I have been to some reunions during my career, but I have to say that the Avenger 50th anniversary tops them all. I can testify that the fans that attended were not disappointed. Every one I spoke to was in praise of each event and raved about the on-stage interviews. Well done Chichester University and all the staff and students that put it together and made it work.

I remember a time in England when on an “Avengers” night you could not get people to leave their homes. Even the pubs had a noticeable drop in trade on those nights. In the work place next day, the fans would talk over the plot and what Steed and Emma Peel had been up to. The Avengers was the only British series to have the distinction of being networked at prime time in the United States. It achieved an all-time record of. “The Avengers” was, without question, one of the most popular television series ever produced and has etched its name indelibly into television history, and with it the names Of Brian Clemens, Patrick Macnee, and Diana Rigg. My name? I am Raymond Austin, AKA Ray Austin. I was the man behind the fights, and the action on the show. Stunt Coordinator, they would have called me now. Back in those days I did most of the fights and stunts for A.T.V., and Thames Television. They had the only long running television series showing at that time. I can remember at one time I was going from one studio to another … a fight here, a fall there. At night I would turn a car over, then go home, book two more stunt men, and we would be jumping off of a building next the day, then back to the “Avengers.” God bless the Avengers.. What is next, “The New Avengers?”

Best Raymond.

After a quick photograph with our amazing organisers Michael Holley, Adam Locks and Darren Mapletoft, Paul O’Grady and Linda Thorson left the University of Chichester and flew off into the sunset – a brilliant end to a perfect weekend!

It wouldn’t be a proper Birthday celebration without a cake! We had this beautiful cake designed of a bowler hat for the Avengers guests to enjoy on the Sunday – and very tasty it was too!

Paul O’Grady and Linda Thorson cutting the cake.

What a wonderful end to a brilliant weekend. Linda Thorson joined Paul O’Grady on stage for the final talk, and they had a very relaxed and informal chat about Linda as Tara King, as well as discussing Paul’s love for The Avengers. We also watched the brilliant fight scene from All Done With Mirrors.

Towards the end of the talk, Raymond Austin surprised Paul O’Grady with a present; a copy of Marcus Hearn’s book ‘The Avengers: A Celebration: 50 Years of a Television Classic’ signed by many of Avenges cast and crew.

Adam Locks then brought on a bouquet of flowers for Linda, and invited all the guests to join them on stage to take a bow in the closing few minutes of the talk. A very emotional moment.

Last but not least, we watched the wonderful message that Joanna Lumley had filmed for us especially for the 50th Anniversary event, which was not only very entertaining but a sincerely heartfelt message recalling how much she loved working on The New Avengers.

First off we had Raymond Austin with Henry Holland on the main stage, where Raymond told us on a wonderfully colourful tales about his time on The Avengers as Stunt Arranger. Here he is demonstrating a tale about sword fighting.

After a short break we then had Brian Clemens interviewed by Adam Locks on the main stage, which took us on a journey through writing and producing for The Avengers.

A bit later on we had ‘The 2 Sides of Tara King’ with Linda Thorson and Cyd Child, who gave us an amazing insight into how a stunt double works with the actors.

There are far too many amazing talks to mention here – we had some fabulous discussions on Sunday with Carol Cleveland, Anneke Wills, Robert Fuest, John Hough and Howard Blake, all hosted by our lovely interviewers Henry Holland, Jaz Wiseman, Adam Locks, Dick Fiddy and Marcus Hearn. The talks were very relaxed, very informative and entertaining, and as an added extra the other Avengers cast and crew (sat in the audience) would often join in and add more to the discussion. This is just a little taster of the weekend – there are many more photos of the talks which can be found in the Gallery and on our Facebook group.

After a lovely night spent at the Hellfire Club – delegates and guests arrived this morning for another full day of Avengers. In the main stage, the lovely Linda Thorson introduces day 2 and we had the privilege of watching an exclusive video of Patrick Macnee, shot especially for the event.

We then had an extra special exclusive screening; 20 minutes of the never before seen Avengers documentary ‘The Journey Back’ (hosted by Patrick Macnee) which went down a treat!

What a night! Started off with a delicious hog roast as the sun went down, along with Avengers themed cocktails – my drink of choice would be a ‘Suave Steed’! Quite a few of you got into the mood and dressed up for the occassion – here are Sixteen 12 Collectables with Rob.

Then Linda Thorson and Paul O’Grady arrived to host the charity auction for which we raised a massive £2050.

Delegates have been enjoying drinks and chatting with some of our guests – we’ve spotted Anneke Wills, Carole Cleveland and Raymond Austin amongst many others this evening.

And last but definitely not least, DJ Jonny Trunk (featured here on the right with Darren Mapletoft) has been playing some amazing vintage tunes and TV / Film theme tunes including, of course, The Avengers theme!

Here is a whole gallery for you to enjoy!

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Paul O’Grady and Linda Thorson hosted the Charity Auction this evening at the Hellfire Club. The duo were fabulously entertaining and their banter had the audience crying with laughter as they enticed our delegates with some fantastic prizes.

The top prize went to Eddie and Don who bid a whopping £1100 for an extremely rare signed photograph of Patrick Macnee. Not only that, but Linda Thorson guarunteed a personal phone call with Patrick himself – what a truely unique and fantastic prize. (Below is a picture of winner Don with Linda.)

In total we raised £2050! £185 of which was raised at the charity raffle on Friday night, drawn by Brian Clemens, the prizes were very kindly donated by Sixteen 12 Collectibles. which is going towards the Kate Betts Fund (more information on this cause to follow).

We managed to grab Paul O’Grady for a quick photo on the balcony with Linda Thorson and Honor Blackman earlier today – very suave!