The Avengers

Series 5, 1967–8

Episode Guide

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

Episodes are listed in the order of broadcast by ABC Midlands. You may resort the table by clicking on the headings.
Legend for this table — dates are in dd/mm/yy format except where only an approximate month is known

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 Produced London Midlands North Anglia BTV CTV GTV South STV TT UTV WTV Wales York
01 From Venus With Love November 1966 13/01/1967 8.00pm 14/01/1967 9.10pm 14/01/1967 9.10pm 13/01/1967 8.00pm 15/01/1967 8.10pm 13/01/1967 8.00pm 22/11/1967 8.00pm 9/01/1967 8.00pm 14/01/1967 9.10pm 14/01/1967 9.10pm 30/11/1967 7.30pm 13/01/1967 8.00pm 11/01/1967 8.00pm -
02 The Fear Merchants October 1966 20/01/1967 8.00pm 21/01/1967 9.10pm 21/01/1967 9.10pm 20/01/1967 8.00pm 22/01/1967 8.10pm 20/01/1967 8.00pm 6/12/1967 8.00pm 16/01/1967 8.00pm 21/01/1967 9.10pm 21/01/1967 9.10pm 7/12/1967 7.30pm 20/01/1967 8.00pm 18/01/1967 8.00pm -
03 Escape in Time October 1966 27/01/1967 8.00pm 28/01/1967 9.10pm 28/01/1967 9.10pm 27/01/1967 8.00pm 29/01/1967 8.10pm 27/01/1967 8.00pm 13/12/1967 8.00pm 23/01/1967 8.00pm 28/01/1967 9.10pm 28/01/1967 9.10pm 14/12/1967 7.30pm 27/01/1967 8.00pm 25/01/1967 8.00pm -
04 The See-Through Man December 1966 3/02/1967 8.00pm 4/02/1967 9.10pm 4/02/1967 9.10pm 3/02/1967 8.00pm 5/02/1967 8.10pm 3/02/1967 8.00pm 20/12/1967 8.00pm 30/01/1967 8.00pm 4/02/1967 9.10pm 1/02/1967 8.00pm 21/12/1967 7.30pm 3/02/1967 8.00pm 1/02/1967 8.00pm -
05 The Bird Who Knew Too Much November 1966 1 10/02/1967 8.00pm 11/02/1967 9.10pm 11/02/1967 9.10pm 10/02/1967 8.00pm 12/02/1967 8.10pm 10/02/1967 8.00pm 27/12/1967 8.00pm 8/02/1967 8.00pm 11/02/1967 9.10pm 8/02/1967 8.00pm 28/12/1967 7.30pm 10/02/1967 8.00pm 10/02/1967 8.00pm -
06 The Winged Avenger December 1966 17/02/1967 8.00pm 18/02/1967 9.10pm 18/02/1967 9.10pm 17/02/1967 8.00pm 19/02/1967 8.10pm 17/02/1967 8.00pm 6/03/1968 8.00pm 15/02/1967 8.00pm 18/02/1967 9.10pm 15/02/1967 8.00pm 4/01/1968 9.00pm 17/02/1967 8.00pm 17/02/1967 8.00pm -
07 The Living Dead January 1967 24/02/1967 8.00pm 25/02/1967 9.10pm 25/02/1967 9.10pm 24/02/1967 8.00pm 26/02/1967 8.10pm 24/02/1967 8.00pm 3/01/1968 8.00pm 22/02/1967 8.00pm 25/02/1967 9.10pm 22/02/1967 8.00pm 11/01/1968 9.00pm 24/02/1967 8.00pm 24/02/1967 8.00pm -
08 The Hidden Tiger January 1967 3/03/1967 8.00pm 4/03/1967 9.10pm 4/03/1967 9.10pm 3/03/1967 8.00pm 5/03/1967 8.10pm 3/03/1967 8.00pm 10/01/1968 8.00pm 1/03/1967 8.00pm 4/03/1967 9.10pm 1/03/1967 8.00pm 18/01/1968 9.00pm 3/03/1967 8.00pm 3/03/1967 8.00pm 2 -
09 The Correct Way to Kill January 1967 10/03/1967 8.00pm 11/03/1967 9.10pm 11/03/1967 9.10pm 10/03/1967 8.00pm 12/03/1967 8.10pm 10/03/1967 8.00pm 17/01/1968 8.00pm 8/03/1967 8.00pm 11/03/1967 9.10pm 8/03/1967 8.00pm 25/01/1968 9.00pm 10/03/1967 8.00pm 10/03/1967 8.00pm -
10 Never, Never Say Die 14/02/1967 17/03/1967 8.00pm 18/03/1967 9.10pm 18/03/1967 9.10pm 17/03/1967 8.00pm 19/03/1967 8.10pm 15/03/1967 8.00pm 3 24/01/1968 8.00pm 12/05/1967 8.00pm 18/03/1967 9.10pm 15/03/1967 8.00pm 1/02/1968 7.30pm 15/03/1967 8.00pm 17/03/1967 8.00pm -
11 Epic 27/02/1967 31/03/1967 8.00pm 1/04/1967 9.10pm 1/04/1967 9.10pm 31/03/1967 8.00pm 2/04/1967 8.10pm 29/03/1967 8.00pm 31/01/1968 8.00pm 31/03/1967 8.00pm 12/01/1968 8.00pm 29/03/1967 8.00pm 8/02/1968 7.30pm 29/03/1967 8.00pm 31/03/1967 8.00pm -
12 The Superlative Seven 13/03/1967 7/04/1967 8.00pm 8/04/1967 9.10pm 8/04/1967 9.10pm 7/04/1967 8.00pm 4/02/1968 8.10pm 5/04/1967 8.00pm 7/02/1968 8.00pm 7/04/1967 8.00pm 8/12/1967 8.00pm 5/04/1967 8.00pm 15/02/1968 7.30pm 5/04/1967 8.00pm 7/04/1967 8.00pm -
