Hearing of Patrick Macnee’s passing yesterday, is causing me to wax philosophical. As I age, it stands to reason that all the cultural icons of my childhood pass away, but it’s still difficult to take since I still see myself as a teenager. The Avengers with Patrick Macnee playing a suave, debonaire John Steed to Diana Riggs’ soft exterior, tough interior Mrs. Emma Peel was a highlight of my TV viewing.
Of course, being the guy that I am (although I was only 13 at the time the show first aired, some things never change), I was just as interested in their cars (John Steed-vintage 1926-1928 Bentleys, Emma Peel-Lotus Elan)
as I was with the action. Maybe that’s where I first learned to love old British cars?
Besides the entertainment value of the show, Macnee in a 2010 interview with the Daily Exchange, mentioned that the show was groundbreaking. “It was the first show that put its leading man and leading lady on an equal footing, and showed a woman fighting and kicking and throwing men around. That was a radical departure in its time.”
A while ago I revisited The Avengers and the Macnee/Rigg episodes still hold up as some of the best TV around.
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