Who gave the best performance?

[Allard]

After all the polls about who was the best Avenger, I'll add one with the question who was the best actor or actress. Which one of all the actors who played an Avenger (and Patrick Newell as the one exception I added) the best?

So the question is not who played the best or your favourite Avenger? The question is who played his or her Avenger the best? Which actor gave more to his or her character then any other actor could have done? In you humble opinion.

Please don't only vote, also discuss.

[Dandy Forsdyke]

Timeless will Purdey-kick you into the middle of next week for misspelling Gareth Hunt ...

They all performed their parts really well. I can't think of anyone who could have played Steed better than Pat or Emma, Diana, etc.

The only way I can compare them is to imagine Diana in a Cathy Gale episode or Linda in an Emma Peel.

Pat is the exception because he neither followed or was followed.

I think, as Kim says because Steed evolved from quite a shadowy figure to a bit of a cartoon then finally a very reflective, possibly sad, invididual, Patrick Macnee gave the best performance. But he had the advantage of years in the part to get his character so rich and well rounded.

I'm tempted to say Steed for that reason, but Diana (after about a brief hesitation) nailed the humour and pizazz of Emma Peel almost immediately. I still think it's one of her greatest acting jobs (never mind Medea and all that Shakespeare stuff!). Honor has NEVER been in anything better than The Avengers - Linda likewise.

I'll have to think about it some more ...

[kim]

I chose Patrick mostly because Steed changed so much over time. Instead of remaining the Steed of the Keel/Gale years, his personality changed as if he learned something from each of his partners and grew. Am I making sense here?

[Timeless A-Peel]

Timeless will Purdey-kick you into the middle of next week for misspelling Gareth Hunt ...

It's spelt right now, so I will spare him.

This is really, really, really impossibly hard, and I think I shall have to sit on it for a moment and think about it. For me the measure of a great actor is his or her ability to play a character that is different from him/herself. The difficulty with a series like The Avengers, where character depth was pretty minimal, is that a lot of the actors' personalities leeched into the characters in the process, as well as into their respective relationships with Steed (Patrick was protective of Linda, totally in sync with Diana, and sparred a little with Honor). Every one of them breathed life into their characters, so I'll think on it and get back to you.

[Cariheart]

Oh! These polls are killing me!! I voted for Diana though!
Emma Peel also did some evolving herself. She, eh, Diana/Emma loosened-up a bit more coming into the color series. Also more affectionate towards Steed. Or am I the only one that sees this?

[Dandy Forsdyke]

Oh! These polls are killing me!! I voted for Diana though!
Emma Peel also did some evolving herself. She, eh, Diana/Emma loosened-up a bit more coming into the color series. Also more affectionate towards Steed. Or am I the only one that sees this?

No you're right. There's an edge to their partnership similar to Steed/Cathy in The Murder Market - they even fall out briefly. In the colour season it's like they've known each other forever and get on very well, finishing each others sentences and so on.

[Timeless A-Peel]

Well, I thought about it, and in the end I just had to go with Patrick. I know it's a bit unfair because, as has been said, Patrick had something like 185 episodes to work on Steed, whereas Diana Rigg had the second-highest number of appearances at 51, less than a third of Patrick's (and everyone else even fewer). But I just feel that characters like Emma and Cathy eventually reached the end of their development and wouldn't have changed noticeably given another season or two, whereas Patrick kept adding layers to Steed as he went. When he started out, in the early years, he's a bit of a bastard. There's no other way for me to say it. He's not a particularly likeable character--he's clearly left his scruples in his other pair of pants. But when he switches over to the more genteel incarnation in the Peel years, he doesn't play it just as though Steed's had a personality transplant. Ruthless Gale-era Steed is still in there, and some of Patrick's best bits of acting are when he surfaces. His eyes can go from friendly to cold like that. On the flip side, he also plays his undercover parts better than anyone. Some of the best Steed bits are when he assumes the role of brainless aristocrat and wanders around wreaking supposedly innocent havoc in a way that would make Bertie Wooster.

But one of the things I noticed about Steed, way back when I was discovering the show with the colour Emmas, was the bittersweet notes of the character. There has to be something inherently sad about a man who dedicates himself to his job and watches a series of partners walk away to move on with their lives, leaving him behind. By the time we get to TNA, we get the sense that he might regret his choices a little, but he knows better than to complain about it. But I get the sense that he's gently trying to instill in Purdey and Gambit the idea that maybe getting the job done at the cost of the people involved isn't always the best way to go, as though he's learned from alienating people like Cathy and Dr. Keel all those years ago. Steed could be way more of a cipher than he is, and I think Patrick was responsible for a lot of that. He often says he's not a very good actor, but if this is the best he has to offer, then he has nothing to be ashamed of.

[cyberrich]

No question. Diana was the best and most memorable performer to appear in The Avengers. Rich.

[VA_Avenger]

No question. Diana was the best and most memorable performer to appear in The Avengers. Rich.

There must be a question, because Patrick has a significant lead.

I'm really conflicted about voting this way because I love, love, love Diana as Mrs. Peel.

But, Patrick had the chance to exercise the depth and breadth of his talents because he had a much longer run. He not only varied from partner to partner, but often from episode to episode.

[Frankymole]

I'm not an actor so I can only comment on whose portrayal I enjoyed most whilst it was on screen, rather than any technical "merit" of acting techniques.

So it has to be Jon Rollason - never put a foot wrong.

Close second is the lovely Linda Thorson.

Patrick Macnee, Honor Blackman and Ian Hendry gain big points for both style and endurance...

Diana who?