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The Avengers: A Celebration: 50 Years of a Television Classic
The Avengers burst onto televisions screens in the 1960’s, and the show’s mix of wit, adventure and beautiful women became an instant hit!
Now fifty years on, Marcus Hearn has been granted unparalleled access to the show’s production archives and has collected together a fabulous array of material to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Avengers .
Lavishly illustrated, with many unpublished stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and snaps from the ABC & LWT private archive, this is a spectacular portrait of the world's best-loved cult action-adventure series, and its classic sequel, The New Avengers.
Now fifty years on, Marcus Hearn has been granted unparalleled access to the show’s production archives and has collected together a fabulous array of material to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Avengers .
Lavishly illustrated, with many unpublished stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and snaps from the ABC & LWT private archive, this is a spectacular portrait of the world's best-loved cult action-adventure series, and its classic sequel, The New Avengers.
- GenresNonfictionPop Culture
160 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2010
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 17, 2025
Grew up watching all those shows — Man/Girl From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Secret Agent, Wild Wild West — but this one was by far the goofiest. And, as I remember, the only one I regularly watched with my dad, as I'm pretty sure Diana Rigg was the only woman (my mom aside) that we both had crushes on :)
This book is indeed a celebration of the show, with essays on each of its six seasons and then a ton of behind the scenes photos and trivia, including surprising cameos by the likes of Donald Sutherland, John Cleese, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Lee, Brian Blessed and I'm sure numerous others less recognizable to us Yanks. The show here is described variously as surrealist, outlandish and "walking a fine line between comedy and suspense." But it's style — and appeal — is best captured in this 1965 Daily Mail review:
• The name "Emma Peel" was a play on the idea of creating a character with "M (for man) Appeal," which obviously worked!
• Didn't realize that Honor Blackman played her "Cathy Gale" role as long as Diana played "Emma" — two seasons each. However, the Blackman shows never reached America.
• Both Blackman's and Rigg's trademark leather fighting suits weren't designed to be kinky; they just turned out that way. But they were really chosen because they were more durable than anything else during the endless fight scenes.
• Speaking of, the original phrase "Kinky Boots" comes from a novelty song recorded by Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman in 1964 — it's there on YouTube, but be warned: you'll never be able to unhear it!
• And Blackman left the show to make "Goldfinger"…and the rest is history, although that role turned out to be her career highlight, as she quickly "aged out" in Hollywood. In fact, she was five years older than Sean Connery; one of the few times in the entire Bond series when he had an "age appropriate" relationship. Similarly, Diana Rigg was a year older than George Lazenby when she became "Mrs. Bond" in "OHMSS." After that of course, you got age gaps of anywhere from 17 years (Craig/Seydoux) to 24 and even 30 years (Moore/Seymour/Bouquet). Yuck. But that's the way of the world, isn't it? Even on this show, the age gap ballooned from three (Macnee/Blackman) to 16 (Rigg) to 25 (Linda Thorson) — it's like Tom Cruise's marriages! (Also yuck)
• Back to Goldfinger: there's a nice bit in Diana Rigg's first Christmas episode where Steed opens a Christmas card and says "it's from Mrs. Gale!...What is she doing at Fort Knox??"
• And poor Linda Thorson — Blackman and Rigg were just impossible acts to follow. I mean, even Patrick Macnee got a James Bond cameo in Roger Moore's final adventure. Of course, it didn't help that with this age gap, any sexual tension would now be creepy rather than titillating, and so Steed was now more of a kindly uncle, which is never a dynamic that's going to win new viewers. But never mind: of all the key players (mainly because they're all dead), Thorson alone continues to act to this day, and was even in "Schitt's Creek" as one of Moira's old soap opera friends. And at 78 she is still acting and still stunning, if totally unrecognizable from her "Avengers" self.
• And finally — I had forgotten how much forehead there was before the Beatles invented bangs! Neither Blackman not Rigg ever parted their hair; it was "all bouffant, all the time."
This book was another $2 treasure find at our massive used bookstore — God bless Mr./Ms. Mckay, whoever they were!
