Leonard White (Producer)
What audiences should expect from The Avengers...
"Emphasis will be on vigorous, fast-moving stories. The locations of the stories will be familiar to viewers but not familiar to them on television. We are doing everything to avoid clichés."

TV Times, 12th-18th March 1961

Ian Hendry (Dr David Keel)
His thoughts on playing David Keel...
"Keel is a most attractive character. He combines just the right amount of toughness and compassion. Keel will be a kind of extended version of the police surgeon, because he will be more directly involved with fighting crime. And as he tangles with the villains himself, he will have more action. Frankly, I thought twice when I was asked to start out on another series as a doctor, but as I know that the accent in the scripts is on authenticity, I think it will do me a lot of good. And I know it will be a lot of fun."

TV Times, 12th-18th March 1961

Patrick Macnee (John Steed)
Discussing the character of John Steed...
"John Steed is a wolf with the women and he revels in trouble. He doesn't think so much about saving hoodlums as just getting them out of the way. By the same token, he doesn't follow the Queensbury rules, and although he works indirectly with the police, he is not too popular with them."

TV Times, 12th-18th March 1961

Berkely Mather (Scriptwriter)
How he researches criminal characters for his stories...
"I have a working arrangement with a former Scotland Yard Superintendent and a Chief Inspector, who arrange for me to meet underworld characters from time to time. Usually, I pop up to Soho for a drink with them. These tough types are astonishingly frank — when they know they are talking in front of former policemen."

TV Times, 21st-27th May 1961

Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson)
Her thoughts about working with Ian Hendry...
"He is intelligent and hard-working, and easily upset when things go wrong. But on the surface, he's a great clown, not a bit like Keel. He loves practical jokes. ... Things were held up for something or other. The set was an old furniture shop and the place was cluttered with ancient furniture. Suddenly, there was a great rumpus among the props. And there was Ian crashing through a huge picture frame with a ridiculous Victorian fireman's helmet on his head, and a false moustache. Another time, we had a hairdressing salon set and there he was mincing around in a filthy old overall brandishing a pair of scissors and a comb."

TV Times, 3rd-9th December 1961

Patrick Macnee (John Steed)
Comparing himself to John Steed...
"Like Steed, I live by my own rules. I always have. At Eton College I was a gambler, a successful one because I got tips straight from the 'horse's mouth' — my father, then very active in the racing business. I had £200 in the kitty when the authorities caught me. I was nearly expelled. Let's say Steed is a slightly exaggerated version of myself. Somebody once said to me, 'You should have lived in the 18th century'. I agree. Like Steed, I'm a great pretender. Anybody who loves the good life like I do has to be a pretender."

TV Times, 21st-27th May 1961

Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson)
Her opinions concerning her co-star, Patrick Macnee...
"Pat is a more mature person than Ian in many ways. Unlike Steed, Pat has a quiet personality. He is controlled, modest and easy going. Pat is a bit of a dreamer. He'll tell you this himself. I think he secretly wishes he was a character like Steed. He's a romantic at heart. At rehearsals, if he's not busy poring over his script or holding incredibly intense conversations with the director, he will be tucked away in a remote corner of the room reading masses of magazines."

TV Times, 3rd-9th December 1961