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Tuesday
31st
August 2010 - Quick-Quick (Slow?) Update...
I haven't a lot of time on my hands right now, but a quick thank
you to Denis Kirsanov for locating another
unlicensed US VHS cover -
The £50,000 Breakfast. This has been added to the section.
Please note that due to rapidly approaching deadlines for the DVDs,
the site is currently taking a back seat while I work on
reconstructing the remaining Series 1 episodes that are planned. So,
please forgive me if the site is a little quiet for the next few
weeks...
Friday
27th
August 2010 - More Piracy!
No sooner than I have added a section to Little Wonders
concerning the supposedly 'public domain' titles released in the USA
in the 1980s, Denis Kirsanov of the Moscow Fan Club
Steedumbrella
as told us that similar practices are still going on in Russia, and
therefore we have another
unlicensed page for that country.
Thursday
26th
August 2010 - More Wonders + Keel's Surgery On Location
Ten Kult TV/Contender and the Lumiere Tara King - Six of the
Best covers added to UK VHS, with
thanks to Denis Rigg for the former and Jamie Murray for the latter.
The French Partwork page has
also been completed with assistance from Denis.
Additionally, I visited the original location of Dr Keel's surgery
from Hot Snow on Tuesday and am pleased to present some
photographs taken by my wife Alys on the
episode guide page for the story.
Since we are both working hard on reconstructions of Series 1 episodes
for the Optimum DVDs, there was a certain thrill to standing where it
all started nearly fifty years ago!
Wednesday
25th
August 2010 - Little Italian Wonders
Many thanks to Denis Kirsanov of the Russian Avengers website
Steedumbrella for his help with the
Italian DVD partwork - a new
page in Little Wonders. Also added to
Little Wonders today, a page which is by no means definitive (perhaps
you can help?) about the
unlicensed 'pirate' VHS tapes issued in the USA in the 1980s.
Monday
23rd
August 2010 - Old Wives' Tale Dead in the Water!
See AvengerNews and
Avengers 1961 repeats for details...
with thanks to Dave Matthews and Dave Rogers.
Friday
20th
August 2010 - Lots of lovely stuff!
Some great updates today, with thanks to Dave Matthews and Dave
Rogers...
Tuesday
17th
August 2010 - AvengerNews
A couple of items of news added to
AvengerNews today. Also, the
episode guide pages for
One for the Mortuary,
Death on the Slipway, Tunnel
of Fear and Dragonsfield
have been updated in the light of Optimum's
announcement of DVD extras
for Series 5.
Finally, there has been an update
from Optimum regarding the Series 4 disc errors - please see
Optimum Avengers: Series 4.
Monday 9th
August 2010 - Little Wonders UK VHS
Thanks to Jamie Murrie, information has been added to the
UK VHS page of Little Wonders.
Saturday 7th
August 2010 - Radio Archive + AvengerNews + DVD in Italy
As promised, I've uploaded the From Venus With Love radio serial
afresh. I have no idea why it didn't work, but have made a test
download and all now appears OK. You've got an extra 32KB/s into the
deal, too! Direct download link
here.
Thanks to Barry Clarke for dropping
me a line re. an upcoming event that you can read about in
AvengerNews and to Sergio Maggi of
www.theavengers.it for his
help with Little Wonders.
Wednesday 4th
August 2010 - More Radio + Toy Trap
A couple more radio serials added in HQ editions - A Grave
Charge and Love All - see here. Unfortunately, there are
technical issues with the download of From Venus With Love and
I will address this in a couple of days. Also today, I've revised the
episode guide page for Toy Trap to add an additional comment to
the review.
Monday 2nd
August 2010 -
Radio Serials - New High Quality Files
From today, the South African radio versions of The Avengers
will be available in high quality downloads, much, much better than
the previous versions. I am making these available via Sendspace,
meaning the files can be much larger than before. Due to daily
bandwidth considerations, I'm going to upload these over a period of
time, with the first six 'HQ' editions being made available today.
