History Trivia / TheAvengers1960s

* TheOtherMarty: [[https://crypticrock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2035676_f248.jpg Elizabeth Shepherd]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/cb/ec/d1cbec24eb44863282438f5d2d8ee114.jpg was originally cast as Emma Peel]]. She filmed one and a half episodes before it was decided that he was ill-suited to the part.

* RecastAsARegular: Patrick Newell made two guest appearances before having a regular role as "Mother" in the final season.

* TheOtherMarty: Elizabeth Shepherd was cast as Emma Peel but was replaced with Creator/DianaRigg halfway through filming her first episode.

** ''Series/HoneyWest'' was an unsuccessful attempt to replicate the formula with US cities as background, lasting only one season. Creator/{{ABC}} reportedly decided it would be cheaper to import ''The Avengers''. Nonetheless, Anne Francis received nominations for a UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobe Award and a Best Actress Emmy for her performance. Funnily enough, Creator/HonorBlackman was originally offered the lead role.

* AlanSmithee: "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Station" gives script credit to "Brian Sheriff," alias Brian Clemens and Roger Marshall (when Marshall left the series due to CreativeDifferences with Clemens, he rewrote Marshall's script -- the pen-name indicates [[MeaningfulName the sheriff doing the marshal's job]]).

* SequelInAnotherMedium: In 1971, the series was adapted into a stage play by Brian Clemens and Terence Feely and directed by Creator/LesliePhillips. Creator/PatrickMacnee was asked to play John Steed again, but declined, as he didn't think that the series was suited to theatre, so Simon Oates took the role. Sue Lloyd played new partner Hannah Wild, and Kate O'Mara played villainess Madame Gerda.

* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/PatrickMacnee was asked to star in the stage play, but declined, as he felt that the series was ill-suited to theatre, so Simon Oates played John Steed. Meanwhile, John F. Landry replaced Patrick Newell as Mother.

* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/PatrickMacnee was asked to star in the stage play, but declined, as he felt that the series was ill-suited to theatre, so Simon Oates played John Steed.

* TheOtherMarty: Elizabeth Shepherd was cast as Emma Peel but was replaced with Diana Rigg halfway through filming her first episode.

* RecycledScript:
** Several scripts from the Cathy Gale period were remade as Emma Peel stories after the series took off in America. For example, "The Correct Way to Kill" is "The Charmers" with a few minor adjustments, "The Joker" is a creepier version of "Don't Look Behind You" (as was "The House That Jack Built" to an extent), "The £50,000 Breakfast" is a remake of "Death of a Great Dane" and "The Superlative Seven" was a remake of "Dressed to Kill".

** "Takeover" features criminals seizing a strategically-located property in order to launch an attack on nearby dignitaries, an idea that Brian Clemens had previously used in ''The Baron'' episode "The Maze". Creator/TerryNation, who wrote the episode, was script editor on that series.

* RecycledScript: Several scripts from the Cathy Gale period were remade as Emma Peel stories after the series took off in America. For example, "The Correct Way to Kill" is "The Charmers" with a few minor adjustments, "The Joker" is a creepier version of "Don't Look Behind You" (as was "The House That Jack Built" to an extent), "The £50,000 Breakfast" is a remake of "Death of a Great Dane" and "The Superlative Seven" was a remake of "Dressed to Kill".

* CastTheRunnerUp: Fenella Fielding made occasional guest appearances after being passed over for Cathy Gale in favour of Creator/HonorBlackman.

** ''Series/HoneyWest'' was an unsuccessful attempt to replicate the formula with US cities as background, lasting only one season. Creator/{{ABC}} reportedly decided it would be cheaper to import ''The Avengers''. Nonetheless, Anne Francis received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Best Actress Emmy for her performance. Funnily enough, Creator/HonorBlackman was originally offered the lead role.

** Creator/LindaThorson named "Pandora" as her favourite episode. She also loved "Look - (Stop Me if You've Heard This One) - But There Were These Two Fellers..."

