The Avengers: Steed & Mrs Peel: The Comic Strip Adaptations Volume 1

by Bernard Simon, Paul Morris, Paul Magrs

Steed and Mrs Peel are needed! Two of television's most iconic characters arrive on audio for four stories packed with the show's trademark cool and eccentric vibe! These stories are recreations of the comic strip adventures of Steed and Mrs Peel which appeared in Diana magazine in 1966 and 1967. 1. RETURN TO CASTLE DE'ATH by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris.Steed is left hanging, Emma pays the piper. Steed and Peel return to the scene of an earlier adventure to find it much changed. Now a ski-resort, Castle De'ath is playing host to many new visitors - including a wealthy Prince targeted by assassins. Assigned as bodyguards, the Avengers have to keep the Prince alive and discover which of the Castle's guests are behind the murderous plot - before they succumb to it themselves. 2. THE MISER by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Steed has a nasty scare, Emma has a pressing engagement. When the phrase 'sleeper train' takes on a very literal meaning, Steed and Peel witness the first action of The Miser, a terrifying extortionist. The race is on to stop his ambitious scheme - but in this case, appearances can be deceptive. 3. THE GOLDEN DRESSES by Paul Magrs. Emma hits the heights of fashion, Steed plumbs the very depths. The ladies of society can't get enough of Madame Zingara's Golden Dresses. Especially now their husbands have gone missing. Steed and Peel look into the world of haute couture to discover the dark secret of this latest craze. Can they pull it off with style? 4. THE NORSE CODE by John Dorney. Steed has the horns of a dilemma, Emma milks her moment. An agent has gone missing whilst holidaying in the Norfolk Broads. With an American nuclear bomb being stored in the region, Steed and Peel can't take any risks. But the last thing they expect to find on their boating trip is a Norse longboat. What are Vikings doing in East Anglia? Ever since Big Finish began releasing their The Avengers - The Lost Episodes range, fans have been clamouring for Steed and Mrs Peel to adventure again. With this release they get their wish! This full-cast audio drama is brought to life with eerily engrossing sound design and a brand new, cinematic music score. Starring Julian Wadham (The Iron Lady, War Horse, Downton Abbey), and Olivia Poulet (In the Loop). CAST: Julian Wadham (John Steed), Olivia Poulet (Mrs Peel), Sam Kordbacheh (Prince Abdul Bey), Shelia Reid (Morag McIntosh), Allan Corduner (James McTaggart), Ruby Thomas (Countess Beatrice of Burgundy), Simon Greenall (Colonel Augustus-Smyth), Jacqueline Pearce (Madame Zingara), Becky Wright (Bunty), Christopher Naylor (Emil), Nick Underwood (Anton), Timothy Speyer (Oswald English), Ewan Bailey (Ivan Stevenson), Francesca Hunt (Ingrid Thornton), Jot Davies (Wellington).

Audio CD

First published May 31, 2016

Reviews

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After tackling the lost episodes of series one of the UK series "The Avengers" Big Finish decided to adapt some of their omic book adventures form the pages of 'Diana"this is probably an easier jumping on point for lost listeners as it is fun and full of eccentric and larger than life characters. The casting of Julian Wadham and Olivia Poulet works in this scenario because the script, music and sound design set the scene perfectly so we aren't comparing the difference of the audio actors to their TV Counterparts (In the lost episodes I felt Julian Wadham had to fight this comparison because even the TV episodes are atypical of most of the series and so any association was down to the character of Steed and like I said in my review of that boxset Patrick Macnee had a very distinctive voice) The stories are very fun and very silly. Maybe more akin to the Tara King era it's that level of bonkers but it all Perfect listening.

[James Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a comic book which starts off with Tara King. Someone seems to be questioning her reliability and has Steed look into things. He contacts Mrs. Peel who leaves her husband in the Amazon while she comes to help.

An old guy gets murdered, there's something going on with gambling, a old famous woman is murdered and the story will go on from there.

The artwork on Steed is pretty good, the artwork on Mrs. Peel is not so good. Comic books don't adapt well to a series like this unless you wait until the entire comic book series has concluded and then you read it in a graphic novel form. Otherwise you get just a bit of the story at a time and then have to wait until the next issue comes out.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mad as a bag of badgers, but fun. Olivia Poulet is a very different Mrs Peel, but Julian Wadham is uncannily good as Steed. The scripts do an excellent job of adapting the very brief comics.

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of campy, nostalgic fun.