Amber & Mrs. Peel, We're Needed

With the holidays leaving my Hulu queue as dry as a dessert, I've been watching the 1967 season of The Avengers over on Netflix Watch Instantly.

These are the episodes I remember most vividly (in color, one might say, or colour) from my youth.  Obviously, I wasn't quite alive for the original run, but I think they aired late nights on PBS, after my other favorite and fellow British Isler, Doctor Who.

As an adult, the highlight is the charm of Mrs. Peel and John Steed.  Their banter and chemistry is superb, as are Mrs. Peele's outfits.  She karate chops and flips her hair and makes puns, all while looking lovely with fake eyelashes.

Steed remains dapper and with-chapeau while mayhem swirls around him.  I still find him irresistible.  I'd take Steed over Johnny Depp any day.

Another highlight is the surprise special guest stars that I doubt I noticed on first watching.  A super special treat was a bespectacled Jon Pertwee (the third Doctor on Doctor Who) in full brigadier gear.

And, later in the season, there was a bearded young Donald Sutherland rocking pin-up girl bangs and a weird Eastern (cold war) accent.

But, even with my new adult skills and a BFA in program watching, I still find the villains just as creepy as I did as a wee lass.  Only now, I just make the window smaller on my laptop rather than hiding behind the couch.

But then, as now, I knew things would end well with mystery solved, Steed and Peele quipping and flirting and being suggestive in a distinctively British way with that peppy, and happy music in the background.

And that lavender outfit!  I still want to be Emma Peel when I grow up.