The Avengers: The Inside Story
by Patrick Macnee, Dave Rogers
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dave Rogers, Patrick MacneeEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-22
ISBN: 1845766431
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Titan Books
Book Reviews of The Avengers: The Inside Story
Book Review: Such fun
Summary: 4 Stars
As others have written, this book shows Macnee to be both humble and generous -- and makes you wonder how the show ever got made.
The total lack of support from the network, the grudging contempt towards the actors, the penny-pinching, it's all here in some detail. And lest you think that this is just sour grapes from Macnee, he allows others extensive space to explain their battles with the executives and how the network actually seemed upset that the show was a hit and the actors becoming famous.
Macnee is the same cheerful, positive, unruffled self here we know from "Steed" on the screen. His very rare sniping actually reinforces that image, for it's all on behalf of others. He's genuinely angry that Diana Rigg lost an Emmy award to Barbara Bain of Mission Impossible - and much as I loved MI, Rigg was twice the actress and playing a bigger more dynamic role. For himself, he dismisses his own abilities and minimizes his own contributions to the series. But we know better.
He's also honest about his failure to support Blackman and Rigg in their battles with the execs - a failure he attributes to cowardice on his part. He's also very open about his struggles with weight and diet pills.
I mentioned the space given to others in the book. This provides a wonderful platform for the set designer, the musician and others to explain some of what went into making the show. Unfortunately, none of the female leads are interviewed. I don't know, but I suspect that both Blackman and Rigg have some very bitter memories about how they were exploited on the show. For all that The Avengers put "emancipated" women on screen, the working environment was anything but. (But that was not due to Macnee.)
He covers all incarnations of the series, from before Diana Rigg through to the New Avengers.
Macnee seems like someone you'd love to have drinks with; someone who'd be a great neighbor and friend.
Summary of The Avengers: The Inside Story
Patrick Macnee tells all! The secrets of the hit TV series The Avengers are laid bare by the man who was John Steed.Lavishly illustrated, with many unpublished stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and snaps from Macnee's private collection, this is a very personal portrait of the world's best-loved cult action-adventure series, and its classic sequel, The New Avengers.
In unflinching detail, Macnee reveals the true story behind the show, including his relationships with all four Avengers girls ? Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson and Joanna Lumley ? on and off the set!
There have been five James Bonds, but even Ralph Fiennes, star of the Avengers movie admits that there is only one John Steed. When he first donned his iconic bowler hat, actor Patrick Macnee put an eccentric spin on the traditional English gentleman. Witty, urbane, a stickler for etiquette, and able to disarm the most dastardly villain with a casual flick of his tightly furled umbrella, Steed helped London to swing during the heady days of the 1960s.
The Avengers and Me is Macnee's memoir of his time on the cult TV show. Reading the book is like sitting down with the actor over a nice cup of tea as he reminisces about life behind and in front of the cameras. He is particularly gracious in his discussion of the women with whom he shared his adventures: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson, and Joanna Lumley are all lavished with Macnee's signature charm. He only becomes critical when writing about some of the production decisions that, he believes, compromised the original vision of the show, and he seems to think that The New Avengers was not a terribly good idea. Overall, however, The Avengers and Me is as warm and as witty as the man himself. --Simon Leake
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