The Avengers Forever: Website News Archive

	Website News Archive January 2005

Even more to do, even less time... 31 January. This update was planned for last week. Apologies in advance to those who were expecting to see their contributions by now. They'll be here, sooner or later. This time around, at least the previously promised visitor reviews are up:

They Keep Killing Steed by Ron Geddes
Death at Bargain Prices by 'The Saint'
The Lion and the Unicorn by Frankymole
Conspiracy of Silence by Matthew Moore
Brief for Murder by James Harvey
The Town of No Return by James Harvey
Invasion of the Earthmen by James Harvey
Super Secret Cypher Snatch by James Harvey
They Keep Killing Steed by James Harvey

So much to do, so little time... 16 January. When I looked at the calendar, and then the last update date, I realized just how frighteningly fast time passes these days. And I have a boatload of new items as well. Curious how an old TV show can still generate so much activity. So, what's new? In no particular order:

First up, if all goes well I should soon be in touch with Martin Woodhouse, screenwriter responsible for some of the better Cathy Gale episodes, including the fan-favorite "Mr Teddy Bear," plus the Emma Peel episode "A Sense of History." Mr. Woodhouse claims to have a bevy of anecdotes to contribute, and I will also take the opportunity to create a detailed biography. Here is a little sampling of what to expect (courtesy of the Forum):

I am an ex-doctor, ex-pilot, ex-computer designer and ex a number of other things (this used to be called "Having A Grasshopper Mind") but, more to the point here, a former Avengers writer (for Steed and Cathy Gale, that is, Honor Blackman) and in fact I was one of the team who devised the second Avengers series, the one where he had a lady as his partner instead of Ian Hendry. I've also written a number of cheapo adventure novels in rather an Avengers vein.

Via Suburbia Mr. Woodhouse also provided some insight into "Mr Teddy Bear." Click over to the episode review page for some truly fascinating reading!

Next, a company called Tonic T-Shirts offers a design inspired by Emma Peel as the Queen Of Sin. With thanks to Stephen Hoper and Wiebke.

Then, rumor has it Bucks Music is preparing to release a "proper" Avengers CD featuring the (presumed Emma Peel era) theme and incidental music sometime in 2005. With thanks to Philippe Tasquin for this news. (You'll have to get in line behind me to order this one...)

In (external) website news, owing to a change in web hosts, Patrick Van de Weghe's marvelously visual P.U.R.R.R. site has a new URL. Also, Frank Faber has accomplished the Herculean feat of splitting his de Wrekers site into separate Dutch and English sub-sites.

To come: scads of new visitor reviews, updates to particulars in the David Keel era, and lots more. Until next time...

Paull Weston Happy New Year! 1 January 2005. After much analysis and discussion at the Forum about last month's bombshell news on who played Peter Peel in "The Forget-Me-Knot," it would appear that Emma's husband was very likely played by two people: Patrick Macnee for the close-ups, and Paul Weston (at right) for the long shot as they drove away. This is standard operating procedure in film production to save both time and money: close-ups are filmed entirely separately from long shots where a character is only seen from behind or appears too small to recognize; the latter shots are handled by a second film unit using doubles and stand-ins. At any rate, the significance of the emergence of a heretofore undocumented—and, by all accounts, significant—contributor to the series nearly forty years later is not to be underestimated. I have been in touch with Paul Weston and hope to someday provide a detailed biography as well as many new trivia tidbits. (With special thanks to Juana Kenis for the screen grab of Mr. Weston, taken from a scene in "Murdersville.")