This book is indeed a celebration of the show, with essays on each of its six seasons and then a ton of behind the scenes photos and trivia, including surprising cameos by the likes of Donald Sutherland, John Cleese, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Lee, Brian Blessed and I'm sure numerous others less recognizable to us Yanks. The show here is described variously as surrealist, outlandish and "walking a fine line between comedy and suspense." But it's style — and appeal — is best captured in this 1965 Daily Mail review:
"The stories are almost poetically preposterous and superbly inventive. Why watch such nonsense? Perhaps because it is nonsense, and it is so nice to be outside the nightmare instead of inside it."Anyway — great fun, and in fact quite interesting, as I knew nothing about the show itself other than having watched it, (and am now sporadically rewatching it — or at least having it on in the background— as the Emma Peel/Tara King seasons are currently available on Amazon Prime). Things I learned:
• The name "Emma Peel" was a play on the idea of creating a character with "M (for man) Appeal," which obviously worked!
• Didn't realize that Honor Blackman played her "Cathy Gale" role as long as Diana played "Emma" — two seasons each. However, the Blackman shows never reached America.
• Both Blackman's and Rigg's trademark leather fighting suits weren't designed to be kinky; they just turned out that way. But they were really chosen because they were more durable than anything else during the endless fight scenes.
• Speaking of, the original phrase "Kinky Boots" comes from a novelty song recorded by Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman in 1964 — it's there on YouTube, but be warned: you'll never be able to unhear it!
• And Blackman left the show to make "Goldfinger"…and the rest is history, although that role turned out to be her career highlight, as she quickly "aged out" in Hollywood. In fact, she was five years older than Sean Connery; one of the few times in the entire Bond series when he had an "age appropriate" relationship. Similarly, Diana Rigg was a year older than George Lazenby when she became "Mrs. Bond" in "OHMSS." After that of course, you got age gaps of anywhere from 17 years (Craig/Seydoux) to 24 and even 30 years (Moore/Seymour/Bouquet). Yuck. But that's the way of the world, isn't it? Even on this show, the age gap ballooned from three (Macnee/Blackman) to 16 (Rigg) to 25 (Linda Thorson) — it's like Tom Cruise's marriages! (Also yuck)
• Back to Goldfinger: there's a nice bit in Diana Rigg's first Christmas episode where Steed opens a Christmas card and says "it's from Mrs. Gale!...What is she doing at Fort Knox??"
• And poor Linda Thorson — Blackman and Rigg were just impossible acts to follow. I mean, even Patrick Macnee got a James Bond cameo in Roger Moore's final adventure. Of course, it didn't help that with this age gap, any sexual tension would now be creepy rather than titillating, and so Steed was now more of a kindly uncle, which is never a dynamic that's going to win new viewers. But never mind: of all the key players (mainly because they're all dead), Thorson alone continues to act to this day, and was even in "Schitt's Creek" as one of Moira's old soap opera friends. And at 78 she is still acting and still stunning, if totally unrecognizable from her "Avengers" self.
• And finally — I had forgotten how much forehead there was before the Beatles invented bangs! Neither Blackman not Rigg ever parted their hair; it was "all bouffant, all the time."
This book was another $2 treasure find at our massive used bookstore — God bless Mr./Ms. Mckay, whoever they were!
March 9, 2016
I seem to be on a 1960s television connection reading jag. First The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and now The Avengers. This is a lovely coffee-table book that does it exactly what the title claims--it celebrates the show that made bowler hats and brollys chic; that played the top-secret-agent scene with tongue firmly in cheek; and that introduced the world to strong female leads in the persons of Cathy Gale and Emma Peel. The ladies were allowed to wear black leather fight suits and overpower the men without turning a hair or wrinkling their outfits. The show used the Mod background of Britain in the sixties and gave us stories with rare wit and high adventure...and the most unlikely crimes.