These are The Fantasy Game, The Quick Quick Slow Death, All Done By Mirrors,
From Venus With Love, Straight From the Shoulder and
Too Many Olés - downloadable from our
Radio Archive page. The restored versions are distributed
exclusively by The Avengers Declassified, with permission from the
South African archives. Please respect the copyright in these
programmes.
Thursday 29th July 2010 -
Aha!!! Suddenly It Makes Sense!
Further poring over the camera script and telesnaps for Toy
Trap have lead to a 'eureka moment' - when suddenly one big
problem with the episode's narrative - concerning the character of
Meyer - suddenly fell into place. Therefore, the
story in depth page for
this episode has been revised to take this into account. A few extra
details have been added as well. Also, the
episode guide page now includes
information of the exact dates when this story was set.
Tuesday 27th July 2010 -
Little Wonders
USA DVD page in Little Wonders
updated with further information thanks to Joris Royer.
Saturday 24th July 2010 -
Alan Hume (1924-2010)
Please see AvengerNews.
Thursday
22nd July 2010 - Another Series 1 Episode Demystified
A major update today as another Series 1 episode,
Toy Trap, is added to the episode
guide. The episode is also treated to an
in-depth feature, based
upon the camera script.
Wednesday
21st July 2010 - Hot Snow Revisited - Again!
Trying to nail the ending of Hot Snow is becoming
something of an obsession for me. The camera script is very sketchy
indeed for those scenes - but reading the script for the subsequent
episode, Brought to Book, has given some further detail. The
in-depth page has been
amended as a result. Also today, one of the kinkiest Avengers
photos ever has been added to the Stage
Show gallery. I don't think it'll take long for you to spot which
one I mean... ...Thanks also to Trevor Dorman for sending some Little
Wonders items which have been added to
UK Tie-in Merchandising and a PDF of the collectible booklet given
away with Lumiere's attaché case VHS
set.
Tuesday
20th July 2010 - French DVD 'Kiosque' Revisited
A reformatting of the French partwork page in Little Wonders
today - now in release order, with street dates, issue numbers and
commentary. Several covers have been added to this page thanks to the
generosity of Cedric Mueller.
Monday
19th July 2010 - Series 4 Replacement Discs Procedure
Please check out the Optimum Avengers page for details.
Also, the Optimum Series 4 release
has been added to Little Wonders in
UK DVD. Elsewhere in Little
Wonders, some video covers have been added to
UK VHS courtesy of Jenna Appleseed,
Trevor Dorman and Julian Knott. Julian has also kindly provided a scan
of a Lumiere tie-in merchandising
brochure.
Thursday
15th July 2010 - The Avengers Declassified is Back, But Not Quite
Up to Speed!
It's been a problematic few weeks for The Avengers
Declassified... My trusty old PC ended up being not as trusty as
usual, and died... taking with it a lot of data, most of which I'm
trying to imagine wasn't important... Anyway, I'm back, with a new
computer, but there are still teething problems. I can't get my web
editor of choice, Microsoft Frontpage to run under Windows 7, or at
least not fully, so I'll be investing in a new web creation program. I
suppose I've got a good 7 years out of Frontpage, not to mention the
old computer... For this reason, updates will be sporadic for a little
while, and probably not that ambitious!
A couple of important
announcements: firstly, if you've sent anything to be included at
Declassified over the last few months and it's not been added already,
please re-send if you are able. Your email will have been lost.
Secondly, Optimum Releasing have announced a replacement programme for
2 discs from their Series 4 release, and you can read about that on
the Optimum
Avengers page.
Monday
21st June 2010 - Plenty to See Here... Packed New Section Added
Today!
Something I've been working on for several months is finally at
a stage where I can flick the switch and make it public -
Little Wonders - a brand new section
listing the worldwide home video releases of The Avengers and
The New Avengers. My grateful thanks to David Hamilton, Eric De
Bock and Gareth Humphreys for their invaluable help with this new
section. It is meant to be exhaustive - but at the moment it
isn't... so any help gratefully received!
