The Avengers	los vengadores	The International Guide to The Avengers	De Wrekers	Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone
Chapeau Melon et Bottes de Cuir	This is a listing of the episode titles in different languages, cross-referenced to the Emma Peel Episodes. The title of the movie, if different to the series title, is shown below the series title.			Agente Speciale (Agenti Speciali)
Två slår till (Hämnarna)	Herrasmiesagentti (Me Kostajat)		Vihmavari ja kõvakübar

You may also download a spreadsheet of all series transmission and production dates.

Series 2 & 3

Series 2 & 3 had a limited release internationally — there was of course Australia, as well as some other British Commonwealth countries, such as Malaysia and Canada. The only translated — or perhaps subtitled — episodes that have been unearthed were a very limited run of ten selected episodes from series 2 and 3 in Italy, broadcast intermittently in 1965 and 1966 under the series title “Agente speciale” on the public broadcaster RAI and variously shown on RAI 1 (Primo/Televisione 1) and RAI 2 (Secundo/Televisione 2). Initially scheduled weekly on Primo canale, it was quickly pre-empted by other programmes and moved to the more local, but still nationally organised, Secundo canale. It’s interesting that the episodes selected featured Venus Smith and Dr. King as well as Cathy Gale.

1. Originally scheduled for 19/8/1965 but pre-empted by a repeat of Carlo Goldoni’s “Burbero benefico”. ⭮
2. Originally scheduled for 26/8/1965 on RAI 1 but with the pre-emption above, “The Removal Men” took that slot and “The Undertakers” was rescheduled on 1^st December, 1965 on RAI 2. ⭮
3. Originally scheduled for 21/1/1966 at 22:15 on RAI 2 but pre-empted by live coverage of the Simmenthal — Racing Malines basketball match for the European Cup. ⭮

Series 4

1. In Spain, The Master Minds was originally scheduled — and listed — for 14^th February 1967 at 10:15pm but Nueve España indicates that it was pre-empted by The Town of No Return. The Master Minds was later broadcast on 12^th June 1967 at 4pm. ⭮
2. The Cybernauts appears to have never been broadcast in the Netherlands. There is an episode that was supposed to be broadcast on 14^th November, 1967 entitled “De robot” but the episode synopsis given in the television listing is for Return of the Cybernauts. The episode was pre-empted by the broadcast of a football match between Feijenoord and Arsenal, and it was finally shown on 2^nd December, 1967. It’s possible the listings were wrong, however, as Return of the Cybernauts was broadcast on 17^th May, 1969 under the title “De terugkeer van de robots”. ⭮
3. In Spain, Man-eater of Surrey Green was originally scheduled for 14^th Match 1967 but replaced by The Cybernauts. ⭮
4. There is an unofficial Spanish listing in an advertisement for television repairs that calls Two’s a Crowd Dos son multitud. ⭮
5. Silent Dust was scheduled for May 2 1967 in the Netherlands, appearing in listings in Dagblad de Stem and Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant but is not in the listing for that date in Leidsh Dagblad — it seems the documentary about the Nazi Reichcommissar who install a reign of terror in The Netherlands during World War II, Wie was Arthur Seyss-Inquart? took two hours, as “Dodelijke mest” reappears a couple weeks later, on May 30 1967 — although different papers give different times of broadcast! Dagblad de Stem incorrectly says 9.20pm, giving The Avengers only half an hour, but Leidsh Dagblad says 9pm. ⭮
6. Quick-Quick Slow Death does not appear in Italian listings in 1969 but A passo di danza is reported in the audience data for July 1969 as published in Radiocorriere on 4^th October 1969. It seems likely that it was a stand-by programme used during the Apollo 11 coverage on 20 or 21 July, 1969. The Twilight Zone episode Would the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (Italian: Ai confini della realtà — Chi è il vero marziano?) was reportedly shown on July 20 1969 so it is perhaps more likely that this episode was shown on the 21^st July. Both telefilms received high ratings in the October report, so it seems likely both benefited from being during the Apollo coverage. A passo di danza appears in a repeat run in 1979. ⭮
7. There is an episode is listed for broadcast on 12^th December 1967 in the Netherlands under the title “De vreesaanjagers” which could conceivably be The Danger Makers — but is more likely an early Dutch translation of the title for The Fear Merchants, later shown (9/8/1969) as “Handel in Angst”. Most listings for 12^th December 1967 have “De autorally” (Dead Man’s Treasure instead so The Danger Makers may never have been shown in The Netherlands. ⭮
8. Some Swiss newspapers (e.g. La Liberté) report A Sense of History being on 23^rd May on ORTF2 and then again a week later on the 30^th. But L’Impartial has Abus de confiance (How to Succeed .... at Murder) on the 23^rd so it would seem that A Sense of History was moved down the order and pre-empted by the other episode. ⭮