The book traces the story of The Avengers from the early days with Patrick Macnee and Ian Hendry (yeah, I know, who?) through the advent of Honor Blackman as the first of Macnee's stylish, intelligent and assertive assistants to Diana Rigg and the addition of color and the final days with Linda Thorson as Tara King. It features 350 photographs including rare stills from the first shows with Hendry. Unfortunately, only two episodes remain from Hendry's stint with the show, so modern viewers can't really get a good taste of what The Avengers were like before women came along to keep John Steed in line. In addition to the photos, the book is broken into six chapters which cram a lot of production background and anecdotes from Macnee & others into very little prose. The showcase of the book is the collection of photographs. It is interesting to note that there are around 10,000 photographs in the Avengers archive. One can only imagine what other treasures might show up another day. A lovely book for the Avengers fan.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks
The book traces the story of The Avengers from the early days with Patrick Macnee and Ian Hendry (yeah, I know, who?) through the advent of Honor Blackman as the first of Macnee's stylish, intelligent and assertive assistants to Diana Rigg and the addition of color and the final days with Linda Thorson as Tara King. It features 350 photographs including rare stills from the first shows with Hendry. Unfortunately, only two episodes remain from Hendry's stint with the show, so modern viewers can't really get a good taste of what The Avengers were like before women came along to keep John Steed in line. In addition to the photos, the book is broken into six chapters which cram a lot of production background and anecdotes from Macnee & others into very little prose. The showcase of the book is the collection of photographs. It is interesting to note that there are around 10,000 photographs in the Avengers archive. One can only imagine what other treasures might show up another day. A lovely book for the Avengers fan.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks
September 22, 2019
Marcus Hearn is quite a prolific writer of film and tv books. This one is primarily a picture book however with lots of high quality, glossily produced images from all six seasons of the 1960's series. It does not include The New Avengers from the 1970's - which is a shame.
What text there is is short and concise, but high on information. It covers each of the seasons individually and has enough info for the general reader. But it's the images, many iconic, of Diana Rigg (bless her) in her catsuit and Honor Blackman in her leathers which are the attraction here.
A nice coffee table book to browse through whilst following the series. If you're after facts and lists, there's 'The Avengers Dossier' by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping; and if you're after a more text driven book, there's 'The Avengers: The Inside Story' by Patrick Macnee and Dave Rogers. Both of these books also include the 1970's series.
What text there is is short and concise, but high on information. It covers each of the seasons individually and has enough info for the general reader. But it's the images, many iconic, of Diana Rigg (bless her) in her catsuit and Honor Blackman in her leathers which are the attraction here.
A nice coffee table book to browse through whilst following the series. If you're after facts and lists, there's 'The Avengers Dossier' by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping; and if you're after a more text driven book, there's 'The Avengers: The Inside Story' by Patrick Macnee and Dave Rogers. Both of these books also include the 1970's series.
January 1, 2018
This is primarily a pictorial record of the iconic 60s TV series 'The Avengers'. There is a chapter for each of the six seasons. Each starts with a 2-4 page blurb about that season, followed by a captioned photo gallery of location shots and stills from different episodes.
We've recently watched all of the Emma Peel episodes featuring Diana Rigg (Seasons 4-5), so it was interesting to find out more about the show's beginnings and the eras with Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson. It doesn't go into a lot of detail, but there are snippets of interviews with cast and crew, and lots of interesting trivia. For example, John Cleese did a 'silly walk' cameo in an episode of The Avengers a year before it was used in a Monty Python Sketch. I was also interested to see that Terry Nation wrote an alien-themed episode for Season 6. He was one of original writers for Dr Who and is credited with creating the Daleks.
It was a ground-breaking series at the time, and had a style and originality that still makes it enjoyable to watch today. If you're a fan of the series, or like behind-the-scenes info about TV, you'll enjoy this book.
We've recently watched all of the Emma Peel episodes featuring Diana Rigg (Seasons 4-5), so it was interesting to find out more about the show's beginnings and the eras with Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson. It doesn't go into a lot of detail, but there are snippets of interviews with cast and crew, and lots of interesting trivia. For example, John Cleese did a 'silly walk' cameo in an episode of The Avengers a year before it was used in a Monty Python Sketch. I was also interested to see that Terry Nation wrote an alien-themed episode for Season 6. He was one of original writers for Dr Who and is credited with creating the Daleks.
It was a ground-breaking series at the time, and had a style and originality that still makes it enjoyable to watch today. If you're a fan of the series, or like behind-the-scenes info about TV, you'll enjoy this book.
July 25, 2020
This was a birthday present from my wife. The British TV show of the 60s 'The Avengers' is one of my favourite ever series.
This book is stunning in it's quality, and the photos are superb, with many I had not seen before, especially of the first series with Ian Hendry. The focus though is on the Cathy Gale & Emma Peel years. Tara King gets a look in at the end... Steed, obviously is a constant. There is no mention of The New Avengers, and I understand why, so have no quibbles. I loved the show at the time, but I feel that today it dates far worse than it's predecessors.
