Hot Snow (The Avengers)
| "Hot Snow" | |
|---|---|
| The Avengers episode | |
Screen title
|
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Don Leaver |
| Written by | Ray Rigby based on a story by Patrick Brawn |
| Produced by | Leonard White |
| Featured music | John Dankworth (theme) |
| Production code | 1-01 |
| Original air date | 7 January 1961 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Hot Snow is the pilot episode of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee. It originally aired on ABC on 7 January 1961. Only about 20 minutes, the first of three acts, remain. The episode was directed by Don Leaver and generally acknowledged to have been written by Ray Rigby, but Brian Clemens claimed to have written it.
Dr. David Keel's (Ian Hendry) fiancée and surgery receptionist Peggy (Catherine Woodville) is murdered by a ruthless gang of drug dealers. By accident he receives a consignment of heroin at his surgery. Believing it to have been sent by the gang who killed his fiance, he seeks revenge, and with the help of a mysterious figure John Steed (Patrick Macnee) they hunt the gang down. They find the gang leader Spicer and set a trap for him, but he escapes and is finally caught in the next episode. Keel decides he enjoys playing amateur detective, and decides to form a team with Steed.
The episode was originally intended as a direct follow-up to Police Surgeon starring Ian Hendry as Geoffrey Brent, but in November 1960, producer Leonard White issued a memorandum which made it clear that "a new name is being found for Hendry's character, and that The Avengers will now have absolutely nothing to do with Police Surgeon". He continued to produce The Avengers and working with Hendry in a whole new concept, with Hendry playing the new character of Dr. David Keel.
The episode is usually considered to have been written by Ray Rigby, based on a story by Patrick Brawn; however, in an interview with Wheeler W. Dixon in May 1999, Brian Clemens, the creator of the series, claims to have written it. The episode sets were designed by Alpho O'Reilly. Production by ABC Weekend Television was wrapped up on 30 December 1960. The episode premiered on ABC in the Midlands and North of England on Saturday 7 January 1961 at 10pm. Only the first 20 minutes or so of the first act of the episode survive; the remaining two acts are thought to be lost. The extant footage ends with the sequence in which Keel's fiance Peggy is shot, before the introduction of John Steed. It has been released on DVD as a bonus feature by A&E Home Video in its Emma Peel Megabox collection, alongside the two complete surviving episodes from Season 1.
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