Emma Peel

Emma Peel is a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers, by Diane Appleby in the South African radio series of The Avengers (1971–73), and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version of the show. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.

Casting

The partner of John Steed, Mrs. Peel was introduced as a replacement for the popular Cathy Gale, played by actress Honor Blackman, who left the programme at the end of the programme's third series to co-star in the James Bond film Goldfinger.

Elizabeth Shepherd was cast as Emma Peel and production on the fourth series began. After filming all of one episode and part of a second, however, the producers decided that Shepherd was not right for the part, and she was dismissed. No footage of Shepherd as Peel is known to have survived.^[2]

The producers scrambled to replace her and gave the job to Diana Rigg; the Shepherd episodes were subsequently re-filmed.

Character

The character was notable for a number of characteristics. She is a heroine; she is rarely defeated in fights and is capable of rescuing Steed if he is in trouble. She is a master of martial arts and a formidable fencer. A certified genius, she specializes in chemistry and other sciences. She is often seen in episodes engaging in artistic hobbies and had success in industry at the helm of the company of her late father, Sir John Knight. Her husband, Peter Peel, was a pilot whose plane disappeared over the Amazonian forest. He was presumed dead for many years, and Peel went on to work with Steed. She drove a convertible Lotus Elan at high speeds, and convincingly portrayed any series of undercover roles, from nurse to nanny. Her favourite guise was that of a women's magazine reporter, trying to interview big business tycoons and rich playboys. The name "Emma Peel" is a play on the phrase "Man Appeal" or "M. Appeal", which the production team stated was one of the required elements of the character.^[3]

Peel's verbal interactions with Steed range from witty banter to thinly disguised innuendo. Regarding the question of whether they had a sexual relationship at any time, Patrick Macnee thought they went to bed on a very regular basis (just not in view of the camera), Rigg thought they were engaged in a very enjoyable extended flirtation that ultimately went nowhere, and Brian Clemens said he wrote them with the idea they had an affair before Emma's first appearance in the series.^[4]

Her style of dress typified the period, and the character is still a fashion icon. John Bates was brought in as the costume designer for Emma Peel in the second half of the fourth series. He created a wardrobe of black and white op-art mod clothing and mini skirts. Before this, people had believed that lines, circles and other bold patterns would not work on the television cameras of the day. It was also filmed before the mini skirt had become mainstream. Bates even had to stop leaving hems on the mini skirts because the production team kept lowering them again. He also licensed his designs to several manufacturers under the Avengerswear label and these pieces were sold in various shops throughout the country. Diana Rigg is often remembered for the leather catsuit she wore early on in her first season. She in fact disliked wearing leather, so Bates designed softer stretch jersey and PVC catsuits for her instead.

For the colour season, the designer was Alun Hughes, who used bold colours and lurid, psychedelic patterns. Hughes also created the Emmapeeler catsuit, which was made of stretch jersey in bright block colours. The Emmapeelers and several other pieces from this season's wardrobe were also licensed and sold in the shops.

Departure

When Peter Peel surprisingly reappears, at the end of "The Forget-Me-Knot", Emma leaves Steed and her spy career behind. In the distant shot in which he appears, Peter Peel looks suspiciously like Steed (and was played by Patrick Macnee's stunt double, Peter Weston), and like him drives a two-door convertible Bentley, albeit a contemporary model. Emma meets her replacement, Tara King, who enters the building as she herself is leaving, and tells her that Steed likes his tea stirred "anti-clockwise".

In real life, Diana Rigg had chosen to leave the series for a number of reasons, one of which was to accept a role in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. (Her predecessor on the series Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale) had also left The Avengers to be in a Bond movie Goldfinger). During her first series, as she eventually learned, she was making less than the cameraman: afterwards her salary was tripled, and that, combined with her loyalty to Macnee persuaded her to come back for 25 additional episodes (including her farewell episode, which was actually shot well into the Tara King season). Eventually the arduous shooting schedules, conflicts with the producers, the lure of film and stage roles, and a desire to challenge herself as an actress all combined in her decision to leave the show for good.^[5]

She was the last in a string of "talented amateurs" with whom John Steed was teamed: her successor was a neophyte professional agent named Tara King, played by actress Linda Thorson.

After leaving the series, Rigg played Emma Peel in two unofficial German short films produced for the 8mm market: The Diadem and The Mini-Killers. Little information has survived regarding these films, though the films themselves survive.^[6][7]

The Avengers radio series

In the South African radio series adaptation of The Avengers (1971–73), Emma Peel was played by Diane Appleby.

The New Avengers

Although Emma Peel appeared on-screen only in The New Avengers in flashback clips from the original series, she features in the episode entitled "K is for Kill". She speaks briefly with Steed over the phone and mentions in passing that her last name isn't Peel anymore; Steed replies, "You'll always be Mrs. Peel to me." For this scene, Sue Lloyd provided her voice.

The Avengers movie

The character was revived and reworked for The Avengers, 1998 movie version of the TV show, with Uma Thurman playing Peel and Ralph Fiennes playing Steed. In the movie, Mrs. Peel is a scientist working as part of the Prospero Project - an attempt to influence the weather. When the project is sabotaged by someone who appears to be Mrs. Peel, she is investigated by Ministry agent John Steed. They work together to investigate the sabotage, first questioning Sir August De Wynter (played by Sean Connery), and then Wonderland Weather - a business that artificially creates weather. At Wonderland Weather Emma is attacked by an evil duplicate of herself, which is witnessed by Steed, verifying her innocence. Further investigation leads to Sir August who is now trying to blackmail the world's leaders with his control of the weather, but Steed and Mrs. Peel defeat him on his secret island.

