“An exciting, playful and thoroughly British take on the action genre” THE GUARDIAN

“A colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication” DEN OF GEEK

“Wacky and eccentric, and deserves its cult status” THE TELEGRAPH

On 29th January, STUDIOCANAL presents a very special event to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the ground-breaking cult sixties TV series THE AVENGERS, with an online event hosted by ourscreen, offering 5000 fans a unique chance to enjoy episodes of the show ‘together’.

Starring super fan Paul O’Grady, Richard Harris (writer for the first series and for several series thereafter), Raymond Austin (Stunt Coordinator/Director), Dick Fiddy (archive TV Consultant at The BFI) and director Sam Clemens. Fans will be able to interact using the ourscreen live chat bar, enjoying the social experience in real time, from the comfort of home. As John Steed might say, “How absolutely splendid!”

A cultural icon of British television history, The Avengers has remained a much-loved beacon of Britishness across the world since it first aired in 1961. Famous for its bowler hats, fanciful plotlines and the glamour and sass of Mr Steed’s companions, January marks 60 years since the first episode Hot Snow aired across British TV screens, keeping viewers enthralled until 1969 after 161 episodes.

This 60th celebratory evening is a tribute to one of the most endearing British TV creations of all time and even more pertinent following the recent losses of Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman, so let’s raise our bowler hats to the marvel (ahem) that is The Avengers!

Fans can look forward to:

A recorded introduction to the event from Director Sam Clemens, followed by Dick Fiddy talking about the first series of The Avengers, answering some questions and introducing our first episode of the evening Tunnel Of Fear.

Tunnel Of Fear is episode 20 from the first series, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hefner. It is one of the three known complete series 1 episodes to have survived, lost for 55 years the episode came to light in a private film collection in 2016.

Next up we have an interview with Avengers superfan Paul O’Grady, discussing his love for the show, his friendships with Linda Thorson, Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg, plus a guest appearance from Janet Clemens sharing with us some amazing Avengers memorabilia.

The Nutshell is episode 4 from series 3 in tribute to the wonderful Honor Blackman. This episode was directed by Raymond Menmuir. Steed and Cathy investigate espionage by a pretty burglar in “The Nutshell", codename for a top-secret underground nuclear shelter.

Raymond Austin, director and original stunt coordinator on 50 episodes of The Avengers - will talk about his career and the late Diana Rigg, with lots of wonderful anecdotes and answering some questions as well as introducing the final episode of the evening – The-Forget-Me-Knot where Diana Rigg hands over her mantel to Linda Thorson.

The Forget-Me-Knot is episode 1 of series 6 introducing Linda Thorson as Tara King. The episode was directed by James Hill and written by Brian Clemens.

We end on an interview with Richard Harris who wrote the 3rd episode of the first series plus many others and then a final sign off from Sam Clemens.

STUDIOCANAL, a 100% affiliate of CANAL+ Group held by Vivendi, is Europe’s leader in production, distribution and international sales of feature films and TV series, operating directly in all three major European markets - France, the United Kingdom and Germany - as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
STUDIOCANAL owns one of the most important film libraries in the world, boasting more than 6,000 titles from 60 countries. Spanning 100 years of film history, this vast and unique catalogue includes among others the iconic Terminator 2, Rambo, Breathless, Mulholland Drive, The Pianist and Belle de jour.

STUDIOCANAL has fully financed box office hits Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Paddington 1 and 2, Non Stop and the Shaun The Sheep Movies 1 and 2. Currently in release worldwide and backed by STUDIOCANAL are Marjane Satrapi’s Radioactive starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie and Marc Munden's The Secret Garden produced with Heyday Films (Paddington 1 & 2) starring Colin Firth and Julie Walters.

STUDIOCANAL is actively developing and distributing high-end TV series through its network of award-winning European production companies, including TANDEM in Germany (Shadowplay), the UK’s RED Production Company (Years and Years), Spain’s BAMBÚ PRODUCCIONES (On Death Row) and France’s STUDIOCANAL ORIGINAL (Mouche). STUDIOCANAL is also an associate of Danish-based SAM Productions founded by Søren Sveistrup and Adam Price (Ride upon the Storm) as well as of UK-based GUILTY PARTY PICTURES; Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company SUNNYMARCH TV (Patrick Melrose) and URBAN MYTH FILMS (War of the Worlds).

Stylish pop art of The Avengers by Art & Hue:

To mark 60 years of The Avengers, Art & Hue has expanded the collection of pop art prints inspired by The Avengers, available in three sizes & 19 colours, in collaboration with STUDIOCANAL. Discover the full collection online at artandhue.com/theavengers