The Avengers - The Lost Episodes, Volume 1
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $16.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Julian Wadham
-
Anthony Howell
-
Lucy Briggs-Owen
About this listen
Steed and Dr. Keel return to action in these four re-creations of classic lost episodes.
- 'Hot Snow'. Written by Ray Rigby, adapted by John Dorney.
When an incomprehensible tragedy strikes on what should have been the happiest day of David Keel's life, he is left traumatised. Confronted with an apparently motiveless crime, he feels compelled to investigate and is drawn into London's seedy underworld of drug smuggling.
- 'Brought to Book'. Written by Brian Clemens, adapted by John Dorney.
Still on the trail of the men who wrecked his life, Dr. Keel gets to know his new associate, John Steed, rather better as they infiltrate warring gangs running amok in the betting community.
- 'Square Root of Evil'. Written by Richard Harris, adapted by John Dorney.
Following the death of a colleague, Steed goes undercover amongst a group of forgers. As the stakes get higher, his risk of discovery increases, and Dr. Keel may be his only chance to escape alive. But with the formidable thug known as the Cardinal watching their every move, could Steed be dooming them both?
- 'One for the Mortuary'. Written by Brian Clemens, adapted by John Dorney.
It should have been an easy day for David Keel. A short flight and a conference to attend. But John Steed’s arrival disrupts everything, as usual. Without even knowing, he finds himself at the centre of an international conspiracy. The chase is on to preserve and protect a valuable medical formula, and with an assassin on their trail, our heroes find themselves enmeshed in an intricate web of laundry, taxidermy and murder.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Time-Marked Warlock
- The Chronos Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Shami Stovall
- Narrated by: Annie Ellicott, Jeff Hays, Justin Thomas James
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother. So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything. Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.
-
-
One of the best books I've listened to.
- By Jason on 08-22-24
By: Shami Stovall
-
The Fixer
- Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn
- By: Josh Young, Manfred Westphal
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays, Manfred Westphal
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the height of Hollywood’s golden age, one man lorded over the city’s lurid underbelly of forbidden sin and celebrity scandal like no other: Fred Otash. An ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. vice cop, Otash became the most sought-after private detective and fixer to the stars by specializing in the dark arts that would soon dominate the entertainment industry. The Fixer delves into the extraordinary life of Hollywood’s most infamous private detective and “fixer” to the stars, revealing newly discovered shocking revelations from his never-before-seen investigative files.
-
-
For Hollywood gossip lovers!
- By Janna Wong Healy on 06-01-24
By: Josh Young, and others
-
Imagination Theatre: Weird & Strange Fantasy
- By: Original Radio Broadcast
- Narrated by: Larry Albert, Pat French
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Head to distant worlds and alternate futures! Explore the limitless potential for twists and turns when stories are fueled by the infinite power of imagination! Here are twenty-four thought-provoking tales as up-to-date as tomorrow. It's new-time radio in the classic old-time-radio manner, from the mind of producer Jim French.
-
-
Absolutely engrossing and great fun
- By Alex O. on 02-28-24
-
Death of an Author
- By: E. C. R. Lorac
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself looking for publicity, it appears that crime is afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim.
-
-
Modern classic mystery
- By AlmanacJEA on 06-11-23
By: E. C. R. Lorac
-
Call for the Dead
- George Smiley, Book 1
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After an unremarkable interview, Circus agent George Smiley determines the subject of a standard security check—a civil servant in the Foreign Office named Samuel Fennan—poses no threat, nor presents any reason for suspicion of espionage. Hours later, Samuel Fennan is found dead by suicide. Suddenly finding himself under intense scrutiny, Smiley realizes the Circus intends to blame him for Fennan's death. Rather than remain idle, Smiley begins his own investigation into the nature of the man's demise.
-
-
An Understated Adventure that keeps you wondering.
- By urbanmusicgal on 10-25-24
By: John Le Carré
-
Razzmatazz
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
San Francisco, 1947. Bartender Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin and the rest of the Cookie’s Coffee Irregulars—a ragtag bunch of working mugs last seen in Noir—are on the hustle: they’re trying to open a driving school; shanghai an abusive Swedish stevedore; get Mable, the local madam, and her girls to a Christmas party at the State Hospital without alerting the overzealous head of the S.F.P.D. vice squad.
-
-
Noir Has Never Been So Funny
- By Stefan Filipovits on 06-24-22
-
Time-Marked Warlock
- The Chronos Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Shami Stovall
- Narrated by: Annie Ellicott, Jeff Hays, Justin Thomas James
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother. So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything. Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.
-
-
One of the best books I've listened to.