In 2003, Total Film magazine voted Ralph Fiennes (Steed) and Uma Thurman (Mrs. Peel) as "The Worst Movie Double Act Of All Time" for their performances in The Avengers movie. ^[8]

References in popular culture

Comics

• In 1991’s Doctor Who Monthly #173, Gary Russell and artists Mike Collins and Steve Pini show Captain Britain about to hit John Steed when Emma Peel shows up behind him.
• Emma Peel and John Steed where spotted in the crowd in Kingdom Come #2 (1996) by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, where they are both in a bar scene.
• Emma Peel and John Steed appeared in Superman#13 (1988), where John Byrne and Karl Kesel give us the crime-fight duo - unnamed, of course.
• A thinly veiled version of Emma Peel appears in Alan Moore's comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, as the young "Emma Night", daughter of industrialist Sir John Night, where she shares a mutual attraction with "Jimmy", of whom her paternal "Uncle Hugo" disapproves.^[9]
• She returns in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century 2009 (Chapter 3. Let It Come Down) as the new "M", head of MI5. She is drawn to visually incorporate Judi Dench's M from the James Bond films.^[10]
• The late 1960s revamping of Wonder Woman by Mike Sekowsky as a mod-dressing, karate-chopping but non-superpowered feminist icon was directly modeled on Mrs. Peel.^[11]

Music

Groups

• Emma Peel is a band formed by Kurt Wolf.

Albums

• Emma Peel Sessions (1993) is Purple Avengers' second LP release.^[12]

Songs

• Thin Red Line (1980), the debut album of The Cretones, an L.A. based New Wave band, includes a song titled "Mrs. Peel".^[13]
• The clip for "Emma Peel" from The Allies' debut album, Allies (1982), gave the band fleeting national recognition.^[14][15]
• Pet Your Friends (1995), Dishwalla's debut, includes a song titled "Miss Emma Peel".^[16][17]
• The Ann Arbor band Slot released a 7" single called "Emma Peel" in the 1990s.
• The 4th track from Shark Inferno's album Puncture (2015) is titled, and about, "Emma Peel".^[18]
• Pussy Galore has one CD track titled "Play Emma For Me", on Sympathy For The Record Industry (1996).^[19][20]

TV

• In the Good Eats episode, "Flat is Beautiful" (Episode: EA1C11), Alton Brown states the name of his pizza peel is "Emma".^[21]
• In Married... with Children season 9, episode 3, Al tries to buy her VHS tapes
• The character Anita Knight, from BBC's cartoon The Secret Show is slightly similar to Emma.

References and sources

References

Sources

• Alvarez, Maria (1998), "Feminist icon in a catsuit (female lead character Emma Peel in defunct 1960s UK TV series 'The Avengers')", New Statesman, Aug 14.
• Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; & Topping, Keith (1998). The Avengers Dossier. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-86369-754-2.
• Lars Baumgart (2002): DAS KONZEPT EMMA PEEL – Der unerwartete Charme der Emanzipation: THE AVENGERS und ihr Publikum. Kiel: Verlag Ludwig – ISBN 978-3-933598-40-0

The Avengers
Characters	John Steed Cathy Gale Emma Peel Tara King Mike Gambit Purdey Mother Father
Episodes	Series 1 "Hot Snow" "Crescent Moon" "Girl on the Trapeze" "Dance with Death" "The Frighteners" "Tunnel of Fear" Series 2 "Mr. Teddy Bear" "Propellant 23" "The Decapod" "Bullseye" "Mission to Montreal" "The Removal Men" "The Mauritius Penny" "Death of a Great Dane" "The Sell Out" "Death on the Rocks" "Traitor in Zebra" "The Big Thinker" "Death Dispatch" "Dead on Course" "Intercrime" "Immortal Clay" "Box of Tricks" "Warlock" "The Golden Eggs" "School for Traitors" "The White Dwarf" "Man in the Mirror" "Conspiracy of Silence" "A Chorus of Frogs" "Six Hands Across a Table" "Killer Whale" Series 3 "Brief for Murder" "The Undertakers" "Man with Two Shadows" "The Nutshell" "Death of a Batman" "November Five" "The Gilded Cage" "Second Sight" "The Medicine Men" "The Grandeur That Was Rome" "The Golden Fleece" "Don't Look Behind You" "Death a la Carte" "Dressed to Kill" "The White Elephant" "The Little Wonders" "The Wringer" "Mandrake" "The Secrets Broker" "Trojan Horse" "Build a Better Mousetrap" "The Outside-In Man" "The Charmers" "Concerto" "Esprit de Corps" "Lobster Quadrille" Series 4 "The Town of No Return" "The Gravediggers" "The Cybernauts" "A Surfeit of H2O" "The Hour That Never Was" "A Touch of Brimstone" "What the Butler Saw" Series 5 "From Venus with Love" "The Fear Merchants" "Escape in Time" "The See-Through Man" "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" "The Winged Avenger" "The Living Dead" "The Hidden Tiger" "The Correct Way to Kill" "Death's Door"
Related	List of cast members The New Avengers Film
Category:The Avengers