The Avengers

The Avengers

1961
The Avengers
The Avengers

The Avengers

8.3 | TV-Y7 | en | Crime

The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity.

View More
AD

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

Seasons & Episodes

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
EP33  Bizarre
May. 21,1969
Bizarre

When a woman is found walking barefoot in a snowy field, complaining of a dead man who wasn't dead, Steed investigates the Happy Meadows funeral parlour, which doesn't seem to be keeping its clients down under. What connection could that business possibly have with Mystic Tours?

EP32  Get-A-Way
May. 14,1969
Get-A-Way

Two invincible foreign agents escape from the ultimate prison, a monastery run by the security services. They resume their mission, to kill one important person each. Steed and Tara set out to catch them, and to find out how they escaped, before their leader follows suit.

EP31  Pandora
Apr. 30,1969
Pandora

Tara is kidnapped, and wakes to discover that it is 1915, and she is apparently called Pandora. Could this be because of the little matter of a dowry and a missing bride? Steed struggles to solve a very old mystery.

EP30  Take-Over
Apr. 23,1969
Take-Over

The home of Steed's friends Bill and Laura Bassett is invaded by a group of ruthless criminals who implant explosives in their throats. Unfortunately, this is the weekend that Steed is coming to stay.

EP29  Requiem
Apr. 16,1969
Requiem

When Steed takes prime witness Miranda Loxton to a safe house to protect her from Murder-International hitmen, Tara is kidnapped. She escapes to find herself in her worst nightmare. A booby-trap in Steed's apartment kills Mother and Tara may be the only one with the hidden knowledge of where Steed has gone.

EP28  My Wildest Dream
Apr. 07,1969
My Wildest Dream

When one of the Acme Precision Combine is brutally stabbed, Steed and Tara are on hand to witness the crime, thanks to a telephoned warning. But why does somebody want them to see so many killings, and what does it have to do with Dr. Jaeger's aggresso-therapy clinic?

EP27  Thingumajig
Apr. 02,1969
Thingumajig

The Reverend Shelley, a wartime pal of Steed's, seeks his help when archaeologists beneath his church are murdered mysteriously. Do the killing have anything to do with small malevolent mobile metal boxes....?

EP26  Homicide And Old Lace
Mar. 26,1969
Homicide And Old Lace

It's Mother's birthday and he is visiting two of his aunts, Harriet and Georgina. To celebrate he tells them a hair-colour changing story, 'The Great Great British Crime'.

EP25  Who Was That Man I Saw You with?
Mar. 19,1969
Who Was That Man I Saw You with?

Whilst on a top secret security assignment, Tara comes under suspicion of being a double-agent. She must cast similar suspicion on Steed if she is to prove that she has been framed. An enemy agent, Gregor Zaroff, hopes to put the Government's new anti-missile defence system, code named 'Field Marshall', out of action by convincing Steed and Mother that Tara has betrayed the system's secrets. (Source: en.wikipedia.de)

EP24  Fog
Mar. 12,1969
Fog

When a member of the International Disarmament Committee is stabbed with a swordstick on a foggy night, it looks like the Gaslight Ghoul, murderer of the 1890's, has set up in business again. Can Steed and Tara catch him before the committee is severely lacking in personnel?

EP23  Take Me To Your Leader
Mar. 05,1969
Take Me To Your Leader

The discovery of a talking attache case passed from courier to courier until it finally reaches 'Mr. Big' takes Steed and Tara on a dazzling and surreal romp around London.

EP22  Stay Tuned
Feb. 26,1969
Stay Tuned

Steed, packing for a holiday, is knocked unconscious. When he wakes, he continues to pack but is confused when Tara arrives and tells him that he has been away for three weeks. Could it have anything to do with the mysterious man following him whom everybody else but Steed can see?

EP21  Love All
Feb. 19,1969
Love All

Security lapses seem to point to top civil servants suddenly falling in love and giving secrets to an enemy agent disguised as a char lady. Steed investigates, but first has to save Tara from killing herself out of unrequited love.

EP20  Wish You Were Here
Feb. 12,1969
Wish You Were Here

Tara's uncle is being held against his will in a country hotel. So Tara books in, and finds herself equally discouraged from leaving. Could the place also be home to the agent that Mother is missing?