Saturday
19th June 2010 - The Strange Case of the Long and the Short of
It...
See AvengerNews for details.
Also, site navigation has been improved, with more pages accessible
from the left hand menu and the rather redundant Forward Base page
removed.
Saturday
12th June 2010 - Brian Clemens - OBE!
See AvengerNews for details.
Wednesday
9th June 2010 - Forthcoming Avengers Event in London
See AvengerNews for details.
Thursday
3rd June 2010 - Hot Snow + Optimum News + BFI Brian Clemens
Season
The
Story in Depth page for Hot
Snow is now completed. The previous version, adapted from a fan
magazine, proved to be somewhat inaccurate in places. The page is now
as accurate as I can make it without having prints of the second and
third acts miraculously showing up. :)
Also, please take a look at the
Optimum Avengers page, for a
confirmed list of extras for the forthcoming Series 4 DVD set plus a
selection of new screen captures from the release. Also, for ease of
navigtion, the Optimum pages have now been broken down into pages for
each series.
Finally, there are full details of
the BFI's Brian Clemens season over at
Avengernews.
Wednesday
2nd June 2010 - Hot Snow
I'm pleased to say that I've been able to revise the
Story in Depth page for Hot
Snow having been kindly given access to a camera script for the
episode. For the moment, Act 2 is updated, with details added or
corrected. Act 3 will most likely be completed tomorrow.
Tuesday
1st June 2010 - Further Screen Capture Exclusives
Take a jaunt over to our Optimum
Avengers section to see exclusive screen captures from the Series
4 classic, Death at Bargain Prices, which has never looked so
good!
Monday
24th May 2010 -
The Avengers DVD Set 3 - Series 4 - Exclusive Screen Captures
Thanks to Jaz Wiseman and Optimum Releasing for providing
exclusive screen captures which demonstrate the improvements between
the old Contender DVD release and the forthcoming Optimum release.
Take a
look at the screen caps here...
Saturday
8th May 2010 - Series 1 Fixes
Small corrections made to the in depth story pages for
One for the
Mortuary,
Death on the Slipway,
Tunnel of Fear and
Dragonsfield.
Friday
7th May 2010 - Pressing Engagements
Three press items have been added to the site, courtesy of
Mike Noon, who sent them to me for the site in December 2008! Going
through your old emails can be rather embarrassing! Thanks, Mike!
There are two items for the Stage Show -
Avenger Sue Signs Up for a Wild Time and a genuine replacement for
my mock-up of the Arthur Thirkell Review
and one for the Radio Series - Hark at
Steed, all from Daily Mirror, a British newspaper. The photo from
the press call, as seen in the first press item above, has also been
added to the Stage Show Gallery.
Finally, further actor biographies have
been added to the radio series section.
Thursday
6th May 2010 - Tunnel of Fear
A small addition to the
Tunnel of Fear episode guide
page, to make mention of the location work undertaken for this
episode.
Monday
3rd May 2010 - Who's Who on the Radio + iPod Artwork
A diversion into the radio series today, with
potted biographies added for a large
number of radio series personnel. More to come on this front, later in the week.
Also added today is iPod/MP3 artwork for
the radio series, which has been submitted by Alan Claughan.
Thanks Alan for your enthusiasm and your patience!
Sunday
2nd May 2010 - Dragonsfield
More on my pet subject - the missing Series 1. This time,
it's Dragonsfield under the spotlight - with an
episode guide page and an
in-depth page added
tonight for this story.
Friday
30th April 2010 - AvengerNews
An end of month round-up of
AvengerNews.
Sunday
18th April 2010 - Regional Variations Updated
Many thanks to John Tomlinson, who continues to work
tirelessly to nail down The Avengers UK broadcast history
throughout the regions. One of the biggest holes in the information up
to now has been for the Grampian
region in 1968. John has now been able to complete this
information, for which I am of course, exceptionally grateful! Thank
you.
