The Avengers
The female of the species, we've been reliably informed, is more deadly than the male, and the history of The Avengers would seem to prove the old maxim right. John Steed, in his pin-stripe suit and bowler hat, could be pretty ruthless despite his bank manager exterior, but no one combined beauty with a lethal instinct like his female sidekicks. In the 605, Tara King (Linda Thorson) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) kept Britain free from the bad guys; in the 70s, it was Purdey (Joanna Lumley) in The New Avengers whose karate kicks left a generation of teenage boys weak at the knees. Now Uma Thurman slips into Mrs Peel’s figure- hugging leather for a new movie adaptation. Surely that’s enough to make even Steed loosen the knot in his tie. (Alan Morrison) The Avengers goes on genera/ release on Fri 74 Aug. The Avengers
Companion, which concentrates on the TV series, is published by Titan Books, priced E 74.99.
155 THE LIST 13—20 Aug 1998