** There were a number of options for Cathy's exit, including having her KilledOffForReal.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This is the sort of TV show that could only exist in the 60s - where Film/JamesBond had just taken off and spies were cool. Second wave feminism was in, resulting in sexy {{Action Girl}}s like Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. The hairstyles and fashions of the female characters scream 1960s, particularly Emma's SpyCatsuit. The show's tongue-in-cheek, NarmCharm tone was so heavily a product of the 60s that [[Series/TheNewAvengers the attempt to revive the series in the 70s]] failed - as did a film adaptation in 1998.

** Creator/PatrickMacnee came up with Steed's umbrella sword. He objected to Steed using a gun, as it reminded him of his military tenure. During the budget-strained first season, Macnee supplemented his on-screen wardrobe with numerous items from his own wardrobe, including the bowler and umbrella.

* FakeBrit: Creator/LindaThorson (Tara King) was actually Canadian.

** Creator/LindaThorson named "Pandora" as her favourite episode. She also loved "Look - (Stop Me if You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers...)"

** Creator/LindaThorson named "Pandora" as her favourite episode.

* DyeingForYourArt: Linda Thorson was asked to bleach her hair blonde to distinguish Tara King from Emma Peel. The process ruined her hair and she had to wear a wig for several episodes.
* ExecutiveMeddling: During the sixth season, the network wanted to bring the show "back to realism" and tried to recreate the style of the Cathy Gale episodes. Brian Clements was initially fired and then brought back to salvage the season.
* FakeBrit: Linda Thorson (Tara King) was actually Canadian.

** ''Series/HoneyWest'' was an unsuccessful attempt to replicate the formula with US cities as background, lasting only one season. Creator/{{ABC}} reportedly decided it would be cheaper to import ''The Avengers''. Nonetheless, Anne Francis received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Best Actress Emmy for her performance.

** Creator/LindaThorson came up with her own character name: Tara from her favorite film at the time, ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' (the name of the estate), and King for "King and country."

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode:

* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Some of Steed and Peel's clever banter was written by Creator/PatrickMacnee and Creator/DianaRigg, who virtually invented their characters themselves, since the producers were—almost literally—making things up as they went along. Indeed, one of Macnee's favorite recollections is of an early script that said, "Steed stands there." But the director demanded he do something more than that.

* HostilityOnTheSet: While she got on well with Macnee, Rigg evidently didn't have a very enjoyable time on the show, which likely led to her leaving after only two seasons. One of her complaints was the pay disparity between her and Macnee (she was initially getting paid less than the show's cameraman); she has commented that her demanding more equality resulted her being slagged in the press at the time.

* HostilityOnTheSet: While she got on well with Macnee, Rigg evidently didn't have a very enjoyable time on the show, which likely led to her leaving after only two seasons. One of her complaints was the pay disparity between her and Macnee (she initially was getting paid less than the show's camerman); she has commented that her demanding more equality resulted her being slagged in the press at the time.

* WordOfGod: Brian Clemens noted in an interview the sexual chemistry that particularly existed between Steed and Peel, and the common question of "Will they ever go to bed together?" Clemens' attitude toward the characters was that they already had done, and this was the next day. Creator/PatrickMacnee and Creator/DianaRigg confirmed later, in interviews, that they had decided their characters had a casual sexual relationship, "but just didn't dwell on it."

* LoopingLines: When the series switched from videotape to film in season 4, and Emma Peel became Steed's new partner in crime, the show's shooting became more flexible: For on-location scenes outdoors, they would be shot mute, with the dialogue being rerecorded by the original actors in post-production (as was the norm for British television at the time).

** A film version of the series was in its initial planning stages by late 1963 after series three was completed. An early story proposal paired Steed and Gale with a male and female duo of American agents, to make the movie appeal to the American market. Before the project could gain momentum Honor Blackman was cast in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', requiring her to leave the series.