Wednesday
14th April 2010 - Dead Man's Treasure Hunt 2010 Announced
Details of how to register to attend the 2010 Dead Man's
Treasure Hunt event can be found on the
AvengerNews page, courtesy of
organiser Chris Gabb...
Tuesday
13th April 2010 - AvengerNews Round-Up
A quick resume of
AvengerNews...
Monday
12th April 2010 - Series 1 Episode Guide Updated + Stories in
Depth
Apologies for the tumbleweeds around here lately... Been a
little busy, shall we say... Anyway, here's a meaty update today, with
Episode Guide and Story in Depth pages added for three Series 1
episodes - One for the Mortuary (Episode
Guide / Story
in Depth), Death on the Slipway (Episode
Guide / Story
in Depth) and Tunnel of Fear (Episode
Guide / Story in
Depth). Thanks to my wife Alys for writing the In Depth pieces!
One particular item of interest concerns Tunnel of Fear - and
The Avengers Declassified can clear up a forty-nine year old mystery
concerning the cast list... Check Production Brief on that page for
details...
Saturday
13th February 2010 - Stage Show Update
Very small update today, but worth a mention. I've done
some further research in back issues of Time Out magazine and
have been able to update the Stage Show
Credits page with a small amount of new information concerning the
London run.
Sunday
31st January 2010 -
Even More Series 1 In Depth - Dead of Winter + Optimum News
Updated
Following on from Saturday's update, the
episode guide and
in-depth pages for
Dead of Winter have been added today. This episode is the
fourth that my wife and I have reconstructed for Optimum Releasing - and this
and Kill the King will
be released as part of one of their forthcoming Avengers
titles. On this subject, the Optimum
News page has been updated today with details of the imminent
release of Series 3.
Saturday
30th January 2010 -
More Series 1 In Depth - Kill the King!
Apologies for the tumbleweeds blowing by here lately. It's
certainly not due to my putting my feet up. The last month has been
exceptionally busy, producing two further Avengers Series 1
episode reconstructions for Optimum's superb DVD range. These are now
completed and delivered and I have a short breather before moving on
to the next project for them. This has allowed me to find time to make
up pages for one of the two episodes which has been reconstructed -
Kill the King. I've produced a standard
episode guide page and an
exhaustive in-depth
synopsis. Many thanks to Dave Matthews, Dave Rogers and Piers
Johnson for their help with the reconstructions and with the pages
produced regarding Kill the King for Declassified.
Monday
21st December 2009 -
ANNOUNCEMENT - Replacement Discs for The Avengers DVD Set 1
Replacements for faulty discs from The
Complete Series 2 and Existing Episodes from Series 1, have been
manufactured and are now ready. We thank you for your patience while
we have investigated and corrected the problems.
Please send your old discs (numbers 3, 6 and 7), together with your
name and full address to:
The Avengers
Optimum Home Entertainment
50 Marshall St
London
W1F 9BQ
United Kingdom
Please allow up to 28 days for the new discs to be delivered to you,
particularly with the Christmas and New Year postal rush.
International customers should be sure to include their full address
and expect delivery to take a little longer.
For any further queries please contact
info@optimumreleasing.com
Wednesday
16th December 2009 -
Replacement Discs for The Avengers DVD Set 1
Jaz Wiseman has made the following announcement regarding
the replacement programme for the faulty discs in the Series 1+2 set:
"I am expecting check discs of the replacement discs next week. Once
these are confirmed as being OK, the replacement discs will be
manufactured. Obviously this process is going to be held up with the
Christmas and New Year break so in early January Optimum will make the
final announcement. Apologies to all customers but the replacement
disc process has taken longer than anticipated."
Thursday
3rd December 2009
Following on from the work on Double Danger, I've now
added an Episode Guide page for another 1961 episode,
A Change of Bait. Also
available, a detailed
synopsis...
Sunday
29th November 2009
Many thanks to Ian Beazley, who has supplied a blooper for
Sleeper that somehow I completely
missed! Cheers, Ian.
