Patrick Macnee Movies
British actor Patrick Macnee barely had time to earn his Eton school tie when he began training for his career on a scholarship to the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. While serving with the Royal Navy during World War II, Macnee made his first film appearance with a small role in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (43). He continued essaying such featured roles as Young Marley in the 1951 Christmas Carol before coming to Broadway with the Old Vic troupe in 1954. He decided to stay in Hollywood a while, appearing in several TV shows and such films as Les Girls (57). He would later describe most of his roles during this period as "villainy in a tri-corner hat." In 1960, Macnee traded his period duds for a bowler and three-piece suit when he began his long run as sophisticated secret agent John Steed on the British TV series The Avengers (incidentally, the murder that Macnee was "avenging" in the early episodes was that of a woman played by his then-wife Kate Woodville). He remained the one permanent fixture on The Avengers until its demise in 1968, appearing opposite three different jumpsuit-clad leading ladies: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson. Macnee also showed up as a supervisor of sort in the 1977 "retro" series The New Avengers, leaving the karate and gunplay to Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt. In America, Patrick Macnee appeared regularly on the TV series Gavilan (82), Empire (84), and Lightning Force (91). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1977
In this fourth Canadian-filmed episode of The New Avengers, Steed (Patrick MacNee), Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley) doggedly search for a missing circuit, following such clues as a drowned corpse in an evening gown. The trail leads to the bottom of Lake Ontario, where our heroes discover a hidden Soviet missile silo. This is the episode in which Joanna Lumley bravely attempts a Canadian accent--and this is also the final New Avengers installment, bringing the 16-year-old Avengers TV franchise to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1977
The gimmick on this episode is a mind-transfer machine which drains all conscious thoughts from people, leaving them in a vegetative state. The villain of the piece steals the machine, hoping to harvest a secret code from the minds of three captured agents, each of whom knows only a portion of the code. Steed (Patrick MacNee), who devised this "selective memory" strategy, must go it alone to stop the villains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1977
Season two of The New Avengers begins with another revenge-motivated episode. Ten years ago, John Steed (Patrick MacNee) was forced to shoot down his old friend and fellow agent Mark (Clive Revill), who had defected to the East. Since that time, Mark has been slowly dying from his wound, as the bullet works its way towards his heart. But before he cashes it in, Mark intends to wreak vengeance by destroying everyone and everything that Steed holds near and dear--and, of course, Purdey (Joanna Lumley) falls into this category. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1977
Fifty secret agents and civil servants, all apparently healthy and robust, have died of unknown causes over a two-year period. Steed (Patrick MacNee), Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Gareth Hunt) investigate the health farm where all of the victims had worked out before their untimely demises. Cult-movie favorite Caroline Munro appears as a health-farm employee who may or may not be in on the sinister plot. Clips from previous episodes of The New Avengers) are seen during Steed's drug-induced flashback. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1977
The New Avengers investigate when a high-ranking military officer (Michael Barrington) disappears. Our heroes come across a band of mercenaries led by rogue colonel "Mad Jack" Miller (John Castle), who intends to launch an invasion of the Middle East and thus trigger World War 3. Ah, but Miller has reckoned without the resourceful Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), who when the need arises can become a "one-man army." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1977
The New Avengers wrapped up its first season with an episode which writer Dennis Spooner has confessed was based on "Attack of the Alligators",an installment of the "Supermarionation" series Thunderbirds (with, it would seem, a bit of "Monty Python" thrown in). An illicitly developed growth liquid seeps into the London sewer system, creating a giant, deadly rat. Kidnapped by the scientists who created the liquid, Purdey (Joanna Lumley) is set up as bait for the king-sized vermin--and our girl must also contend with a passel of killer tomatoes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdy (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) foil the latest mission of Soviet agent Perov (Peter Jeffrey). In retaliation, and in defiance of his superiors, Perov reactivates several "sleeper" agents who have been squirreled away throughout the U.K. for the past 20 years. At first, it would seem that Perov's sole motivation is to kill the Avengers--but there's far more to his sinister scheme. This is the episode in which Gambit poses as a pop star and Purdey impersonates a squealing teenage fan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Previously seen on two episodes of the original Avengers, those malevolent metallic menaces, the Cybernauts, are at large again. This time, the man behind the Cybernaut invasion is Kane (Robert Lang), a crippled and disfigured double agent who has a score to settle with John Steed (Patrick MacNee). Part of the scheme involves the "rebirth" of the supposedly dead Kane with a new Cybernautic body--and the superpowers that go with it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
