|
Overview As he did for most of the original series, Steed is once again acting without a direct superior (in many ways his character takes on the duties of "Mother" from the Tara King era of the 1960s show). Steed is seen as the mentor to Gambit and Purdey, taking on a paternal role towards them (especially in the episode Hostage). Gambit is the athletic action hero, while Purdey, aside from being the show's resident fashion plate, incorporates the wit and fighting skills of her predecessors. The verbal interplay between Gambit and Purdey, with her humorously keeping his romantic advances at bay, hearkens back to the Steed/Gale era of the original Avengers. One reason for the addition of Gambit was the question of whether Macnee, at age 53 when the series began production, could handle the potential stuntwork and action scenes. Macnee was able to increase his role's visibility as the series progressed, losing weight to improve his athleticism and to 'keep up' with his new partners. The first season featured several episodes using science fiction themes similar to those of the classic "Emma Peel" Avengers era. The new trio had to deal with suspended animation (The Eagle's Nest), biological warfare (The Midas Touch), robotics (The Last of The Cybernauts?), mind transfer (Three-Handed Game), and even giant rats (Gnaws, a title patterned after the hit movie ''Jaws''). Second season episodes, with the exception of the artificially-intelligent super-computer of Complex, dealt with more realistic plots. An attempt to get Diana Rigg to appear as Emma Peel in the new series was unsuccessful; however, archival footage of her from the 1960s was used in order to allow the character to make a cameo appearance in the episode K Is For Kill Part One:The Tiger Awakes. Ian Hendry, who played Steed's original partner, David Keel, also guest-starred in one episode, To Catch A Rat, playing a different role. Obsession features two of the stars of the Brian Clemens/Albert Fennell British crime-fighting action series The Professionals--Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins. Two seasons totalling 26 episodes were produced, which were aired on CBS in the United States, CTV in Canada, ITV in Britain, RTÉ in Ireland and in syndication elsewhere. Laurie Johnson, who had composed the theme for the original Avengers series (starting with the Emma Peel era in 1965, at least), returned to compose a new, updated theme for the revival. The new theme, however, begins with the same fanfare as the original. Fans are divided on the merits of the revival, with many suggesting the show lost its magic in the 1970s, and the final four episodes, titled The New Avengers in Canada as they were filmed and produced there, were heavily criticized. Most of the New Avengers episodes in Canada were filmed in and around Toronto, Ontario and ironically makes use of shots of the CN tower which had only just opened to the general public when filming commenced. The scenes filmed for the episode "Forward Base" were taken at Ward Island near the Toronto waterfront. Season 1 (1976-1977) Season 2 (1977) The final four episodes of Season 2 were aired under the title The New Avengers in Canada. Spinoffs The New Avengers spawned a series of novels mostly based upon episode teleplays (sometimes more than one per novel). Only a few were published in the US: DVD release The complete series is available on DVD in both the UK and North America, with A&E releasing the Region 1 edition. | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
 |
|
| |