Dr. Keel was the star of a TV programme that ran for nine years in the 1960s and was briefly revived in the 1970s. I’m misleading you because he was only the star in the first series after which his side-kick supplanted him and the programme became famous.
Dr. Keel was played by Ian Hendry and it was quite a good mystery thriller programme called The Avengers. It only found its legs in the second series when Steed, played by (Old Etonian) Patrick MacNee, stepped up into the leading role and his assistant Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) joined the cast. So, Eton did produce a decent actor before Eddie Redmayne. The electricity crackled between Steed and Cathy and he subsequently got through other assistants, principally Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and Tara King (Linda Thorsen). Usually you can see these old programmes on YouTube but not The Avengers, or for that matter Top Cat.
A fragment of the first episode and two complete episodes are all that remain from the first series broadcast in 1961. They were shot quickly and the videotapes were reused. If an actor fluffed a line it wasn’t corrected which makes for interesting viewing to a modern audience. Diana Rigg arrived for the fourth series in 1965. The name of her character derived from the writers discussing possible actresses for her part with Man Appeal, shortened to M. Appeal and so she was Emma Peel. It was still shot in black and white but with a bigger budget as the series had been sold to American network, ABC.
The fifth series was shot in colour and the plot lines too became more colourful and bizarre. Emma’s costumes, Steed’s vintage cars, the cross-talk between Steed and Emma and location shots in empty airport lounges or towns became trade marks of the programme. The Avengers had become a cult hit and continued, with Linda Thorsen replacing Diana Rigg in the sixth and final series, until 1969.
I was given the complete boxed set for Christmas, hence my new expertise as an Avengers nerd.