Julian Wintle (Outgoing Producer)
Smoothing the way for new producer, John Bryce...
"Fashions in television programmes are as ephemeral as Cathy Gale's leather outfits and Emma Peel's trouser suits. Our job is to continue to seek new variations for The Avengers ahead of public taste, and a new team is once again working on a new series. Producers, directors and writers will come and go, but The Avengers will continue into the colour era on independent television."

The Stage and Television Today, 27th July 1967

John Bryce (Incoming Producer — Removed After 3 Episodes)
The thinking behind the creation of a new Avenger girl...
"I think it's time to go back to femininity. We've had all the leather business — the new girl will be essentially a woman. She will be soft with all the female weaknesses — and attributes."

Daily Mail, 30th October 1967

Uncredited ABC Spokesperson
Giving the lowdown on the new Avenger girl, Tara King...
"The character of Tara will have all the skills associated with an open air life. At her expensive finishing school, Tara has also learned to glide, ski and fly, as well as acquiring all the sophistication of a member of the young international set."

The Stage and Television Today, 12th-18th October 1968

Linda Thorson (Tara King)
Reading from the same hymn book...
"I win battles on the fact that I am a woman. The clothes are all feminine — silks and chiffons. And we are bringing back the bosom."

TV Times, 1st-7th March 1969

Brian Clemens (Co-Producer with Albert Fennell)
On how Tara had changed under the new production regime...
"We stopped Linda being so blonde-wigged and inoffensive. She is very feminine as she is, more so than Diana. We wanted to project Linda as herself. That is what The Avengers is — putting a personality who exists into a situation that doesn't. Now Linda is playing herself as she is when she is cute. Naïve innocence is part of her. We've played up her ability to be frightened, which Diana never could. Linda was brought in to make the series more feasible. Part of the humanising process is that Tara has a chronological development, which Cathy Gale and Emma Peel never had. She has achieved our purpose. The Avengers was two-dimensional — now it is two and a half. The cardboard is a little thicker."

TV Times, 1st-7th March 1969

Patrick Newell (Mother)
Explaining how he learned about his unique role in The Avengers...
"A messenger came roaring up to my door with the script, threw it in and tore off on his motor bike. If he'd delayed for even a split second, I'd have flung it straight back at him. Mother indeed! They just had to be joking!"

TV Times, 12th-18th October 1968

Jennifer Croxton (Lady Diana Forbes-Blakeney in Killer)
The thoughts of a one-shot Avengers girl...
"I've got this face — it's not pretty, and it's not plain either. Friends say it's a Jennifer Croxton face. If you're my height, you have to get up early in the morning to get anywhere. I was too tall to play the Christmas fairy, and at 15, instead of playing delicate, feminine roles in the school play, I was clumping around as leading men."

TV Times, 18th-24th January 1969

Patrick Macnee (John Steed)
Welcoming his third female Avengers partner, Linda Thorson...
"She's beautiful. Having her around has helped me regain my youth."

TV Times, 1st-7th March 1969

Patrick Newell (Mother)
Musings on rotundity...
"We were a bumper crop in my year at RADA. Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney — and me. I looked at them and I saw talent. I looked at me — and thought fast. I decided it was a question of getting fat or going home to Suffolk for keeps. As you may see for yourself, I chose the former course...."

TV Times, 12th-18th October 1968