Monday
23rd November 2009
Some further additions today to the pages for the Ian Hendry
episode, Double Danger. The expanded Story in Depth feature
relating to writer
Gerald Verner's
original, unbroadcast version, has now been added and further
detail has been added to the
Episode Guide page.
It's also worth mentioning that
Amazon.co.uk is currently running a promotional price on the excellent
Optimum Series 1+2 Avengers set. Just £35.97 - less than half
price! The promotion runs until 4th December.
Sunday
22nd November 2009
Series 1 gets the attention today, with Double Danger
receiving both an episode guide
page (complete with information about the making of the episode
that was previously not known to Avengers fans) and a
Story in Depth page,
based upon the camera script. Another, based on the very different
rehearsal script will follow soon.
Saturday
21st November 2009
A major update today, two add a previously unpublished
1976 interview with Joanna Lumley
conducted by Patrick and David Bailey. Also two stage show-related
updates today - a new photograph of Sue
Lloyd has been added to the gallery pages in that section, plus
some additional information regarding Joanna Lumley's auditioning for
the stage show have been added to the stage
main page.
Friday
6th November 2009
Optimum Avengers updated
- announcement from Optimum regarding the problems on the Series 1+2
DVD set.
Sunday
18th October 2009
Optimum Avengers updated
with some frustrating and disappointing news - but hopefully we'll
have something more positive to post on this subject soon.
Monday
7th September 2009
Optimum DVD Exclusives at The Avengers Declassified!
Check out Optimum Avengers
for an exclusive interview with Jaz Wiseman, special features
producer. We also have a first peek (anywhere!) at the recently
discovered Series One telesnaps courtesy of Leonard White and screen
capture comparisons of the new restorations and the old DVD versions,
courtesy of Jaz and Optimum. Take a
look!
Sunday
6th September 2009
The Light Fantastic: Episode guide page added for
From Venus With Love.
Be sure to drop by tomorrow night for exclusive news on the
forthcoming Avengers DVDs from Optimum Releasing...
Tuesday
10th August 2009
The Avengers Variations: Further research has been carried out by
John Tomlinson into the regional
broadcasting of the Tara King era. Almost there! Many thanks,
John.
Monday
3rd August 2009
The Avengers Variations: Many thanks to John Tomlinson who has
turned his attention to the Tara King
regional variations and has filled in a good number of blanks!
Cheers, John!
Sunday
2nd August 2009
Biddly-Bong, Diddly-Da! A newly-restored radio serial has been
added to the Radio Downloads section
today - Train of Events. Just two more to go!
Saturday
25th July 2009
It's Snowing in July... Just when you thought you'd seen all there
was to see about Hot Snow - take a look at our new
Stories in Depth section for
1961, which kicks off today with an exhaustive synopsis including
lengthy script extracts of... you guessed it...
Hot Snow.
Friday
24th July 2009
Start at the Beginning... Taking a brief break from The New
Avengers, I've added today the first episode guide page for The
Avengers. Somehow it seemed appropriate to start off where it all
began, with Hot Snow. I've been
looking into this episode in some depth this week and I hope the
episode guide page will reveal a few new facts.
Friday
18th July 2009
Something to get your teeth into... Episode guide page added today
for Gnaws.
Sunday
12th July 2009
Never Have Ideas... because you end up spending your whole Sunday
trying to realise them! I suddenly thought that it would be good to
give a little background to the ITV regions that transmitted The
Avengers and wondered how to do it. In the end, I produced a UK map
which showed each region at the time of each Avengers era. I've
added a bit of background information for each broadcaster and
hopefully this will mean that our Regional Variation sections have a
little more context, at least in terms of geography! I've divided it
up like this: Map of ITV Regions 1961;
1962-64;
1965-68;
1968-1975 and
1975-1982. The changes in franchise
holders fits in quite well between Avengers and New Avengers
seasons, so hopefully this rather arbitrary way of dividing the
information up doesn't work too badly. These maps can be accessed from
all regional pages. Now, can I have my Sunday back, please? :)
+
The Avengers Variations... John Tomlinson has added
considerable further detail to the Regional Variation information for
the Emma Peel and
Tara King eras. Superb and invaluable
work as always, John, for which many thanks!
