British actor Patrick Macnee of The Avengers passed away this week at 93. In his honor, here’s a wonderful 1966 clip of Macnee and co-star Diana Rigg hamming it up with a vintage car collection. It’s lots of fun, let’s ride along.
If you were raised by television in the 1960s, you surely remember The Avengers, the campy yet engaging British spy-adventure series. In its classic years, 1965-1968, the program teamed suave Patrick Macnee with beautiful Diana Rigg as glamorous, bantering international detectives, and cars were an essential part of the production. Macnee’s character, John Steed, wheeled an assortment of classic Bentleys, while Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel drove a Lotus Elan.
In this Pathe News short from 1966, the cast and crew of The Avengers are shown working on location with the vintage automobiles of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (the car collection known today as the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu). Macnee passed away this past week at the age of 93, and with this short clip we take a moment to remember him. RIP, John Steed.
The Avengers was one of the few spy shows we were allowed to watch, as a kid. What pre-teen boy didn’t have a crush on Emma Peel. If I remember, they had a flair for Lotus and Jaguar. They even drove a Messerschmidt. Thanks MCG.
Thanks for that clip, Howard! Just like today, why didn’t she just wait the 8 seconds and not have to beep and pass the car just to turn in a different direction anyway.. some things never change.
How sad. The Avengers was MUCH more than a spy show,hard to describde.
I know what you mean, innocent and sophisticated at the same time.
Diana Rigg just IS thoroughly yummy.
Hard to believe Diana Rigg is now in her 70’s! Seems like it was just a few years ago that show was on the air. Mcnee didn’t carry a gun, he had a James Bond style umbrella that turned into a sword. It was a quirky show, hard to follow sometimes, but it was fun. Don’t know of anything to compare today.
I confess I never watched the show . . . so I binge watched the 1965 and 1966 seasons. It was wonderful, i loved the cars and the fashions.
Interesting how Emma Peel captured the imaginations of so many adolescent boys.
That must have been quite a car collection in its time.