EP19  The Curious Case of the Countless Clues
Feb. 05,1969
The Curious Case of the Countless Clues

Rich men are being blackmailed by two crime experts who plant clues to them all over the scenes of the crimes that they themselves commit. However, when they try to allege that Steed would murder Tara....

EP18  The Morning After
Jan. 29,1969
The Morning After

Steed, attempting to capture super-spy Merlin, is knocked out by a sleeping capsule, and wakes to find London deserted and under martial law. Firing squads are at large, and a nuclear bomb is holding the government to ransom.

EP17  Killer
Jan. 22,1969
Killer

Remak is a killer, one the department are desperate to find. But a succession of agents on the trail of Remak are turning up dead, wrapped in polythene. And with Tara on holiday, Steed must go into this case with a new partner.

EP16  Invasion of the Earthmen
Jan. 15,1969
Invasion of the Earthmen

The death of agent Bernard Grant, while investigating the strange goings-on at the Alpha Academy where teenagers are being prepared for inter-planetary conquest, leads Steed and Tara into the generation war.

EP15  The Rotters
Jan. 08,1969
The Rotters

Members of the Institute of Timber Technology are being killed by a pair of caddish assassins, their advantage being an ability to destroy wood in seconds.

EP14  The Interrogators
Jan. 01,1969
The Interrogators

When agents find themselves in Colonel Mannering's interrogation centre, they think it's a test of their abilities, and relax with drinks when the sessions are over. But who's fooling who. Steed plays catch the pigeon.

EP13  They Keep Killing Steed
Dec. 18,1968
They Keep Killing Steed

To infiltrate a peace conference, Arcos, a brilliant plastic surgeon, uses a new moulding technique to transform an agent into a duplicate Steed. But when the transformation proves to be unstable, Arcos decides they need the real Steed.

EP12  Have Guns- Will Haggle
Dec. 11,1968
Have Guns- Will Haggle

The spectacular theft of 3,000 top-secret FF70 rifles from a Government establishment brings Steed and Tara. Steed meets an old 'friend' and is invited to an auction. Tara has other reasons for being there.

EP11  Look- (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers...
Dec. 04,1968
Look- (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers...

The directors of the Capital Land and Development Company are being murdered and the only clues Steed and Tara have are a massive footprint and a red nose.

EP10  Noon Doomsday
Nov. 27,1968
Noon Doomsday

Tara visits Steed in a special hospital following an injury to his leg. This is just the backdrop needed by Gerald Kafka, ex-head of Murder International, as he plans his revenge against Steed, who sent him to prison exactly seven years ago. At noon, Steed will die.

EP9  Legacy of Death
Nov. 20,1968
Legacy of Death

Anticipating the arrival of his enemies to kill him, millionaire Henley Farrer sets a deadly trap for them involving an Oriental dagger and, inevitably, Steed and Tara.

EP8  All Done With Mirrors
Nov. 13,1968
All Done With Mirrors

The leaking of secrets at Carmadoc Research Establishment throws suspicion on to Steed, who must suffer the torment of house arrest while Tara goes in with a new partner.

EP7  False Witness
Nov. 06,1968
False Witness

Trusted agent Melville has lost three partners in quick succession, and seems to be lying at every opportunity. Is he really the man to partner Steed in an attempt to convict Lord Edgefield, noted blackmailer? And what is the odd connection between this whole affair and daily milk deliveries?

EP6  Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40
Oct. 30,1968
Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40

Somebody is out to get super-computer George/XR40. He is shot, given false data, attacked with acid, and nearly gets his power supply cut. But until George works properly the name and nature of the culprits cannot be established.

EP5  Split!
Oct. 23,1968
Split!

When an agent at the Ministry of Top-Secret Information is murdered, Steed and Tara have little difficulty in locating the man responsible. But when a handwriting test indicates that he is Boris Kartovski, someone Steed thought he had killed in Berlin 5 years before, our heroes find themselves drawn into the dangerous experiments of Dr. Constantine.

EP4  You'll Catch Your Death
Oct. 16,1968
You'll Catch Your Death

Ear, nose and throat specialists are sneezing themselves to death, each after receiving a mysterious empty envelope. When Tara is kidnapped, Steed takes great care over his morning mail.

