Behind The Scenes
TV Times, 16 December 1976, pages 4,5,6,7, The man who taught The New Avengers how to fight, Ken Roche, England.
New Zealand TV Weekly, November 21 1966, pages 1,22,23,26,27, Meet Mrs. Peel's Rough and Tumble Teacher, author unknown, New Zealand.
Ray Austin interview
TV World, 27 January 1966, page 3, People, no author, England.
Usually Patrick Allen of Crane fame is right-handed. But if he has to take a swing at something - possibly someone's jaw - he is left-handed. This gave The Avengers director, Roy Baker, quite a headache in Saturday's episode, "The 13th Hole" which, predictably, is about golf. Said Pat: "Roy had all the camera shots lined-up for right-handers - including that swinging girl Diana Rigg - but I just had to do it left-handed. I couldn't even hit a punchball the other way round and it's the same when I play cricket." Pat recently became a businessman with interests in two TV production companies. "It's all a bit of a game. I have these high-powered conferences and everybody is terribly serious. I feel I'm playing a part, but I hope it isn't one I tire of."The Guardian: G2, 15 March 2000, pages 14,15, The avenger, Sheila Johnston, England. Overview of the career of Roy Ward Baker. Little Avengers but interesting.
Daily Mail, 27 September 1965, page 6, From Now On Girls You Can Be Your Own Avenger, Avengers fashion, Judy Innes, England
Daily Mirror, 27 September 1965, page 14 and 15, Enter Emma, John Bates' Avengers fashions, Felicity Green, England
Manchester Evening News, 29 September 1965, page 3, Blame Him For The 'Avenger' Revolution, ?, England. John Bates interview.
Look Westward, 10 October 1965, pages unknown, title unknown, author unknown, England. Preview of the new series of The Avengers, featuring Diana Rigg and her John Bates-designed fashion.
TV Times issue 585, 12 January 1967, page 6, Dressed For Danger - That's The Avengers, Patrick Macnee (Pierre Cardin) and Diana Rigg (Alun Hughes) fashions, Colin Neil McKay, England.
Manchester Evening News, 19 October 1963, page 7, Max North's Telereview, ?, England.
'Ward 10' doctor gets out of the rut. From his role of a schoolteacher deep in the Australian outback for last Tuesday's play "Stella" Charles Tingwell becomes a ruthless M.I.5 man giving John Steed the third degree in to-night's "Avengers" episode. blah blah blah. "Maybe they'll say I'm being typed in coppers' pants now," he said. That problem should not arise in his "Avengers" appearance when anything approaching Judges' rules is firmly pushed aside. The action takes place deep in the underground chambers of the Regional Seat of the Government for the next world war. Steed, played by Patrick Macnee, is hunting a suspected traitor in the vast subterranean city, but himself becomes the quarry. ESCAPOLOGIST. In an electrified interrogation chamber he is guided by Cathy (Honor Blackman) and Tingwell's M.I.5. operative. Edina Ronay, shapely blonde daughter of the cookery expert Egon Ronay, turns up as an escapologist. The script is a first effort for TV by Phillip Chambers who has written many Sexton Blake novels, but has no doubt managed to add for this occasion the veneer of sophisticated wit that makes "The Avengers" such a viewable series.
TV Times, 27 October, page 22, Mr Avengers: The Man Who Liberated Purdey, Stewart Knowles, England. Brian Clemens piece.
Starburst issue 29, December 1980, pages 38,39,40,41,42, Brian Clemens, John Fleming, England. Interview with Brian Clemens, part one. (O, A4C)
Starburst issue 30, January 1981, pages 38,39,40,41,42, Brian Clemens: Part Two, John Fleming, England. Interview with Brian Clemens, part two. (O, A4C)
Primetime issue 8, April 1984, pages 29,30,31, Making A Killing: Interview With Brian Clemens, Kevin Sutcliffe, England. Brian Clemens interview. (O)
TV Zone issue 28, March 1992, pages 8,9,10,11, Brian Clemens: Writer, Creator, Producer, Jan Vincent-Rudzki, England. Brian Clemens interview.
Timescreen issue 19, August 1992, pages 1, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,29,30,31,32,33, The Avengers Man: An Interview With Brian Clemens, Anthony McKay & Michael Richardson, England. Brian Clemens interview. (O)
Dreamwatch issue 21, May 1996, pages 35,36,37, The Belles of St. Clemens, Steve Howarth and Chris Lyons, England. Brian Clemens interview.
Femme Fatales, September 1998, pages 20,21, The Avengers - M. Appeal, James Murray, USA. Brian Clemens interview about 'the ladies'. (O)
TV Zone issue 46, September 1993, pages 37,38,39, Terence Feely: Script Writing in the Sixties, David Richardson, England. Terence Feely interview. (O)
Manchester Evening News, 14 January 1961, page 7, Max North's Telereview, ?, England.
Actor and director Peter Hammond, who directs ITV's "The Avengers" describes a Chinese girl he introduces in to-night's episode as "a challenge to Jacqui Chan". She is Joyce Wong Chong, who plays one of the young ladies who frequent the Soho club headquarters of a race gang. Her partner is Carol White, the 17-year old blonde who two weeks ago starred in ITV's "A Headful of Crocodiles".
