I had viewed the prospect of interviewing Patrick Macnee with more than a little apprehension.

I should not have worried. The man immortalised on TV as the debonair John Steed is still very much the English gent - despite years of exile in America.

"Get this poor darling a coffee, she looks as though she needs one." Thus fortified, our chat began, though Mr. Macnee did most of the talking! He was in Manchester to promote his newly-published autobiography, curiously titled Blind In One Ear.

Although an artistocrat by birth, the young Macnee was brought up bohemian-style with his mother and her female lover "Uncle" Evelyn - who apparently led a life of gay (and drunken) abandon.

"It was a madhouse. God knows how I came out of it all relatively normal."

Packed off to prep school, and then Eton, the road ahead was clearly Oxbridge - until Macnee was expelled for selling smutty pictures!

"We were educated by fear. In my day, most upper-class children never saw their parents. It must have had a marked effect on all of us."

War was declared shortly afterwards, and the "disgraced" youngster joined the Navy - facing the danger of torpedo boats.

"Most of my friends were dead by the time I was 25. Writing the book I discovered I had blanked a lot of those years out of my mind."

After the war, there were many years of hard graft trying to scrape a living on the stage.

"I was almost destitute financially and I had just about decided to abandon acting totally when the Avengers came along," he said.

Steed will always be remembered (especially by males of my acquaintance) for his glamorous leading ladies. But when the series started in 1960, his first sparring partner was Ian Hendry.

"In those early days our wardrobe seemed to consist of one dirty mac apiece. We looked like a couple of dirty old men!"

Original Article

But not for long - sartorial style became the trademark of Macnee's character. And when Ian Hendry left the show, John Steed really hit the heights.

Ever the gent, Macnee refused to name his favourite female co-star. "One cannot make comparisons. But I was heartbroken when Diana Rigg decide to go.

He was less reticent about Steed's 70's reincarnation in the New Avengers.

"I shouldn't have done it. it was a mistake. The only saving grace was I met Joanna Lumley, who is a delightful lady."

Once very much the ladies man, at 66, Patrick is now happily settled with his third wife, Baba, and still very much in demand for Steed-like roles.

He is now set to play a country solicitor in a new American TV series.

"You know, the sort of chap who's on the bottle most of the day."

It did not seem the best moment to raise the topic of Macnee's personal (and successful) battle against the booze...