The Avengers International Fan Forum

mrs_emma_peel · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 3:26 am Post subject:

Many thanks for the video clip Denis - gives an excellent flavour of the evening.
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James/Mrs Emma Peel

Lhbizness · Guest

I'd love to hear more about this from anyone who was there!

denis · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 11:28 am Post subject:

Photos, videos, commentaries (in French) here :
http://theavengers.fr/index.php/chapeau-melon-bottes-de-cuir/supplements/les-documents/50eme-anniversaire-de-emma-peel-a-la-bfi-avec-diana-rigg
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Le Monde des Avengers

Rodders · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 11:49 am Post subject:

sacre boulot, Denis. I can translate the commentaries if anyone wants me to.
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The Avengers: a product of the sixties and a timeless piece of sublime art

hatpeg · Little Wonder Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 126

Rodders · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:42 pm Post subject:

Diana watched the episode in the auditorium with her daughter and it seemed as if she was discovering it for the first time. The French Avengers fan was sitting a few seats away and it was a surreal experience for him. She replied to questions from the audience after chatting to Dick Fiddy (BFI).
She seemed delighted to be there. She was enthusiastic and on top form. It was as if Emma had returned fifty years later to chat about her adventures with Steed.
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The Avengers: a product of the sixties and a timeless piece of sublime art

Rodders · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:47 pm Post subject:

She chatted about the difficult working conditions on the show, with twelve to fourteen hour days and how much she hated the leather outfits. She suggested that the later fashionable costumes helped make the series ahead of its time. The beautiful sports cars were hard to drive, but Macnee was a dream to work with, their rapport harmonious from the very beginning.
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The Avengers: a product of the sixties and a timeless piece of sublime art

Rodders · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:56 pm Post subject:

Even if colour freed the series in terms of creative possibilities, she preferred the look and feel of the monochrome episodes, with black and white offering better contrast and light. She feels wonderfully fortunate to have played the avant garde Emma Peel. She never watches herself and hasn't seen the series since; indeed she was discovering the episode alongside the audience. Therefore she is unable to single out any favourite episodes.
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The Avengers: a product of the sixties and a timeless piece of sublime art

oconstantine · Nutshell Joined: 07 Aug 2015 Posts: 16

It was a fantastic day!

Little round-up of the days events in English here:
http://homeartyhome.com/meeting-an-icon-diana-rigg-at-the-bfi/

and in French here:

http://theavengers.fr/index.php/chapeau-melon-bottes-de-cuir/supplements/les-documents/50eme-anniversaire-de-emma-peel-a-la-bfi-avec-diana-rigg

mrs_emma_peel · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:36 am Post subject:

In an interview for the Radio Times (UK TV & Radio listings guide) Diana was asked what has been the highlights of her career?

'My first job as walk on at Stratford upon Avon getting to see the most amazing actors Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Dame Edith Evans. Getting The Avengers put me on a different level. Life changed overnight.'

What does Diana listen to and watch now?

I'm a great BBC Radio 4 listener during the day and I switch to television during the evening. I absolutely adore Dad's Army I can't get enough of it, it's heaven. I'm a Strictly Come Dancing fan but I'm too old to do it.

I also love the one-off dramas that have been on recently like The Go-Between and Lady Chatterley's Lover. They remind me of the plays we used to get on the radio that gave me the appetite for acting.'

As a former Bond girl yourself, would you like to see a black or female Bond take over from Daniel Craig?

'A black Bond would be lovely. I wouldn't like to see a female Bond, because we wouldn't want to lose the Bond girls. But we could have a lesbian Bond, why not?'

Interview by Emma Cox.
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James/Mrs Emma Peel

MLP* · Thingumajig Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 84

Diana Rigg is a guest on Graham Norton's Radio 2 show this Saturday.

denis · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:49 am Post subject:

'A black Bond would be lovely. I wouldn't like to see a female Bond, because we wouldn't want to lose the Bond girls. But we could have a lesbian Bond, why not?'
Nonsense.
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Le Monde des Avengers

Lhbizness · Guest

denis · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:37 am Post subject:

Nothing to do with Ian Fleming's world.
I prefer Moore's statement :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3288147/Bond-row-looms-Roger-Moore-says-007-t-gay-woman-Star-88-says-political-correctness-not-considered.html
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Le Monde des Avengers

Lhbizness · Guest

denis · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:03 am Post subject:

Narrow-minded… You make me laugh. I think most of James Bond fans are narrow-minded in that case. Ok, for a lesbian girl for a parody or a ‘special movie’; nothing more.
The movies are still connected with Ian Fleming’s world especially the ones with Daniel Craig. Traditions must be respected.
As for a Black James Bond, I still agree with Roger Moore. It’s fashion to turn each famous white character into a Black one; it was the case for Kojak, Ironside, James West, Equalizer and it was a flop for each of them. Nonsense and script writers stick to ‘politically correct’ or lack of ideas. I would write the same thing if a movie with a white John Shaft was produced. Yes, for me, Bond is a womanizer, may be alcoholic of Scottish descent. Am I a dinosaur? (as Clint Eastwood says in one of his best movie ‘In the Line of Fire’). I don’t think so but I’m against all 'political correctness'. But they – gay, lesbian, black, yellow, Latino - wouldn’t be Bond for the simple reason that wasn’t what Ian Fleming wrote. James Bond is James Bond. Otherwise, one must invent new characters and make other movies.
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Le Monde des Avengers

Lhbizness · Guest

No, most James Bond fans that I've spoken with (myself included) think that allowing Bond to change with the times makes perfect sense. It's not 1962 any more.

Ian Fleming didn't write Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Skyfall, Spectre, or even the version of Casino Royale that Craig appears in. What, exactly, would be lost by making Bond black or female? It's not like it would erase all those other films where he's a white guy (not even an ENGLISH white guy some of the time, despite what Roger Moore imagines). Why would you find that so terrible? Why don't you have a problem with moving Bond from the 1960s to today, if Ian Fleming's world is so important?

I don't think it's even about political correctness; it's about a character transforming as the world that he lives in transforms. It's about finding a new way to explore an old character. James Bond has proven that he's not a static character, so maybe he doesn't have to be entrenched in the same backwards mentality that Fleming wrote.

Anyways, there are plenty of misogynist white dudes to watch. I think you could handle James Bond not being quite so regressive.

denis · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 12:47 pm Post subject:

So be it, Lhbizness. You will never convince me and I'll never convince you...Let's make a poll.
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Le Monde des Avengers

Dan · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:01 pm Post subject:

For the first time in my life I have to side with L on this one

Lhbizness · Guest