- By Jason on 08-22-24
By: Shami Stovall
-
The Fixer
- Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn
- By: Josh Young, Manfred Westphal
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays, Manfred Westphal
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the height of Hollywood’s golden age, one man lorded over the city’s lurid underbelly of forbidden sin and celebrity scandal like no other: Fred Otash. An ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. vice cop, Otash became the most sought-after private detective and fixer to the stars by specializing in the dark arts that would soon dominate the entertainment industry. The Fixer delves into the extraordinary life of Hollywood’s most infamous private detective and “fixer” to the stars, revealing newly discovered shocking revelations from his never-before-seen investigative files.
-
-
For Hollywood gossip lovers!
- By Janna Wong Healy on 06-01-24
By: Josh Young, and others
-
Imagination Theatre: Weird & Strange Fantasy
- By: Original Radio Broadcast
- Narrated by: Larry Albert, Pat French
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Head to distant worlds and alternate futures! Explore the limitless potential for twists and turns when stories are fueled by the infinite power of imagination! Here are twenty-four thought-provoking tales as up-to-date as tomorrow. It's new-time radio in the classic old-time-radio manner, from the mind of producer Jim French.
-
-
Absolutely engrossing and great fun
- By Alex O. on 02-28-24
-
Death of an Author
- By: E. C. R. Lorac
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself looking for publicity, it appears that crime is afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim.
-
-
Modern classic mystery
- By AlmanacJEA on 06-11-23
By: E. C. R. Lorac
-
Call for the Dead
- George Smiley, Book 1
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After an unremarkable interview, Circus agent George Smiley determines the subject of a standard security check—a civil servant in the Foreign Office named Samuel Fennan—poses no threat, nor presents any reason for suspicion of espionage. Hours later, Samuel Fennan is found dead by suicide. Suddenly finding himself under intense scrutiny, Smiley realizes the Circus intends to blame him for Fennan's death. Rather than remain idle, Smiley begins his own investigation into the nature of the man's demise.
-
-
An Understated Adventure that keeps you wondering.
- By urbanmusicgal on 10-25-24
By: John Le Carré
-
Razzmatazz
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
San Francisco, 1947. Bartender Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin and the rest of the Cookie’s Coffee Irregulars—a ragtag bunch of working mugs last seen in Noir—are on the hustle: they’re trying to open a driving school; shanghai an abusive Swedish stevedore; get Mable, the local madam, and her girls to a Christmas party at the State Hospital without alerting the overzealous head of the S.F.P.D. vice squad.
-
-
Noir Has Never Been So Funny
- By Stefan Filipovits on 06-24-22
Related to this topic
-
The Christmas Party
- By: Kathryn Croft
- Narrated by: Billie Piper, Avita Jay
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go. Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
-
-
I’d skip this one. It’s well voiced and you think it may be interesting , but not this one .
- By The Dark Side on 11-01-24
By: Kathryn Croft
-
The Grandmother
- By: Jane E. James
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell, Max Dinnen
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two little girls stand with their heads bowed in my living room. I’m told they’re my granddaughters. Daisy is nine, and Alice seven. Daisy is the spitting image of her mother. This is the first time I’ve met them since my daughter and I fell out after she married that waste of space, Vince. They’ve come to live with me because their mother — my daughter — was murdered. In her own home while they slept close by. I think Vince killed her. But the police can’t prove it. I’ve always known he was no good. He treated my daughter like dirt. I said he’d cheat on her — but she wouldn’t listen.
-
-
Good story bad language
- By Patti on 12-18-24
By: Jane E. James
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
10 Rules for the Perfect Murder
- By: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
- Narrated by: Reid Scott, Cobie Smulders, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the killing of a prominent mob lawyer, NYPD homicide detectives Jacob Jackson and Caitlin Grimes start receive chilling, written “rules” for how to commit the perfect murder. "Rule number one for the perfect murder: Evidence is your enemy. Leave none behind." Jackson (Reid Scott) and Grimes (Cobie Smulders) race to find the killer, setting them on a collision course with the city’s crime underbelly, and a perpetrator who seems happy to toy with them. “Rule number two. No crimes of passion. The perfect murder is always business, never pleasure.”
-
-
Tricky
- By Robert Scott Read on 10-30-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Woman in Coach D
- By: Sarah A. Denzil
- Narrated by: Katie Clarkson-Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny sits in the same seat on the same train every week, seeing familiar faces come and go. Until a chance encounter shatters her world. Sixteen years ago, Jenny survived a traumatic ordeal that left her best friend, Susie, missing and presumed dead. The world has its theories about what happened to Susie Patterson, and one of those theories points the finger at Jenny. Now she lives a quiet life, volunteering at a crisis helpline while trying to deal with her own anxiety and the true crime fans obsessed with finding her missing friend.
