The Avengers: A Celebration: 50 Years of a Television Classic [Hardcover]

If you're expecting a detailed text book history of the making of the series, then of course this handsome coffee table hardback might not be exactly what you're looking for -- but it's unfair to castigate a book for not being something it never set out to be in the first place. Marcus Hearn's text is concise yet informative and provides an efficient chronology of the show's development (along with some of the flavour of its various transformations in style), with the aid of a blend of judiciously selected contemporary quotes and a brace of evocative behind-the-scenes descriptions; but the text really isn't meant to be anything more than an accompaniment, providing the setting and context for what are the real stars of the book: a fabulous collection of iconic images, all digitally restored from the vaults of Canal+, some of which you won't have ever seen before. Any Avengers aficionado is going to enjoy what rapidly becomes a beguiling pictorial history of a changing era; for the show evolved in such a way that each series seemed to mirror the cultural development of the sixties itself, invoking the gradual emergence of Britain from a black and white world of post-war rationed austerity with the earthy noir of series one, into the vibrancy and splendour of a `swinging' capital of consumer-driven affluence by the time series five burst onto TV screens in full colour. Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg also began promoting the show as a brand, by participating in a round of modelling sessions, fashion shows and lavish location shoots, which, in combination with the show's production stills and unit photography, now forms just as evocative a summation of the decade as the episodes of the series themselves. This book presents some of the most potent images from all of the show's major periods of change -- all beautifully reproduced on some glossy large format pages and selected from an archive of over ten thousand images. They offer a mixture of gorgeous monochrome production stills (from many of the early episodes now lost in their videotape form), sumptuous publicity shots from the classic '63 Honor Blackman era, and trendy photo shoots from the classic mid- to late-sixties period, when Macnee appeared alongside Twiggy (who was modelling Mrs Peel's Alun Hughes designed cloths) and Diana Rigg became an unwitting '60s sex symbol, pictured galloping along a beach in a pristine white catsuit. The Avengers was all about style, sophistication and class, and this lovely book is the perfect pictorial spokesman for it, even without a raft of description and text analysis.

I was given this book as a gift without having seen it - I was a huge fan of The Avengers, and have in my collection a rather old and dusty copy of the book written about the series by Dave Rogers, purchased some time in the late 80's, which included a lot of commentary and a comprehensive episode guide. I was hoping that this book would be an updated version of that. Unfortunately, it isn't...

The book is almost entirely photographs; mainly stills from the various series, with the occasional backstage shot. The book is split into chapters, one per series, and there is a brief page of introductory text about each series, but that's about it in terms of information and commentary. No information on episodes, no interviews with cast or crew - there is so much that could have been written about this classic series, but you won't find it in here.

If you want to look at pictures of The Avengers, I'd be inclined to suggest buying the DVDs and watching the episodes, which means the pictures will move and be accompanied by sounds... This book is painfully uninformative, and I really fail to see the point of it. A wasted opportunity - I really fail to see how this book justifies the word "celebration" anywhere in the title.

As with the back catalogues of long dead musicians and shortlived musical or acting careers (Hendrix, both Buckleys, Dean etc) any new offering seeking to shed fresh light on the finite - and much analysed - oeuvre of a deeply loved iconic sixties cult TV series has a tough job to do. Quality of material has to be matched with the enthusiasm of nostalgia. Luckily, The Avengers - A Celebration has plenty of the former to more than permit the indulgence of the latter.

That so many rare and previously unpublished photographs are present in one volume is a testament to author Marcus Hearn's diligent research and the goodwill of the show's official archive. Delights include an unfeasibly young Bert Kwouk, as the enobled King Tenuphon (from 1961 episode, Kill the King), discussing his lines with director Roger Jenkins, and Diana Rigg hurtling heavies towards camera during rehearsals. There's also a touching black and white shot at the book's end, depicting our heroes strolling away, no doubt heading towards new, more colourful adventures.

Much as class room discussion in the seventies often focused on whether you fancied the blonde or the brunette from ABBA, so the discovery of many new images of the Avengers' more attractive co-stars may re-ignite a similar debate amongst those of a certain vintage. Does one prefer Honor's Blackmans, Diana's Rigg, Linda's Thorsons or even Patrick's Macnee? It's a tough call.

If you want another exhaustive reference work with extensive new interviews with cast and crew this isn't it. If you want a visual celebration of the series' original sixties run and a reminder of what a stylish and inventive decade it was, then this is the coffee table book for you. Marvellous stuff. Mother would we proud.