The Spanish titles here are from contemporary newspaper listings and differ greatly from those used on DVD sets.

There was another episode scheduled to be broadcast in Spain on RTE-1 at 4:45pm on 10^th July 1967 but it was pre-empted by an extended sports report which included Tour de France coverage (see below).

Italy only showed six episodes, and What the Butler Saw was a stand-by programme when the first episode of Paoloa Ojetti’s highly anticipated Italian production of Rebecca was pre-empted because of extended coverage of Italian parliamentary debate. La Stampa reported the substitution thus:

Chi aspettava l’attore italiano al varco del confronto con Laurence Olivier nell’interpretazione di Rebecca è rimasto deluso. In apertura di serata c’era un’avventura della serie «Agente speciale» intitolata Cercate il maggiordomo. Niente de eccezionale, un poco di poliziesco e di giallo conditi di notazioni umoristiche in attesa di una speciale edizione di «Oggi al Palamento».

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Whoever was waiting to see the Italian comparison with Laurence Olivier in the interpretation of Rebecca was disappointed. Opening the evening was an adventure from the “Special Agent” series, entitled Look for the Butler. Nothing exceptional, a little detective thriller seasoned with humorous notations while we waited for a special edition of “Oggi al Palamento”.

Italy would not show any episodes again until Tele Torino International broadcast them in the 1980s — this meant Italian public television would not show any again until The New Avengers. Italian Avengers fans had to make do with broadcasts from surrounding countries such as France, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland. In the North they were lucky because Svizzera Italiana broadcast Series 5 in Italian (I think, or at least had them subtitled in Italian), from October 1973 to July 1974.

KRO in The Netherlands seemed unsure what to do with The Avengers and started very shakily — episodes could be six to eight weeks apart, or only 8 days, with no clear pattern. By late 1967 it had become a mix of episodes from series 4 and series 5. Most were shown on Tuesday nights but episodes were broadcast on every night of the week except Friday or Sunday.

Series 5

1. From Venus With Love is also listed in French listings for 2^nd July 1968, so it may have been pre-empted from its original time slot. ⭮
2. There is an episode listed for broadcast on 12^th December 1967 in the Netherlands under the title “De vreesaanjagers” which could conceivably be The Danger Makers — but is more likely an early Dutch translation of the title for The Fear Merchants, later shown (9/8/1969) as “Handel in Angst”. Most listings for 12^th December 1967 have “De autorally” (Dead Man’s Treasure instead so The Danger Makers may never have been shown in The Netherlands. ⭮
3. Italian listings showed these episodes as being at 10pm rather than the 9pm in Swiss listings, as Italy observed Summer Time but Switzerland did not. ⭮
4. The Superlative Seven was pre-empted on 10/6/68 by the documentary “L’attentat de Los Angeles”, about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. ⭮
5. Return of the Cybernauts appears on 14^th November, 1967 entitled “De robot” as evidenced by the synopsis given in television listings . The episode was pre-empted by the broadcast of a football match between Feijenoord and Arsenal, and it was finally shown on 2^nd December, 1967, again with the synopsis reference Beresford. It’s possible the listings were wrong, however, as Return of the Cybernauts was broadcast on 17^th May, 1969 under the title “De terugkeer van de robots”. It is possible that these earlier schedules were for The Cybernauts and the synopses were incorrectly associated. That would mean this episode was first shown on 17/5/69 at 9pm. ⭮
6. ORTF moved the Avengers to Sunday nights, starting from 15^th September and “Les tremplins de l’ete” took the Tuesday night slot. ⭮
7. Dead Man’s Treasure was originally scheduled for May 2 1973 in Italy but then delayed for 24 weeks. ⭮

The Spanish titles here are from contemporary newspaper listings and differ greatly from those used on DVD sets.