13 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station 22/03/1967 14/04/1967 8.00pm 15/04/1967 9.10pm 15/04/1967 9.10pm 14/04/1967 8.00pm 11/02/1968 7.25pm 12/04/1967 8.00pm 2/04/1968 10.30pm 14/04/1967 8.00pm 15/12/1967 8.00pm 12/04/1967 8.00pm 22/02/1968 7.30pm 12/04/1967 8.00pm 26/05/1968 7.25pm 4 -
14 Something Nasty in the Nursery 3/04/1967 21/04/1967 8.00pm 22/04/1967 9.10pm 22/04/1967 9.10pm 21/04/1967 8.00pm 18/02/1968 7.25pm 10/07/1968 8.00pm 21/02/1968 8.00pm 21/04/1967 8.00pm 22/12/1967 8.00pm 19/04/1967 8.00pm 29/02/1968 7.30pm 10/07/1968 8.00pm 2/06/1968 7.25pm 4 -
15 The Joker 11/04/1967 28/04/1967 8.00pm 29/04/1967 9.10pm 29/04/1967 9.10pm 28/04/1967 8.00pm 25/02/1968 7.25pm 17/07/1968 8.00pm 28/02/1968 8.00pm 28/04/1967 8.00pm 29/12/1967 8.00pm 26/04/1967 8.00pm 7/03/1968 7.30pm 17/07/1968 8.00pm 9/06/1968 7.25pm 4 -
16 Who’s Who??? 18/04/1967 5/05/1967 8.00pm 6/05/1967 9.10pm 6/05/1967 9.10pm 5/05/1967 8.00pm 3/03/1968 7.25pm 24/07/1968 8.00pm 14/02/1968 8.00pm 5/05/1967 8.00pm 19/01/1968 8.00pm 3/05/1967 8.00pm 14/03/1968 7.30pm 24/07/1968 8.00pm 16/06/1968 7.25pm 4 -
17 Return of the Cybernauts 27/06/1967 28/09/1967 9.00pm 30/09/1967 9.05pm 30/09/1967 9.05pm 25/11/1967 9.50pm 1/10/1967 10.05pm 7/08/1968 8.00pm 27/09/1967 8.00pm 29/09/1967 8.00pm 5/01/1968 8.00pm 25/11/1967 9.50pm 5/10/1967 7.30pm 7/08/1968 8.00pm 1/10/1967 7.25pm -
18 Death’s Door 7/06/1967 5 5/10/1967 9.00pm 7/10/1967 9.05pm 7/10/1967 9.05pm 7/10/1967 9.10pm 8/10/1967 10.05pm 5/01/1968 7.30pm 4/10/1967 8.00pm 6/10/1967 8.00pm 7/10/1967 9.10pm 7/10/1967 9.10pm 12/10/1967 7.30pm 5/01/1968 7.30pm 8/10/1967 7.25pm -
19 The £50,000 Breakfast 18/07/1967 12/10/1967 9.00pm 14/10/1967 9.05pm 14/10/1967 9.05pm 14/10/1967 9.10pm 15/10/1967 10.05pm 12/01/1968 7.30pm 11/10/1967 8.00pm 13/10/1967 8.00pm 14/10/1967 9.10pm 14/10/1967 9.10pm 19/10/1967 7.30pm 12/01/1968 7.30pm 15/10/1967 7.25pm -
20 Dead Man’s Treasure 5/07/1967 6 19/10/1967 8.00pm 21/10/1967 9.10pm 21/10/1967 9.10pm 21/10/1967 9.10pm 22/10/1967 10.05pm 19/01/1968 7.30pm 18/10/1967 8.00pm 20/10/1967 8.00pm 21/10/1967 9.10pm 21/10/1967 9.10pm 26/10/1967 7.30pm 19/01/1968 7.30pm 22/10/1967 7.25pm -
21 You Have Just Been Murdered 2/08/1967 7 26/10/1967 8.00pm 28/10/1967 9.05pm 28/10/1967 9.05pm 28/10/1967 9.10pm 29/10/1967 10.05pm 26/01/1968 7.30pm 25/10/1967 8.00pm 27/10/1967 8.00pm 28/10/1967 9.10pm 28/10/1967 9.10pm 2/11/1967 7.30pm 26/01/1968 7.30pm 23/06/1968 7.25pm 4 -
22 The Positive Negative Man 18/08/1967 3/11/1967 8.00pm 4/11/1967 9.05pm 4/11/1967 9.05pm 4/11/1967 9.10pm 10/03/1968 7.25pm 2/02/1968 7.30pm 1/11/1967 8.00pm 3/11/1967 8.00pm 4/11/1967 9.10pm 4/11/1967 9.10pm 9/11/1967 7.30pm 2/02/1968 7.30pm 30/06/1968 7.25pm 4 -
23 Murdersville 25/08/1967 10/11/1967 8.00pm 11/11/1967 9.05pm 11/11/1967 9.05pm 11/11/1967 9.10pm - 14/08/1968 8.00pm 8/11/1967 8.00pm 10/11/1967 8.00pm 11/11/1967 9.10pm 11/11/1967 9.10pm 16/11/1967 7.30pm 14/08/1968 8.00pm 7/07/1968 7.25pm 4 -
24 Mission… Highly Improbable 22/09/1967 17/11/1967 8.00pm 18/11/1967 9.05pm 18/11/1967 9.05pm 18/11/1967 9.10pm 17/03/1968 7.25pm 9/02/1968 7.30pm 15/11/1967 8.00pm 17/11/1967 8.00pm 18/11/1967 9.10pm 18/11/1967 9.10pm 23/11/1967 7.30pm 9/02/1968 7.30pm 14/07/1968 7.25pm 4 -
25 The Forget-Me-Knot 8 19/01/1968 9 25/09/1968 8.00pm 26/09/1968 7.00pm 12/01/1969 8.25pm 26/09/1968 7.00pm 6/10/1968 8.10pm 3/10/1968 7.00pm 25/09/1968 8.00pm 4/12/1968 8.00pm 2/01/1969 8.00pm 25/09/1968 8.00pm 26/09/1968 7.00pm 3/10/1968 7.00pm 26/09/1968 7.00pm 4 25/09/1968 8.00pm 10

