Speaking of which, Macnee was Watson in “Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady,” opposite Christopher Lee as Holmes. A very nice little effort, not the greatest Holmes ever, but an entirely good one. (The music is particularly nice!)
MacNee was also a more than adequate replacement for the late Leo G Carrol as Alexander Waverly in the '80s revival of The Man from UNCLE.
Wasn’t he also Watson against Roger Moore’s Sherlock Holmes? :dubious:
His character, of course, had a different name:
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.
I suppose his time had come. Steed was a childhood hero of mine. RIP
McNee also had a minor part in “This Is Spinal Tap”.
For some reason I am saddened to learn this. Next thing you’ll tell me that Napolean Solo and Ilya Kuryakin were lovers on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Macnee also played Derek Jacobi’s father in an episode of Frasier, where he made a pass at Roz.
To be fair, Macnee thought they did, Rigg thought it was just flirtatious and never went anywhere, and the show creator thought they had had an affair before she was in the series. So there’s no absolute answer. I prefer it that they were just friends. Now Tara King, yea, they were doin it all the time.
RIP Mr. Steed. I bet even your Soviet enemies would show up at your funeral.
Steed and Peel were JUST FRIENDS! Jesus, every man and woman teamed up on a TV show does not have to be humping because, available penis must hookup with nearby vagina. The reason I liked the X-Files was mostly because Mulder and Scully were a working team and that was all.
I would have laughed if Mr. Solo and Mr. Kuryakin were friends with benefits, but I just know Starsky and Hutch had a couple of quiet nights in off the clock!
Good grief, people. Do the 60s mean nothing to you at all?
It’s so! Sherlock Holmes in New York.
I’d never heard of those! Are the U.N.C.L.E. episodes available anywhere? Is the Holmes movie?
(Yes! The movie is available on Amazon, and so is “The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. – The Fifteen Years Later Affair.” Yay!)
No. The Adventures of Robin Hood predated it by over ten years, and there were several other British-based shows in the 50s that were shown on US TV. The Avengersdidn’t even air on the US until its fourth season, which Diana Rigg joined.
I did love the show when I was growing up, when the sexual innuendo went over my head. I did like the science fiction in the plots and was a big fan of Macnee.
You beat me to the answer. The killers were a couple of former vaudevillians; after murdering someone they would shuffle from the scene, raising and shaking their hats, like a like a vaudeville team leaving the stage. There was even music to play them off.
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.
My mom was a big fan of The Avengers. She told me once it was he only show whose cancellation prompted her to write to the network and complain. I grew to appreciate it as well. The number and variety of inspired, high-functioning eccentrics is unmatched by any TV series to this day. It probably also leads the table in cool cars and leather catsuits.
terenti
Peter Peel was played by Paul Weston - (Patrick Macnee’s stunt double - hence the incredible similarity).
I was (and still am) a huge Avengers fan. It premiered in America when I was in high school and like any other high school kid, I immediately fell in love with Diana “Mrs Peel” Rigg. Ahem… but as I got older I appreciated the series even more. Particularly, I loved the verbal word play between Steed and Mrs Peel.
Steed: I certainly hope that message gets here. One time a dispatch was sent with all the vital information reduced and encoded onto a needle. Unfortunately, the messenger was walking along a road, tripped and fell into a haystack …
Mrs Peel: And it was like looking for a needle … ?
Steed: They’re still looking!
Those kind of conversations were incredibly funny and yet subdued enough to fit in with the British temperament. I have read that Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg did have some control over the writing in that show. (more like rewriting actually). Still, I would like to think that it was Parick Macnee’s and Diana Rigg’s acting and writing skills that set that show apart from all the others.
Now half that team has passed away.
RIP Patrick Macnee.
Even Comrade Psev? :dubious:
And of course, all of the eggs (HUNDREDS of 'em, lined up on enormous shelves!) were destroyed when Cleese himself was murdered. :eek:
This was arguably the best Tara King episode in the series!
After thinking about it some, I don’t believe it was clowns who were being murdered. I think the vaudevillians were clowns who were murdering VIPs. I loved the bit where they literally pulled the rug out from one minister’s feet and sent him sailing out his office-block window! (He and Tara had been talking about classical music, and the big moment came just as the orchestra in the background reached its crescendo.)
:eek:
The only episode of that series I ever watched was the one where Hutch’s latest girlfriend turned out to be a hooker and porn star, and Starsky paid her a visit on the sly to tell her to get out of town: “He’s lucky to have two people who love him so much” were her parting words, just before her corpse was found after the next station break.
As usual, the Telegraph has the best obituary.