THE MISER

The rather lengthy-entitled The Avengers – Steed and Mrs Peel : The Comic Strip Adaptations – The Miser (Excerpt) is a free 15-minute excerpt from the start of story two, The Miser, which is part of a four-story box-set The Avengers – Steed and Mrs Peel : The Comic Strip Adaptations, Volume 1 from 2016.

Big Finish‘s new range of The Avengers – Steed & Mrs Peel, starring Julian Wadham as John Steed and Olivia Poulet as Mrs Peel, is currently a box-set only range consisting of two four-story box-sets priced at £30 (CD) and £25 (download).  That kind of outlay is a bit of a leap of faith given the absence of the original actors.

The adventures, from what I can ascertain, are adapted from 1960s comic strips so the feel and atmosphere should feel true to the original series.  With this, and my modicum of familiarity with the 60s series being what it is, I believe that it is very similar in style and feel to those 60s adventures.

This excerpt consists of the opening segment of the story (a train approaching a station doesn’t stop, observed by a train-spotter and the station guard, and, despite the calamitous collision, all passengers survive intact as they all apparently slept through the entire incident), with the original opening music from this era.  We have a familiar scene of Mrs Peel going about her everyday business until the message “Mrs Peel, we’re needed” crops up in an unexpected place.

Mrs Peel drives Steed (too fast) to the site of the incident, resulting in another collision, leading to Steed then driving Mrs Peel much more sedately in his own car.  They learn of the passengers sleeping through the incident and begin to investigate.

There’s little more to tell from this except.  It’s a pleasant listen and encourages you to set your mind on the level of “60s Avengers”.

Wadham and Poulet do their best to convince you as Steed and Mrs Peel, but neither are doing anything to mimic Patrick Macnee or Diana Rigg.  You either accept them as Steed and Mrs Peel, or you’re not going to enjoy these adventures much at all.  Their dialogue, attitudes, camaraderie, and friendship is, at least, akin to that which the 60s TV series enjoyed.  The only hurdle is whether you can get over them not being Macnee and Rigg.  Whether you want to chance up to £30 on that is a choice only you can make, but at least this except is free so you can have a taster.

In conclusion, I was originally against the notion of doing The Avengers with a new cast.  This excerpt has convinced me that if you want new The Avengers stories, then the recasting is really no different than recasting Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.  It can work.  Will I be spending £25+ on this range, when there is so much else to listen to?  Well, I’m not going to avoid it if it ends up in a sale or discount, but it’s not going to be a priority either.