My big sister, Roberta, was fond of The Avengers, the British spoofy secret agent series that ran, I believe, on ABC in the 1960s. I joined her and we watched it together. She loved the droll British humor. I loved Diana Rigg, sadly, no longer with us, who played John Steed’s sidekick, Emma Peel, from 1965 to 1968. To be totally honest, I also developed crushes on Steed’s convertible, a 1930 Bentley, and Peel’s Lotus Elan.

The shows were campy, sometimes improbable, but always engaging. Steed was unflappable and dashing, with a seemingly perennial bottle of champagne on ice. Emma was capable of beating the holy crumpets out of any evil villain you’d care to throw her way. She became known for her leather jumpsuits (which she despised) and her off-duty Mod fashions, but, other than her beauty, she brought a sense of humor to the role that was appealing, too.

As usual, I was looking for something else entirely when I was stunned to discover that there seem to be at least ten and maybe more tribute videos to Mrs. Peel on YouTube. So naturally, while crediting the original posters, who had to have put in a lot of work making them, I used clips from some to make my own tribute video. Hey, I’m retired.

So here it is:

The banter between Patrick McNee’s Steed and Riggs’ Mrs. Peel was frequently flirtatious. She was, after all, a widow—I had to look it up, but evidently her husband was lost in a plane accident somewhere over the Amazon—and I guess they did kiss once. If they did, either I missed it or was so horrified that I’ve blocked it out of my memory.

Another series, also charming, Moonlighting, was ruined when the characters played by Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd finally got together; it was the sparks between them that had made the show fun. One show went Shakespearean, a spoof on The Taming of the Shrew, which led to this wedding scene. Take it away, Bruce:

When Rigg decided to move on from The Avengers (she would play in a film alongside George Lazenby, the most forgettable 007), Mr. Peel suddenly reappeared, a la the Cary Grant film My Favorite Wife, and—I had to look this up, too, because I am sure I’ve blocked it out of my memory—Emma leaves Steed, presumably forever. According to that unimpeachable source, Wikipedia, Mr. Peel only appears in the distance as she walks away from Steed and toward her husband, who looks suspiciously like…wait for it…John Steed.

So it goes.

And lest you still think I’m a little cuckoo over this infatuation, even Harry Potter (okay, Daniel Radcliffe), who played an amorous teenager in the Ricky Gervais comedy series Extras, had a thing for by-now Dame Diana Rigg:

The Santa Barbara progressive rock band, Dishwalla, even wrote a song, erroneously titled “Miss Steed,” about Emma:

Miss Emma Peel
Black boots kick high at his face
One last look at the grace of
Miss Emma Peel

Catch the curve of your leather heel
Before he blacks out
That’s another one down
For Miss Emma Peel

I sit beside her in the evening
And watch her rerun secrets by my ears
Cat eyes watch with British humor
‘Cause she’s a mod-feel sixties savior

Sadly, it’s not that great a song. I don’t want to end this blog post with something mediocre, so, even though it’s off-topic, Dishwalla’s “Counting Blue Cars” is one of my favorite songs, So, by way of misdirection, this goes out to you, Dame Diana Rigg. Maybe one of those blue cars was Mrs. Peel’s Lotus.