  1. The Avengers Declassified suggests filming wrapped in December.
  2. TWW pre-empted The Hidden Tiger on March 3 1967 with an episode of The Rat Catchers, it is unclear if it was ever screened in the first run.
  3. Never, Never Say Die was scheduled for March 15 1967 on Southern but not transmitted. It was shown at the end of the first block, on May 12 1967 at 8pm instead.
  4. Episodes in bold in the Wales column were broadcast by Harlech Television which started broadcasts on Monday 20th May 1968 following the demise of TWW on March 3 1968.
  5. Mike Richardson notes that the brake pedal insert was filmed on June 13 1967, a week after other filming had completed.
  6. Major filming wrapped on July 5 but the tag scene was filmed on July 11, and a pick up shot of the treasure chest was filmed on August 2 1967.
  7. Robert Asher finished filming on August 3, but Robert Day filmed some pick-up shots on August 16 and some more were filmed on August 22 1967.
  8. The Forget-Me-Knot is officially part of series 6 but has long been broadcast as part of this series in rerun series as it’s a cross-over episode. Consequently, it was broadcast by different channels, marked in bold face. In London, it was broadcast by Thames Television, in the Midlands by ATV and in the North by Granada and Yorkshire Television (see note 10 below).
  9. The production date for The Forget-Me-Knot is very misleading, as it is the documented date for the end of exterior and location filming. However, The Dutch newspaper Dagblad de Stem has a publicity still from the scene where Emma hands over to Tara on the stairs in their edition published on December 29 1967, announcing that Linda was replacing Diana. The existence of a publicity still which had been sent overseas would suggest a finished episode rather one that was halfway through production. However, as the stairway scene was apparently filmed on December 19 1967, it is possible that the production dates are correct.
    Dagblad de Stem announces that Linda Thorson is replacing Diana Rigg
  10. Yorkshire Television, as shown by the last column, showed it at the same time as London and the neighbouring Tyne Tees region; this episode was the first first-run episode of “The Avengers” ever broadcast on Yorkshire Television, which commenced broadcasting on Monday 29th July 1968 to an area previously covered by Granada Television and ABC North. At the same time, Granada took over the rest of the ABC North area while losing its Eastern broadcast area.

See “Broadcasting and production”, below for more information.

Legend and cast lists
  • The television channels are listed with their acronym or short name, hovering over them will give you the full details. 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. (e.g. “Captain Gifford” instead of “Gifford”)); 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.
  • Neil Redding has turned my episode synopses into an Adobe PDF (89k), for ready reference when watch the DVDs.
  • The “Drinks” column? I thought it’d be a pointless facet of an episode guide to list the drinks consumed by the characters, and so I did. You may wish to reference it while playing The Avengers Drinking Game or mixing the cocktail recipe.
Media and archive status

All episodes were preserved in the ABC archives and various ITV station libraries and are now available to the public on DVD or digital download.

Episodes are listed in the order of broadcast in the ABC Midlands region, as this was used by Dave Rogers in his 1990 book on the series. Most regions followed this same order. Most DVD sets have used this order as well — and generally include The Forget-Me-Knot as well. The recent StudioCanal and Madman sets seem to be in production order.

Many of the scripts and 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 The Avengers Declassified, many are approximate.

Broadcasting and production
  • Starting with this series, the format of the episodes changed, with an extra commercial break so instead of three acts there were now four acts, book-ended by opening teaser and tag scenes. Previously, only US audiences had had the extra commercial break.
    Unlike series 1-3, which have the commercial bumpers retained in the DVD and blue-ray editions, series 4-6 do not have them as part of the episodes available to home audiences.
  • Please note that while I have included the subtitles for every episode in the guide, only the first sixteen episodes of ‘Series Five’ had them on the broadcast masters.
    Read the page for Who’s Who??? for more information.
  • ‘Series Five’ was promoted by the producers as being a single series of 26 episodes, although they only ended up making 24 plus a Tara King bridging episode, but is in fact two separate runs amd the bridging episode, both in production and transmission terms:

    • 16 episodes, filmed between October 1966 and April 1967, broadcast between 14 January & May 6 1967
    • 8 episodes, filmed between June and September 1967, broadcast between September 30 1967 & November 18 1967
    • 1 episode from the Tara King first run, filming finished on January 19 1968 and it debuted on March 20 1968 (see below).

    The Forget-Me-Knot was, of course, part of series 6 but “became” part of series 5 with repeat screenings from the 1970s onwards, especially as the Emma Peel episodes were often the only ones repeated as the years went by. When Dave Rogers published The Avengers (Boxtree, 1990), the association was cemented. I list the episode under both series 5 and series 6 accordingly.

    I prefer to call it one series, as all the original promotional material for the series announced 26 new full colour episodes — the individual episode pages refer to Series 5, 5B and 5C, but elsewhere I simply refer to ‘Series 5’.