Swiss viewers in 1969 may have been confused as Suisse Romande showed The Forget-Me-Knot on 15^th April 1969, sometimes mistitled as N’oubliez pas in TV listings, but on 10^th April 1969 Allemande II (ZDF Germany) showed a music special called Vergißsmeinnicht — translated in French language newspapers as Ne m’oubliez pas.

Italy had no contemporary broadcasts of this series and did not show them until Tele Torino International broadcast them in the 1980s. Italian Avengers fans had to make do with broadcasts from surrounding countries such as France, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland. In the North they were lucky because Svizzera Italiana broadcast Series 5 in Italian from October 1973 to July 1974. As Italy had Summer Time and Switzerland did not, Italian listing showed several episodes at 10pm instead of 9pm, they are marked above.

TV Svizzera Italiana made Dead Man’s Treasure the first episode in their broadcast of series 5 episodes. According to Radiocorriere 18, 1973 (p. 81) it was originally scheduled for 8.40pm on 2^nd May 1973, followed by Ritratti: John Kenneth Galbraith but these two shows were replaced by Modern Medicine and an episode of L’Uomo e la Citta (Journal de Genève, 2/5/1973, p.14 & Gazette de Lausanne, 2/5/1973, p.4). This episode was then rescheduled, still as the first episode for the run, nearly six months later on 26^th October 1973 at 9pm.

Series 6

1. The Forget-Me-Knot was broadcast on this date by TV Svizzera Italiana. Italian listings showed The Forget-Me-Knot as being at 10pm rather than the 9pm in Swiss listings, as Italy observed Summer Time but Switzerland did not. ⭮
2. There is a great deal of confusion in Swiss newspapers in 1969. Most newspapers have Game (incorrectly called Yeux — “Eyes” instead of Jeux — “Games”) on June 10 1969 and They Keep Killing Steed — Mais qui est Steed? — on June 17 1969. L’Impartial and La Liberté confuse things as they have an extended summary for Game on June 17 1969, despite the listing saying it is Mais qui est Steed?. The Journal de Jura lists Yeux on 10 June, report on 16 June that Mais qui est Steed? will be shown tomorrow, then on 17 June their listing has Jeux, alongside a summary for the same episode — the same episode summary as in L’Impartial, so I assume it was supplied by TV Romande. Even more confusingly, Journal de Sierre does not show The Avengers on 10 June at all — and all the times for other programmes have changed. Mais qui est Steed? does not appear in the rest of the run that ends in September, so it seems most likely that some newspaper go the order wrong OR TV Romande switched the episodes around at the last moment, just as they may have done with the previous two episodes, Get-A-Way! and The Curious Case of the Countless Clues. This would explain why only some papers had a different listing and the reptition of Game. It is just possible that in some areas such as Vallais Game was pre-empted on 10 June and screened on 17 June instead, and those regions never saw They Keep Killing Steed at all. ⭮
3. Get-A-Way! and The Curious Case of the Countless Clues are reported in different newspapers for the 6^th and 20^th May 1969 — although Gazette de Lausanne reports the mysterious Un succès mérité for the 6^th. It looked at first to be a regional variation until La Liberté solved the problem and shows that Trop d’indices was pre-empted. They had corrected the listing to announce Les évadés du monastère in place of Trop d’indices but left a photo of Linda on the page labelled as being from Trop d’indices — and two weeks later has a photo from Get-A-Way! with a summary for The Curious Case of the Countless Clues… Given that the vast majority of Swiss newspaper have Get-A-Way! followed by The Curious Case of the Countless Clues, I have gone with that consensus. ⭮
4. Wish You Were Here was originally scheduled as a stand-by on 1/12/69 around 11:00pm in Spain but must not have been used as it is in the schedule again at 10.35pm on January 12 1970.
   ABC Madrid reported: ⭮

   La serie “Los vengadores”, con el episodio “Quisiera que estuvieras aqui”, se emitira despues de “Los hombres saben.. los pueblos marchan” caso de que el boxeo se resolviese antes de lo previsto.

