John Steed was to return to our screens, during the mid seventies, a little older, but still loosing none of his debonair style. He was to be joined by two new, younger, companions, , Purdy, the beautiful ex-ballerina (Joanna Lumly), and Gambit (Gareth Hunt). In this new series, filmed as two batches of 13 episodes (26 in total). Steed largely stayed in the back ground, leaving most of the action to his proteges.
Though this series nowhere near compares to the original series of the sixties, it is still amongst the finest British TV series of the decade. Well I say British, it was produced and filmed in England, but it was largely co-financed by the French and Canadians, with four episodes being filmed in both of these countries. The series had a slightly harder edge to it, than that of the original, which can be seen particularly in such episodes as “Dirtier by the Dozen” or Cat Amongst the pigeons”, but this was really just a natural development from the original series bringing it up to date.
The man very much behind this seventies Avengers revival was Brian Clemens, who had been involved with the Avengers since the mid sixties, and he was to write no fewer than fourteen episodes of the New Avengers, co-writing another three, as well as being one of the shows two producers. The other producer was Albert Fennell, another Avengers veteran.
Merchandising for this series was just as prolific, as it had been during the sixties, though over a more condensed time period, but not only directly related items appeared. Joanna Lumly’s likeness was to be used on shop mannequins; cast members were to endorse various products both in the UK and abroad.
