# Patrick Macnee, The Avengers 'John Steed', RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466 "2015-06-25T19:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/41 "2015-06-26T09:29:41Z")
It is sad that Patrick Macnee has passed on but it seems his demise has spurred a renewed SDMB interest in “the Avengers”. In one episode, wealthy “victims” are being frightened into thinking how easily they can be murdered. One victim quaffs a stein of ale until he sees at the bottom, a “skull and crossbones” and a message “you have just been murdered”. Later the victim discovers someone hiding in his house and the “assassin” pulls a trick gun with a “B A N G” banner. The “assassin” hands the victim a card with the message “you have just been murdered … again”. The card also instructs the victim that there is a limit to how many times he will be “murdered”, until it will actually become real. Eventually, Steed and Mrs. Peel help one of the victims who is going to pay the extortion. Unbeknownst to the victim, Mrs Peel will deliver the ransom. **Victim** : I’m definitely going to pay those scoundrels. I put a _bomb_ in the briefcase! **Steed** : But Mrs Peel is delivering it!! **Victim** : Steed, I didn’t know! I was desperate!!! I was already murdered _four_ times!! **Steed** : If anything happens to Mrs Peel, I’m going to make it _five_! Patrick Macnee’s distinguished manner and his suave, serious voice make that a line only _he_ could deliver properly. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/42 "2015-06-26T12:19:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > And yes, pre-Python John Cleese was in it. He kept a registry of the makeup designs for every clown in England, painted on eggs, and stored on rows of shelves in his small office. A rather nervous sort of fellow, as you might expect. Interesting, because [that sort of registry actually existed](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2046/are-clown-faces-registered-by-painting-them-on-eggs). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/43 "2015-06-26T14:58:38Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > As usual, the Telegraph has the best obituary. > > [Patrick Macnee, actor - obituary](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11699769/Patrick-Macnee-actor-obituary.html) That also says he first acted opposite Christopher Lee, whose death is now made bizarrely coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/44 "2015-06-26T15:48:38Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > The reason I liked the X-Files was mostly because Mulder and Scully were a working team and that was all. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but they had a (not alien miracle!baby) child together. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/45 "2015-06-26T15:53:16Z")
I always like Steed’s home-classy english rustic. What was the name of the intelligence service that he worked for? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/46 "2015-06-26T16:25:59Z")
I believe Steed 's employer was simply known as The Organization (or perhaps “Organisation.”) > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I hate to be the one to break it to you, but they had a (not alien miracle!baby) child together. But I’ll bet they didn’t ENJOY making it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/47 "2015-06-26T16:44:09Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I always like Steed’s home-classy english rustic. What was the name of the intelligence service that he worked for? “The Ministry.” In the later episodes, his superior was “Mother.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/48 "2015-06-26T17:04:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “The Ministry.” > > In the later episodes, his superior was “Mother.” We do not consider the Tara year canon. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/49 "2015-06-26T17:21:35Z")
I’m pretty sure “The Ministry” is what he and Emma called it. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/50 "2015-06-26T17:48:56Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/51 "2015-06-27T05:25:16Z")
The Associated Press obit includes this Macnee gem: > [@](#): > > But while he made his name internationally playing a smart, debonair British secret agent, Macnee was never a fan of the James Bond movies. > > “I think their stories aren’t that realistic,” he told Salt Lake City’s Deseret News in 1999. > [@randwill](#): > > Even though I had seen the 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol” several times, it wasn’t until watching it last year that I noticed that he plays the younger version of Jacob Marley in it. [**Macnee as Marley**](https://youtu.be/lRrlurEKg1w?t=34m19s). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/52 "2015-06-27T14:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=Patrick Macnee] But while he made his name internationally playing a smart, debonair British secret agent, Macnee was never a fan of the James Bond movies. “I think their stories aren’t that realistic,” he told Salt Lake City’s Deseret News in 1999. [/quote] He HAD to have been pulling their leg. An international spy that fought cybermen and probably countless supernatural enemies, plus giant mutated rats in the sewer, whose boss worked out of a balloon(!) telling people that Bond is unrealistic. ha! I say. Ha! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/53 "2015-06-27T14:51:50Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > He HAD to have been pulling their leg. An international spy that fought cybermen and probably countless supernatural enemies, plus giant mutated rats in the sewer, whose boss worked out of a balloon(!) telling people that Bond is unrealistic. ha! I say. Ha! All a matter of context. These sorts of things I would expect from _ **The Avengers** _; that’s simply the kind of show it was, very free-wheeling. Bond, on the other hand, was best when the scripts were straightforward and bore some resemblance to reality. My favorite Bond film will always be _ **From Russia, With Love** _. Light on gadgetry, heavy on drama, believable plot. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/54 "2015-06-28T16:57:49Z")
I like the opening scene with the armored knight-who turns out to be just flowers inside. What was the name of the episode featuring a stolen nuclear bomb secrets? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/55 "2015-06-28T17:23:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > What was the name of the episode featuring a stolen nuclear bomb secrets? I think that was in the second season of _ **Mission: Impossible** _. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/56 "2015-06-28T19:18:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I like the opening scene with the armored knight-who turns out to be just flowers inside. What was the name of the episode featuring a stolen nuclear bomb secrets? Tomorrow Is Yesterday. Or was it This Side of Paradise? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/57 "2015-06-28T19:43:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I think that was in the second season of _ **Mission: Impossible** _. 😃 It would appear I was mistaken. It was in the third season of _ **MI** _: [http://www.tv.com/shows/mission-impossible/watch/doomsday-69717/](http://www.tv.com/shows/mission-impossible/watch/doomsday-69717/) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/58 "2015-06-28T19:49:33Z")
Seriously, here is a list of _ **Avengers** _ episodes: [http://www.tv.com/shows/the-avengers/episodes/](http://www.tv.com/shows/the-avengers/episodes/) The one you’re thinking of must be there. This might also be of help: [http://theavengers.tv/forever/](http://theavengers.tv/forever/) Enjoy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/59 "2015-06-28T20:00:24Z")
Thanks-I could not find the “murdering clowns” episode as well. Do you know it? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patrick-macnee-the-avengers-john-steed-rip/723466/60 "2015-06-28T20:17:09Z")
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