Emma Peel made her television debut in the UK in October, 1965. I do not think my husband has ever been the same since. Diana Rigg's cool, beautiful and cat like characterization guaranteed that grown men would turn into slobbering, lavicious wrecks, while women wanted to emulate her independent, emasculated lifestyle.

Born Emma Knight, she showed her prowess at the early age of 21 by becoming the Chairman of Knight Industries - her father's corporation. Between this and her meeting with John Steed, she married pilot Peter Peel who we later learn was involved in a plane crash and thought to have died.

While mourning for her husband, she realized that stuffy board meetings were not for her. Emma craved excitement in her life, along with a dash of danger and adventure. John Steed would provide this and more. Adept at both Kung Fu and Karate, she was also very capable with a gun or sword.

The chemistry and subtle humor between Diana Rigg's Emma and Patrick Macnee's Steed is stuff of TV legend. Two other actresses tried and failed to bring Emma Peel to life, but she still lives on in the minds and memories of a generation of a certain age.

Once Honor Blackman had decided to hang up her leather boots as Cathy Gale in 1964, the search was on to find a new partner for John Steed. However, things did not run as smoothly as the producers would have hoped.

After several months of auditions, actress Elizabeth Shepherd (pictured right) secured the role of Emma Peel. It was decided that a new character would accompany Steed on his missions, as Cathy Gale was so synonymous with Honor Blackman. Emma Peel was born out of "man appeal" or "m-appeal", and thus a new era of "The Avengers" began.

Filming started, and Shepherd completed the episode "The Town of No Return" and only half of "The Murder Market" after which her contract was terminated. The producers felt she was not right for the part, but a definitive reason for her departure has never truly been uncovered.

Looking at the pictures of Shepherd, it seems somewhat unsurprising that she secured the role. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Honor Blackman, with the blond hair and statuesque figure. This is how Emma Peel could have appeared had circumstances turned out differently.

1. The Town of No Return.
2. The Gravediggers.
3. The Cybernauts
4. Death at Bargain Prices.
5. Castle De'ath.
6. The Master Minds.
7. The Murder Market.
8. A Surfeit of H2O.
9. The Hour That Never Was.
10. Dial A Deadly Number.
11. Man-Eater of Surrey Green.
12. Two's A Crowd.
13. Too Many Christmas Trees.
14. Silent Dust.
15. Room Without A View.
16. Small Game For Big Hunters.
17. The Girl From AUNTIE.
18. The Thirteenth Hole.
19. Quick Quick Slow Death.
20. The Danger Makers.
21. A Touch of Brimstone.
22. What the Butler Saw.
23. The House That Jack Built.
24. A Sense of History.
25. How to Succeed...at Murder.
26. Honey For the Prince.

The above episodes were the first to feature Emma Peel as John Steed's sidekick. They were initially shown in the UK between October 1965 and March 1966. Unlike the previous three seasons, The Avengers was now being recorded on film in monochrome, thanks to an injection of funds from American backers.

Many fans of the series consider these episodes to be superior to the following color season, although this is, of course, a matter of personal taste.

1. From Venus With Love.
2. The Fear Merchants.
3. Escape in Time.
4. The See-Through Man.
5. The Bird Who Knew Too Much.
6. The Winged Avenger.
7. The Living Dead.
8. The Hidden Tiger.
9. The Correct Way to Kill.
10. Never, Never Say Die.
11. Epic.
12. The Superlative Seven.
13. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station.
14. Something Nasty in the Nursery.
15. The Joker.
16. Who's Who?
17. Return of the Cybernauts.
18. Death's Door.
19. The £50,000 Breakfast.
20. Dead Man's Treasure.
21. You Have Just Been Murdered.
22. The Positive-Negative Man.
23. Murdersville.
24. Mission: Highly Improbable.

November 1967 would see the last of Emma Peel's adventures with John Steed, except that Diana Rigg agreed to return for one last episode, "The Forget-Me-Not", in which she hands over the reins to a new partner, Tara King.

It would be another 31 years before Emma would appear on film again (bar a short cameo appearance in "The New Avengers").

Following her departure in 1968, nothing new was seen of Emma Peel until 1998 (barring a brief cameo appearance in The New Avengers episode "K is For Kill").

Her fans had clamored for her return for thirty years, and while she had appeared in print and in a South African radio version of The Avengers, it took Hollywood to bring her back in the shape of Uma Thurman. This time Emma had the title of Doctor and was equally fashion savvy as she had been back in the 1960s.

Unfortunately for Dr. Peel, her transfer to silver screen was an unmitigated disaster. Only a handful of fans admitted to enjoying what was billed as a summer blockbuster movie named after the TV series. While Emma still had the wow factor in terms of her appearance, this time the chemistry and humor between the two sleuths was now very forced. It did not help that much of the film ended up on the editing room floor, causing the story to become disjointed and inconprehensible.

The critics panned the movie almost unanimously, and even Patrick Macnee appeared content that it had flopped miserably. What could have seen Emma Peel return more frequently in sequels was ruined by the Hollywood machine that saw The Avengers as an action contemporary of James Bond, which the television series never was. Emma and Steed were about style and subtlety, not elaborate special effects.

It has now been eleven years since we have seen Emma Peel in action. But she impressed enough people to rank her #1 in a 2002 TV Guide poll as the sexiest TV star ever. However, I have a feeling that she is now a memory. A glorious memory nonetheless.