  • In the North, ABC North ran weekends and Granada ran weekdays.
  • In the Midlands, ABC Midlands ran weekends and ATV Midlands ran weekdays.
  • In London, this was inverted, with ATV doing weekends and Rediffusion running weekday schedules. Confused yet?
  • Most regions in the UK had a one week break for Easter and a break between May and September, due to production schedule above.
  • Border Television went a bit haywire, they showed all the episodes up to the Easter break, returned with Epic then screen repeats of Death at Bargain Prices and Castle De’Ath before stopping until October when they started with Return of the Cybernauts (and even then, they seem to have not broadcast Murdersville). In February 1968, they showed the skipped episodes as a “new series” then immediately commenced a repeat run of series 4; it’s possible that Murdersville was somewhere in that run as most episodes were simply listed in schedules as “The Avengers” with no episode title.
  • Channel Television did a similar schedule change to Border, stopping after A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station, recommencing with Death’s Door in January 1968 and proceeding to the end of the last eight (again, leaving out Murdersville). In July 1968, they finally showed the five episodes they had skipped completely, ending with the missing Murdersville.
  • Scottish Television,too, stopped at the Easter break with Never, Never Say Die, restarting in October with Death’s Door and going to the end of the series. After a two week break, they showed the episodes they had skipped.
  • Wales went through more turmoil in its broadcasters in 1968, as Television Wales & West, which had also been running Teledu Cymru schedules since that company collapsed in 1964, lost their licence from the Independent Television Authority as they were based in London rather than Wales. You wouldn’t know it from listings in The Guardian though, which continued to have a Teledu Cymru listing. This is because an emergency interim service was set up for March to May, run by ex-TWW staff.

    • Television Wales & West / Teledu Cymru pre-empted The Hidden Tiger on March 3 1967 with an episode of The Rat Catchers, it is unclear if it was ever screened in the first run.
    • Harlech Television, the new Welsh broadcaster, started broadcasting on May 20 1968 and six days later started a series of The Avengers, covering those episodes not previous screen in Wales, starting with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station.
  • Ulster Television didn’t join in networked broadcasts of series 5 until October, starting with Return of the Cybernauts on October 5, 1967. As soon as they had finished up to Mission… Highly Improbable they immediately commenced to screen the missed episodes, ending the series with Who’s Who??? on March 14, 1968.
  • Changes were afoot in ITV in 1968 and ABC was merged with ATV in the Midlands and Granada in the North, starting on July 29 1968. Rediffusion and ABC were merged into Thames Television in the London area, starting on July 30 1968 and ATV London was replaced by London Weekend Television on August 2 1968. Granada, which had been serving the North on weekdays since 1956, lost half of its broadcast area to the newly created Yorkshire Television.
  • Being a part of series 6, The Forget-Me-Knot was the only episode here that was broadcast by Yorkshire Television, on September 25 1968 at 8pm. Yorkshire Television started broadcasts on July 29 1968, to the Eastern half of areas previously covered by Granada Television and ABC North.
  • Despite Granada Television having broadcast since 1956, The Forget-Me-Knot is also the first episode of The Avengers to be shown by Granada Television in a first run, as it had previously always been in a Saturday night slot so had been show in the North by ABC. Granada got off to a bad start though, being three months behind other areas. They originally scheduled The Forget-Me-Knot for December 27 1968 but then pre-empted it with Man in a Suitcase and it didn’t screen in the Granada region until January 12 1969 at 8.25pm.
International broadcasts

