A brief Who's Who of The Avengers Stage Show...

 Simon Oates (John Steed)   Tribute
Popular actor born in London's Canning Town in 1932. After a short time in Drama School, Simon made his acting debut in repertory theatre in Chesterfield. High profile roles in theatre, TV and film followed. He is best known for his role as Dr. John Ridge in the BBC's Doomwatch. Simon passed away on 20th May 2009.
Sue Lloyd (Hannah Wild)
A very familiar face on British television screens since the Sixties, when she played Cordelia Winfield, the sidekick of The Baron, a thriller series made by ITC. Sue also played in The Avengers, Crossroads and His and Hers on television and had significant roles in films such as The Ipcress File.
Kate O'Mara (Madam Gerda)
Leicester-born actress Kate O'Mara is British television's archetypal bad girl. Known for her strong, feisty and often bitchy characters, Kate has tripped the light fantastic in the American soap, Dynasty, starred in Triangle, Howard's Way and The Brothers and has enjoyed a long career in stage and film.
Jeremy Lloyd (Carruthers of MI5)
British actor who enjoyed his greatest success as a writer. Born in 1932, Lloyd was a familiar face in the Sixties, appearing in shows like The Avengers and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Later he and David Croft created and wrote many of British TV's most popular comedies, including Are You Being Served?.
Anthony Sharp (The Minister)
Much-loved character actor, director and writer, born in Highgate, North London, in 1915. Regularly cast as authority figures, often likeable and bungling, Anthony Sharp was seen in television programmes as diverse as Barnaby Rudge, The New Avengers and alternative comedy, The Young Ones. Anthony died in 1984.
John F. Landry (Mother)
Character actor born in Nairobi, Kenya. John Francois Landry has been in the business since the early Sixties and has appeared in major television series including Coronation Street, Public Eye, The Sandbaggers, Minder and Boon. He is probably best known as Turtle in the comedy series, Turtle's Progress (1979-80).
Tim Buckland (Admiral Drake)
Predominantly a stage actor, Tim Buckland appeared in four episodes Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's classic BBC comedy, Steptoe and Son, between 1965 and 1970. He played in several other series including two guest roles in the popular 1960s Associated-Rediffusion thriller, No Hiding Place.
Paul McDowell (Chummers of MI5)
A face familiar to British TV audiences since the late Sixties. Paul was a long-time collaborator of the wry Irish comic, Dave Allen and held a regular role in Ronnie Barker's classic comedy, Porridge. Paul has also featured in The Black Adder, Tales of the Unexpected and The Two of Us and many other shows.
Derek Tansley (Air Marshall Striker)
Born in Brighton, East Sussex in 1917, Derek Tansley made his professional stage debut at the age of nineteen. Derek featured in British TV's first ever science fiction production, an adaptation of Carel Kapek's R.U.R., for the BBC in 1948. Other roles include Mystery and Imagination, Mr. Rose and Cribb.
Kenton Moore (Parsons of MI5)
A perceptive British actor, most successful during the Seventies, when he appeared as Chief Inspector Logie in the BBC police series, Z-Cars. In 1975, he gave his best remembered performance, as Noah, the tragic human host of the parasitic Wirrn in the classic Doctor Who story, The Ark in Space.
Mary Llewellin (Mother's Secretary)
Dramatic actress who worked mainly in the theatre. Her television work includes the notoriously cardboard Midlands soap opera, Crossroads, in which she played Mrs. Hammond, The Flame Trees of Thika, alongside Hayley Mills and Ben Cross in 1981 and Oedipus The King, some three years later.
Julie Neubert (James, Steed's Butler)
Another actress with the Midlands soap, Crossroads on her resumé. Julie appeared alongside Simon Oates in a 1972 episode of Doomwatch and had a major role in Terry Nation's Survivors, playing the ill-fated Wendy in the show's first year. She also appeared regularly in Family Affairs and Brookside.
Wendy Hall (Melanie)
Yorkshire lass Wendy Hall made many television and stage appearances in the Sixties and early Seventies. Wendy had a regular role in the first series of Doomwatch, as Pat Hunisett, alongside Simon Oates. Previously she had appeared in Man in a Suitcase, Z Cars and Sexton Blake with Laurence Payne.
Gail Grainger (Prunella)
Born in 1954, Gail is probably best known for her role as travel courier, Moira Plunkett in the comedy Carry On Abroad (1972). Her time with The Avengers stage play lead to her working again with director, Leslie Phillips on stage in The Man Most Likely To... and on television in the sitcom, Casanova '73.
Terence Feely (Co-Writer)
Well-respected Liverpool-born television and film scriptwriter turned novelist. Feely contributed scripts to the first year of The Avengers, having previously written for the series it replaced, Police Surgeon. Feely was heavily involved in Callan, The Prisoner and many popular ITC series. He died in 2000, aged 72.
Brian Clemens (Co-Writer)
One of the most prolific and successful television writers, Brian Clemens was born in Croydon, South London in 1931. He had a hand in creating The Avengers, wrote and produced many episodes, had his own Thriller series in the 1970s and has produced more successful television than most of us have watched!
Leslie Phillips (Director)
Born in 1924 in Tottenham, North London, Leslie Phillips is one of Britain's most celebrated veteran actors. He made his name in a series of caddish, quintessentially English comedic roles in film and television and has excelled in serious drama in his later years.
John C. Mather (Producer)
Edinburgh-born writer and producer, John Chartres Mather was the driving force behind bringing The Avengers to the stage. Two decades earlier in 1951, he was responsible for another outstanding coup, luring horror legend Bela Lugosi to star in his touring stage production of Dracula.

 

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