TV Night - The Avengers

Patrick Macnee as John Steed and
Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale
during the second season of
"The Avengers"

Before the bowler hats, the Savile Row suits and the campy (yet, still awesome) storylines, there was a very well written spy-fi series.

The first iteration of the series "The Avengers" starred Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel.  In the first episode, Dr. Keel meets up with a gentleman by the name of John Wickham Gascoyne Berresford Steed (Patrick Macnee) who not only helps him but talks him into working with him on other cases.

Unfortunately, only two of these episodes survive, neither available to the public.

For the second season, John Steed became the star of the show.  An agent with "the Ministry," Steed works with nightclub singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens), Dr. Martin King (Jon Rollason) and, most importantly, Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), a widower who is not only an anthropologist but is also an expert in Judo.  Steed and his assistants work to solve cases involving rogue diamond merchants, Irish thieves and computer experts.

Macnee as John Steed and
Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in later seasons of
"The Avengers"

Blackman went on to star in the James Bond classic, "Goldfinger", but the series continued, (famously) with Macnee along with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.

A little bit of trivia, Patrick Macnee is "an avid nudist" & "once invited Honor Blackman to watch him play tennis in the nude, an invitation she declined."

You should....

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