Daily Mail, 5 January 1967, page 3, Why Billy Walker Got Mixed Up With The Avengers, Launch for the Alun Hughes collection, England.
Daily Mirror, 5 January 1967, page 7, Such a PHYSICAL QUALITY, Alun Hughes fashion collection, England.
TV Times issue 585, 12 January 1967, page 6, Dressed For Danger - That's The Avengers, Patrick Macnee (Pierre Cardin) and Diana Rigg (Alun Hughes) fashions, Colin Neil McKay, England.
TV Times issue 585, 12 January 1967, page 7, Designing Male, Interview with Alun Hughes regarding Emma Peel's fashions, Susan Maughan, England.
Daily Mail, 4 February 1967, page 1, The Avengers Pack Is Here, Alun Hughes clothes go on sale, England, Continued inside.
Daily Mail, 4 February 1967, pages 4 and 5, In Oxford Street yesterday seventeen Avengers and everyone is dressed to kill, Alun Hughes clothes go on sale, England.
Daily Mirror, 15 July 1967, page 12,13, Emma Gives The Suit Cat Appeal, no author, England.
EMMA PEELER is the title they give the "cat suit" worn by Diana Rigg - and there are no prizes for guessing why. This is the genuine article as worn by Diana in her up-and-at-'em rôle of Emma Peel in ABC-TV's The Avengers, which returns to British and American screens in the autumn. The suit, made of stretch crimplene, is available in shops throughout the country, and designer Alun Hughes says that it is ideal for work or leisure. Diana is just back from a trip to Germany with co-star Patrick Macnee, where The Avengers are not only a red-hot property, but one of the first programmes to be screened in the German colour service, which starts next month.Wales on Sunday, 16 August 1998, pages 2 and 3, Uma's Emma Lacks A-Peel, Maria Williams, Wales. Interview with fashion designer John Bates about the fashions of 'The Avengers' movie.
Movie Collector issue three, Jan/Feb 1994, pages 57,58,59,60, The Different Corners of Laurie Johnson, author unknown, England. (O)
TV Times, issue 290, 19 May 1961, page 4, Looking Around with John Gough: Meeting the underworld, John Gough, England.
NEXT Saturday's episode in ABC's The Avengers - "The Frighteners" - has been written by Lt.-Col. Jasper Davies, formerly of the Royal Artillery, once an intelligence officer in Cyprus. But perhaps we all know him better under his famous thriller-writing pen name of Berkley Mather. Mather goes to great lengths to draw his criminal characters true to life. He told me from his Sussex home: "I have a working arrangement with a former Scotland Yard Superintendent and a Chief Inspector, who arrange for me to meet underworld characters from time to time. "Usually, I pop up to Soho for a drink with them. These tough types are astonishingly frank - when they know they are talking in front of former policemen." One of the underworld types Mather met recently is the basis of a character in "The Frighteners" - but he won't say which.
Daredevils issue 14, January 1985, pages 18,19,20,21, An Interview with Sydney Newman, David Caruba, USA.
Fantasy Empire Collectors Edition issue 4, no date 1984, pages 13,14,15,16,17,18, 19,20,21,22,23,24, I Can Take Comedy Very Seriously, John Peel, England. Interview with Dennis Spooner that touches on The Avengers quite significantly.
Photoplay, Vol. 15, #2., February 1964, pages 8 and 9, Honor Blackman Chooses The Black Leather Look, Cathy Gale's leather clothing. Frederick Starke, designer, Great Britain.
Manchester Evening News, 29 February 1964, page 3, Max North's Telereview, ?, England.
NEW PARTNER. What will happen to "The Avengers" when it goes off the air on March 23 and Honor Blackman abandons the role of Cathy Gale for a lush film contract. The show is not disappearing for ever, says ABC programme controller Brian Tesler. It will be back early next year with a new partner for agent Steed, played as before by the smooth Mr. Patrick Macnee. Said Tesler: "During the past three years the artists and production team have been recording a show a fortnight and sometimes a show a week. now we want to give them a good rest. We shall begin work in the autumn on a new series for transmission after Christmas.
TV Times issue 360, 21 September 1962, page 38, More Autumn-plus Viewing!, Preview paragraph for the second season, Unknown, England.
CATHY is a mysterious, blonde and beautiful widow. She is also an anthropologist and handy with a gun. Which all adds up to an ideal new partner for John Steed. Cathy is played by Honor Blackman. And Steed, still the aristocratic undercover man dedicated to fighting crime, is again portrayed by Patrick Macnee. Fashion expert Michael Whittaker designs Honor's wardrobe. "One of the biggest problems," he says, "was designing holsters for her guns. In the end I settled for three. They're concealed at the waist, under the arm, and at the thigh." Another newcomer to the series is Freckles, Steed's amiable Dalmatian dog.
Timescreen issue 20, April, pages 1,4,5,6,7,8, Tony Williamson interview, Mike Richardson, England. The title of the piece says it all.