   ---

   The series “The Avengers”, with the episode “Wish you were here”, will be broadcast after “Men know… the towns march” in case the boxing is resolved earlier than expected.

5. French contemporary listings for Fog all used the English title rather than the translation Brouillard now used on French releases. ⭮
6. There are several Swiss listings that calls this episode Mademoiselle Pandora ⭮

The Spanish titles here are from contemporary newspaper listings and differ greatly from those used on DVD sets. Spain screen all but two episodes of this series, only bettered by the Netherlands, which showed every one. The Netherlands showed The Forget-Me Knot as the last episode of their last run of series 5 in November 1969 then swiftly returned the series to air in January 1970 for thirteen episodes. Another six episodes were shown in October-December 1970, then the remaining episodes were shown starting in late January 1971.

France showed The Forget-Me Knot as the last episode of their last run of series 5 in October 1968, then returned with a 13 episode run from 4 October to December 27 1969. A year later they showed another ten episodes from 10 October to December 19 1970. Three years later, they tried again, screening three episodes on October 1973. The remaining six episodes finally staggered onto French screens in the 1980s.

Switzerland fared worse, showing sixteen episodes in 1969, alternating with Canal 18–25, then five of those that had been missed in mid 1974. In Germany, ZDF decided it had had enough of the series after 10 episodes.

Swiss viewers in 1969 may have been confused as Suisse Romande showed The Forget-Me-Knot on 15^th April 1969, sometimes mistitled as N’oubliez pas in TV listings, but on 10^th April 1969 Allemande II (ZDF Germany) showed a music special called Vergißsmeinnicht — translated in French language newspapers as Ne m’oubliez pas.

Italy did not see this series until Tele Torino International broadcast them in the 1980s and Italian Avengers fans had to make do with broadcasts from surrounding countries such as France or Yugoslavia. Sadly, Svizzera Italiana did not broadcast this series either.

The New Avengers

1. One Dutch newspaper lists House of Cards, the premiere episode, as De Kaarten des doods. ⭮
2. These episodes had their worldwide premiere in the Netherlands. ⭮
3. One Dutch newspaper perhaps incorrectly calls The Last of the Cybernauts…?? De laatste der Cybernauten. ⭮
4. The Tale of the Big Why was cancelled by ARD and replaced by a Tom Jones special. There is some suggestion that they also cancelled the previous episode, The Midas Touch. ⭮

The Netherlands showed every episode of both series — in nine cases having the worldwide premiere, even before any ITV region in the UK broadcast them.
The Netherlands was so keen, KRO broadcast both House of Cards (October 7 1976) and The Midas Touch (October 14 1976) before any ITV company had started the domestic run, which commenced on Harlech on October 17 1976 with The Eagle’s Nest. Other stations followed on the 19^th and 22^nd.

Other countries were more lacklustre in their response:

Spain did reasonably well, taking ten episodes from each series but showed them as a combined single series, starting with mostly series 2 episodes.

Following the cancellation of Tale of the Big Why in Germany, ARD, which had announced a twelve part series of The New Avengers with much fanfare, then cancelled the series completely after only five or six episodes, and never showed any episodes from the second series. Local excitement had initially been high for the new series which started with Cat Amongst the Pigeons announced as the first of twelve episodes (under German law, Nazi imagery was illegal so ARD had not taken The Eagle’s Nest). Reception doesn’t seem to have been very good and I struggled to find newspapers that would list episode titles after the first one. Having four or five weeks between episodes doesn’t seem to have helped either. By June, there are reports that The Midas Touch was cancelled hours before it was due to be broadcast. Then, in July, the directors of ARD decided to curb screen violence and declared that Thursdays would become “krimifrei” . The first victim of the campaign would be The New Avengers:

Aktion „Sauberer Bildschirm” fordert heute das erste Opfer: …27.07.1978
John Steed muß die Melone nehmen — Tom Jones kommt als „Ersatzmann”

Der Beschluß der ARD-Intendanten, die Gewalt am Bildschirm drastisch einzudämmen, zeigt erste Wirkungen. Ab sofort bleibt der Donnerstag krimifrei. Erstes Opfer der Aktion „Sauberer Bildschirm”: die heutige Folge der Krimi- Reihe „Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone”. Sie sollte um 21.45 Uhr gezeigt werden. Statt dessen wird nun die Aufzeichnung einer Show mit Tom Jones ins Programm gerückt.

