The Avengers Forever: Behind the Scenes

	Behind the Scenes: Emma Peel Era

Pastures Greener

Why exactly did Honor Blackman leave The Avengers? Take your pick from this assortment of explanations:

1. Fearing the series might start getting stale, Honor elected to leave it on a high note, rather than hang with it as it wound down. The irony here is that the show had yet to reach its peak popularity, although there was no way for anyone to have known.

2. Complaining that the studio-bound series was too constricting, Honor threatened to leave unless the producers took the series to film. As there were no plans to do so, Honor was forced to carry through with her threat. The irony here is that the series did indeed go to film, but only after spending six months in limbo.

3. Albert Broccoli tempted her away from the series with the juicy role of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. Although this did come to pass, it is unclear if this had much bearing on Honor's leaving, as it appears she'd already decided to leave before the offer was made; it may have simply served to solidify her tenuous plans.