Mother

[Rodders]

There is no doubt that Patrick Newell was a wonderful Avengers actor and I loved him in both The Town of No Return and Something Nasty in the Nursery even before he became Mother.
However, was the creation of Mother a good idea? In one sense it took the show back to the Blackman era where Steed had a boss. Isn't there something lighter and more mysterious about the Peel era where - most of the time - we are unaware of who orders The Avengers to avenge?
What do people think? Is Mother a good idea? If so, why?

[Dandy Forsdyke]

I like Mother but I tend to like 'unpopular' parts of the show (Venus, blonde Tara and so on), they're all components of a very varied and diverse series - some greater than others. Without them we'd just have a videotaped series of Steed and A. N. Other running around fighting drug barons in raincoats. (Steed and co. in the raincoats, dunno about the drug barons ... )

Mother, particularly Patrick Newell's portrayal of him, always reminds me of the Doctor series of films with Sir Lancelot Spratt (played by James Robertson Justice). So although he was new to The Avengers, it was a familiar type of role that the British audience would understand.

I don't want to go into the politics of why he was there in the first place, but the show liked to refresh every season in some way and so this was just another twist. The Emma Peel episodes are the only ones without a boss of course, even Steed takes that role (sort of) in The New Avengers except he does get involved in the proceedings, unlike the previous bosses, but he is clearly in charge.

I don't think his presence slows the episodes down, quite the contrary: he fits into the offbeat nature of the show with his outrageous hangouts and silent statuesque companion. He's Avengery.

So: 'Yes' to Mother.

[Timeless A-Peel]

I like Mother. When I first got into the show with the Emmas, and then saw a few Taras, it was a bit jarring because I was used to Steed and Emma just showing up on the scene without any apparent need to be called up and sent in by a direct superior, and thought it wasn't very Avengersish for Steed to suddenly have one. Then after I went and watched the rest of the show, I realised that it was actually more in the Avengers tradition for Steed to have a higher-up, and the Emma era was actually the exception, not the rule. It's nice because, though I'm sure there was no real plan behind it, if you look at the show from the start all the way through TNA, you get this sense of Steed's professional development within the Ministry (or whatever you choose to call it). He goes from being nagged at rather a lot in the Keels and some of the Gales, and then in the later Gales and into the Emma era, there's more of a sense of him being given free rein to run his assignments his way, to the point that he can not only recruit his own partners, but can bring them into the Ministry fold without anyone seeming to bat an eye. Then we get the Tara era and TNA, and all his partners are suddenly agents, as though there was some bureaucratic restructuring in the background, and everything's suddenly that much more regulated. So Mother kind of slots into all that. It would have seemed odd for both Steed and Tara to be agents and to have no sense at all of there being some sort of overseeing body or person. And they were able to spin it so he wasn't a standard, behind-the-desk superior, with Rhonda in the background and the ever-changing bases of operations. And I enjoy his crabby, I'm-in-pain-I-don't-have-to-be-cheerful rants--he gets some of the best lines in the Tara era. I thought he was fun.

[Dan]

I think the creation of the mother character was a good idea. They had to make some kind of a change to the structure of the show when Mrs. Peel left. Just plugging Tara into the Mrs. Peel slot and going about business as usual wouldn't have worked. And Patick Newell was very good in the roll.

[Rhonda]

I also think that the character of Mother is a good idea and Patrick Newell was very good in the role. He often spends his time finding a new base, thinking about the assignment, giving orders, warning people of danger, waiting, having some pastime, answering the phone, wanting Rhonda to help, and often sighing but occassionally smiling.

[cyberrich]

I voted yes. Mother was a great invention. He came about at the right time as well. He wouldn't have worked as well in earlier seasons, but he fitted in beautifully among the surreal madness of the Tara years. A great comic actor as well. The show always advanced and changes were always made, which is why it lasted so long for a TV show of this type. It would have been such a mistake to merely retread the Mrs Peel years, just because they were the best and most successful. I also loved the different secret locations Mother kept popping up in, especially the bus in False witness. Great fun! I just can't imagine the Tara episodes without Mother! Rich.

[Rodders]

Yes, I agree that it was that constant evolution which kept the show fresh. There are moments when I think the Mother scenes jar, such as Steed poolside with the gaggle of young females while Tara goes off in Too Many Mirrors but Mother is avengerish.

[cyberrich]

I think I just accepted the Mother character very quickly, probaby because of my viewing experience. I first saw The Avengers on Channel 4 in 1982 as an 18 year old. My only previous experience was TNA in it's original run. Channel 4 broadcast The Avengers in a very bizarre order back in the early 80s. Season 5, then 6, then 4. The biggest jolt I can remember was when I first saw Forget me knot. I recognised Tara from photos in TNA TVtimes souvenir (I still have it!) and I realised with sadness it was Emma's swansong. We can all watch them now to our hearts content, but back then we had to wait years! I can't say I ever felt that any of Mother's scenes jarred, apart from Homicide which I have always hated! Mother was wonderful in all other episodes, in particular Who was that man I saw you with, an underrated season 6 highlight. He was amusing, likable, and added a new dimension to the show without detracting from its two main stars. Rich.

[Frankymole]

The bosses of the B&W eras are fairly uninteresting - Quilpy, Charles, One-Twelve etc only appear once or twice and are just the typical grouchy boss types. One-Ten is grouchy too, but seems to have more humour, possibly because he gets to interact with Steed more often.

Mother was a nice change - had personality, had some depth, had a great relationship with Steed and Tara, and made the mission briefings quirkier and more fun.

He even got to be a plot point in one or two stories, like Requiem.

I like him. Steed and partner having no visible boss works fine, but so does them sometimes having a boss, as well.

It's great to see the "Mother love" in this thread.

I would be interested to hear from the 4 people who voted "No" why they disagree, though!

[Rodders]

I actually liked Father, in Stay Tuned which is my personal favourite in Season 6. I voted 'no', simply because I like the mystery of the Avengers having no obvious boss. I have nothing against Mother's character and I agree that it added a new dimension.