Master Ninja II

(Joel and the Bots are thinking up good animal sidekicks for TV characters)
Joel: How about “The Avengers”?
Servo: For Emma Peel, a newt. For John Steed, let’s see…a spitting cobra or a duck.

If you’ve ever seen my other pages, you’ll notice that “The Avengers” is my favorite TV show. It ran from 1962 to 1969, with John Steed (Patrick Macnee) as the one constant character in the series, while his partners came and went—in the very beginning there was Dr. Keel, Dr. King, and Venus Smith. Then there was Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman, better known as Pussy Galore from Goldfinger). After her was Emma Peel, and after her, Linda Thorson. As you might surmise from Servo’s conversation, the episodes with Steed and Emma Peel (played by Dame Diana Rigg) are the most well known (and, in my opinion, the best). But I don’t know—I don’t see Mrs. Peel having a newt for a sidekick. I see something a little more chic—you know, perhaps a cat or a somewhat violent swan. And while I don’t think a spitting cobra would be a good sidekick in general, I do see a duck working out for Steed. And if not that, a bush baby, perhaps? Coincidentally, George Lazenby (who starred in Master Ninja II) was James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which also starred Diana Rigg. While the movie was initially considered one of the worst of the James Bond movies, it’s gradually attained the respect it deserves. It’s actually incredibly good, with lots of action and multi-dimensional characters (rare for a Bond movie). Dame Diana, by the way, played Bond’s love interest—and the only woman to ever actually become Mrs. Bond (no, Kissy Suzuki does not count).