Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots: The Ultimate Avengers Book

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:05 am

After spending three years assembling and writing the most detailed book ever on The Avengers, The New Avengers and The Avengers feature film, Telos Publishing have now scheduled Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots for a summer release.

At slightly over 800 pages this book is now available to pre-order on the Telos website www.telos.co.uk although it will become available later on both Amazon UK and Amazon USA and there will also be a Kindle version. This design will be the cover.

Compiled from official paperwork from ABC Television, Iris Productions, Telemen Productions, ABC Television Films, The Avengers (Film & TV) Enterprises and Warner Brothers, including internal correspondence and daily progress reports, this volume gives a day by day account of how the series progressed. In addition to this information, the author has also spoken and corresponded with many people who worked on the series, thus giving the fullest picture yet of how this classic and stylish British production was assembled. This volume also covers the South African radio series and the stage play.

Just to wet your appetite I can confirm that you will also discover the answers to the following…

Who was the first actress considered as Ian Hendry’s replacement?

Which episode of The Avengers was vetted by The Ministry of Defence before transmission?

Which major member of the videotaped production was later invited to join the team at Elstree Studios making the series on film and turned it down?

Before the Associated British Picture Corporation decided to fund the series on film, ABC Television considered making the series as a co-production with another ITV regional company, but which one?

Besides the UK, which other country was considered for filming episodes of The Avengers?

In spring 1965 Honor Blackman was offered the lead in which primetime American TV series?

Which black and white Diana Rigg episode besides A Touch of Brimstone had cuts?

Which director was verbally reprimanded by Albert Fennell for rewriting portions of a film series script in his lunch break?

Further to this, there is the full story behind the proposed Broadway Avengers play and the 1965 feature film project that was to have location filming in the Middle East.

All this and more can be found in Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:22 am

Congratulations, Mike. I know just how long you've been working on this!

denis rigg · Post by **denis rigg** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:46 am

Wow, this is fantastic news.

I am glad that it is not banal book, and the whole journey into history with little-known facts and rare material. It certainly should be in collection of Avengerfans and I feel I will long time carefully study all the details.

Well done, Mike!

darren · Post by **darren** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:03 am

Wonderful!!! This sounds right up my street. Definitely be getting this.

Looking forward to the final cover.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:21 am

denisrigg wrote:Wow, this is fantastic news.

I am glad that it is not banal book, and the whole journey into history with little-known facts and rare material. It certainly should be in collection of Avengerfans and I feel I will long time carefully study all the details.

Well done, Mike!

great news...and i can't wait to purchase one..and dive right into it.

true labour of love...well done!

anti-clockwise · Post by **anti-clockwise** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:49 pm

Mike this is wonderful news and it just answered my question to you. I have been longing for a behind the scenes book.I can't think of anything more complete and you would be the one to do such a stellar project. Congratulations and I have no doubt it will be a great success for you as well as make many of us fans very thrilled to read. I wish I had the champagne fountain that Steed built to give you a glass. Cheers!

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:53 pm

anti-clockwise wrote:Mike this is wonderful news and it just answered my question to you. I have been longing for a behind the scenes book. I can't think of anything more complete and you would be the one to do such a stellar project. Congratulations and I have no doubt it will be a great success for you as well as make many of us fans very thrilled to read. I wish I had the champagne fountain that Steed built to give you a glass. Cheers!

Margo, I've been keeping quiet about the book here on the forum for what seems like years and years, mainly because there's always something that goes wrong when you're trying to do something like this. I've been lucky with Telos Publishing as they have shown the interest in the project after two other publishers took it on and then let me down. I'm extremely pleased to be finally getting there.

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:28 pm

In case anyone even has the vaguest doubt about Mike's forthcoming book ... I can tell you that as far as I'm concerned it should be the most exciting thing available on the production of "The Avengers". The work he's done on this is quite, quite amazing, and the level of detail will be truly brilliant. Can't wait to see the finished version.

All the best

Andrew

darren · Post by **darren** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:45 pm

I was thinking how encyclopaedic your knowledge was, Mike, and now I know why.

I'm so fascinated by the behind the scenes on any show I love so I'm incredibly excited for this.

I hope that there will be some titbits to include comments on for my chapters in Rodney's books.

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:06 pm

Darren wrote:I was thinking how encyclopaedic your knowledge was, Mike, and now I know why.

I'm so fascinated by the behind the scenes on any show I love so I'm incredibly excited for this.

I hope that there will be some titbits to include comments on for my chapters in Rodney's books.

Thanks for the kind words Darren.

I'm sure that a lot of the new information presented in the book will find its way into other books and onto websites, but that does not bother me. Part of writing the book was to raise the profile of The Avengers and it will hopefully do that. Another thing I wanted to do was go further and provide some of the answers that the various books written by Dave Rogers did not. Not that I think Dave did a bad job, I think he did a very good job, considering that he did not have the internet or have call on a world of Avengers enthusiasts to assist him. I've researched The Avengers since the early 80s, so I have had a huge oppotunity to amass considerable information during that time and as I'm sure a great many people would also like to know this information, the logical solution was a book.