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

# Episode ABN2 ABQ2 ABV2 ABS2 USA Canada Hong Kong Malaysia Singapore
01 From Venus With Love 18/04/1967 8.00pm 22/05/1967 7.30pm 17/04/1967 8.00pm 30/05/1967 7.30pm 20/01/1967 10.00pm 17/01/1967 8.30pm 5/01/1969 7.30pm 29/08/1970 8.11pm 24/12/1967 8.05pm
02 The Fear Merchants 9/05/1967 8.00pm 12/06/1967 7.30pm 8/05/1967 8.00pm 20/06/1967 7.30pm 27/01/1967 10.00pm 24/01/1967 8.30pm ? 22/08/1970 8.12pm 10/12/1967 8.05pm 1
03 Escape in Time 11/04/1967 8.00pm 15/05/1967 7.30pm 10/04/1967 8.00pm 23/05/1967 7.30pm 10/02/1967 10.00pm 2 7/02/1967 8.30pm ? ? 21/01/1968 8.05pm
04 The See-Through Man 2/05/1967 8.00pm 5/06/1967 7.30pm 1/05/1967 8.00pm 13/06/1967 7.30pm 3/02/1967 10.00pm 31/01/1967 8.30pm 12/01/1969 7.30pm 20/02/1968 11.00pm 3 7/01/1968 8.05pm
05 The Bird Who Knew Too Much 25/04/1967 8.00pm 29/05/1967 7.30pm 24/04/1967 8.00pm 6/06/1967 7.30pm 10/03/1967 10.00pm 2 7/03/1967 8.30pm ? 1/08/1970 8.11pm 11/02/1968 8.05pm
06 The Winged Avenger 14/04/1975 10.10pm 4 ? 14/04/1975 10.10pm 4 ? 17/02/1967 10.00pm 14/02/1967 8.30pm ? 27/02/1968 11.00pm 3 31/12/1967 8.05pm
07 The Living Dead 16/05/1967 8.00pm 19/06/1967 7.30pm 15/05/1967 8.00pm 27/06/1967 7.30pm 3/03/1967 10.00pm 28/02/1967 8.30pm ? 5/09/1970 8.13pm 14/01/1968 8.05pm
08 The Hidden Tiger 23/05/1967 8.00pm 26/06/1967 7.30pm 22/05/1967 8.00pm 4/07/1967 7.30pm 17/03/1967 10.00pm 14/03/1967 8.30pm 2/02/1969 7.30pm 12/09/1970 8.11pm 25/02/1968 8.05pm
09 The Correct Way to Kill 30/05/1967 8.00pm 3/07/1967 7.30pm 29/05/1967 8.00pm 11/07/1967 7.30pm 24/03/1967 10.00pm 21/03/1967 8.30pm 9/02/1969 7.30pm ? 18/02/1968 8.05pm
10 Never, Never Say Die 6/06/1967 8.00pm 10/07/1967 7.30pm 5/06/1967 8.00pm 18/07/1967 7.30pm 31/03/1967 10.00pm 4/04/1967 8.30pm 16/02/1969 7.30pm 19/09/1970 8.13pm 28/01/1968 8.05pm
11 Epic 13/06/1967 8.00pm 17/07/1967 7.30pm 12/06/1967 8.00pm 25/07/1967 7.30pm 14/04/1967 10.00pm 11/04/1967 8.30pm 23/02/1969 7.30pm 26/09/1970 8.13pm 4/02/1968 8.05pm
12 The Superlative Seven 20/06/1967 8.00pm 24/07/1967 7.30pm 19/06/1967 8.00pm 1/08/1967 7.30pm 21/04/1967 10.00pm 18/04/1967 8.30pm 2/03/1969 7.30pm 8/08/1970 8.12pm 17/03/1968 8.05pm
13 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station 3/10/1967 8.00pm 6/11/1967 7.30pm 2/10/1967 8.00pm 14/11/1967 7.30pm 28/04/1967 10.00pm 25/04/1967 8.30pm 9/03/1969 7.30pm 15/08/1970 8.11pm 3/03/1968 8.05pm
14 Something Nasty in the Nursery 27/06/1967 8.00pm 31/07/1967 7.30pm 26/06/1967 8.00pm 8/08/1967 7.30pm 5/05/1967 10.00pm 2/05/1967 8.30pm 16/03/1969 7.30pm ? 5/05/1968 8.05pm
15 The Joker 10/10/1967 8.00pm 13/11/1967 8.30pm 9/10/1967 8.00pm 21/11/1967 7.30pm 12/05/1967 10.00pm 9/05/1967 8.30pm 23/03/1969 7.30pm? 5 3/10/1970 8.10pm 10/03/1968 8.05pm
16 Who’s Who??? 17/10/1967 8.00pm 20/11/1967 7.30pm 16/10/1967 8.00pm 28/11/1967 7.30pm 19/05/1967 10.00pm 16/05/1967 8.30pm 6 30/03/1969 7.30pm ? 24/03/1968 8.05pm
17 Return of the Cybernauts 31/10/1967 8.00pm 4/12/1967 7.30pm 30/10/1967 8.00pm 12/12/1967 7.30pm 21/02/1968 7.30pm 9/01/1968 10.00pm 13/04/1969 7.30pm 20/06/1970 8.12pm 21/04/1968 8.05pm
18 Death’s Door 24/10/1967 8.00pm 27/11/1967 7.30pm 23/10/1967 8.00pm 5/12/1967 7.30pm 31/01/1968 7.30pm 2/01/1968 10.00pm 6/04/1969 7.30pm ? 14/04/1968 8.05pm
19 The £50,000 Breakfast 14/11/1967 8.00pm 18/12/1967 7.30pm 13/11/1967 8.30pm 26/12/1967 7.30pm 28/02/1968 7.30pm 30/01/1968 10.00pm ? 4/07/1970 8.12pm 7/04/1968 8.05pm
20 Dead Man’s Treasure 7/11/1967 8.10pm 11/12/1967 7.30pm 6/11/1967 8.10pm 19/12/1967 7.30pm 13/03/1968 7.30pm 23/01/1968 10.00pm ? 27/06/1970 8.12pm 12/05/1968 8.05pm
21 You Have Just Been Murdered 21/11/1967 8.00pm 1/01/1968 7.30pm 20/11/1967 8.00pm 9/01/1968 7.30pm 24/01/1968 7.30pm 5/12/1967 10.00pm 7 ? 24/10/1970 8.13pm 31/03/1968 8.05pm
22 The Positive Negative Man 28/11/1967 8.00pm - 8 27/11/1967 8.00pm 2/01/1968 7.30pm 17/01/1968 7.30pm 26/12/1967 10.00pm ? 10/10/1970 8.13pm 28/04/1968 8.05pm
23 Murdersville 5/12/1967 8.00pm 8/01/1968 7.30pm 4/12/1967 8.00pm 16/01/1968 7.30pm 9 7/02/1968 7.30pm 6/02/1968 10.00pm ? 11/07/1970 8.12pm 26/05/1968 8.05pm
24 Mission… Highly Improbable 12/12/1967 8.00pm 15/01/1968 7.30pm 11/12/1967 8.00pm 23/01/1968 7.30pm 9 10/01/1968 7.30pm 19/12/1968 10.00pm ? 18/07/1970 8.11pm 19/05/1968 8.05pm
25 The Forget-Me-Knot 15/11/1968 8.00pm 13/12/1968 8.00pm 5/11/1968 8.40pm 21/11/1968 8.00pm 20/03/1968 7.30pm 12/03/1968 10.00pm ? 7/11/2970 8.12pm 1/12/1968 8.05pm 10

  1. The Fear Merchants was shown on TV Singapura Channel 8 instead of the usual TV Singapura Channel 5.
  2. The New York Times listed The Bird Who Knew Too Much as being scheduled for 10th February 1967 in the week’s listing on February 5, but on February 10 it announces that Escape in Time will screen at 10pm. As The Bird Who Knew Too Much was broadcast on 10th March 1967, it appears to be a schedule change.
  3. TV Malaysia ran a fairly jumbled run of The Avengers, starting with series 4 in 1967–8, with two episodes of series 5 — The See-Through Man on February 20 1968 and The Winged Avenger on February 27 1968. At this time TV Malaysia only had one station, which had different channel numbers in different parts of the country.
  4. The Winged Avenger was not shown in the first run in Australia and appears not to have been broadcast until the 1975 repeat series, although some guides on that date list it as a repeat.
  5. There’s no online copy of this edition but it’s probably The Joker as the rest are mostly in the normal order.
  6. Who’s Who??? was the last episode shown in the initial run of series 5 in Canada, the show would return at 10pm on December 5 1967.
  7. You Have Just Been Murdered was the first episode of Canada’s run of series 5 and 6 episodes, going up to April 30 1968.
  8. If ABQ2 had followed their regular schedule, The Positive Negative Man would have been shown on December 25 1968 but all programmes were replaced with Christmas specials and the Queen’s speech that night. I have not found it in any television listings.
  9. Murdersville and Mission… Highly Improbable were not named in The Advertiser for these dates but this order seems most likely as it was used in other Australian states in the first run. However, Murdersville was the last episode in their repeat run before the start of Series 6 so they may have been the other way round.
  10. Singapore had The Forget-Me-Knot as the first episode of series 6 with no combined run of series 5 & 6 as done in some other countries.