-
-
Too long
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-24
By: Sarah A. Denzil
-
The Christmas Party
- By: Kathryn Croft
- Narrated by: Billie Piper, Avita Jay
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go. Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
-
-
I’d skip this one. It’s well voiced and you think it may be interesting , but not this one .
- By The Dark Side on 11-01-24
By: Kathryn Croft
-
The Grandmother
- By: Jane E. James
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell, Max Dinnen
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two little girls stand with their heads bowed in my living room. I’m told they’re my granddaughters. Daisy is nine, and Alice seven. Daisy is the spitting image of her mother. This is the first time I’ve met them since my daughter and I fell out after she married that waste of space, Vince. They’ve come to live with me because their mother — my daughter — was murdered. In her own home while they slept close by. I think Vince killed her. But the police can’t prove it. I’ve always known he was no good. He treated my daughter like dirt. I said he’d cheat on her — but she wouldn’t listen.
-
-
Good story bad language
- By Patti on 12-18-24
By: Jane E. James
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
10 Rules for the Perfect Murder
- By: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
- Narrated by: Reid Scott, Cobie Smulders, full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the killing of a prominent mob lawyer, NYPD homicide detectives Jacob Jackson and Caitlin Grimes start receive chilling, written “rules” for how to commit the perfect murder. "Rule number one for the perfect murder: Evidence is your enemy. Leave none behind." Jackson (Reid Scott) and Grimes (Cobie Smulders) race to find the killer, setting them on a collision course with the city’s crime underbelly, and a perpetrator who seems happy to toy with them. “Rule number two. No crimes of passion. The perfect murder is always business, never pleasure.”
-
-
Tricky
- By Robert Scott Read on 10-30-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Woman in Coach D
- By: Sarah A. Denzil
- Narrated by: Katie Clarkson-Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny sits in the same seat on the same train every week, seeing familiar faces come and go. Until a chance encounter shatters her world. Sixteen years ago, Jenny survived a traumatic ordeal that left her best friend, Susie, missing and presumed dead. The world has its theories about what happened to Susie Patterson, and one of those theories points the finger at Jenny. Now she lives a quiet life, volunteering at a crisis helpline while trying to deal with her own anxiety and the true crime fans obsessed with finding her missing friend.
-
-
Too long
- By Anonymous User on 11-15-24
By: Sarah A. Denzil
-
The Teacher's Lie
- By: Brid Cummings
- Narrated by: Mia Wasikowska
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s been two years since Anna Cartwright’s life fell apart. During her first school trip as a young teacher, a student went missing and was never found. Not only was her career ruined, she was also accused of having an affair with fellow teacher and prime suspect Graham. Facing questions from journalists, police and family, Anna said she didn’t know what happened. She was lying. Now, Anna has returned to Australia. Her only hope is Land’s End Area School, an isolated concrete wasteland perched on the cliffs.
-
-
SLO-o-o-w
- By Karen M on 11-27-24
By: Brid Cummings
-
7 Hours to Die
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Sarah Paulson, Patina Miller, Mel Rodriguez, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kidnappers grabbed Jenna in broad daylight, right in front of her children and their horrified classmates. Her family was issued an insane ransom demand: $25 million in cash and jewels, payable by the end of the school day, otherwise they’ll never see her again. As Jenna’s mother scrambles to gather the money, detectives Mo Butler and George Ortega follow the trail of the kidnappers, which will lead them through a sordid landscape of jealous lovers, broken dreamers, and twisted schemers. But every second counts, and there’s one thing Jenna Wade doesn’t have: very much time.
-
-
This was such a fun Quick listen
- By Mdc on 10-08-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
He's Gone
- By: Rebecca Collomosse
- Narrated by: Victoria Blunt, Cicely Whitehead, Joe Eyre
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My fiancé brought me tea and scrambled eggs in bed that morning, and we snuggled together, talking about buying our rings, and about our perfect wedding next year. Then we headed into town. He held my hand and gazed at the ring I liked best, a smile spreading slowly over his face. Then a glass of bubbly to celebrate. I felt flushed, excited and ready for the rest of my life with the man I loved. We race to get on the train home. It screams to a halt and I run towards its open doors. Made it. I think he’s right behind me — but when I turn around, he’s gone.
-
-
Disappointing plot
- By TerriSweeta on 12-04-24
-
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- By: Agatha Christie, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Peter Dinklage, Himesh Patel, Harriet Walter, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1914. The world is at war. Captain Hastings, injured and shaken, is invited to Styles Court to recover. It’s a grand old country house - the family home of his old friend - and a perfect haven. Or so it seems. But in the blistering summer heat, trouble is afoot. Simmering tensions are tearing the family apart, and it all comes to a head in the most horrifying way.
-
-
It’s a perfect audible movie!
- By Malissa Caudell on 11-15-24
By: Agatha Christie, and others
-
Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
-
-
A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
By: Andy Weir
-
Do You Remember?
