Once Macnee was teamed with Blackman, the show started to develop its characteristic flavor. Steed became more upper-class, dressed in increasingly dandified Edwardian fashion, while Gale represented a new vision of the strong, intelligent, active, and equal woman. Shot on multiple-camera video, these episodes did not display the same flair for the fantastic as the later filmed series (indeed, they look very much like the period’s realistic “kitchen sink” dramas), but the narratives did start to flirt with the bizarre and unexpected.

During this same period (1962–64), there was increasing American interest in The Avengers, culminating in 1964 when ABC bought the series for the fall 1965 season. The network wanted a filmed series, so the show went on hiatus for nearly a year, reappearing on ITV in 1965 with new star Rigg. ABC chose to wait until 1967, when color episodes would be available rather than risk showing an imported black-and-white series while the U.S. networks were converting to all-color TV. After two seasons, Rigg left and was replaced by Thorson (1968–69). ABC canceled the show in 1969 because audiences sharply declined after it was scheduled against the new hit Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Although The Avengers continued to garner top ratings in Britain and throughout Europe, production stopped (it was never officially canceled) because the production company, Associated British, now relied on U.S. money.

While The Avengers is often considered part of the James Bond/cold war cycle of espionage thrillers, it actually dealt less with international issues and more with changes in modern Britain. Narratives explicitly engaged with issues of colonialism, national heritage, and questions of imperial British history, often parodying the nation’s past, its institutions, and its stock stereotypes such as the English gentleman and the retired army major. This humorous reflection on national identity was combined with a fascination with spaceage technology and an emphasis on modern femininity, a juxtaposition that recalled Britain’s own long emergence out of postwar deprivation into the new, trendsetting world represented by Carnaby Street and the Beatles.