66.6.30
The Great Great Britain Case E66.6.32
Series II Episode 4: Have Guns - Will Haggle E.67.9.4
Series II Episode 2?(5): Look (Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers ... E.67.9.5
Series II Episode 6: My Wildest Dream E.67.9.6
Series II Episode 7: Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?! E.67.9.7
Series II Episode 8: All Done With Mirrors E.67.9.8
Series II Episode 9: You’ll Catch Your Death E.67.9.9
Series II Episode 10: Super Secret Cypher Snatch E.67.9.10
Series II Episode 11: Game E.67.9.11
Series II Episode 12: False Witness E.67.9.12
Series II Episode 13: Noon-Doomsday E.67.9.13
Series II Episode 14: Legacy of Death E.67.9.14
Series II Episode 15: They Keep Killing Steed E.67.9.15
Series II Episode 16: Wish You Were Here E.67.9.16
Series II Episode 17: Killer E.67.9.17
Series II Episode 18: The Rotters E.67.9.18
Series II Episode 19: The Interrogators E.67.9.19
Series II Episode 20: The Morning After E.67.9.20
Series II Episode 20(21): Love All E.67.9.21
Series II Episode 22: Take Me To Your Leader E.67.9.22
Series II Episode 23: Stay Tuned E.67.9.23
Series II Episode 24: Fog E.67.9.24
Series II Episode 25: Who Was That Man I Saw You With? E.67.9.25
Series II Episode 26: Pandora E.67.9.26
Series II Episode 27: Homicide and Old Lace E.67.9.27
Series II Episode 28: Thingumajig E.67.9.28
Series II Episode 29: Requiem E.67.9.29
Series II Episode 30: Take Over E.67.9.30
Series II Episode 31: Bizarre E.67.9.31

Don't know if that's of any use. But there it is.

All the best

Andrew

[Frankymole]

I suggest we stick to what we know ...

That there were 3 series of The Avengers...

Series II Episode 28: Thingumajig E.67.9.28

Should that read "series III" for the Tara's?? Interesting notes, as usual, Andrew!! What do the 64.10, 66.6 and 67.9 refer to, I wonder?