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Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick
Quote:
Originally Posted by red16v
ABC ... ... also made ‘The Avengers’ - originally from Didsbury. ABC and ATV shared a local transmission centre at Aston in Birmingham.
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Coincidences! My copy of The Oldie dropped through my letterbox this week and in the opening notes it reminds readers that 'Sixty years ago on 7th January 1961, ABC Television premiered their latest drama show.' Apparently, The Avengers was devised for 'up-and-coming' actor Ian Hendry who played a doctor pursuing his wife's murderers. Patrick Macnee was introduced as a CIA type man - so initially Steed wasn't the central character and only became leading man in 1962 to be partnered by Honor Blackman. According to the piece only three complete episodes of the original series survive.
All outside of my experience - we still had just a single channel BBC set at that time. I only remember the Diana Rigg era.
Quote:
Originally Posted by red16v
Quote:
Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick
I remember Public Eye from the early days - my father liked it. I didn’t realise it was an ABC programme. I remember some of it was shot around Birmingham – there was one scene at a training session at Aston Villa’s ground.
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I think I’m right in saying Public Eye was initially produced in and around Birmingham as ABC had an OB unit(s) based there together with studio facilities at Aston. Post 1968 when Thames was producing the programme it was based in Brighton, then the Windsor area - again for practical production reasons. |
I don't remember the Brighton location at all but certainly the Windsor one. I seem to remember Marker operating out of a shop type office featuring shelves with lines of telephone directories. |
I believe the Avengers was originally titled ‘Police Surgeon’ and was transmitted as a live studio transmission from ABC’s studio centre at Didsbury. This may explain why so few episodes of that series exist. Ian Hendry decided not to go forward with the programme and so its central casting was altered along the popular lines we know as ‘The Avengers’ with the Steed character brought to the fore.
Thames’ first series of Marker was set in Brighton after he has been released from a local prison and where his landlady (Mrs Mortimer) was introduced. Subsequent series were set in the Windsor area and indeed his office there was a somewhat threadbare shabby affair sparsely furnished. A series well worth catching on TPTV some time in the future.