Daily Mail, 15 July 1965, page3 Kinkier than Cathy
I'M GLAD IT'S HER, SAYS STEED TOUGHER, and even kinkier than Cathy Gale - that's Emma Peel. Emma, who uses every method in the book, from judo and karate to an old-fashioned straight left to the jaw, makes her bow as the new heroine when A.B.C. TV's The Avengers returns in October. In a battling practice session at A.B.C.'s Teddington studios yesterday Ray Austin, fight arranger for the series, spun her by her auburn hair - then let her go. The girl who turns men on their heads landed almost on hers. Emma - played in the series by 26-year old Shakespearean actress Diana Rigg - could have come back with a few hefty kicks, or even a barrage of champagne bottles or cakes. She uses them all. Instead, she dumped Mr. Austin and wrestler "Dazzler" Joe Cornelius unceremoniously on the floor. Her partner-in-counter-espionage, Patrick Macnee, who plays the suave John Steed, said: "I'm glad she's on my side. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end." Miss Rigg will wear the traditional leather outfits with the addition of Zip suits for fighting, and silver leather boots. She says: "I enjoy the rough stuff. It's fun knocking people about and getting paid for it."
Daily Mail, 5 April 1965, page 3 The new Avenger OR HOW THE BEAUTIFUL MISS DIANA RIGG WAS TIED TO A RAILWAY LINE BY VILLAINS OF THE FOULEST KIND, AND OUR HANDSOME HERO STEED GALLOPED TO THE RESCUE IN THE NICK OF TIME. NAME: Emma Peel. Description: Red hair, tall. Characteristics: Judo expert, fondness for leather clothes and company of John Steed. Meet the new Avenger. (Pause for kinky music.) SCENE: ABC-TV story conference. Mr. Big: Well, what about The Avengers? They're back in the autumn with that new girl Emma Peel - gee, what a GREAT name - in place of Cathy. Minion: Sir, what about getting Emma trapped in a submarine under the North Pole dressed as a penguin? New clothes cult. Better than boots. Mr. Big: Right, we'll stick to boots. Get a really good story line for the first show. What about Emma tied to a railway track - a MINIATURE railway track - with the engine - a MINIATURE engine - thundering down to decapitate her. Like those old-time movies. Get the writers on to it. (Pause for kinky music). SCENE: Story conference some time later. Mr. Big: Okay then, it's agreed. No sexy dog-collars this time. Just a man - let's give him a title - who likes miniature railways, only his is being used by secret agents sabotating British early-warning system. Sounds GREAT. Tell you what, let's get Steed to have a fight on one of the carriage roofs. GREAT. (Pause for kinky music). SCENE: Lord Gretton's estate at Stapleford, near Melton Mowbray, yesterday. It has a miniature railway. Steed (in other words Patrick Macnee) duly fights on carriage roof. Emma (new girl Diana Rigg) is duly tied to the track. The first Avengers of the new series is in the can. Melodrama. Corn. Sex. Boots and all. But never a mention of Pauline. Or Mack Sennett. (Fade to kinky music).
