The New Avengers - Angels of Death - 02:25 am Saturday, January 24 on Great! Action

Patrick Macnee (Actor) .. John Steed

Born: February 06, 1922 in London

Best Known For: Playing John Steed in The Avengers.

Early-life: Born Daniel Patrick Macnee on February 6, 1922, in London. His father was a successful racehorse trainer who gambled away his fortune and emigrated to India. His mother then divorced her husband and moved in with her lesbian lover in Wiltshire. Macnee attended Summer Fields prep school before enrolling at Eton. He made his film debut in 1938's Pygmalion, but his acting career was curtailed by a spell in the Navy during the Second World War.

Career: On his return from service, Macnee studied at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. Small roles in several films followed but, frustrated at the lack of opportunity in Britain, he emigrated to Canada, then moved to the US. He appeared in numerous TV plays and films before returning to the UK in 1959. Producing Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years brought him to the attention of TV bosses who, to his surprise, offered him the role of John Steed in The Avengers in 1961. He stayed with the popular series until it ended in 1969, but returned to the role in The New Avengers in 1976. Macnee also appeared in such movies as A View to a Kill, This Is Spinal Tap and The Sea Wolves. He died on June 25, 2015.

Quote: "I haven't really accomplished anything. The most accomplished thing I've done is to have lived this long."

Trivia: Macnee became a US citizen in 1959.

Joanna Lumley (Actor) .. Purdy

Born: May 01, 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir

Best Known For: Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Joanna Lamond Lumley was born on May 1, 1946, in Srinagar, Kashmir. As a child she lived with her family in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, where her father was a major in the Ghurkas. She came to England aged nine to attend boarding school in Kent, and later a convent school in Hastings. At 16 she auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but was turned down and decided to become a model instead, despite initially being told she was "too fat and too ugly".

Career: Lumley's first film was 1969's Some Girls Do, followed by Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Her most notable early role was as Ken Barlow's girlfriend Elaine in Coronation Street. Lumley became famous thanks to The New Avengers in 1976. After Sapphire and Steel in the late 1970s, she turned her attention to the theatre and had a stint as a Times columnist. In 1992, Jennifer Saunders cast her as Patsy in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Since then, she has appeared in numerous TV dramas and films, including Maybe Baby, James and the Giant Peach, Jam & Jerusalem, Sensitive Skin, The Making of a Lady and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Quote: "I can't see any difference in having your hair dyed, your teeth fixed, your nose done, or your face smoothed out or lifted."

Trivia: Lumley received an OBE in 1995.

Gareth Hunt (Actor) .. Mike Gambit

Dinsdale Landen (Actor) .. Coldstream

Terence Alexander (Actor) .. Manderson

Born: March 11, 1923 in London

Best Known For: His role as Charlie Hungerford in BBC detective drama Bergerac.

Early-life: Terence Joseph Alexander was born in London on March 11, 1923. The son of a doctor, he grew up in Yorkshire. He started acting in the theatre at the age of 16. During the Second World War he served in the British Army with the 27th Lancers and was seriously wounded in Italy.

Career: Alexander quickly established himself as a character actor and went on to appear in more than 300 films, TV movies and series episodes. He mostly had bit parts and fame did not come to him until later in life when he landed the role of lovable rogue and would-be tycoon Charlie Hungerford in Bergerac in 1981. He played the part for 10 years and it made him a household name. After Bergerac, he starred alongside Rik Mayall in The New Statesman. He died on May 28, 2009 at the age of 86.

Quote: On his early interest in becoming a priest: "I realised that celibacy wasn't for me".

Trivia: He was an amateur numerologist and the number 23 was very significant to him.

Caroline Munro (Actor) .. Tammy

Michael Latimer (Actor) .. Reresby

Lindsay Duncan (Actor) .. Jane

Born: November 07, 1950 in Edinburgh

Best Known For: Her many acclaimed stage roles.

Early-life: Born November 7, 1950, in Edinburgh, but spent part of her childhood in Leeds and Birmingham. Neither of her parents had a showbusiness background, and her mother originally wanted her to become a doctor. However, they supported her decision to tread the boards after the acting bug bit while appearing in school productions. She regrets the fact her father - who died in a car accident when she was a teenager - didn't live to see her success.

Career: After spells at Bristol University and the Central School of Speech and Drama, she landed professional roles in a variety of theatrical productions. Her first TV appearance came in 1975's Further Up Pompeii! Parts at the Royal Exchange in the likes of The Rivals and What the Butler Saw gained her huge acclaim. Arguably her biggest stage successes have both come opposite Alan Rickman, in productions of Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Private Lives. Duncan has popped up in TV and film projects such as Reilly: The Ace of Spies, Kit Curran, Prick Up Your Ears, Traffik, GBH, Jake's Progress, Oliver Twist, An Ideal Husband, Doctor Who, Poirot, Alice in Wonderland and Rome.

Quote: "All good rehearsals involve quite a lot of laughing, that's the way to get through it."

Trivia: She took a role in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace to please their son, Cal, who is a huge fan of the franchise.

Pamela Stephenson (Actor) .. Wendy

Ernest Day (Director)

Terence Feely (Writer)

Brian Clemens (Writer)

The New Avengers: Angels of Death

02:25 am - 03:15 am, Saturday, January 24 on Great! Action (42)

About this Broadcast

Angels of Death
Season 2, Episode 2

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After