Auch der „Chef” wird nun donnerstags nicht, wie geplant, im Rollstuhl auf Gauner jagd gehen dürfen. Vom 31. August an sollte die beliebte Reihe wiederholt werden. Die erste Folge fällt nun dem Sport zum Opfer ? die ARD berichtet von der Leichtathletik-Europameisterschaft und von der Schwimm-Weltmeisterschaft.

„Das heißt für die Zukunft aber keineswegs, daß die Zuschauer ganz auf den ‚Chef’ oder andere Krimis verzichten müssen”, erläutert ARD-Pro grammdirektor Dietrich Schwarzkopf den Anti-Gewaltbeschluß der Intendanten.

„Und wir schalten auch nicht auf den total gewaltlosen Krimi um. Es geht vor 1 allem um eine Reduzierung der Krimis überhaupt.”

Das heißt: Pro Jahr werden die 13 Serien-Termine, die am Donnerstag um 21.45 Uhr für Krimis vorgesehen waren, und 26 Wiederholungstermine am späten Abend (23 Uhr) mit anderen Programmen gefüllt. Wann der „Chef”, John Steed, Purdey und Mike Gambit künftig zum Einsatz kommen, steht noch nicht fest. Schwarzkopf: „Wir prüfen, ob sie für andere Sendeplätze, etwa den späten Freitagabend, geeignet sind. Aber auch dann werden wir jede Folge noch einmal vorher anschauen.” . Auch das ZDF folgt nun dem Beispiel der ARD. Die für den Nachmittag geplante Westernserie „Josh” (mit US-Star Steve McQueen in der Rolle eines Kopfgeldjägers) erschien den Mainzer Programmverantwortlichen plötzlich als zu brutal. Von 17.10 Uhr soll „Josh” nun, laut ZDF-Pressechef Dr. Fritz Hufen, in den späten Abend rutschen. Die Nachmittagssendezeit bezeichnete Hufen als „Dispositionsfehler”, da die Serie in die „Empfindlichkeitszone” (in der die Kinder am Bildschirm sitzen) geraten sei. JA.

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Action “clean screen” claims the first victim today: …27.07.1978
John Steed has to remove his bowler hat — Tom Jones comes as a “substitute”

The decision of the ARD directors to drastically curb violence on the screen is showing its first effects. From now on, Thursday will remain crime-free. First victim of the “clean screen” campaign: today’s episode of the crime series “The New Avengers”. It was supposed to be shown at 9:45 p.m. Instead, the recording of a show with Tom Jones will now be included in the program.

Even the “boss” will not be allowed to hunt crooks in a wheelchair on Thursdays, as planned. From August 31, the popular series should be repeated. The first episode now falls victim to sport? the ARD reports from the European Athletics Championships and the Swimming World Championships.

“But that doesn’t mean for the future that viewers will have to do without ‘Chef’ or other thrillers entirely,” says ARD program director Dietrich Schwarzkopf, explaining the directors’ anti-violence decision.

“And we’re not switching to totally non-violent crime shows either. It’s primarily about reducing crime shows in general.”

That means: per year, the 13 series dates that were scheduled for thrillers on Thursday at 9:45 p.m. and 26 repeat dates on late evening (11pm) filled with other programs. It is not yet certain when the “boss”, John Steed, Purdey and Mike Gambit will be used in the future. Schwarzkopf: “We are checking whether they are suitable for other slots, such as late Friday evening. But even then we will watch each episode again beforehand.” . ZDF is now also following the example of ARD. The western series “Josh” planned for the afternoon (with US star Steve McQueen in the role of a bounty hunter) suddenly seemed too brutal to the program managers in Mainz. According to ZDF press chief Dr. Fritz Hufen, slipping into the late evening. Hufen described the afternoon transmission time as a “scheduling error” because the series had gotten into the “sensitivity zone” (where the children sit in front of the screen). JA.