Wednesday
8th July 2009
UK DVDs on their way... and it's such a biggie, they have their
own section! Optimum Avengers
reveals a first clear look at the box artwork and confirms the special
features for the first volume, due in October this year.
Sunday
5th July 2009
Today's Biggest Offer... The New Avengers episode guide
continues with fan favourite, Sleeper.
+
The Avengers Variations... Further exhaustive efforts from John
Tomlinson have brought the Regional Variations on in leaps and bounds.
With his considerable help, we've now got a locked-down set of
regional information for the two Cathy Gale
series, and he's also made significant in roads on
Series 4, with the promise of more to
come. Thanks a million, John. Your help is hugely appreciated.
Friday
3rd July 2009
It Pays to Stay Tuned... We christen our features section -
Stay Tuned - tonight with a great
little article by J. Ferguson, which draws attention to the
similarities between two episodes of The New Avengers and
The Champions -
Faces and The Mission. Thanks for a terrific article! Also,
some more detail on the Silverstone sequence of
Three Handed Game from my
friend and former colleague, Rob Jaina.
Thursday
2nd July 2009
Gentlemen, Fire Up Your Engines! Many thanks to Allen Brown of
OldRacingcars.com for his generous help in identifying the two
racing cars seen in the scenes of Three Handed Game that were
filmed at the Silverstone Circuit. Check out a detailed Production
Note at the episode guide page.
Wednesday
1st July 2009
Three Handed Game... An
episode guide page has been added tonight for this episode of
The New Avengers...
Tuesday
30th June 2009
AvengerNews... Nice, Honor Blackman-related
news story today...
Sunday
28th June 2009
The Avengers Variations... Thanks to the sterling, exhaustive
efforts of John Tomlinson, the Regional Variations information for
Series One and
Series Two and Three has been updated
significantly. The Series One information is now complete thanks to
John and Series Two and Three are much nearer completion than
previously. John promises more information is to come. Your hard work
is greatly appreciated, John. Many, many thanks.
Also... The episode guide
layout has been amended a little after a pertinent comment from Simon
Coward. I've devised a way to come up with a more scientific rating,
with weighted grades that feed into the overall percentage. This means
that the final percentage ratings have changed slightly. It also gives
a more obvious breakdown of what I think works and what doesn't about
each episode.
Thursday
25th June 2009
A Book at Bedtime... Well, it's my bedtime and the episode has a
book as its central clue! The fact of the matter is I'm trying to find
something bright and breezy to say about
The Tale of the Big Why, but I'm struggling. An episode guide page
has been added for it tonight - just don't expect it to come up
smelling of roses...
Wednesday
24th June 2009
Double Trouble - Not 'Arf!
An episode guide page for The New Avengers:
Faces has been added tonight.
Tuesday
23rd June 2009
Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery...
A new obituary of Simon Oates was published yesterday in The
Independent here in the UK, and much to my surprise, the author
has incorporated some quotes from the interview with Simon that Alys
and I conducted for The Avengers Declassified. While this was
initially a bit of a shock, I'm pleased to say that the newspaper have
been quick to acknowledge the source of these quotes (after a quick
phone call) and the online version now contains a credit and a link
back to the interview. Thanks to Chris Maume at the Obituaries desk
for his sympathetic and prompt attention.
In happier news, the first seven
episodes of The New Avengers now have completed
Episode Guide pages. The layout has
been revised to include
brief 'Ministry Verdicts', where I give my potted opinion of each
episode and a percentage rating. You may note that my ratings for
The New Avengers are unusually high - well, I have a considerable
soft spot for the series and have always championed it. I don't see this changing! This is no doubt partly due to
the series
being my first exposure to The Avengers, back in 1976, when I
was glued to it as an 11 year old! Also, I think it's genuinely underrated
and more than due a re-evaluation. Steed, Purdey and Gambit rock! End of sermon!
