The New Avengers (TV series)
| Company type | Co-production company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founder | Albert Fennell, Brian Clemens |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
Area served | International (120 countries) |
| Products | Television series production |
The New Avengers is an action-packed secret agent television series co-produced by British, Canadian, and French companies during 1976–1977, serving as a continuation of the 1960s show The Avengers. The original creators, Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens, developed this sequel, which was produced under The Avengers (Film and TV) Enterprises Ltd for ITV. Each episode was made at Pinewood Studios with a budget of £125,000. The program reached audiences in 120 countries worldwide.
The narrative centers on John Steed (portrayed by Patrick Macnee) who teams up with two new agents: Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), an expert marksman and martial artist, and Purdey (Joanna Lumley), a former Royal Ballet student known for her intelligence and combat abilities. This trio replaced the original format featuring Steed and a single female partner, offering a fresh dynamic designed to widen viewer appeal.
Overview
Steed operates autonomously while guiding Gambit and Purdey, whose athleticism and sharp minds complement the team’s capabilities. Gambit’s inclusion addressed concerns about Macnee’s age—53 at the start of production—particularly regarding physically demanding sequences; over time, Macnee himself enhanced his own stunt work.
The initial series blended science fiction motifs reminiscent of the classic "Emma Peel" era, featuring themes such as suspended animation, biological warfare, robotics, consciousness transfer, and oversized creatures. The subsequent series balanced these sci-fi concepts—including artificial intelligence and enhanced humans—with more grounded espionage narratives.
Producer Brian Clemens sought to create stories rooted in realistic spycraft inspired by authors like Len Deighton, moving away from parody elements. Several scripts were adapted from prior works by Clemens or collaborator Dennis Spooner. Efforts to bring back original cast members such as Diana Rigg as Emma Peel were unsuccessful; however, archival footage enabled a brief appearance in "K Is For Kill Part One." The show also featured guest appearances from actors associated with Clemens and Fennell’s other productions like The Professionals.
Across two series totaling 26 episodes, the show aired on prominent networks including CBS (United States), CTV (Canada), ITV (United Kingdom), RTÉ (Ireland), ABC (Australia), TF1 (France), and TVE1 (Spain). Composer Laurie Johnson returned to update the theme music while preserving its iconic fanfare.
Due to financial constraints, the final four episodes were co-produced with Canadian company Nielsen Ferns and filmed in Toronto under the title The New Avengers in Canada. This relocation faced criticism from both fans and Clemens himself. Despite strong international demand—especially in the US—a third series was never commissioned.
Attempts to revive the franchise in 1979 and 1980 did not succeed because of funding difficulties. A pilot named Escapade, developed by Clemens for QM Productions, aired on CBS in 1978 but failed to secure a full series order.
In 1994, Lumley and Hunt promoted the home videocassette release domestically, which performed well enough to spark consideration of a spin-off; however, no such project came to fruition. The BBC rebroadcast the series during 1995–96 despite variable print quality due to distribution by French company Canal Plus. Later reruns appeared on BBC Four in 2008 and ITV4 during 2013 and 2014.
Starting July 2018, British freeview channel True Entertainment re-aired the complete series; its successor channel Great! TV continued these broadcasts from January 2021 onward. In May 2021, Narrative Capital acquired Sony’s channels and rebranded The Sony Channel as Great! TV. Between September and October 2024, Great! TV scheduled weeknight airings of all episodes from both series at 9 PM, presenting all 26 installments though not in their original sequence.
Episodes
The broadcast dates provided correspond to ATV (Midlands), while other ITV regions transmitted episodes on varying dates.
Series 2 (1977)
The concluding four episodes begin with a brief theme tune overlaying a title card stating The New Avengers in Canada.
In Germany, "K Is for Kill" was retitled "The Dragon Awakes," whereas in France, it was known as "The Long Sleep."
Novels
The New Avengers led to a collection of novels adapted from the television scripts. In the United States, only six titles were released:
- House of Cards by Peter Cave, 1976
- The Eagle's Nest by John Carter, 1976
- To Catch a Rat by Walter Harris, 1977
- Fighting Men by Justin Cartwright, 1977
- The Cybernauts by Peter Cave, 1977
- Hostage by Peter Cave, 1977
Comics
Two hardcover annuals published in the UK contained standalone comic stories, brief fiction pieces, and additional content:
- The New Avengers Annual (1977), Brown Watson – featured comic strips "Fangs for the Memory" and "Hypno-twist," both illustrated by John Bolton
- The New Avengers Annual (1978), Brown Watson – included comic strips "Midas Touch" and "The Cybernauts," illustrated by Pierre Le Goff
Home release
The entire series has been issued on DVD in both the UK and North America. Under license from StudioCanal International, A&E Home Video launched Region 1 versions of series 1 in 2003 and series 2 in 2004. In 2006, StudioCanal UK/Optimum released both series together as a single collection.