Data for overseas broadcasts above has known omissions as episodes were frequently not identified by title in newspaper listings, for instance twelve episodes in the series 5 run in Hong Kong have no episode information and it appears that every episode was shown, based on the number of newspaper mentions. Please see the series transmission and production dates spreadsheet and the sections below for more information.

The Avengers Down-under

By 1967, broadcast of The Avengers had become nationwide in Australia on the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), including far-flung regions such as the Pilbara. The majority of Australia followed the New South Wales broadcast schedule, with Victoria broadcasting a day earlier on Monday nights instead of Tuesday nights.

In Australia, the split was different — Something Nasty in the Nursery was the last episode of the first block and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station, The Joker and Who’s Who??? were held over to start the second “series”. The Winged Avenger is the only episode missing from the first run of these seasons — the first broadcast date that I can find of is April 14 1975, but that is marked as a repeat in some listings.

The Positive Negative Man appears to have not been shown by ABQ2 in Brisbane.

The Australian broadcast dates are all confirmed from newspaper listings. Some dates were not explicitly named in The Sydney Morning Herald, but are confirmed by cross-reference to The Daily Telegraph The Canberra Times, The Bananacoast Opinion or The Hammersley News. Victorian dates are exclusively from The Age but I am missing three that were previously confirmed when people were still allowed to enter libraries for research, in pre-COVID-19 times. Brisbane dates are all from The Courier-Mail although, as it was not printed on Christmas Day 1967, it is the national right wing rag The Australian which confirms The Positive Negative Man was not shown that evening. I have not yet found that episode in Brisbane listings. Adelaide broadcasts were all on Tuesday nights and are all confirmed from listings in The Advertiser although one listing is not in the archives and the last for January 1968 does not name the episode.

Thirteen episodes of series 4 were repeated across Australia from July to September 1967 (August-October in Brisbane), filling the gap between the first half of this series 5 and the second half, which kicked off with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station. This meant The Avengers were shown for eight straight months of 1967 across Australia. It was so popular that the CEO of TCN9, a commercial station, complained in the press that the ABC was affecting his business and had no right to take popular shows, as the ABC was the government-run broadcaster. The repeated episodes are all from the first fifteen episodes, leaving out Castle De’Ath and The Hour that Never Was.

Part of this series was repeated in August-November 1968 as a lead-in to the new Linda Thorson episodes of series 6, starting with The Forget-Me-Knot. Then again in 1969–1970, under the label of Steed’s choice, another limited repeat series starting in late 1969, combined with some repeats of series 6 (see below).

The episodes repeated in Sydney as “Steed’s Choice” in 1969–1970 were:

EpisodeDateTime
The Correct Way to KillNovember 17 19698pm
Never, Never Say DieNovember 24 19698pm
EpicDecember 1 19698pm
The Superlative SevenDecember 8 19698pm
Death’s DoorDecember 15 19698pm
The £50,000 BreakfastDecember 22 19698pm
You Have Just Been MurderedDecember 29 19698pm
The Forget-Me-KnotJanuary 5 19707.30pm
Look — (stop me if you’ve heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers…January 12 19707.30pm
Split!January 19 19707.30pm
Whoever Shot Poor George oblique Stroke XR40?January 26 19707.30pm
Wish You Were HereFebruary 2 19707.30pm
Who Was That Man I Saw You With?March 25 197010.20pm
Love AllApril 1 197010.20pm
FogApril 8 197010.20pm
BizarreApril 15 197010.20pm

The entire series was rerun in 1975 including, for possibly the first time, The Winged Avenger. Dates for The Hidden Tiger and Murdersville are unconfirmed as two dates (14 July and 4 August, 1975) do not specify which episode was shown. Victoria this time followed the rest of the nation and showed episodes on the same date and time as elsewhere, at least for the initial seven episodes... Pilbara, in remote Western Australia, seems to have been 11 days behind the NSW schedule and concluded the run on September 19 1975. Maybe someone had to drive the tapes all the way out to the desert.

TCN9 finally got the rights to show the series starting in 1984 after the ABC sold them the repeat rights, and they initially showed them in late prime time slots (9.30pm or 10.00pm), up against the latest comedies on the ABC, such as The Young Ones on ABN2 and Blackadder on ATN7. The Nine Network have show these episodes ever since, in late night graveyard slots since the 1990s or more recently as afternoon programmes on the digital side channels. During the mid 1990s, series 5 was also shown on Nick at Nite, the evening programming of cable channel Nickelodeon.

The Avengers in North America
Canada

CTV Network affiliated English-language channels in Canada saw the first sixteen episodes of series 5 networked across the country from January 17 to May 16, 1967. The remaining eight episodes were broadcast from December 5 1967 to February 6 1968, swiftly followed by The Forget-Me-Knot and six more episodes from series 6. British Columbia started later, with broadcasts commencing on May 19 1967, or possibly a few weeks beforehand. I have no information about French language episodes of series 5 in Canada.