Friday 18th June 2009
In With the New -
Episode guide pages have been added this week for the first four
episodes produced of The New Avengers -
The Eagle's Nest,
The Midas Touch,
House of Cards and
The Last of the Cybernauts...??
- more to follow.
Tuesday 16th June 2009
This and That!
A slight rethink on the section front, which has lead to Forward
Base being accessible from anywhere in the site rather than just from
the Introduction page and the addition of a new (currently empty!)
section called Stay Tuned. The realisation suddenly crept up on me
that there was nowhere here for features or comment about The
Avengers in general, with the site being too rigidly era- and
production-based. That's fixed now, and while the
era-/production-based structure remains (there's nothing wrong with
that in itself, after all!), there is also the option for expansion
down a more general route too. Also, thanks to Ron Geddes for pointing
out a blooper with the radio series page for
A Grave Charge. I've just
fixed this. News of a new German DVD release of The Avengers
added to AvengerNews, complete
with pack shot.
Monday 15th June 2009
Readers may be interested to know that The Times newspaper today
published an obituary to the actor, Simon Oates.
It can be read by clicking here.
Saturday 13th June 2009
Frank N. Stone to be Knighted: A cheering story in
AvengerNews.
Thursday 11th June 2009
The Avengers Variations: Many thanks to Andrew Pixley, who has
kindly passed along some regional variation information, which has
been added to the section. Quite a few mysteries have been solved
thanks to Andrew and the information he's shared. Cheers, mate!
Tuesday 9th June 2009
Launch Night! It's been a long time coming - a lot longer than I
ever thought. I originally started building this site on 24th
September 2008 and if I'd have known then that it'd finally launch
some eight and a half months later... well, I might never have
started! That said, I'm very glad I did. I started off with grand
ideas for the site, and while I've had to discard one or two,
compromise a few more, I think I may even have pulled one or two of
them off!
The site as it stands at launch
already comprises 175 pages. If you consider that my other Avengers
site, Avengers on the Radio has been running for nine years
and is 178 pages long, this is quite a monster already!
The biggest project thus far has
been focused upon The Avengers Stage Show
and this section is probably the most exhaustive account published
regarding this production. The section contains information, press
coverage, contemporary reviews, quotes from those involved, an
extensive photo gallery and an exclusive interview with the late Simon
Oates, who played Steed in the production. The interview was conducted
for The Avengers Declassified in November 2008. Sadly,
since that time, Simon has passed away, a source of great upset to us.
Simon's enthusiasm and generosity towards this site was a great
inspiration to us - and it is with the deepest respect and affection
that we have dedicated The Avengers Declassified to his
memory. Rest in peace, Simon.
In addition to Simon's great
contribution to the site, I am greatly indebted to my wife Alys for,
well, everything, to David K. Smith, Simon Coward, Chris Perry, Ian
Beazley, Mike Noon and Jaz Wiseman for unstinting, enthusiastic and
invaluable help and generosity in the long lead-in to tonight's launch.
Thanks also to all those who have kept the secret for me for so long.
A special mention for Kim, Allard and ShaggE at
The Avengers Fan Forum.
Something to be clear about from
the very start - The Avengers Declassified is not designed to
replace
The Avengers Forever, David K. Smith's wonderful, indispensible
site. His site is a wonderful resource that has built up over thirteen
years and I'm pleased to say it isn't going anywhere, even if David is
currently taken a well-deserved rest. Declassified will complement
what is available at TAF and go off in different directions.
Finally, ardent observers will note
that the greater bulk of my Avengers radio series website has
been revamped here at Declassified. I felt the site had to cover the
radio series (it's one of my pet loves, after all), and it gave me a
chance to give the information there the once-over and spruce up the
now rather dated design 'over there'.
Take a good look around. I hope you
enjoy what you find. I'd love to hear from you with your comments.
Drop me an
email to let me know what you think of the newest Avengers
website!
Alan Hayes
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