Emma Peel

It is 1am and I'm a bit bored, a bit tired and a bit restless. I think a lot of the time I drink simply because it's something to do. The Avengers has just been on BBC4 and what a super show that was. Daft as anything but Steed looks so good and Mrs Peel ditto. I have this recurring fantasy where I'm there in that little Lotus Elan sports car and it is 1967 with Diana Rigg or someone very like her. We are stationary on a country lane and there are leaves on the road, trees are stirring, the air is fresh but there is also that sense of autumnal decay. We are not talking, we are not hugging, having sex or anything but I feel absolutely alive and THERE. We are both young and filled with health and yet... Death and illness are just around the corner. Around the corner meaning the 1970's, the 1990's, I don't know, but it all seems like the blink of an eyelid anyway. I think it's something to do with the tenousness of life and how those moments were everything is good are gone before you even realise they were there. I like the idea of the 60's for the fact that women were more willing to please, had mini skirts and had lower expectations. Diana Rigg as Mrs Peel is a good pin up because she's got a good feasible figure, her skin looks pretty rough but not so much that it puts you off and she looks intelligent - but also not so much it puts you off. I suspect it's also a bit like those sad middle aged blokes who are into the bikes and cars of their childhood (see Kawasaki 750 above). If you concentrate on these ancient power objects then maybe the present doesn't hurt so much.