United States
  • Once again, ABC-TV networked The Avengers across the United States of America. Times for the USA are for New York although other areas, such as Los Angeles, used the same timeslot. Chicago screened them an hour earlier (9pm for the first part of this series, 6.30pm for the rest) to take into account the timezone difference and keep them synchronised across the East and Midwest. ABC-TV showed every episode from this series. ABC-TV repeated the first part of the series except for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station and Who’s Who??? over May to September 1967. The second part (i.e. the last eight) were repeated over May to July 1968, following the broadcast of the first seven episodes of series 6. Approximately half the series was repeated again in 1969.
  • In the United States, a repeat run of episodes in mid 1968 saw the unfortunate scheduling of You Have Just Been Murdered for the evening following the shooting of Bobby Kennedy, on June 5 1968, and it was quickly replaced with Dead Man’s Treasure.
The Avengers in Asia
Hong Kong

Rediffusion Television Hong Kong started screening a combined run of series 4, 5 and 6 of The Avengers on June 23 1968 with A Surfeit of H2O. The run lasted until January 28 1970, presumably with Bizarre as the final episode.

The first episode from series 5 listed is From Venus With Love on January 5 1969, but the episode the previous week is not identified and might have been The Fear Merchants or Escape in Time, which are not explicitly listed by the South China Post. It’s unclear how many episodes were shown as they went straight into series 6 without a break but they may have show all 25 including The Forget-Me-Knot.

Malaysia

TV Malaysia ran a fairly jumbled run of The Avengers, starting with series 4 in 1967–8, with two episodes of series 5 — The See-Through Man on February 20 1968 and The Winged Avenger on February 27 1968. At this time TV Malaysia only had one station, which had different channel numbers in different parts of the country.
In June 1970, TV Malaysia, on their Programme Two station as TV Malaysia had expanded by this time, started showing series 5 again in a run which led straight into series 6, finishing on June 19 1971. Return of the Cybernauts was broadcast on June 20 1970 but the episodes over the previous two, or even three, weeks are not identified and may have been from series 5 as well. If it were the previous three weeks, then Malaysia showed the whole of series 5 including The Forget-Me-Knot then continuing straight away with more episodes from series 6.

Singapore

TV Singapura started showing series 5 on December 10 1967 with The Fear Merchants, then on December 24 1967 they had From Venus with Love followed by all the other 22 episodes, from series 5 (as The Forget-Me-Knot started the run of series 6 on December 1 1968).