Italy’s public broadcaster RAI showed every episode of series 1 except Sleeper (the fools!) and declined to take an option on series two which ended up in the clutches of private television. Newspaper listings for the private stations are generally poor, so most of the dates for series two are questionable.

France:. France, having put up most of the money to pay the The New Avengers, showed every episode enthusiatically.

• French dates are for Télévision Française 1 (TF1) Paris, taken from Le Monde Diplomatique. They differ slightly from those for Lyon (as reported by Swiss newspapers such as Feuille D’Avis de Neuchâtel L’Express, L’Impartial and Le Temps).

  Feuille D’Avis de Neuchâtel L’Express seems to incorrectly report Jeux à trois mains (Three Handed Game) as being shown on 12 février 1977 at 21.30 as other newspapers for that date report that Visages (Faces) was shown.

  Series 1

  Episode	Paris	Lyon
  To Catch a Rat	15 janvier 1977 21h35	15 janvier 1977 21h30
  The Eagle’s Nest	22 janvier 1977 21h45	22 janvier 1977 21h35
  Three Handed Game	5 février 1977 21h30	5 février 1977 21h45
  Sleeper	19 février 1977 21h35	19 février 1977 21h45

  • Sleeper was originally scheduled for 21h50 in Paris, then moved to 21h30.

  Series 2

  Paris was originally going to follow the same timeslot as Lyon, with L’Otage (Hostage) initially scheduled for 20h35, but TF1 Paris elected to continue with their variety programme at 20h35 and showed every episode at 21h35 instead. Variations from that time are listed below.

  Episode	Paris	Lyon
  The Lion and the Unicorn	28 juillet 1979 21h35	27 juillet 1979 20h35
  K is for Kill part 1	4 août 1979 21h45	4 août 1979 20h40
  K is for Kill part 2	11 août 1979 21h40	11 août 1979 20h45
  Complex	18 août 1979 21h45	18 août 1979 20h35
  Emily	25 août 1979 21h35	25 août 1979 20h40
  Forward Base	1 septembre 1979 21h40	1 septembre 1979 20h40
  Gladiators	8 septembre 1979 21h40	8 septembre 1979 20h40

  • Lyon moved The Lion and the Unicorn a day earlier than the usual schedule but Paris did not.
  • Gladiators was originally scheduled for 21h25 in Paris, then moved back to 21h40.
  • Emily went the other way, originally scheduled for 21h45 and brought forward to 21h35.

Additions/corrections? Drop me a line at letter ((a)) dissolute·com·au. Any information on the dates and titles for other countries is most welcome.

Notes:

Unless otherwise marked, all the French original TX dates are for deuxieme channel ORTF. This was the original run; as you can see, many were left out.
A2 = Antenne 2.
TF1 = Télévision Français 1.

The German dates refer to the original screening of the series on ZDF — Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen — those that weren’t screened were all screened in 1993 on SAT 1; possibly with the exception of “The Murder Market” which may never have been shown at all.

Italian TX dates -
RAI = RAI Programma Nazionale
C51 = Canale 51 Lombardia
RTSI TV = RTSI TV Svizzera Italiana

The original Dutch screenings were by KRO (Katholieke Radio Omroep — a Catholic broadcaster) on either Nederland 1 or Nederland 2 — Dutch broadcasters shared the two channels at the time. The rescreenings in 1993 were by Veronica, a youth-oriented broadcaster.

All the original TX dates are from UK broadcasts except for:

• "The See-Through Man" which was first broadcast by ABC (USA). It was first shown in the UK on 4/02/67.
• "The Winged Avenger" which was first broadcast by ABC (USA). It was first shown in the UK on 18/02/67.
• "The Forget -Me-Knot" which was first broadcast by ABC (USA). It was first shown in the UK on 12/12/69.