The Avengers

Series 2, 1962–3

Episode Guide

Clicking the randomly-selected images above takes you directly to the episodes pictured.

Episodes are listed in transmission order. You may resort the table by clicking on the headings.
Legend for this table — all dates are in dd/mm/yy format

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

The table below is expandable to show other ITV regions. show all regions

# Episode Companion Produced ATV ABC Anglia BTV CTV GTV South STV TT UTV WTV TWW WWN
01 Mr. Teddy Bear Cathy 4/08/1962 29/09/1962 10.30pm 29/09/1962 10.05pm 29/09/1962 10.30pm - 29/09/1962 10.30pm 29/09/1962 10.30pm 29/09/1962 10.30pm 18/04/1963 10.15pm 29/09/1962 10.05pm 29/09/1962 10.05pm 29/09/1962 10.30pm 29/09/1962 10.05pm 29/09/1962 10.05pm
02 Propellant 23 Cathy 21/07/1962 6/10/1962 10.30pm 6/10/1962 10.05pm 6/10/1962 10.30pm - 6/10/1962 10.30pm 6/10/1962 10.30pm 6/10/1962 10.30pm 30/05/1963 10.45pm 6/10/1962 10.05pm 6/10/1962 10.05pm 6/10/1962 10.30pm 6/10/1962 10.05pm 6/10/1962 10.05pm
03 The Decapod Venus 13/09/1962 13/10/1962 10.00pm 13/10/1962 10.05pm 13/10/1962 10.00pm - 13/10/1962 10.00pm - 13/10/1962 10.00pm - 13/10/1962 10.05pm 13/10/1962 10.05pm 13/10/1962 10.00pm 13/10/1962 10.05pm 13/10/1962 10.05pm
04 Bullseye Cathy 20/09/1962 20/10/1962 10.05pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm - 20/10/1962 10.30pm 20/10/1962 10.30pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm - 20/10/1962 10.05pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm 20/10/1962 10.30pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm 20/10/1962 10.05pm
05 Mission to Montreal Martin 12/05/1962 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm - 27/10/1962 10.00pm - 27/10/1962 10.05pm - 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm 27/10/1962 10.05pm
06 The Removal Men Venus 4/10/1962 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm - 3/11/1962 10.05pm - 3/11/1962 10.05pm - 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm 3/11/1962 10.05pm
07 The Mauritius Penny Cathy 18/10/1962 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm - 10/11/1962 10.05pm - 10/11/1962 10.05pm 16/05/1963 10.45pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm 10/11/1962 10.05pm
08 Death of a Great Dane Cathy 1/11/1962 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm - 17/11/1962 10.05pm 9/05/1963 10.45pm 17/11/1962 10.20pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm 17/11/1962 10.05pm
09 The Sell-Out Martin 9/06/1962 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm - 24/11/1962 10.05pm - 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm 24/11/1962 10.05pm
10 Death on the Rocks Cathy 15/11/1962 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm - 1/12/1962 10.05pm - 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm 1/12/1962 10.05pm
11 Traitor in Zebra Cathy 29/11/1962 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm - 8/12/1962 10.05pm 20/06/1963 10.45pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm 8/12/1962 10.05pm
12 The Big Thinker Cathy 13/12/1962 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 10/03/1963 10.35pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 13/06/1963 10.45pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm 15/12/1962 10.05pm
13 Death Dispatch Cathy 23/06/1962 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm - 22/12/1962 10.05pm 27/06/1963 10.45pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm 22/12/1962 10.05pm
14 Dead on Course Martin 26/05/1962 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm - 29/12/1962 10.05pm - 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm 29/12/1962 10.05pm
15 Intercrime Cathy 29/12/1962 6/01/1963 10.35pm 5/01/1963 10.05pm 5/01/1963 10.05pm - 5/01/1963 10.35pm 6/01/1963 10.35pm 5/01/1963 10.05pm 11/04/1963 10.15pm 5/01/1963 10.05pm 6/01/1963 10.35pm 6/01/1963 10.35pm 6/01/1963 10.35pm - 1
16 Immortal Clay Cathy 10/01/1963 13/01/1963 10.35pm 12/01/1963 10.05pm 12/01/1963 10.05pm - 12/01/1963 10.35pm 13/01/1963 10.35pm 12/01/1963 10.05pm - 12/01/1963 10.05pm 13/01/1963 10.35pm 13/01/1963 10.35pm 13/01/1963 10.35pm 11/01/1963 10.45pm