EP3  Super Secret Cypher Snatch
Oct. 09,1968
Super Secret Cypher Snatch

Problems of a secret leakage from Cypher HQ and the disappearance of agent Jarret are first handed to rival Department MII2, and then to Mother's group. But why does everybody at Cypher HQ claim never to have seen Jarret and state that the only thing worthy of note that happened yesterday was that it rained?

EP2  Game
Oct. 02,1968
Game

The sudden deaths of several of Steed's former army colleagues are revealed to be part of an elaborate engine of destruction, devised by a man court-martialled by them all. And now he is playing a deadly game.

EP1  The Forget-Me-Knot
Sep. 25,1968
The Forget-Me-Knot

Steed's colleague Sean Mortimer comes to see him in a very confused state. He knows there is a traitor in the organization but he has been drugged to put him in an amnesiac state and he can remember little else. Mrs. Peel investigates but she too falls prey to the drug as she and Sean are abducted by bikers. It is down to trainee agent 69, Tara King, to whom Steed is introduced by spymaster 'Mother' to help him save the day.

SEE MORE
SEE MORE
SEE MORE
SEE MORE
SEE MORE
SEE MORE
SEE MORE
8.3 | TV-Y7 | en | Crime , Action & Adventure , Sci-Fi | More Info
Released: 1961-01-07 | Released Producted By: Associated British Picture Corporation , ABC Weekend Television Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity.

...... View More
Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Patrick Macnee , Linda Thorson

