Doctor Who Vs. The New Avengers @ 45: Series 1 [Part 1]

The sequel series to cult classic

The Avengers debuted in the

autumn of1976, and has since

been re-run in Wales (in 1981),

on BBC2 (1995), and ITV4

(2013). I rediscovered the

drama when BBC Four began

a repeat season in late 2008.

Having re-watched the show on
DVD, I realised that the stories

are not listed in their actual

transmission order (probably in

the original production order),

and (due to regional variations) 

there are at least three different 

sets of broadcast dates online.

The dates provided here are 

courtesy of Wikipedia.

The programme (a joint Anglo-

French-Canadian production) was developed for ITV by the original

series producers Albert Fennell (1920-1988) and Brian Clemens (1931-

2015), and was sold to 120 countries. Dennis Spooner wrote seven 

of the twenty-six) episodes, and co-wrote another two.

Patrick Macnee (1922-2015) reprised the iconic role of Major John

[Wickham Gascoyne Beresford] Steed from The Avengers (1961-69),

and was now joined by Gareth Hunt (1942-2007) as Mike Gambit and

Joanna Lumley (born 1946) as Purdey. Hunt had played Arak in Planet

of the Spiders, whilst Lumley would later appear in The Curse of the

Fatal Death as the first female incarnation of the Doctor.

Another repeat run of the first season began on the Sony channel last

night, and the first six stories featured Peter Cushing, and a total of

thirty-three Doctor Who cast connections:

The Eagle's Nest 
(RI TX: September 28 1976/UK TX: October 19 1976 [Anglia], April 5 1981 [HTV], November 13, November 14 2008, April 10 2009 [BBC4], January 2013 [ITV4], July 2018, January 2, June 17 2019 [True Ent], January 4,

February 9 2021 [Sony]/France TX: January 2 1977/Aus TX: February 9 1977/US TX: September 5 1978)

• Frank Gatliff (Karl here; Dubois in The Avengers: One for the Mortuary, Harvey in The Sell-Out, Pitt-Norton in A Chorus of Frogs, Fryer in Love All) was Ortron in The Monster of Peladon
• Trevor Baxter (Brown-Fitch) first played Professor Litefoot in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, a role reprised for Big Finish's Jago & Litefoot series (2010 to present)
• Derek Chafer (Monk here; Guest in Dead Man's Treasure; Packer in Homicide and Old Lace) appeared in forty episodes (from The Time Meddler to Warriors' Gate)

House of Cards (UK TX: October 29)

• Peter [Neville] Jeffrey (Perov here; Varnals in Room Without a View; Prendergast in The Joker; Bristow in Game) was the Pilot in The Macra Terror, and Count Grendel in The Androids of Tara
• Derek Francis (the Bishop) was Nero in The Romans
• [Gerhard Paul] Gordon Sterne (Vasil) was Professor Heldorf in (episode 3 of) The Ambassadors of Death [according to IMDB he was to play a Cyberman in The Moonbase but was replaced by Peter Greene]
• [David] Jeremy Wilkin (Dr. Tulliver here, Richards in Medium Rare) was Kellman in Revenge of the Cybermen

The Last of the Cybernauts? (UK TX: November 5)

• Martin Fisk (Guard) was Vargos in The Leisure Hive
• Ray Armstrong (Guard) was Grey in The Ambassadors of Death
• Eric Carte (Terry) voiced Arak Varren for The Robots of Life (2019)
• Rocky Taylor (stunt double on The Avengers & The Eagle's Nest, Cybernaut here, Soldier in Dirtier by the Dozen) was an Egyptian in The Daleks' Master Plan (9), Guard in The Curse of Peladon (4), and stunt- man on The Idiot's Lantern

The Midas Touch (UK TX: November 12)