17 Box of Tricks Venus 17/01/1963 20/01/1963 10.35pm 19/01/1963 10.05pm 19/01/1963 10.05pm - 19/01/1963 10.35pm 20/01/1963 10.35pm 19/01/1963 10.05pm - 19/01/1963 10.05pm 20/01/1963 10.35pm 20/01/1963 10.35pm 20/01/1963 10.35pm 18/01/1963 10.45pm
18 Warlock Cathy 24/01/63 2 27/01/1963 10.35pm 26/01/1963 10.35pm 26/01/1963 10.05pm - 26/01/1963 10.05pm 27/01/1963 10.35pm 26/01/1963 10.05pm - 26/01/1963 10.05pm 27/01/1963 10.35pm 27/01/1963 10.35pm 27/01/1963 10.35pm 25/01/1963 10.45pm
19 The Golden Eggs Cathy 31/01/1963 3/02/1963 10.35pm 2/02/1963 10.05pm 2/02/1963 10.05pm - 2/02/1963 10.35pm 3/02/1963 10.35pm 2/02/1963 10.05pm 23/05/1963 10.45pm 2/02/1963 10.05pm 3/02/1963 10.35pm 3/02/1963 10.35pm 3/02/1963 10.35pm 1/02/1963 10.45pm
20 School for Traitors Venus 9/02/1963 10/02/1963 10.35pm 9/02/1963 10.05pm 9/02/1963 10.05pm - 9/02/1963 10.35pm 10/02/1963 10.35pm 9/02/1963 10.05pm - 9/02/1963 10.05pm 10/02/1963 10.35pm 10/02/1963 10.35pm 10/02/1963 10.35pm 8/02/1963 10.45pm 1
21 The White Dwarf Cathy 16/02/1963 17/02/1963 10.35pm 16/02/1963 10.05pm 16/02/1963 10.05pm - 16/02/1963 10.35pm 17/02/1963 10.35pm 16/02/1963 10.05pm 6/06/1963 10.45pm 16/02/1963 10.05pm 17/02/1963 10.35pm 17/02/1963 10.35pm 17/02/1963 10.35pm 15/02/1963 10.45pm 1
22 Man in the Mirror Venus 22/02/1963 24/02/1963 10.35pm 23/02/1963 10.05pm 23/02/1963 10.05pm - 23/02/1963 10.35pm 24/02/1963 10.35pm 23/02/1963 10.05pm - 23/02/1963 10.05pm 24/02/1963 10.35pm 24/02/1963 10.35pm 24/02/1963 10.35pm 22/02/1963 10.45pm
23 Conspiracy of Silence Cathy 1/03/1963 3/03/1963 10.45pm 2/03/1963 10.05pm 2/03/1963 10.05pm - 2/03/1963 10.45pm 3/03/1963 10.45pm 2/03/1963 10.05pm 25/04/1963 10.15pm 2/03/1963 10.05pm 3/03/1963 10.45pm 3/03/1963 10.45pm 3/03/1963 10.45pm 1/03/1963 10.45pm
24 A Chorus of Frogs Venus 8/03/1963 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 17/03/1963 10.35pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm - 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm 9/03/1963 10.05pm
25 Six Hands Across a Table Cathy 15/03/1963 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 24/03/1963 10.35pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm - 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm 16/03/1963 10.05pm
26 Killer Whale Cathy 22/03/1963 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 31/03/1963 10.35pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 2/05/1963 10.15pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm 23/03/1963 10.05pm
  1. These broadcast dates are dubious as they are before the episode was scheduled to be recorded, see “Broadcast”, below.
  2. Warlock finished initial filming on 7th July 1962 but as it was originally an introduction episode for Cathy, some scenes were reshot when it slipped down the schedule. These were filmed on 24th January 1963.
Legend and cast lists
  • Companion indicates Steed’s companion for the episode. There’s a memo dated 1st February 1962 which floating the idea of having a three-handed game episode with Venus and Cathy but it never eventuated. The production paperwork suggests they considered doing this when re-filming scenes for Warlock and that may have been the episode in mind in the February memo.
  • Television channels are listed with their acronym or short name, hovering over them will give you the full name. On small screens, these are automatically expanded as the table is redrawn.
  • The cast and crew lists are as complete as possible, and readers should note that they are often more informative than the originally broadcast credits; that is, I have included complete character names, if known, in place of a single name — the addition in italics — (e.g. “Ted East” instead of “East”); and uncredited characters are also listed. Some of these have been identified by a combination of script listings, call sheets, research and good luck; if you see a mistake or can identify someone, let us know.
Media and archive status

All episodes have been recovered from private collections and film libraries and are now available to the public on DVD or digital download.

