The Avengers Forever: International Scene

	International Scene Page 6 of 6

The Avengers in the NETHERLANDS

by Remco Admiraal, Dokkum, the Netherlands (with broadcast data from Henkus Schumacher)

The Avengers was broadcast on Dutch television as De Wrekers, which is a literal translation of the British title. The series was shown with Dutch subtitles and without commercial breaks.

De Wrekers premiered 18 October 1966 and was almost instantly successful. Dutch broadcasting company KRO showed the series (with intervals) until 30 August 1975. In the sixties, episodes with Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg were shown. Starting January 1970 the series with Linda Thorson was shown, followed by repeats of the Diana Rigg episodes in the summer of 1974 because these proved most popular by far.

KRO Broadcasting Company
Dial a Deadly Number	18 Oct 66
The Thirteenth Hole	13 Dec 66
Room Without a View	28 Jan 67
The Hour That Never Was	07 Mar 67
Silent Dust	30 May 67
The Master Minds	27 June 67
Quick-Quick Slow Death	25 July 67
Castle De'ath	16 Aug 67
Two's a Crowd	24 Aug 67
Small Game for Big Hunters	11 Sept 67
The Town of No Return	19 Sept 67
Epic	17 Oct 67
The Cybernauts	02 Dec 67
Dead Man's Treasure	12 Dec 67
Death's Door	09 Jan 68
Mission... Highly Improbable	05 Mar 68
The See-Through Man	02 April 68
Escape in Time	28 May 68
How To Succeed....At Murder	25 June 68
A Sense of History	11 July 68
The Girl from Auntie	23 July 68
Honey for the Prince	08 Aug 68
The House That Jack Built	20 Aug 68
A Surfeit of H2O	17 Sept 68
Death at Bargain Prices	02 Nov 68
Man-Eater of Surrey Green	30 Nov 68
The Gravediggers	28 Dec 68
What the Butler Saw	25 Jan 69
Return of the Cybernauts	22 Feb 69
From Venus With Love	19 April 69
The Fear Merchants	17 May 69
The £50,000 Breakfast	?
The Winged Avenger	?
The Correct Way to Kill	?
A Funny Thing Happened...	?
Veronica Broadcasting Company
The Winged Avenger	19 May 93
The Living Dead	22 May 93
The Hidden Tiger	26 May 93
The Correct Way to Kill	29 May 93
Never, Never Say Die	06 July 93
Epic	13 July 93
The Superlative Seven	20 July 93
A Funny Thing Happened...	27 July 93

In October 1976 The Avengers resurfaced on Dutch TV as the first season of 13 episodes of The New Avengers was shown. The second season was shown from September 1977.

The success of the series can also be measured by the release of several interesting pieces of Dutch memorabilia of the series.

There were four paperbacks released to coincide with the airing of The Avengers. In 1967 the British paperbacks were translated and published with a front cover design by well known artist Dick Bruna (in the range Zwarte beertjes) with black and white photos of Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. The paperbacks were translations of "Heil Harris," "The Passing of Gloria Munday," "The Floating Game" and "The Laugh was on Lazarus," all originally by John Garforth. The stories of these paperbacks were published in the weekly TV Guide Studio by broadcasting company KRO as well. There were also two comic strip magazines published based on the Emma Peel as well as a Dutch version of the British Emma Peel Avengers Annual.

Tara King was also treated with a comic strip book. In the range TV Favorieten a 64-page colour comic strip book with several stories was published. Finally, there was one Dutch paperback of The New Avengers published late 70s, "House of Cards."

In 1984 and 1993 the colour Emma Peel episodes were repeated and in 1995 Dutch satellite channel Veronica repeated these again together with the Tara King episodes (October to November 1995). Both colour series have been released on DVD the last couple of years.

The New Avengers was shown as De Terugkeer van de Wrekers on Dutch TV, which translates into "the return of the Avengers." There was a lot of attention in the press for the series, and the stars were shown on the front covers and in articles of several Dutch TV guides and gossip magazines.

The episodes were shown uncut and without commercial breaks. It was shown in two blocks, season I and season II, on prime time and was rather successful, but was never repeated on Dutch TV.

It is very interesting to note that the series premiered on Dutch TV almost one month before the UK! While the series in the UK started 22 October 1976, Dutch viewers were able to see The New Avengers 7 October. This was not uncommon, as the same thing happened with another "remake" TV series, Return of the Saint, which premiered in June 1978 (UK premiere September 1978).

Shown on the second Dutch TV Channel Nederland 2 (KRO) 8.25 pm to 9.15 pm:

The New Avengers Season 1
House of Cards	De kaarten des doods	7 Oct 76
The Midas Touch	Midas	14 Oct 76
The Last of the Cybernauts...??	De laatste der Cybernauten	21 Oct 76
The Eagle's Nest	Het Adelaarsnest	28 Oct 76
To Catch a Rat	Ratten vangen	4 Nov 76
Cat Amongst the Pigeons	Een kat tussen de duiven	11 Nov 76
Tale of the Big Why	Het grote waarom	25 Nov 76
The Three-Handed Game	De Geheugenbank	2 Dec 76
Faces	Gezichten	9 Dec 76
Sleeper	Slaap	16 Dec 76
Gnaws	Knabbelaars	23 Dec 76
Target!	Doelwit	30 Dec 76
Dirtier by the Dozen	De verdwenen Generaal	6 Jan 77
The New Avengers Season 2
Trap	De Val	29 Sept 77
Hostage	De Gijzeling	3 Oct 77
Medium Rare	Het Medium	10 Oct 77
Dead Men Are Dangerous	Gevaarlijke Lijken	17 Oct 77
Obsession	Obesssie	24 Oct 77
Angels of Death	Engelen van de Dood	31 Oct 77
The Lion and the Unicorn	De Eenhoorn	7 Nov 77
K is for Kill, Part 1	De M van Moord	14 Nov 77
K is for Kill, Part 2	De M van Moord	21 Nov 77
Complex	Het Complex	28 Nov 77
The Gladiators	De gladiatoren	5 Dec 77
Forward Base	De geheime basis	12 Dec 77
Emily	Emily	19 Dec 77

The Avengers "in Color" with Emma Peel is available in the Netherlands on DVD, courtesy of A-Film Nederland. Soundtrack is English with optional Dutch subtitles. A couple of sample menus from the disc are shown below.

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