Director

Laurie Johnson

Producted By

Associated British Picture Corporation , ABC Weekend Television

AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers

Reviews

alexanderdavies-99382 In spite of how "The Avengers" series is best known, the opening season was a completely different kettle of fish.The season from 1961 - mainly missing sadly - was more of a conventional police thriller. None of the programme's quirky humour was displayed, there was no female leading character and John Steed was technically the second lead behind Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel. The general synopsis was usually as follows: Keel would be approached by Steed who would seek the good Drs help in the fight against the latest villains of the show. Dr. Keel was most reticent about becoming involved in Steeds assignments but invariably was.Only 3 episodes from 1961 exist and including the first 15 minutes of the opening episode.Judging by the existing 3, the more gritty and realistic style works very well. Ian Hendry and the only John Steed - Patrick Macnee - compliment each other. After Ian Hendry decided to focus on a film career, Patrick Macnee was made the show's leasing character. In addition, he would be the actor who would appear in more episodes than anyone else. The series seemed to struggle in finding it's form/style. The characters of Dr. Martin King and that of the pop star Venus Smith, aren't all that interesting but one or two episodes they are in are quite good.When Honor Blackman joined the series in 1962 for its second season, everything changed for the better. The series became ground-breaking in having a regular female character who was just as tough, brave, resilient and intelligent as John Steed.The second and third seasons feature some marvellous episodes - too many to list them here. The series was firmly established as a huge success with Britain and the two leading actors became very popular with the viewers.With Honor Blackman leaving in 1964 to appear in "Goldfinger" opposite Sean Connery, major changes were about to occur for "The Avengers" series.Having been shot on video and in whole takes as though filmed live, now the show would be filmed on film and eventually in colour. In particular though, the most popular female character of them all would help tremendously in pushing the series to its peak of popularity - Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.The on-screen chemistry between the characters of John Steed and Emma Peel was both natural and highly effective. The episodes were better than ever - several masterpieces are included and eventually, America became interested in securing the rights in broadcasting "The Avengers."It came as a bit of a shock when Diana Rigg announced she was leaving the series. She had made the Emma Peel character her own.For my money, the series declined in overall quality. The rather eccentric humour from the Emma Peel era worked for those episodes. Now with Linda Thorson was cast as Tara King, the stories became a bit too silly and I find many of the last season's episodes rather irksome.The other problem I find with the last episodes, is that Linda Thorson has neither the acting ability nor the kind of personality that Diana Rigg brought to "The Avengers." 1969 was the right time to bring the series to a close. It had lasted over 180 episodes since 1961 and has earnt its place in British television history.
aa56 Did anyone care if the show had severe failings?"...made them ever so slightly ludicrous - because we thought that life was ludicrous anyway, which it is! To stay alive and all, you have to be slightly mad - but you also had to be basically cool. We used that, we tilted it a bit, we made it funny and the show worked." – Patrick MacneeIt had farcical, formulaic stories. Examples: -- someone arranges to meet Steed or Emma somewhere and then gets killed just before the latter arrives; -- the time-filling banter with an eccentric Englishman (pardon my redundancy); -- very rarely are doors locked. Steed and Emma simply open them and walk in no matter what the facility is; -- Emma often gets tied up so old English gentlemen can have their private fantasies; -- no one ever kills Steed or Emma when they have opportunity and motive--they simply secure them or knock them out; -- a minor character shown in the beginning often is the chief villain; –- obvious back-screen projection and stunt doubles; –- villains are rendered unconscious with the slightest of falls, hitting some object, or being lightly struck; –-reused sets, locations, props, and actors (such as Jack Watson); –- amateur special effects and some props (a revolver with a silencer?!).Someone wrote that "Honey West" was canceled because there wasn't room or budget for both of these shows to be on the air, and The Avengers won, but Honey West tried to take itself seriously, whereas The Avengers didn't, so it's too bad they didn't keep both, for Anne Francis and Diana Rigg were the only reasons for males to watch either show. The best episodes for seeing the most Rigg flesh are "The Girl from Auntie," "A Touch of Brimstone," and "Honey for the Prince."So did anyone care if the show had severe failings? No, because it had Diana Rigg.
jc-osms Possibly the best-known and most successful of the escapist adventure series from the British ABC studios of the mid-late 60's, I remember "The Avengers" fondly from my childhood. I have all the Patrick McNee / Diana Rigg episodes on DVD and prompted by the recent passing of Mr McNee, I finally indulged myself by watching a random episode (the first of the 1967 colourised series), but it could have been any one from that era and I'd have been just as well entertained, I know.I never saw any of the Honor Blackman series and do recall that McNee and the post-Rigg Linda Thorson just didn't have the same chemistry, plus the writing and plotting was becoming too far-fetched (all that "Mother" nonsense, for example) when compared to its golden era of 1965-1967.McNee is splendid as the debonair and uber-cool John Steed substituting a sharp-edged umbrella in place of guns and the pre-Grand Dame Diana Rigg smoulders as the enigmatic, karate-chopping Mrs Peel. Much was made of her one-piece jump-suits of the time, no doubt helpful in protecting her modesty as she dispatched yet another set of baddies with her martial arts moves, even if today said costumes look more functional than sexy. The plots are invariably flight-of-fancy fantasy, often pitting the dynamic duo against some world-threatening individual or organisation but were usually laced with subtle and occasionally sexy interplay between the two leads, top-and-tailed in every episode with a mute opening "We're needed" sequence and similarly light-hearted epilogue with just a hint of romantic frisson between them.The best episodes tended to be written by the also recently departed Brian Clemens and the cream of British TV character actors usually made guest appearances from episode to episode. Utterly charming and entertaining, and with a distinctive title sequence and theme tune, "The Avengers", is still well-remembered today as the epitome of style and class. The McNee / Rigg axis definitely saw the show at its best helped no doubt by its identification with the swinging 60's appeal of anything British at the time. The Avengers to today's youth undoubtedly conjures up Marvel's comic-book team, but to me it'll always recall the classic team of Steed and Peel saving the world weekly and sleekly from some misguided criminal mastermind.
Stanley Strangelove I'm a big fan of the Avengers TV series. The Avengers is a British TV series that ran for multiple seasons and had different cast members. The best seasons to see are season 4 (1965-1966) and season 5 (1967-1968.) They featured Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee as Mrs. Emma Peel and John Steed. The 1965 shows were black and white; the rest in color. The chemistry between Peel and Steed is fully established and the plots are the most clever. The Avengers series started out as standard mystery/thrillers but featured more sci-fi plots as the series aged. Some of the best episodes are The Cybernauts, The House That Jack Built, You Have Just Been Murdered, The Positive Negative Man, Murdersville. The Avengers is a time capsule of the '60s. In the '66 and '67 shows Emma's wardrobe changes virtually every scene and she wears some interesting clothes most famous are the Emma-peelers jumpsuits. Steed is always the dapper British gentleman. The dialogue is always interesting. The staged fights may be hokey but the supporting characters are always eccentric.