Episodes are listed in transmission order, as used on all released DVD sets.

All of the scripts and many promotional photos for the episodes are available as extras on recent DVD sets.

Production dates are from Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots (Mike Richardson, Telos Publishing 2014, First paperback edition) and are verified against the scripts available for every episode that provide this information. The Avengers Declassified reports a January 7 1963 re-shooting date for Warlock, otherwise all other dates are the same.

Broadcast
  • Teledu Cymru (WWN) only showed series 2 and series 3, having started broadcasting on September 14 1962, and going out of business on January 26 1964.
  • There is some doubt around the Teledu Cymru listings. They failed to schedule Intercrime on either Friday 4th January or Saturday 5th January. Prior to this week they had been showing The Avengers on Saturdays but afterwards it moved to Friday nights. I assume Intercrime was missed as it was originally going to be on the changeover Saturday. It gets worse though, as some episodes were recorded live in studio on Saturday nights, often shortly before transmission. As a consequence, they have School for Traitors and The White Dwarf listed in their broadcast schedule on the Friday before the Saturday nights they were scheduled to be filmed in studio. It would seems that the listings are incorrect. As they had not broadcast Intercrime on the week when they switched to the Friday schedule, it would seem likely that Intercrime was shown on 8th February 1963, and School for Traitors was shown on 15th February 1963. This would mean that it was actually The White Dwarf that was never broadcast to the West and Wales North area.
  • Border Television started series 2 late, on the eighth week, then stopped again after having only show seven episodes. They rejoined the network broadcasts for the last three episodes, so only showed 10 of the 26 episodes.
  • Channel Television started broadcasting on September 1 1962, making this the first series of The Avengers broadcast in the region. They went on to show every remaining episode.
  • Grampian Television failed to show ten episodes of this series, pre-empting it with other shows.
  • Scottish Television were even worse than Grampian, showing a mere twelve episodes seven months later than other regions.
International broadcasts

