The Avengers Forever: AvengerNews Archive

	AvengerNews Archive: 2005 Page 7 of 9

19 December. Hot off the press from New Video—the artwork for the new A&E releases (click images to pre-order):

Please note: The designers of the packaging are also fans of the series. They have asked for feedback about their work. If you'd like to offer comments, please email me and I will forward it to them. Thanks!

2 December. A&E poised to deliver—for real this time. The Emma Peel megaset is being re-released in a digipack bundled with a separately-available bonus disc that contains:

3-minute version of "The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse"
"Avenging the Avengers" documentary
"K is for Kill, Part 1"
"Hot Snow" (surviving 20 minutes)
"Girl on the Trapeze"
"The Frighteners"

Even more good news: The Avengers '62 (the last of the Cathy Gale episodes) is slated for release in March '06. With eternal gratitude to the Powers That Be at New Video, the producers/distributors of A&E's DVDs.

Pre-order right from here:

1 November. The new BBC4 documentary, The Avengers Revisited, airs 8:30 PM on 10 November (repeated at 2:30 AM on 11 November and again at 12:30 AM on 12 November)—here is a trailer. Then, ITV1 is running The Avengers - Must See TV hosted by Joan Collins at 10:00 PM on 10 November. As if that's not enough, apparently Joanna Lumley has a new series, Sensitive Skin, that will debut on BBC2 the same time as Must See TV.

26 October. UK fans who have not seen "Hot Snow" may want to try and attend the British Film Institute's screening at NFT1 on Sunday, 11 December 2005 in London's South Bank, as part of its "Missing Believed Wiped" program. For more on this special event, see this article in The Observer. (Also check out the name of the author—not me, but what a coincidence!) In other exciting news, multiple rumors from multiple sources indicate that The Avengers is returning to UK broadcast television, beginning with a brand new Avengers documentary! BBC4 will air The Avengers Revisited on 10 November 2005. The two seasons of Emma Peel episodes will then follow (beginning with the color season).

8 October. Great news from France: The entire series has been (re)released on DVD from Canal+, something that A&E was poised to do many months ago but failed. Note that these are dual-language R2 DVDs in French-only packaging. They also do not include the 2.3 surviving David Keel episodes, as far as I am aware, which are still only available in the special "Kiosk" subscription edition. Extras are unknown at this point. Order the new sets right from here:

7 September. Fans in North America were treated to a radio program about composer Laurie Johnson on Public Radio's The World. Featured was an interview of Johnson, some of his music (including the theme and a bit of dialog from Avengers), and a couple of remarks by Yours Truly. Have a listen! You can also read the full transcript and see some neat images at the same time. My sincere thanks to Elizabeth Ross of The World for this fantastic opportunity! By the way, the book mentioned in the piece, Laurie Johnson's autobiography, can be purchased right from here:

Noises in the Head (US, hardbound)
Noises in the Head (UK, softbound)
Noises in the Head (UK, hardbound)

17 August. To celebrate their 50th anniversary, The British TV Times magazine commissioned leading cover producer, Buckingham Covers, to create a tribute to The Avengers. Each cover is available signed or unsigned and will have the full set of British ITV stamps to be released in September 2005, including a special Avengers 47p stamp. Covers are 22.5cm long by 12.5cm high. They cost £8.95 unsigned or from £22.95 to £29.95 personally signed by Patrick Macnee, Honor Blackman or Joanna Lumley. Postage, packing and insurance is £1.65 (UK) or £2.65 (outside UK). What's more, if you purchase them (or any others) through The Avengers Forever, you'll be supporting this site! Order them here:

Steed and Cathy Gale, available signed by Patrick Macnee or Honor Blackman
Purdey, available signed by Joanna Lumley

19 June. Regrettably the Bucks Music Avengers CD apparently never materialized as described (an obvious lesson about rumors here), but they do have a CD called The Rose and the Gun (FLY CD103, subtitled "The Music of Laurie Johnson: 19 Popular Hits from Film and Television") that features three Avengers tracks: "The Avengers (Theme)," "The Avengers (Tag Scene)," and "The New Avengers." Alas it sounds like just another variation on existing compilation albums including Laurie Johnson... With a Vengeance and The Professional: The Best of Laurie Johnson.

11 May. The Avengers is now on a United Kingdom postage stamp! Information is available from the Royal Mail Information and Services Portal, but you need to go here to see it.

16 April. BBC4 presents Fantasy Sixties.

8 February. VCI, a division of 2|entertain, has acquired the rights to The Avengers from Canal+ and are planning an all-new DVD series. Rumors abound that they are working on high-quality releases that may include a number of heretofore unavailable extras. Currently no news on release dates. Keep your eyes on this page for more details.

16 January. Rumor has it that 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. Also, a company called Tonic T-Shirts offers a designed inspired by Emma Peel as the Queen Of Sin. With thanks to Stephen Hoper.