13 Nov 2008, Posted by Cat in News, 22 Comments. Tagged tv

Avenging

So we started on The Avengers last night, beginning in 1962 with Kathy Gale accompanying John Steed

I’ve seen very few of the pre-Mrs Peel era episodes before. The main difference I’ve noticed so far, aside from obvious issues arising from the primitive state of early television techniques, is in the character of Steed himself. This is a much younger, nastier and more virile Steed than I’m used to. The whimsy which became a mainstay of the later series, had not quite kicked in yet. His condescension towards Kathy is a little disconcerting, but I’m guessing that is a sign of the times in which the show was made. Tough men were supposed to speak to women as though they were children, even when the women were every bit as tough as they were. Avengers sexism is a lot more bearable that some of the stuff that came later, such as The Professionals. Man, I was gobsmacked when I rewatched some of those episodes awhile back. Infantile is the only way I can describe the macho dialogue, yet that show was cutting edge at the time.