The table below is expandable to show other countries. show all countries

# Episode ABN2 ABQ2 ABV2 ABS2 Hong Kong Malaysia Canada Italy
01 Mr. Teddy Bear 21/10/1963 7.30pm 13/01/1964 7.30pm 14/05/1964 7.30pm 26/06/1964 8.30pm - 16/02/1969 9.22pm 14/09/1964 10.00pm -
02 Propellant 23 28/10/1963 7.30pm 20/01/1964 7.30pm 21/05/1964 7.30pm 11/09/1964 8.30pm - - 21/09/1964 10.00pm -
03 The Decapod 4/11/1963 7.30pm 27/01/1964 7.30pm 28/05/1964 7.30pm 1 18/09/1964 8.30pm - 16/05/1970 8.13pm 28/09/1964 10.00pm -
04 Bullseye 11/11/1963 7.30pm 3/02/1964 7.30pm 2 4/06/1964 7.30pm 3/07/1964 8.30pm - 23/02/1969 9.45pm 5/10/1964 10.00pm -
05 Mission to Montreal 18/11/1963 7.40pm 10/02/1964 7.30pm 30/07/1964 7.30pm 1 10/07/1964 8.30pm - 23/05/1970 8.12pm 12/10/1964 10.00pm -
06 The Removal Men 25/11/1963 7.40pm 17/02/1964 7.30pm 18/06/1964 7.30pm 17/07/1964 8.30pm - - 19/10/1964 10.00pm 26/08/1965 9.00pm
07 The Mauritius Penny 2/12/1963 7.30pm 24/02/1964 7.30pm 25/06/1964 7.30pm 24/07/1964 8.30pm - 2/03/1969 9.22pm 26/10/1964 10.00pm -
08 Death of a Great Dane 16/12/1963 7.30pm 2/03/1964 7.30pm 2/07/1964 7.30pm 31/07/1964 8.30pm - 9/05/1970 8.12pm 2/11/1964 10.00pm 14/01/1966 10.15pm
09 The Sell-Out 9/12/1963 7.30pm 9/03/1964 7.30pm 9/07/1964 7.30pm 7/08/1964 8.30pm - - 9/11/1964 10.00pm -
10 Death on the Rocks 23/12/1963 7.30pm 16/03/1964 7.30pm 16/07/1964 7.30pm 14/08/1964 8.30pm - 7/03/1970 8.10pm 16/11/1964 10.00pm 10/11/1965 9.15pm
11 Traitor in Zebra 30/12/1963 7.30pm 23/03/1964 7.30pm 2 23/07/1964 7.30pm 21/08/1964 8.30pm - 8/12/1968 9.22pm 23/11/1964 10.00pm 7/01/1966 10.15pm
12 The Big Thinker 13/01/1964 7.30pm 30/03/1964 7.30pm 6/08/1964 7.30pm 28/08/1964 8.30pm - 25/04/1970 8.12pm 30/11/1964 10.00pm -
13 Death Dispatch 3/02/1964 7.30pm 3 6/04/1964 7.30pm 3 13/08/1964 7.30pm 3 4/09/1964 8.30pm 3 - - 7/12/1964 10.00pm -
14 Dead on Course 10/02/1964 7.30pm 13/04/1964 7.30pm 20/08/1964 7.30pm 25/09/1964 8.30pm - 11/04/1970 8.12pm 14/12/1964 10.00pm 4/02/1966 10.15pm
15 Intercrime 17/02/1964 7.30pm 20/04/1964 7.30pm 27/08/1964 7.30pm 2/10/1964 8.35pm - 7/02/1970 8.10pm 21/12/1964 10.00pm -
16 Immortal Clay 6/01/1964 7.30pm 27/04/1964 7.30pm 3/09/1964 7.30pm 9/10/1964 8.30pm - - 28/12/1964 10.00pm -
17 Box of Tricks 20/01/1964 7.30pm 4/05/1964 7.30pm 10/09/1964 7.30pm 16/10/1964 9.05pm 24/07/1965 10.40pm 9/02/1969 10.05pm 4/01/1965 10.00pm -
18 Warlock - - - - - 21/02/1970 8.10pm 11/01/1965 10.00pm -
19 The Golden Eggs 24/02/1964 7.30pm 11/05/1964 7.30pm 17/09/1964 7.30pm 23/10/1964 9.05pm - 15/12/1968 9.22pm 18/01/1965 10.00pm -
20 School for Traitors 27/01/1964 7.30pm 18/05/1964 7.30pm 24/09/1964 7.30pm 30/10/1964 8.30pm - 29/12/1968 9.45pm 25/01/1965 10.00pm 17/12/1965 10.20pm
21 The White Dwarf 2/03/1964 7.30pm 25/05/1964 7.30pm 1/10/1964 7.30pm 6/11/1964 8.30pm - 5/01/1969 9.22pm 1/02/1965 10.00pm -
22 Man in the Mirror - - - - - 28/02/1970 8.10pm 8/02/1965 10.00pm 2/09/1965 9.00pm
23 Conspiracy of Silence 9/03/1964 7.30pm 1/06/1964 7.30pm 8/10/1964 7.30pm 13/11/1964 8.45pm - 21/03/1970 8.12pm 15/02/1965 10.00pm -
24 A Chorus of Frogs 16/03/1964 7.30pm 8/06/1964 7.30pm 15/10/1964 8.00pm 20/11/1964 8.50pm - - 22/02/1965 10.00pm -
25 Six Hands Across a Table 23/03/1964 7.30pm 15/06/1964 7.30pm 22/10/1964 8.00pm 27/11/1964 8.40pm - 2/05/1970 8.12pm 1/03/1965 10.00pm -
26 Killer Whale 31/03/1964 8.00pm 22/06/1964 7.30pm 29/10/1964 7.30pm 4/12/1964 8.35pm - 12/01/1969 9.22pm 8/03/1965 10.00pm -

  1. Both these dates are reported to be showing The Decapod. See “The Avengers Down-under”, below.
  2. The Courier-Mail does not name the episode but this is correct based on broadcast order.
  3. Despatch must have been the accepted spelling in Australia at the time as all Australian listings incorrectly name this episode Death Despatch.

Data for overseas broadcasts above has known omissions as episodes were frequently not identified by title in newspaper listings, please see the series transmission and production dates spreadsheet and the sections below for more information.

Rediffusion Hong Kong showed 27 episodes (or maybe 26) from probably series 2 and 3 in 1965, but only Box of Tricks is confirmed. It seems quite likely that Rediffusion Hong Kong started showing series 3 on October 24 1965 but there is no definite evidence of this.