The book doesn't get the full 5 stars because there's not a great deal of prose in the book, and what there is, I already knew, in the main. Though there are one or two nuggets there.
I would recommend it to any fan of the series who wants a photographic record of the series and the times they were filmed in. I loved it.
This book is stunning in it's quality, and the photos are superb, with many I had not seen before, especially of the first series with Ian Hendry. The focus though is on the Cathy Gale & Emma Peel years. Tara King gets a look in at the end... Steed, obviously is a constant. There is no mention of The New Avengers, and I understand why, so have no quibbles. I loved the show at the time, but I feel that today it dates far worse than it's predecessors.
The book doesn't get the full 5 stars because there's not a great deal of prose in the book, and what there is, I already knew, in the main. Though there are one or two nuggets there.
I would recommend it to any fan of the series who wants a photographic record of the series and the times they were filmed in. I loved it.
May 16, 2021
The large coffee table book contains a collection of photos taken during the making of the original series with captions explaining each photo.
Yes the pictures look great and the captions and short text covering each series are well written but I think you can get through the book pretty quickly. Is it worth its RRP? possibly not, I bought it for a third of the RRP so I'm not complaining but I would be if I paid full price.
I think the bottom line is that my personal preference is to read about the tv series rather than look at pictures, although I'm always happy to look at a photo of Diana Rigg!
Yes the pictures look great and the captions and short text covering each series are well written but I think you can get through the book pretty quickly. Is it worth its RRP? possibly not, I bought it for a third of the RRP so I'm not complaining but I would be if I paid full price.
I think the bottom line is that my personal preference is to read about the tv series rather than look at pictures, although I'm always happy to look at a photo of Diana Rigg!
January 5, 2011
The Avengers: A Celebration is broken into six chapters which cover the show chronologically from its early Ian Hendry roots to the final days with Tara King. The text leans heavily on behind the scenes stories with a lot of attention given to the mechanics of its association with ABC Television in the US. Hearn also details casting decisions and changes in format and style through the seasons. Not a book for the uninitiated or casual viewer, The Avengers: A Celebration is written for the true fan.
Even if you think you know all there is to know about The Avengers, this book is worth buying for one reason. The photos. How about a photo of Patrick Macnee sitting on a sound stage chatting with Roger Moore who was on break from The Saint? Or a collection of shots featuring Twiggy from the Avengerwear '67 fashion show? And one of my favorites, Macnee and Thorson stop to take a look at the script while a body lies at their feet. The only downside to this book is it made me want to start watching the show again and I don't own it on DVD! Time to hit up Amazon. If you're headed there as well, check out The Avengers: A Celebration: 50 Years of a Television Classic
Even if you think you know all there is to know about The Avengers, this book is worth buying for one reason. The photos. How about a photo of Patrick Macnee sitting on a sound stage chatting with Roger Moore who was on break from The Saint? Or a collection of shots featuring Twiggy from the Avengerwear '67 fashion show? And one of my favorites, Macnee and Thorson stop to take a look at the script while a body lies at their feet. The only downside to this book is it made me want to start watching the show again and I don't own it on DVD! Time to hit up Amazon. If you're headed there as well, check out The Avengers: A Celebration: 50 Years of a Television Classic
December 10, 2012
The best part about Hearn's book are the pictures. Roughly 350 photos were used, which is wonderful - but there are 10,000 in the archive! Where's the rest? The writing is simple and the stories are old. Other than the great shots, nothing new is brought to the table. And to celebrate fifty years, one would expect much more. Too bad Taschen Books didn't have the rights to this - they would have made "The Avengers" proud in grand style.
August 9, 2015
The Avengers as shared here before tops my list of top TV shows so any book recounting the details of the show is worth a look. This one seems to be made up of tons of publicity stills for Steed and all of his partners.
Minimum of prose, many pics especially some candids. Worth a look but not worth savoring again and again.
Minimum of prose, many pics especially some candids. Worth a look but not worth savoring again and again.
December 5, 2013
It's what it says--a celebration, an enjoyable book full of beautiful pictures of the cast. It's fun; just don't expect new insights or much by way of "making of."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews