The Avengers Forever: AvengerNews Archive

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BAFTA (British Annual Film and Television Awards)
Sunday, 14 May 2000

Reported by Darren Burch

Although it wasn't really spelt out, the awards were for the leading ladies in changing the perception of the way women were portrayed on television. For the benefit of those who were unable to see the awards, here is a transcript of what [was] said, in the order in which they appeared. I didn't get [all] what Patrick Macnee said, but [here is most of it, which was delivered on film:]

"...Honor, Diana, Linda, and Joanna—my love to you all. Due to modern technology we can still see you in The Avengers all over the world. But it's what you've achieved since that's so great. It was a privilege to work with you in the sixties and seventies. It's a pleasure to know you all now. And I hope for as long as I live. Congratulations, and have a terrific evening."

When Pat finished, the host Desmond Lynum (a sports presenter with a big ego) said, "And now a taste of what made those women so great." We were then treated to a series of clips that started with title sequence shots of the stars whilst the theme tune played. Then they went into a collection of clips showing Honor, Diana, Linda and Joanna flinging men over there shoulders and making comments. Some of the clips were from:

Honor Blackman: "Dressed to Kill"
Diana Rigg: "The Town of No Return," "Death at Bargain Prices," "From Venus With Love"
Linda Thorson: "Game," "All Done with Mirrors," "Legacy of Death," "Bizarre"
Joanna Lumley: "The Eagle's Nest," "House of Cards," "Sleeper," "Angels of Death"

Over these clips they played the fight music from "Castle De'ath."

Diana and Linda made their acceptance speeches on film.

Diana (very confident-sounding—obviously—with a short bobbed haircut):

"Thank you, BAFTA, for this wonderful award. What I am about to say may not be politically correct but I owe it all to a very large degree to a man. And that man is Patrick Macnee. He was in the series from the beginning, he was its linchpin and he vigilantly upheld the standards and style of The Avengers, in addition to which he was the dearest and most generous of actors to work with. So thank you, BAFTA, very much, I'm sorry I can't be there and a BIG thank you to darling Patty Nee."

Linda (very bubbly and very quick-sounding with blonde/red frizzy hair):

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, apparently I have 30 seconds. I'm so glad to be sharing this with Honor, Dame Diana and Joanna. For me it's a reminder of a very lucky time being involved in such a good television series which was made by a lot of extremely talented people, not the least of whom was my original producer, John Bryce. So I truly wish that I could be there with you all in person tonight drinking champagne, but I have the happy excuse of being previously engaged doing David Hare's play Amy's View in its west coast premiere in California, playing the part which was so brilliantly originated by Dame Judy Dench. So thank you so much again and [wave gesture] Ta-Ra. Was that 30 seconds..."

After that, Honor Blackman and Joanna Lumley were both invited up on to the podium amidst a rupture of British Celebrity applause. They both looked very elegant.

Honor spoke first whilst Joanna stood to the side.

Honor (very regal-sounding with neck-length silver/white hair, swept back):

"I want to thank the members of the Academy for having this wonderful idea of giving The Avengers programme this terrific award. As Des said it's a very special show and it was a ground breaking show, too, in as much as no woman, up to that point, had been allowed to be the intellectual equal of the man. And certainly no woman had ever defended herself physically. They'd probably not found anyone daft enough to do judo on the studio's cement floor. Leonard White, our inspired producer, led our team and had you suggested to us way back that The Avengers would have last this long, we'd never have believed you.

"Dear, generous, loveable, Patrick Macnee. The solid backbone of the show tells of the occasion when he met Peter O'Toole in a lift, and Peter asked him what he was working on in that studio, and he said "I'm doing the Avengers". Pat replied, "My dear old chap, you're always doing The Avengers [cue unimpressed celeb sniggering]. Indeed it had a long life. I'm delighted to be sharing the award with Joanna and Linda and my good friend Dame Diana Rigg. [to Joanna] Your turn now!"

Joanna (very jovial-sounding with heavily-styled blonde hair):

"Thank you, [applause] thank you." [During the applause, Honor hugs Joanna by the arm and says "You're my friend, too."] "Well, the first people I've got to thank are exactly that, Honor, Diana and Linda, because without them I simply wouldn't have been there. Because unlike other shows which are popular and they ask you to come back again, in this they just change the woman [laughter]. And... um... unfortunately we couldn't get money from England to do my series, so the French put up the money because they thought they were getting Linda Thorson [laughter], and they got me, so that was kind've sad [laughter] but I was so grateful [even bigger laughter]. It was easily my first big break in the industry. There's one person missing off this list who is an honourary woman—he looks lousy in a dress—it's Gareth Hunt, who played Gambit. Because we were The New Avengers and actually there were two of us, and everything I've got here I've got for Gareth as well. I don't think it would be wrong to say that all four of us... God, I'm so proud, it's like kind've being in the Junior Common Room [laughter which muffles her last words] when you're Head Girl, d'you know what I mean. Anyway, all four of us I know actually dedicate these awards to our beloved, our one and only, Patrick Macnee. And thank you and the Academy so much!"

Incidentally, Ralph Fiennes was in the audience.