The Avengers Down-under

Series 2 was bought by the government broadcaster, Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), by the programme controller in the Sydney office. The purchase was announced to the press in late August nationally, alongside Maigret and Crane. With their immediate success with the viewing public, the ABC bought extra episodes as soon as they became available and, later in 1964, suggested a joint production with episodes filmed in Australia.
Both the Australian National Archives and the ABC archives show that this series was the first offered to Australia although rumours of series 1 being sent to Australia as part of the “pitch” to sell the series persist to this day. There is no mention of any episode from series 1 in the Australian archives.

Accordingly, ABN2, the New South Wales channel, broadcast them earlier, along with ABC-3 in the national capital of Canberra. Brisbane commenced showing episodes two months later and there is partial evidence of Far North Queensland also seeing episodes in early 1964 although probably not on the same days (the Courier-Mail lists Rockhampton and Townsville schedules somewhat haphazardly). Melbourne showed them about six months after NSW on the back of the immense popularity of the show in other areas, and Adelaide followed a month after that.

In all regions, 24 episodes of series 2 were screened, immediately followed by 11 out of the first 13 episodes of Series 3, making a first Australian “series” of 35 episodes (although initially announced as being 39 episodes, but the censors and worried programme controllers hadn’t seen the episodes yet!) Strangely enough, when Adelaide started showing the series on June 26 1964 it was listed as being the first of 39 episodes, even though the Sydney broadcasts had already left out 4 of those 39 episodes.

The episodes from series 2 that were not broadcast were Warlock and Man in the Mirror while the episodes from the first half of series 3 that were not broadcast were Man with Two Shadows and Don’t Look Behind You. This appears to be squeamishness on the part of the ABC, unwilling to show horror themes.

Sydney broadcasts moved from Monday nights at 7.30pm to Tuesday nights at 8pm starting with Killer Whale; it might seem strange to change the schedule on the last episode but for the Australian market this was two thirds of the way through the “first series” and was followed by another eleven episodes. Also, Telegoons — a filmed puppet show version of classic Goon Show radio episodes — was announced with much fanfare to take the Monday 8.15pm slot, along with Sid James’ sitcom Taxi at 7.30pm in the previous slot occupied by The Avengers.

Brisbane rigidly held to the UK broadcast order, more so than Sydney and showed every episode on Monday nights at 7.30pm, it initially replaced Dr Finlay’s Casebook then when it finished Patrick Allen’s Crane would run until the next time The Avengers returned to the schedule for an action-packed start to the week. All episodes are accounted for in the Brisbane area but ABRQ2 in Rockhampton and ABTQ2 in Townsville seem to have varied from the Brisbane schedule very quickly. The Brisbane-based Courier-Mail is very haphazard in listing other regions and if it did never named the episodes so I do not have any episode dates for Far North Queensland.

Adelaide, which started a month after Melbourne stuck to a Friday night timeslot for the 35 episodes in the first run, switching to Monday nights for the latter half of Series 3 nearly nine months later (six weeks before Melbourne for that run). ABS2 Adelaide followed the same order of episodes as Sydney and Brisbane except for Propellant 23 and The Decapod which were shown 11 weeks after the expected order.

The Australian broadcast dates above are all confirmed but there is an element of doubt about The Decapod and Mission to Montreal in Melbourne. The Decapod was listed for May 28. Mission to Montreal ought to have been shown on June 11 but The Avengers was pre-empted on that date by a documentary entitled A Camera at War — about early journalists recording the Crimean War — and appears to have been re-scheduled for 30th July, 1964. Unfortunately, the only listing I have for that date states that the episode shown was The Decapod. This was probably an error, as that episode was also listed for 28th May, 1964, in the correct running order. Accordingly, it seems likely that this is when Mission to Montreal was finally screened and the listing in The Age is incorrect. However, it’s just as possible that The Decapod was replaced by Mission to Montreal after the weekly listings were published and was finally shown in July.

Two episodes in Sydney and Canberra were delayed by ten minutes for party political broadcasts for the 1964 federal election. There are similar shifts for party politicals in other states. Two episodes in Melbourne were broadcast at 8pm instead of 7.30pm, making way for highlights footage of the 1964 Olympic Games. This also happened in Adelaide, with two episodes shown an 9.05pm instead of 8.30pm.

Warlock and Man in the Mirror appear to have never been broadcast in Australia. The television censorship board in Australia was remarkably harsh and, while it approved Warlock for broadcast, the programme controller was nervous about showing “black magic themes” and it was withdrawn from the schedule. There is nothing in the National Archives to show why Man in the Mirror was not broadcast.