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tess Strebel can’t recognize her own face. She can’t recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she can’t remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband. Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: she was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.
-
-
Eh
- By Zoe on 03-16-24
By: Freida McFadden
What listeners say about The Avengers - The Lost Episodes, Volume 1
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pixie
- 11-15-16
Jolly good fun
What did you love best about The Avengers - The Lost Episodes, Volume 1?
What I loved best about Volume 1 was that it gave a good introduction to, and got me hooked on, “The Avengers” – a popular British television show in the 1960s with which I was not familiar (the Avengers I knew were the ones in Marvel Comics movies). The stories, scripts, performances, music, and sound effects all combined seamlessly to tell the origin story of how the imperturbable David Keel, a physician, became a “budding criminologist” and the crime-fighting partner of suave secret agent John Steed. From the first episode, “Hot Snow,” to the fourth and last of the volume, “One for the Mortuary,” it was fun to listen as the two easily found their stride as a team even as the cases got more complex.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Avengers - The Lost Episodes, Volume 1?
Some of the most memorable moments were in scenes shared by Steed, Dr. Keel, and Dr. Keel’s receptionist Carol. Steed first encounters Carol at Dr. Keel’s surgery, where he pretends to be a patient in need of an eye examination. Flirting seems to be a reflex for Steed, who eventually removes his dark glasses and says to Dr. Keel, in Carol’s presence: “When I arrived here I thought your receptionist was quite plain, but now I can see quite clearly how wrong I was. Sharp vision has so many compensations.” Dr. Keel, however, quickly replies: “Your wife and brood of children will be pleased to hear that.”
The template for this scene is repeated throughout the series: Steed flirts with Carol, Dr. Keel disapproves, Carol remains impervious to the secret agent’s charms. Dr. Keel, though, is not above using Carol to get what he wants from Steed. When, after treating Steed’s wounded hand, Dr. Keel advises him to return the next day, Steed protests.
“Now look, I’m very busy,” Steed says.
“Carol will give you another injection for your hand.”
“I’ll move heaven and earth.”
These witty exchanges between Steed and Dr. Keel provide many memorable and lighthearted moments that make listening to this audio book an enjoyable experience.
What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
I liked how Anthony Howell (Foyle’s War, Wives & Daughters) and Julian Wadham (Outlander, The English Patient) were able to draw out and convey the distinct personalities of Dr. Keel and Steed, and how well-matched they were. There was a scene in the fourth episode in which a nervous woman on a plane found her courage just by looking at Dr. Keel. She said to him, “I saw you sitting there so calm and collected and upright, with a ramrod down your back… and then I knew I would be all right.” Anthony Howell, with his even baritone and leading man voice, portrays that description perfectly. Steed, by contrast, is all ease and charm, brimming with self-confidence. He complains, for instance, that it’s difficult pretending to visit Dr. Keel as a patient because it’s “hard to look ill when you are in peak physical condition.” Julian Wadham has a playful lilt to his voice that makes Steed lovable and not pompous, naughty but not sleazy.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I found it moving that, as the stories progressed from the first episode to the last, the relationship between Steed and Dr. Keel evolved from being a partnership of expediency to one of mutual respect and even friendship. There is a moment in the fourth episode when Dr. Keel goes to a Turkish bath to meet Steed, who is getting a massage. Dr. Keel starts to tease Steed. “A Turkish bath? Do you have a guide book called 101 strange places to meet in London or is coming up with them just a gift?” But he becomes concerned when he sees the bruises on Steed’s body, asking: “What have you been doing to yourself?” Steed, in turn, appears to have second thoughts about sending Dr. Keel on a dangerous mission. “I’m not sure I should ask you to do this at all.” The subtle shifts in tone by Anthony Howell and Julian Wadham ensure that the exchange doesn’t become soppy. The script makes certain of that, too. Dr. Keel reacts to Steed’s uncharacteristically earnest tone by trying to make light of the situation: “O-ho-ho! Come off it! I’m a godsend for pulling your… chestnuts out of the fire!”
Any additional comments?
Props to John Dorney for adapting the television screenplay for audio. The language, the music, and the sound effects (e.g., dialing on a rotary phone) effectively capture the feel of the 1960s. The dialogue is also efficient in setting each scene. For instance, the listener is able to establish that a character is a taxidermist long before he finally says, “This is a funeral emporium for animals!”
I also liked that in between episodes, there were short spiels in which the producer, writer, and actors spoke about the joys and challenges of working on the project. Being new to “The Avengers,” I found the background information interesting. It made me appreciate the audio book more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julian C. Chambliss
- 06-16-21
Forgot Classic
Considering how iconic the later years of this series was, it is refreshing and interesting to hear these recreations.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!