The Avengers Forever: Behind the Scenes

	Behind the Scenes: Dr David Keel Era Page 1 of 4

Giving birth to The Avengers

The Avengers was less a brand new series and more a reworking of Police Surgeon. While Sydney Newman is rightfully credited as the show's creator, what exactly had he created? Oddly enough, not all that much. He came up with the name ("I don't know what the f**k it means," he's been quoted as remarking, "but it's a great title!") and the two main characters—a doctor (inherited from Police Surgeon) and a spy. Newman then gathered together some writers, gave them the basic ingredients, and told them to "do something with it."

One of the writers was none other than Brian Clemens. To hear his version of the show's history, one might conclude he had single-handedly created the show himself from scratch. In truth, it would be safe to say that Clemens was a significant contributor, as Newman only provided the most minimal of ingredients. Together with another writer, Ray Rigby, Clemens adapted a story by a third writer, Patrick Brown, into the show's two-part pilot, aired as the episodes "Hot Snow" and "Brought to Book."

Others must also be credited for helping to shape the nascent show, including the directors, designers and actors—in particular, Ian Hendry. After going through the motions for the first few episodes, Hendry realized the potential for career development and began fleshing out his character in earnest. It is said he would sometimes throw out whole scripts and force writers into eleventh-hour rewrites. During this "revolutionary" period Patrick Macnee provided moral support, but only after Hendry convinced Macnee it was worth the effort.