"It’s May 1967. Prime Minister Harold Wilson is determined to take the UK into the European Economic Community – a move that’s divisive amongst politicians, the trade unions and the man and woman on the street. But there’s a problem: Mr Wilson can’t remember his own name – let alone ever having been Prime Minister. With only days to go before the Government’s application deadline, the Ministry must call upon two of its most trusted assets: Mr John Steed and Mrs Emma Peel. Who, together, must find the diabolical masterminds behind the plot to bring down Downing Street and answer the many questions surrounding the case: Why does the Prime Minister think he’s an eight-year-old boy? Is there a traitor in the Cabinet? And who’s to blame for recent events: the anti-European trade unions or the militant Europhiles?
I believe it has been close to 36 years since the last original The Avengers novel was published (mostly by John Garforth, who some later fans criticized those books for being too class consciousness, but they did follow the series somewhat), so imagine my surprise when I saw this David Crichton novel pop out almost out of nowhere. There is not much information on Crichton, though the Titan web page claims: “David is a professional writer who spends most of his time crafting marketing copy for clients in his role as Creative Director at an award-winning brand and digital agency. He’s a published non-fiction author, who’s turning his hand to novels with the release of Death in Downing Street. Dave wasn’t even born when The Avengers finished its television run in the 1960s, but like many others, he fell in love with the programed during repeats in the 90s.” And Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, but the current holder of The Avengers TV show is Studio Canal. Then the Warner Bros logo is on the back of the book (they released the 1998 Ralph Fiennes/Uma Thurman theatrical film), so I’m, curious how this book really came about and if it’s a one-off or start of a new series. Because, why after the last book was published in 1990 do we get this.
This novel mixes real people – such as Prime Minster Harold Wilson- with fictional political agendas. It’s also, somewhat, of Wikipedia history of the UK over the decades, making it even more British-centric and realistic and less fantastic and odd. So this book is more a political thriller, a dose of British history, and other odd tangents than “spy-fi” the show was uniquely known for. If this is a start of new series, It doesn’t really lean into the ridiculous plots and eccentric character traits the show latter years delved into. I was –perhaps- more close to the show’s original premise from 1961, where it was just sort of a spy series it would become in later years.
Well written – Crighton has a good grasp of balancing the history with the modern world, mixes some the shows humor with drama, but I found it lacking. As matter of fact, it didn’t even need Steed and Emma Peel – as the book is just seemly using them to get published.
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