TaraKing
Since Diana Rigg was essentially out of the picture even before the first color season was completed, the producers had started a search for a replacement. Several guest actresses were considered, and some hush-hush screen tests were being done (Patrick Macnee for one was kept in the dark). But it all came apart when the new season drew near and utter chaos slowly engulfed the studio.
Thames Television (formerly Associated British Corporation) decided to make a substantial stylistic shift from fantasy back toward reality, and in a mysterious power play ostensibly involving John Steed's characterization, Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell were shown the door. John Bryce, who produced three-fourths of the Cathy Gale episodes, was appointed the new producer. Macnee contemplated his future with the show, but hung in there long enough to see the tables turn yet again.
Barely completing three episodes ("Invitation To A Killing," "The Great Great Britain Crime" and "Invasion of the Earthmen") and falling behind schedule, Bryce found himself in way over his head, so Clemens and Fennell were asked back and granted complete control. Well, almost... They had to live with Diana Rigg's replacement, who was signed on in their absence under the approval of Don Boyle, head of ABC in America.
Selected out of 200 applicants and told to lose weight and go blonde (makes one wonder what the other 199 were like), Linda Thorson became Steed's new partner, much to the frustration of Clemens and Fennel. While I once numbered myself amongst the many rabid "Tara-bashers" that still exist today, when I learned the history of her tenure, I became rather sympathetic.
Fresh out of school, the 20-year-old Thorson (who chose the name Tara King for herself) had never stepped in front of a camera, yet she was given a very demanding part--made more so by the legacy of her predecessors--in a cutthroat industry. Worse, it was decided to make her character a bit more "helpless" than her predecessors, a decision that did not go over well at all with fans. While she did eventually become an accomplished actress, it was too late to help save The Avengers. Ironically, when John Bryce was sacked, Thorson spoke of leaving, but Macnee talked her out of it--something he wishes he'd done with Diana Rigg.
Pressed for time by the contract with ABC in America, Clemens and Fennell were forced to rework the material Bryce left behind, rather than start anew. Tara was introduced in "The Forget-Me-Knot" (claimed by some sources to have been an unfinished Rigg episode) instead of the 90-minute pilot "Invitation To A Killing" Bryce had created. "Invitation" was chopped down to become "Have Guns - Will Haggle," and a leftover Emma Peel script, "Split!," was recycled.
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Representing an uneven mix of Bryce and Clemens/Fennell material, the first seven episodes completed (indicated in the index as season 6A) were shipped, together with the last eight Rigg episodes (season 5B), to the U.S. for their season three. These had opening and closing titles done in a "shooting gallery" style. (In homage to Diana Rigg, "The Forget-Me-Knot" had modified Emma Peel opening titles and Tara King closing titles.)
Subsequently the U.S. ordered a full season of 26 episodes (season 6B), at which point new titles were created using an outdoor setting with suits of armor and flowers--substantially shortened by the U.S.--and card trick closing credits. Using its status as principal backer, the U.S. also requested the addition of Mother as a regular, among other things.
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Meanwhile, the British held off until the second U.S. order was completed before airing any of them, thus the U.K. season wound up with 33 episodes. They also substituted the newer title style on all of the earlier episodes (with the single exception of "Split!" for some unknown reason). And just to make matters more confusing, they were not broadcast in production order, with 6A and 6B episodes randomly mixed, although there is no ideal way to represent this. So, when viewing the U.S. market copies in the original U.K. transmission order, the title style keeps changing back and forth. The review pages have title icons to indicate 6A/6B episodes.
Despite having to deal with any number of unfortunate circumstances, Clemens and Fennell made a valiant effort, and while they varied considerably in quality, the shows were generally enjoyable. But the deck was stacked against them, and it wasn't all Tara's fault. In fact, you could say the U.S. helped kill the very show it helped produce, because ABC ran the show against mega-hit Laugh-In. Having been utterly demolished by a ratings war--a unique American innovation--there were no further orders forthcoming from the U.S., and so The Avengers came to an abrupt end in February 1969.
Many attempts were made to revive the corpse...
November 1971 saw the debut of a short-lived stage play. Simon Oates (who appeared in the episodes, "You Have Just Been Murdered," "Super Secret Cypher Snatch" and "Hostage") played John Steed, accompanied by Sue Lloyd (who appeared in "A Surfeit of H2O") as his new partner, Hannah Wild. (Recall the episode "The Superlative Seven," wherein Charlotte Rampling played Hana Wilde?)
There was also a radio series produced for the South African Broadcasting Company (?!) in 1972
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