Goodbye, Mrs. Peel

[Jim]

Dame Diana Rigg: Avengers, Bond and Game of Thrones actress dies at 82

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54106509

I will always remember her for two totally different roles ... Mrs. Peel and Olenna Tyrell.

[Van Rijn]

Ah, that makes me sad. She was a childhood favorite in The Avengers. When it was possible, I bought all of the series still available on DVD (some of the episodes before her time on the show no longer exist, but remaining ones are also so different from the later show it was a struggle to get through them). The Avengers often had science fiction themes and a fair bit of humor. I read the producers were surprised how seriously some people took it since it was meant to be a send up of things like Bond movies. Two women from the series became “Bond girls” and she was one of them, Honor Blackman was the other. When she left for Bond, Linda Thorson took over, but she couldn’t match the acting or the chemistry Rigg had with Macnee.

The series was often syndicated through the ‘70s and ‘80s but pretty much disappeared from TV in the ‘90s. It is probably one of my most rewatched TV series, along with the original Star Trek and The Prisoner. Admittedly, times have changed enough that it can be a bit hard to watch episodes these days, in terms of technology and other issues.

[Van Rijn]

I’ll add that the Mrs. Peele character strikes me as something of the prototype of the strong and intelligent action woman often seen in later TV and movies. She wasn’t Steed’s subordinate, she was every bit his equal. That changed a bit with Tara King (Thorson) as she was a younger character that looked up to Steed and seemed to be attracted to him.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

I remember mostly from doing the intros on PBS mystery.

[grant hutchison]

I’ll add that the Mrs. Peele character strikes me as something of the prototype of the strong and intelligent action woman often seen in later TV and movies.

Not to undermine Rigg's contribution, but I think the groundwork for that was done by her predecessor, Honor Blackman, in the role of Cathy Gale.

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

Not to undermine Rigg's contribution, but I think the groundwork for that was done by her predecessor, Honor Blackman, in the role of Cathy Gale.

Grant Hutchison

Blackman also died earlier this year.

[Van Rijn]

Not to undermine Rigg's contribution, but I think the groundwork for that was done by her predecessor, Honor Blackman, in the role of Cathy Gale.

You may be right, but I really don’t know much about it because I didn’t watch much before Rigg. That’s where there were a lot of missing episodes on DVD and they were never shown on American TV. (Even then, usually only episodes in color were shown, so Rigg’s first season usually wasn’t shown). But the biggest issue is that they were done very differently, a much more primitive process. They looked to be very obviously done on indoor sets and just didn’t have the production quality level of later episodes, so it was hard for me to watch them.

[ozduck]

I was also sad to hear of her death. Like Van Rijn I watched her in my youth and she remained a firm favourite. If ever an actor could be said to display a 'fierce intelligence it was her. She must have been fascinating to watch on stage.

And yes, I also remember Honor Blackman fondly and did sadly note her passing earlier this year.

[DonM435]

Class act. I enjoyed all her work.

[Gillianren]

I had a headache all day yesterday and have woken up with a worse one (probably from the smoke), so I didn't get an obituary done, but my article image would've been her as Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper.

[Spacedude]

Really liked her role in The Avengers. Steed was good too, but he reminded me too much of Bat Masterson.

[Trebuchet]

The last thing I saw her in was The Crimson Horror, on Doctor Who. In which her daughter was played by her actual daughter.