I just had it pointed out to me that today (Jan 7) is the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of "Hot Snow", the first episode of The Avengers.
Back in 1961, the series was a gritty, crime-based show, and in the first episode (the first 15 minutes of which still survive and has been released on DVD), Patrick Macnee debuts as John Steed, a mysterious government agent who recruits recently widowed medical doctor Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) to fight crime after Keel's wife is murdered by drug dealers.
Of course, it took a year or so before the series really began to resemble The Avengers we know. It was in 1962 (after a strike curtailed production of the first season, giving Hendry an excuse to bolt for a film career) that Honor Blackman was introduced as Cathy Gale, a template for Diana Rigg's later Emma Peel. And the storylines started to become more fantastical and spy-based.
One little fact about The Avengers that doesn't get circulated a lot is that the man credited with creating the series is Sydney Newman, a Canadian ex-pat who was working for British TV companies at the time. A few months after The Avengers started, Newman was hired by the BBC and he became a driving force behind (and is often credited - if slightly erroneously as the record shows it was a team effort - with creating) Doctor Who.
I'll have to dig out my champagne glasses and raise a toast!
Alex
Back in 1961, the series was a gritty, crime-based show, and in the first episode (the first 15 minutes of which still survive and has been released on DVD), Patrick Macnee debuts as John Steed, a mysterious government agent who recruits recently widowed medical doctor Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) to fight crime after Keel's wife is murdered by drug dealers.
Of course, it took a year or so before the series really began to resemble The Avengers we know. It was in 1962 (after a strike curtailed production of the first season, giving Hendry an excuse to bolt for a film career) that Honor Blackman was introduced as Cathy Gale, a template for Diana Rigg's later Emma Peel. And the storylines started to become more fantastical and spy-based.
One little fact about The Avengers that doesn't get circulated a lot is that the man credited with creating the series is Sydney Newman, a Canadian ex-pat who was working for British TV companies at the time. A few months after The Avengers started, Newman was hired by the BBC and he became a driving force behind (and is often credited - if slightly erroneously as the record shows it was a team effort - with creating) Doctor Who.
I'll have to dig out my champagne glasses and raise a toast!
Alex
).
