The Need for Steed

Chris Hallam remembers The Avengers star Patrick Macnee

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On the face of it, the character of John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee in the ITV series The Avengers, was an unlikely icon for the swinging 60s. In a decade obsessed with youth, modernity and working-class heroes, Steed was not only middle-aged (Macnee turned 40 in 1962) but resolutely old-fashioned, an old Etonian and a throwback. Suave and debonair, Steed was rarely seen without his trademark bowler hat and umbrella and usually drove either a Bentley or a Rolls-Royce.

Macnee had largely created the character of Steed himself. When The Avengers first aired in 1961, it was a much less glamorous show than the one it ultimately became. Essentially a vehicle for Ian Hendry, who played lead character Dr David Keel, Macnee was cast as Steed, an unfashionable trenchcoat-wearing undercover operative who would serve as Keel’s link to the underworld. But it soon became obvious Steed wasn't really working out as a character. Canadian producer Sydney Newman suggested Macnee read Ian Fleming’s James Bond books and consider making some changes.

The actor did as he was told, drawing on the fashion sense of his father and remembering how he had always worn a carnation in his buttonhole and had the collars of his overcoats covered in velvet. He now adopted this look for John Steed. On first seeing Macnee turn up for work in his new garb, Ian Hendry swore out loud in surprise. Newman, meanwhile, hedged his bets: “Well, it’s sure as hell different.”

It was. Macnee drew on other influences, both real and fictional. Macnee had once been in a film about The Scarlet Pimpernel, a fashionable 18th century dandy who was constantly underestimated by his enemies. He also drew upon Major Charles Hammond, another fictional character, this time played by Ralph Richardson in the spy film Q Planes (1939). Finally, he also remembered the real-life bravery of Bussy Carr, his commanding officer in the Royal Navy during World War Two.