The Avengers: A Touch of Brimstone

A Touch of Brimstone (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Peter Wyngarde, Carol Cleveland, Michael Latimer, and Colin Jeavons
Director: James Hill
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

The charismatic leader of a modern-day Hellfire Club (Wyngarde) intends to topple the British government through a mass-assassination plot, and only secret agents John Steed (Macnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) can infiltrate his group and stop them.

This is an episode of "The Avengers" that people who were reading "X-Men" comics in the early 1980s is familiar with in a round-about way, even if they didn't even know there was such a thing as a television series called "The Avengers. In the early 1980s, Writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne based the look and nature of a group of evil mutants on the Hellfire Club in this episode--in particular a the Black Queen. That character's look and outfit was inspired by one sported by Emma Peel in this episode... even if the Black Queen was even more skimpily clad than Peel was. 

Although Peel was only dressed in the costume for a few minutes--including the climactic battle where she fights for her life against the villainous leader of the Hellfire Club--it caused quite a stir back in 1965. The episode was edited by censors for its original broadcast in Great Britain, broadcasters in continental Europe and in Australia fielded complaints from viewers, and the whole thing was deemed to risque to even air in the United States. One interesting tidbit about the outfit is that actress Diana Rigg had issues with some of costumes she had to wear as Emma Peel, but this is one she designed herself.

As for the bulk of the episode, instead of just the costume that launched a thousand trips to the fainting couch and jump-started a thousand puberites via comics or the airwaves, it also ranks as one of the stronger in the series due to its very well-paced action, well-developed supporting characters (with the leader of group, John Cartney played by Peter Wynngarde, being one of the most palatably evil characters to even appear on the series), and great banter between John Steed, Emma Peel, and just about anyone they encounter during their investigation. This is also another episode where Diana Rigg gets to shine as an actress, due to the variety of situations that her character Emma Peel must navigate as the story unfolds. The final fight scenes between the bad guys and our heroes is also among the best of the series.

Whether you just want to see one of the better episodes in the series; whether you want to watch Diana Rigg parade around in not a lot of clothes (while carrying a snake); or whether you are the modern-day pearl-clutching type who wants to be outraged and feel like your spiritual ancestors in the 1960s felt, this is the episode to check out.

Here are a few more images and publicity stills from "A Touch of Brimstone", just because.