The Avengers

Produced by John Bryce, Julian Wintle, Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens, this quirky and sophisticated series rose from the ashes of an ABC drama called Police Surgeon, which had starred Ian Hendry as Dr Brent. At the start of The Avengers, Hendry's character Dr David Keel sets out to avenge the death of his fiancée at the hands of a drug gang. John Steed (Patrick MacNee) appears on the scene to help him, and they team up against crime. But Hendry had no wish to be typecast in TV and dropped out. For Series 2, Steed became the principle character, assisted by Julie Stevens, Jon Rollason and Honor Blackman, with Blackman as Cathy Gale becoming his principal sidekick from Series 3. This clip is from a 1961 episode, with Hendry and MacNee featured in the titles.