The New Avengers begins its two-season run with "old" avenger John Steed (Patrick Macnee), as fastidious and gentlemanly as ever, teamed with two new, young, and attractive partners: Purdey (Joanna Lumley), a sexy, cool-headed martial arts expert (sound familiar?), and Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), a rough-hewn ex-mercenary. Their first assignment sends the trio to the remote island of St. Dorca, where another secret agent has already met his doom at the end of some poisoned fishing hooks. The new avengers must pick up where their dead comrade left off and seek out a kidnapped scientist. Their search takes them to a sinister monastery, populated by a very Teutonic-looking band of monks which is preparing to thaw out "Germany's Greatest Treasure," cryogenically frozen since 1945. Biggest surprise: guest star Peter Cushing is not the villain of the piece! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Purdey (Joanna Lumley) heads to an obstacle-laden firing range in hopes of breaking Steed's (Patrick MacNee) perfect marksmanship record. Five of Steed's previous associates have attempted the same thing at the same range, have fallen short of a perfect score by a mere fraction--and have promptly died of poisoning. Unless Gambit (Gareth Hunt) can run the range and score 100%, Purdy will be Victim Number Six. Roy Boyd, the actor cast as Bradshaw, was a last-minute replacement for frequent Avengers guest star Frederick Jaeger), who caught a cold during filming and was "demoted" to a smaller part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Ian Hendry, who as Dr. David Keel had been one of the original stars of the original Avengers, is here cast as Gunner, an amnesiac secret agent. Having been missing for seventeen years, Gunner suddenly shows up, and just as suddenly recovers his memory, providing a strange coded message. This new information may or may not be able to lead Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) to the whereabouts of a notorious double agent known only as the White Rat. As usual, however, the villain gets the upper hand along the way, forcing the New Avengers to gamble with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
The touch of Midas (Gilles Millinaire) is hardly golden in this episode. It seems that the young called Midas is a carrier of every known disease, and can kill with the slightest contact of his fingertips ("They died of everything!" is the diagnosis whenever one of his victims is found). Enticed with a huge prize of gold, Midas agrees to wreak havoc on England in general and the Avengers in particular on behalf of a sinister foreign diplomat. The pot is sweetened when Purdey (Joanne Lumley) is kidnapped and offered up as Mida's companion for the evening--an experience which of course will have fatal consequences for our heroine. Raiders of the Lost Ark bad guy Ronald Lacey guest stars as Hong Kong Harry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Blackballed by his peers, crackpot conservationist Zacardi (Vladek Sheybal) intends to get even with his highly trained birds, which swoop down and kill on his orders. Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) endeavor to stop Zacardi in his plan to take over the world with his feathered friends. The climax of this episode (the top-rated installment of The New Avengers' first season) finds Purdey in perilous predicament that would even make Alfred Hitchcock nervous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Government scientists develop a knockout gas, designed to peacefully quell terrorist uprisings. The gas, and its antidote, inevitably fall into the Wrong Hands, those hands belonging to a gang of crooks who plan to send all of London off to slumberland so that they can embark upon a wholesale crime spree. To prevent this, the New Avengers once again go undercover--with Purdey (Joanna Lumley) posing as a department store window mannequin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
In exchange for providing valuable information to the government, a convict is set free. But no sooner has the prisoner set foot on the "outside" than he is mowed down by enemy gunfire. The New Avengers try to find out what he was going to tell, and why he was killed--with a tattered paperback copy of a Western novel as their only clue. Ingredients essential to the outcome of this story are a marathon cross-country chase and a deadly game of cards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
Steed (Patrick MacNee) Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) go undercover in one of the seamier neighborhoods of London. The Reason? Several prominent governmnet officials, including a friend of Steed's, have turned up dead. It turns out that someone is using disguised derelicts to replace the dead officials. The real trouble begins when the identical doubles for Gambit and Purdey show up (though it does permit Purdey the plum acting assignment of doubling for her own double). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1976