Despite their immense popularity, no episodes of series 2 or series 3 were ever repeated in Australia. I can only assume the ABC did not secure the rights to do so.

The Avengers in North America
  • Canada

    In 1960, Canada permitted licences for second channels for the first time, and independent stations were created to compete with the government-owned CBC. These stations — CFCN Calgary, CHAN Vancouver, CJAY Winnipeg (CKY), CFTO Toronto, CJCH Halifax, CFCF Montréal, CJOH Ottawa, and CFCN Edmonton which had lost its CBC affiliation — formed the Independent Television Organisation (ITO) in July 1960. In early 1961, with the exception of CHAN, they joined forces with another Toronto concern to form the Canadian Television Network (CTN) which finally made it to air on October 1 1961, now named CTV. When The Avengers was sold to Canada, it was to ITO, so these local broadcasters showed series 2 and part of series 3 in a combined season, with some areas — such as Ontario, Manitoba and suburban Alberta showing them from September 1964 until June 1965, while areas like British Columbia and regional parts of Alberta didn’t start until December 1965. I have shown CJAY-TV, Winnipeg, Manitoba, who showed the series 2 episodes in the exact same order as the British transmissions, then followed with fifteen episodes from series 3 in a different order, no doubt driven by what was available to them at the time. There are three episodes unidentified, but one may be The Wringer from the description “Steed is suspected of being an informer” — but it is more likely a repeated or rescheduled The Nutshell.

    CFCL, despite being a CBC affiliate, started showing The Avengers a week earlier, on September 8 1964, on channel 6 in the Timmins, Ontario area. Toronto was a week after Winnipeg, starting September 19 on CFTO and other areas of Ontario started on September 25 on CKCO. I wonder when SCTV started showing episodes…

The Avengers in Asia
Hong Kong

Rediffusion Television Hong Kong started screening The Avengers on July 24 1965 at 10.40pm, just before the Saturday night end of transmission. Unfortunately, the South China Post is very reluctant to list which episode was shown when, but we know it started with Box of Tricks due to the scathing review of the episode printed the following Saturday, July 31 1965. The review is confusing, though, as it seems to suggest the reviewer was already familiar with the show and disappointed to have Venus instead of Cathy. The late time slot was kept until October 23 and then, as it had been a rating success, The Avengers was shown again the next day, October 24 1965, in the prime time Sunday 6.30pm timeslot. It stayed at this time until January 1966, when ten Diana Rigg episodes were shown, commencing on January 23 1966 in the 6.30pm timeslot. It is possible that the timeslot and day change on 24 October indicates the start of series 3 but this is not confirmed at all; it’s equally possible that the October 23 broadcast was cancelled with the day switch and all episodes from series 2 were shown before they started series 4.

Malaysia

TV Malaysia ran a fairly jumbled run of The Avengers, starting with series 4 in 1967–8, with two episodes of series 5. At this time TV Malaysia only had one station, which had different channel numbers in different parts of the country.
On December 8 1968, still with one station, they started 13 episodes of series 2 with Traitor in Zebra. This ran until March 2 1969.
About a year later, TV Malaysia, on their Programme Two station as TV Malaysia had expanded by this time, recommenced series 2 with Intercrime on February 7 1970 in a combined run with series 3 which ran up to May 1970 and was then replaced with series 5 which led straight into series 6, which finished on June 19 1971.

Singapore

TV Singapura started showing series 4 about the same time as TV Malaysia — for four weeks on the same night — and once in the same timeslot, but appears to never have shown any episodes from series 2 or 3.

The Avengers in Europe

Series 2 & 3 had a limited release internationally — there was of course Australia above, 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.

EpisodeDateTimeItalian titleChannel
Death Of A Batman12/08/19659:00 PMAlta finanzaRAI 1
The Removal Men26/08/1965 19:00 PMUna donna in mareRAI 1
Man in the Mirror2/09/19659:00 PMUn uomo nello specchioRAI 1
The Nutshell5/11/19659:15 PMSegretissimoRAI 2
Death on the Rocks10/11/19659:15 PMOperazione diamantiRAI 2
The Undertakers1/12/1965 29:15 PMI filantropiRAI 2
School for Traitors17/12/196510:20 PMScuola di spieRAI 2
Traitor in Zebra7/01/196610:15 PMLa formula segretaRAI 2
Death of a Great Dane14/01/196610:15 PMIl cane daneseRAI 2
Dead on Course4/02/1966 310:15 PMSabotaggioRAI 2
  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 1st 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.

fan forum Donate Become a Patron!