THE AVENGERS COMPANION

From 1962 onwards TV provided a fantasy for adolescents. Cathy Gale in thick black leather followed by the incredibly sexy Emma Peel then the curvaceous Tara King, before Purdey appeared in the New Avengers. It may depend what age you were when you first started watching to determine the episodes which remain in the memory. Sex was the hook but it was the surreal fantasy which kept the viewers coming back for more and turning the series into a cult phenomenon.

The Avengers Companion covers all the phases of the series with interviews, comment, episode guides and more. The trouble is that the interviews are very short and unrevealing. There is no explanation as to who some of the Avengers fans are who write articles: Christophe Casa-Zza, David Fakrikian, Grant Morrison, Francois Riviere and Dave Rogers. Who are these people? The articles are also more embarrassing than enlightening.

 The greater part of the book is made up of episode guides and in-depth episode descriptions. The guide is useful and brings back happy memories of episodes from the original screenings or the many repeats. However the ten detailed guides do nothing more than narrate from minute to minute what happens in that episode. No behind the cameras information, no analysis - you would be far better off watching the episode in my opinion than waste time reading about it.

It is the photographs which make the book, though. Glossy stills and behind the scenes shots of the stars and crew.

Perhaps people are only interested in some of the series (a particular Steed partner, for instance) and so only a quarter of the book is going to be of great interest. And £14.99 is a lot of money for a book which is unlikely to be the definitive Avengers guide. However for all grown-up adolescents who managed to evade parental security to watch these evocative fantasies, the book will conjure up all sorts or memories.

G. Hurry  

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