Specials

Avenging The Avengers

Get the real story behind the sixties cult series in this definitive TV documentary, never before released in the US.

The 'Chess Board' Introduction (1965)

When The Avengers was bought by the ABC network in the United States in 1966, network executives were concerned that the audience might not take to the show if it didn't understand the characters, so they commissioned a short introductory sequence to fill in the perceived gap. The sequence was only ever broadcast in the USA, so when Canal+ remastered the episodes, it was omitted from the DVDs produced for the US market. A&E and Canal+ were surprised at the uproar this caused, so when the Emma Peel episodes were repackaged after the Ian Hendry episodes came to light, it was included as a feature on the disc.

The Avengers: A Retrospective (1993)

Series retrospective presented by Patrick Macnee.

The Strange Case Of Missing Corpse (1966)

Filmed on the set of Honey for the Prince, this three-minute advertisement for the US market announced that "The Avengers" were switching to colour film - a move entirely motivated by the sale to America as Britain still broadcast in black & white. This is the only time we see Emma Peel is that tight leather catsuit with the zips in colour, and it's revealed to be a deep mahogany instead of the black everyone always assumed it was.

Diana Rigg & Patrick McNee interviewed by Joachim Fuchsberger