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Seven Things to Know About “The Avengers”

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Published on March 27, 2026

1. Patrick Macnee played John Steed in 159 of the 161 episodes of *The Avengers* from 1961-69. The two episodes in which he did not appear were “Girl on the Trapeze” and “The Far Distant Dead,” which aired in the first season. Both episodes focused solely on Dr. David Keel, a medical doctor played . Initially, Steed was a supporting character, teaming up with Keel while investigating the murder of Keel’s fiancée. Notably, Macnee also starred in all 26 episodes of *The New Avengers* (1976-77).

2. *The Avengers* has numerous connections to the James Bond movies. Most notably, Honor Blackman played Pussy Galore opposite Sean Connery’s 007 in *Goldfinger* (1964), while Diana Rigg’s character married George Lazenby’s Bond in *On Her Majesty’s Secret Service* (1969). The latter film also featured *New Avengers* star Joanna Lumley in a small role. Furthermore, Patrick Macnee had a supporting part in the Roger Moore 007 outing *A View to a Kill* (1985). Other connections include John Cleese, who had a brief stint as Q in the Bond films and earlier appeared as a guest star in the *Avengers* episode “Look (stop me if you’ve heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers…”

3. The first season of *The Avengers* was not shot on film, as were most U.S. TV series at the time. As a result, only two complete episodes and a partial one exist today. The second and third seasons, starring Macnee and Blackman, were not broadcast in the U.S. until 1991 by A&E. The cable network acquired the rights to 134 episodes but showed them out of order, prioritizing the more well-known seasons with Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson as the female leads over the earlier Honor Blackman episodes.

4. *The Avengers* underwent a mini-transformation when Diana Rigg left the series to return to the stage and pursue a film career. Producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell briefly departed the series after a dispute with ABC Television U.K. During their hiatus, newcomer Linda Thorson was cast as Tara King, Steed’s new partner. Tara, at least initially, was more reliant on Steed than her predecessors, opting to slug baddies with her handbag rather than employing martial arts. In “The Forget-Me-Knot,” the same episode in which Emma departed and Tara arrived, Patrick Newell guest-starred as Mother, Steed’s superior. The American network ABC wanted Mother added as a recurring character, leading to Newell’s promotion to regular cast. Mother later had an assistant named Rhonda, who appeared in eighteen episodes but never spoke.

5. In terms of Nielsen TV ratings, *The Avengers* was never more than a modest hit during its original run on ABC in the U.S., failing to crack the Top 30 shows for any given year. ABC’s schedule shuffling did not help matters. The first season featuring Rigg, still shot in black & white, premiered in March 1966, replacing *Ben Casey*. The following year, *The Avengers* (now in color) moved to Fridays at 10:00 PM, and in the 1967-68 season, it was relocated to Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Ultimately, the series was pitted against juggernauts like *Gunsmoke* on CBS and *I Dream of Jeannie* and the first half of *Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In* on NBC during its final season, leading to its decline.

6. In 1976, just seven years after *The Avengers* was cancelled, producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell launched the sequel series *The New Avengers*. Patrick Macnee returned as Steed, joined : Joanna Lumley as Purdey and Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit. The addition of Gambit was meant to alleviate some of the physically demanding stunts for Macnee, now 53. Thematically, *The New Avengers* harkened back to the style of Rigg’s first season, featuring less parody and more traditional spy plots. In the U.S., *The New Avengers* was not aired in prime time but appeared on *The CBS Late Movie*, often paired with *Return of the Saint*. After two seasons totaling 26 episodes, *The New Avengers* ceased production.

7. Numerous attempts to revive *The Avengers* occurred between the conclusion of *The New Avengers* and the unsuccessful 1998 theatrical film starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. Noteworthy among these was the CBS 1978 pilot *Escapade*, intended as an American version of *The New Avengers*, written . It starred Morgan Fairchild as Suzy and Granville Van Dusen as Joshua Rand, characters that were clearly modeled after Purdey and Gambit. The Museum of Classic Chicago Television has made the complete pilot available on YouTube.

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