• John [Derek] Carson [Parker] (Freddy here, Ariston in A Chorus of Frogs, Halvarssen in Second Sight, Fitch in Dial a Deadly Number) was Director Ambril in Snakedance
• Pik Sen Lim (Sing) was Captain Chin Lee in The Mind of Evil then for UNIT: Open the Box, and Dom-Ra for Neon Reign (both 2018)
• Chris [Peter John Small] Tranchell (Doctor) was Roger Colbert in The Massacre, Steven Jenkins in The Faceless Ones, and Andred in The Invasion of Time
• Geoffrey Bateman (Simpson) was Dymond in Nightmare of Eden
• Tim Condren (Boz) was a Saxon Warrior in The Time Meddler (4), Soldier in The Web of Fear (4), Guerilla in Day of the Daleks (1), and Roboman in Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD
• Kenneth Gilbert (Rostock) was Richard Dunbar in The Seeds of Doom
• [Abraham] Arnold Chazen (MO) was John Stacey in The Moonbase, and Auton in Spearhead from Space (4)
• Terry Sartain (MO here; Delegate in They Keep Killing Steed) was an Alien Technician in The War Games (3), Warrior in The Mutants (1), UNIT Soldier in The Three Doctors (1), Prison Guard and Draconian in Frontier in Space, Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, Brother in The Masque of Mandragora (3), Gundan in Warriors' Gate (3), and Market Man in Snakedance (1)
• Jay McGrath (Visitor) was Worker in The War Machines (3), UNIT Soldier in The Silurians (3), Coven Member in Image of the Fendahl, and Dead Androgum in The Two Doctors (1)
• John More (Visitor) was a Prisoner in Frontier in Space (3)
• John Tatham (Elliston here; Usher in Medium Rare; Operator in Room Without a View; Passenger in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station) was Villager/Coven member in The Daemons

Cat Amongst the Pigeons (UK TX: November 19)

• Peter [Francis Gabian] Copley (Waterlow here; Barker in White Dwarf; Sparhott in All Done With Mirrors) was Dr. Warlock in Pyramids of Mars
• Hugh [Thornton] Walters (Lewington here; Cowley in Medium Rare) was William Shakespeare in The Chase (1), Commentator Runcible in The Deadly Assassin, Vogel in Revelation of the Daleks, then voiced Roderick Allingham for The Fearmonger (2000)
• [Thomas] Kevin [Harvest] Stoney (Tomkins here; Bancroft in Mission Highly Improbable) was Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan, Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion, and Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen

Target! (UK TX: November 26)

• Keith Barron (Draker here; Technician in Dragonsfield) was Captain Straker in Enlightenment, and voiced Isaac Barclay for Plague of the Daleks (2009), and Lord Tulip for The Bad Penny (2018)
• Robert Beatty (Ilenko) was General Cutler in The Tenth Planet
• Roy Boyd (Bradshaw) was Driscoll in The Hand of Fear
• [Manfred] Frederick Jaegar (Jones here, Getz in Death of a Great Dane, Benson in The Cybernauts and Return of the Cybernauts) was Jano in The Savages, Sorenson in Planet of Evil, and Professor Marius in The Invisible Enemy
• Deep Roy [born Mohinder Purba] (Klokoe) is possiby the only actor to appear in Star Wars, Star Trek, The X Files and Doctor Who - he was the Possican Delegate in Mindwarp but is best known as Mr. Sin (also in serial 4S)
• [William Reginald] Bruce Purchase (Lopez) was the Captain in The Pirate Planet
• Peter Brace (Potterton here, Danvers in The Bird Who Knew Too Much, Opponent in The Correct Way to Kill, Guard in Who Was That Man I Saw You With?) was a Guard in the first Peladon serial (4), and Soldier in The Android Invasion (2)
• Marc Boyle (McKay here, Parr in Medium Rare, Stuntman on The Avengers movie) was stuntman on Terror of the Autons (1), Prisoner and UNIT motorcyclist in The Mind of Evil, Kronos in The Time Monster, Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, and fight arranger on The Time Warrior

TO BE CONTINUED