The Avengers in Europe

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

# Episode France Switzerland French title Germany German title Netherlands Dutch title TVSI Italian title Spain Spanish title
01 From Venus With Love 4/06/1968 10.20pm 1 11/03/1968 9.55pm Bon baisers de Vénus 24/10/1967 9.15pm Einmal Venus — hin und zurück 12/07/1969 9.10pm Met de groeten van Venus 16/11/1973 9.00pm da venere con amore 23/10/1967 4.10pm Desde Venus con amor
02 The Fear Merchants 9/07/1968 9.15pm 4/03/1968 9.25pm Les marchandes de peur 19/12/1967 9.15pm Schock frei Haus 9/08/1969 9.35pm De vreesaanjagers 2/Handel in angst 23/11/1973 9.45pm i mercanti di paura 2/10/1967 4.10pm Los comerciantes del miedo / Los mercaderes del terror
03 Escape in Time 23/07/1968 8.30pm 8/07/1968 8.35pm Remontons le temps 26/09/1967 9.15pm Fahrkarten in die Vergangenheit 28/05/1968 9.10pm Vlucht in het verleden 5/07/1974 9.00pm fuga nel tempo 3 9/10/1967 4.20pm Escapatoria a tiempo / Escape en el tiempo
04 The See-Through Man 13/05/1968 8.35pm L’homme transparent 21/11/1967 9.15pm Die Durchsichtigen 2/04/1968 9.10pm En de onzichtbare man / De onzichtbare man 11/01/1974 9.00pm l’uomo invisibile 4/09/1967 4.10pm El hombre invisible
05 The Bird Who Knew Too Much 16/07/1968 8.30pm 22/04/1968 9.15pm L’oiseau qui en savait trop 29/08/1967 9.15pm Ein Vogel, der zuveil wußte 18/01/1974 9.00pm il capitano crusoe 16/10/1967 4.10pm El pajarraco que sabía demasiado / el pájaro que sabía demasiado
06 The Winged Avenger 15/04/1968 9.15pm Le vengeur volant Der geflügelte Rächer 30/09/1969 9.10pm De gevleugelde wreker 10/05/1974 9.00pm il vendicatore alato 11/09/1967 6.02pm El vengador alado
07 The Living Dead 15/07/1968 9.35pm Le mort vivant 12/09/1967 9.15pm Der Geist des Duke von Benedict 15/02/1974 9.50pm il morto vivente 18/09/1967 4.10pm El muerto viviente
08 The Hidden Tiger 20/05/1968 8.45pm Le tigre caché 5/12/1967 9.15pm Vorsicht Raubkatzen! 14/10/1969 9.45pm De verborgen tijger / Voor de poes 28/12/1973 9.00pm la tigre nascosta 25/09/1967 4.10pm El tigre escondido / El tigre oculto
09 The Correct Way to Kill 30/07/1968 8.30pm 1/07/1968 8.40pm Meutre distingué 10/10/1967 9.15pm Kennen sie Snob? 7/10/1969 9.45pm Hoe wordt ik een snob? 14/12/1973 9.00pm un modo corretto di uccidere 6/11/1967 4.00pm La forma correcta de matar
10 Never, Never Say Die 13/10/1968 8.00pm 29/01/1968 9.10pm Interférences 7/11/1967 9.20pm Duplikate gefällig? 21/10/1969 9.10pm Ontmoeting met een dode / Onsterfelijk ? 28/06/1974 9.00pm gli indistruttibili 3 29/01/1968 4.10pm Jamás, pero jamás, digas: ¡muere! / Nunca digas morir
11 Epic 6/08/1968 8.30pm 15/01/1968 9.10pm Caméra meutre 9/04/1968 9.15pm Filmstar Emma Peel 17/10/1967 9.00pm Gevallen steeren 24/05/1974 9.00pm una straordinaria avventura 30/10/1967 4.10pm Epopeya / Epico
12 The Superlative Seven 13/08/1968 8.30pm 17/06/1968 8.40pm 4 Le dernier des sept 12/03/1968 9.15pm Fliegen Sie mal ohne De zeven uitverkorenen 21/12/1973 10.00pm uno su sette 27/11/1967 4.10pm Los siete superlativos / los siete magnificos
13 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station 20/08/1968 8.30pm 29/04/1968 9.15pm Une petite gare désaffectée 2/01/1968 9.15pm Diesmal mit Knalleffekt 28/12/1968 9.00pm Treintje spelen 15/03/1974 9.50pm servizio di sicurezza 20/11/1967 4.10pm Terror en el tren / algo gracioso ocurrió de camino a la estación
14 Something Nasty in the Nursery 27/08/1968 8.30pm 8/04/1968 9.15pm Rien ne va plus dans la nursery 13/02/1968 9.15pm Eins, zwei, drei — Wer hat den Ball? 4/11/1969 9.45pm On rust in de kinderkamer 31/05/1974 9.00pm ritorno all’infanzia 3 13/11/1967 4.10pm Algo desagradable en la guardería
15 The Joker 24/06/1968 8.35pm Le Jocker 30/01/1968 9.15pm Weekend auf dem Lande 11/11/1969 9.55pm De joker 25/01/1974 9.00pm il jolly 11/12/1967 4.10pm El comodín
16 Who’s Who??? 27/05/1968 8.35pm Qui-suis je? 7/05/1968 9.00pm Wer ist wer? 28/10/1969 9.45pm Wie is wie 14/06/1974 9.00pm chi dei due? 3 4/12/1967 4.10pm ¿Quién es quién?
17 Return of the Cybernauts 8/01/1968 9.30pm Le retour des Cybernautes 16/01/1968 9.15pm Und noch einmal Roboter 2/12/1967 9.25pm 5 De robot 19/07/1974 9.00pm il ritorno del cibernauta 3 22/01/1968 4.10pm El retorno de los cibernautas
18 Death’s Door 22/01/1968 9.10pm La porte de la mort Der wahrgewordene Alptraum 9/01/1968 9.10pm De deur des doods 7/12/1973 9.00pm la porta della morte 15/01/1968 4.10pm La puerta de la muerte
19 The £50,000 Breakfast 15/09/1968 8.00pm 6 26/02/1968 9.15pm Un petit déjeuner trop lourd Wo der Hund begraben liegt 6/09/1969 8.52pm Het diamanten ontbijt 30/11/1973 9.00pm diamanti a colazione 5/02/1968 4.10pm El desayuno de las 50.000 libras esterlinas
20 Dead Man’s Treasure 3/09/1968 8.30pm 5/02/1968 9.30pm La chasse au trésor 23/04/1968 9.00pm Mit 160 aus dem Stand 12/12/1967 9.10pm De autorally 26/10/1973 9.00pm il tesoro del morto 7 8/01/1968 4.10pm El tesoro del muerto
21 You Have Just Been Murdered 22/09/1968 8.00pm 12/02/1968 8.50pm Meutres à épisodes 26/03/1968 9.15pm Sie wurden soeben ermordet 9/11/1973 9.00pm sei appena stato assassinato 12/02/1968 4.10pm Acaba usted de ser asesinado
22 The Positive Negative Man 29/09/1968 8.00pm 19/02/1968 9.15pm La dynamo vivante Der todbringende Anzug 12/07/1974 9.00pm il progetto 90 3 19/02/1968 4.10pm El hombre de energía positiva y negativa
23 Murdersville 6/10/1968 8.00pm 18/03/1968 9.40pm Le village de la mort Willkommen im Dorf des Todes 4/01/1974 9.00pm benvenuti a Little Storping 26/02/1968 4.10pm La villa del crimen
24 Mission… Highly Improbable 25/03/1968 9.40pm Mission très improbable 27/02/1968 9.15pm Hätten Sie’s nicht ein bißchen kleiner? 5/03/1968 9.10pm Een hoogstonwaarschijnlijke missie 21/06/1974 9.00pm (un) esperimento stupefacente 3 3/03/1968 4.10pm Misión altamente improbable
25 The Forget-Me-Knot 20/10/1968 8.00pm 15/04/1969 8.20pm Ne m’oubliez pas 11/08/1970 9.00pm Auf Wiedersehen, Emma 18/11/1969 9.10pm Afscheid van Emma Peel 26/07/1974 9.00pm il non ti scordar di me 3 6/10/1969 11.00pm Amnesia

  1. From Venus With Love is also listed in French listings for 2nd July 1968, so it was probably not shown in its original time slot due to the strikes in France which affected ORTF. As the strike was still going on July 2nd it might not have been shown at all…
  2. There is an episode listed for broadcast on 12th 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 12th 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 14th 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 2nd December, 1967, again with the synopsis reference Beresford. It’s possible the listings were wrong, however, as Return of the Cybernauts was broadcast on 17th May, 1969 under the title “De terugkeer van de robots”. It is just possible that these earlier schedules were for The Cybernauts and the synopses were incorrectly associated, even though Zierkzeesche Nieuwsbode seems to disprove that theory. If true, that would mean this episode was first shown on 17/5/69 at 9pm.
  6. ORTF moved the Avengers to Sunday nights, starting from 15th 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 15th April 1969, sometimes mistitled as N’oubliez pas in TV listings, but on 10th 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 2nd 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 26th October 1973 at 9pm.

The production date for The Forget-Me-Knot is very misleading, as it is the documented date for the end of exterior and location filming. However, The Dutch newspaper Dagblad de Stem has a publicity still from the scene where Emma hands over to Tara on the stairs in their edition published on December 29 1967, announcing that Linda was replacing Diana. The existence of a publicity still which had been sent overseas would suggest a finished episode rather one that was halfway through production. However, as the stairway scene was apparently filmed on December 19 1967, it is possible that the production dates are correct.

Dagblad de Stem announces that Linda Thorson is replacing Diana Rigg

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