DavidKeel
It all started with a suggestion.
The year was 1960. Howard Thomas, Managing Director of the Associated British Corporation, suggested to Sydney Newman, Director of Drama, that ABC's dramatic lineup might be better balanced with the addition of lighter fare, such as a thriller. This got Sydney thinking about a new television program formula: A mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and espionage thrills.
Meanwhile, Leonard White was having a bit of trouble with a show he was co-producing, Police Surgeon. Although its star, the late Ian Hendry, was popular, the show just wasn't going anywhere. So Newman and White teamed up to rework the ailing show to fit its star into the new formula, a formula that was also to include a secret agent. Now, who to play the agent?
Newman had worked with Patrick Macnee producing a television project two years prior, and invited him to appear on the show as the mysterious spy John Steed. (It is possible that Newman was inspired by a real-life spy named Phillip John Stead.) Macnee was not interested in another acting job--he wanted to continue pursuing production--but rather than flatly refuse, he decided to ask for what might have been considered an outrageous salary. To his surprise, Newman agreed.
Thus began The Avengers. And the formula worked--so well, in fact, that John Steed gradually became the favored character, even though he was second-banana to Ian Hendry's Dr. David Keel. (Because Keel was the main character, there are actually a couple of Avengers episodes in which Steed does not appear!) Of the series Patrick Macnee has remarked, "[Ian Hendry and I] used to drink so much that when we watched it, the alcohol told us it was terrific, but in fact I think it was pretty awful." (Patrick Macnee speaking to Steve Hockensmith of Cinescape Magazine.)
As for the shows themselves, we may never get to see any of them again, save for one, "The Frighteners," which had been transferred to film and recently unearthed by Dave Rogers (author of many Avengers books). Several episodes were broadcast live and so they do not exist in any form. While the rest were videotaped, they are presumed lost as well. But with the renewed interest in the program, a substantial effort may be mounted to search for more "lost" episodes. Stay tuned!
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