The seventh and final season of The Avengers is distinguished by major changes in the series' cast, production crew and format; it is also the series' longest season, running 33 episodes rather than the standard 26 at the behest of The Avengers' American distributors. With the defection of Diana Rigg in the role of part-time secret agent Emma Peel, the time had come once again to find a new female partner for the series' male star Patrick Macnee, who stayed on in the role of bowler-hatted professional spy John Steed. (It will be remembered that, three years before, Rigg had replaced Honor Blackman.) At the same time, longtime series producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell were replaced by John Bryce. It was Bryce's contention, backed up by executives at both Britain's ITV and America's ABC, that Steed's new partner should be younger, cuter, less resourceful, and more vulnerable than the maturely attractive and totally self-reliant Mrs. Peel. Thus, 20-year-old Linda Thorson was added to the cast as wide-eyed "trainee agent #69" Tara King (which was another break from Avengers tradition: Steed's previous partners had all been talented amateurs rather than spy-school alumni). Inasmuch as Tara required rescuing far more often than Mrs. Peel, many of the series' loyal fans felt that the character was detrimental to the series' effectiveness. These same fans also bemoaned the introduction of Steed and Tara's new boss, a portly, wheelchair-bound gentleman known only as "Mother" (Patrick Newell), who pops up in the unlikeliest places to issue orders in the most imperious and obstreperous manner possible. Although forcing the two protagonists to answer to a government bureaucrat may have be more "true to life," it robs the characters of the carefree, insouciant independence that had long been an Avengers trademark.
On the plus side, most of the sixth-season episodes avoid the outrageous campiness prevalent in the three previous seasons -- which, though very enjoyable, sometimes tended to undercut the intricate plotlines and witty dialogue. Put simply, the final season of The Avengers marks a return to the relatively sober and serious ambience that the series had sustained in its earliest episodes. This provides at least some compensation for the overall unevenness of the season's output -- an unevenness due mainly to a series of backstage shakeups culminating in the dismissal of John Bryce and the rehiring of Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell, and partially to the show's ever-diminishing production budget. Three of the season's episodes deserve special attention: "The Forget-Me-Knot," in which Mrs. Peel primly and somewhat sardonically hands over her responsibilities to newcomer Tara King; "Have Guns -- Will Haggle," a 60-minute cut-down of the 90-minute "Invitation," which had been intended as Tara's debut episode; and "Split!," based on a script originally tailored for Diana Rigg but hastily revised to accommodate the talents of Linda Thorson.