With only an ancient medallion to guide him, a British explorer launches an adventure-packed expedition to a mysterious lost Phoenician city in the heart of Africa were Solomon's fabulous treasure is said to be hidden in this low-budget Canadian fantasy-adventure. During the dangerous journey, the treasure hunters encounter dinosaur guardians and an exquisitely statuesque Phoenician queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Sherlock Holmes in New York is a topnotch TV movie starring Roger Moore (surprisingly effective as Holmes) and Patrick MacNee (an intelligent, compassionate Watson). The Great Detective travels to the Big Apple of the 1890s to thwart arch-villain Moriarty, who plans to devalue the world's gold supply. Holmes is also reunited with his lost love Irene Adler (Charlotte Rampling), whose honesty--or lack of it--is just as much in doubt as it had been in Doyle's Scandal in Bohemia. The film combines the razor-sharp deductions of Holmes with the deeper, darker aspects of his character. Sherlock Holmes in New York underwent numerous script and concept changes while the producers awaited the availability of Roger Moore, who in the mid-1970s was being kept busy as James Bond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) takes one of his rare vacations in the 90-minute mystery Troubled Waters. Even on a cruise ship, he can't seem to avoid murder. The victim this time is the singer in the ship's band. The top-billed special guest star is Robert Vaughn, so draw your own conclusions. Directed by Ben Gazzara, Troubled Waters was first telecast as the February 9, 1975 episode of the Columbo TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this detective adventure, the pilot episode for the short-livedTV series, suave Matt Helm gets involved with the smugglers who have been providing black market munitions to African mercenaries when he assigned to protect the life of a movie star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Patrick Macnee, (more)
This badly-dated but interesting variant on the vampire subgenre is loosely based on the Simon Raven novel Doctors Wear Scarlet. The story details the seduction of an Oxford resident (Patrick Mower) into a satanic vampire society while studying in Greece. The chief twist here is that vampirism is treated not as a supernatural affliction, but as a bizarre form of sexual gratification -- an alternative lifestyle in which Mower is soon immersed, thanks to the manipulations of an exotic Greek siren. After some silly scenes featuring a lot of groovin' hippie orgies and silly psychedelic lighting effects, Mower returns to England to continue his sanguinary obsession in earnest, focusing his bloodthirsty desires on his prudish fiancee -- who is not so willing to embrace this new lifestyle. Despite the aforementioned painful attempts at hipness, this film shapes up to be an effective thriller -- perhaps the first to put a psychological spin on the vampire pantheon. Peter Cushing and Patrick Macnee are on hand in very small but effective supporting roles. Released also under the more "trendy" title Incense for the Damned. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The title refers to a special course for secret agents, designed to determine how much brutal interrogation the candidates are able to withstand. Tara King is summoned to undergo the course, willing if not eager to subject herself to its exacting rigors. What Tara doesn't know is that every agent who successfully completes the course ends up murdered a few days later. Christopher Lee guest-stars in "The Interrogators," which was written by Richard Harris and Brian Clemens; the episode debuted in England on New Year's Day 1969, and in America on January 20. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Linda Thorson, (more)
- 1969
Steed and Tara are called in when several forestry experts are murdered. It turns out that the dead men had all stumbled onto a diabolical plan to destroy the earth's foliage with a strain of synthetic dry rot. As the villains try to hold up England for a billion pounds, the Avengers do battle with the bad guys' minions. Guest star Eric Barker steals the show as the eccentric Mr. Pym. Written by Dave Freeman, "The Rotters" was first seen in England on January 8, 1969 -- some three weeks after its American TV debut on December 16, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Linda Thorson, (more)
- 1969
This exotically titled Avengers episode is a working of the 1962 "Cathy Gale" installment "The Big Thinker." The title character is a highly advanced computer that is "murdered" by a shotgun blast. The perpetrator of this outrage would seem to be the creator of the computer, but Steed thinks otherwise; as a result, Tara poses as the creator's American niece, in hopes of rooting out the actual culprit. Written by Tony Williamson, "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" made its TV debut in America on October 30, 1968, followed by its British TV bow on December 9 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Linda Thorson, (more)
- 1969
Tara investigates when her uncle doesn't return from his vacation. Following the trail of evidence, she finds herself at a fancy hotel, where guests are permitted to stay as long as they like, but woe betide them if they ever try to leave! While attempting to rescue her uncle, Tara is herself imprisoned by the hotel's ultra-courteous staff. With Steed otherwise occupied, Mother sends his own nephew, an agent in training, to extract Tara from her predicament. Brimmed to overflowing with familiar guest star faces, "Wish You Were Here" was written by Tony Williamson; it was first shown in England on February 12, 1969, having made its "official" debut on American TV on November 18, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Linda Thorson, (more)
