Emma Peel, Bond girl, Mrs. Danvers, Lady Olenna Tyrell, etc.
September 10, 2020 10:24 AM Subscribe
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(and don't forget the wonderful Mrs Bradley Mysteries)
posted by Vortisaur at 10:25 AM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
(and don't forget the wonderful Mrs Bradley Mysteries)
posted by Vortisaur at 10:25 AM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
Initial link is broken (flagged to get mod attention)
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posted by hanov3r at 10:29 AM on September 10, 2020
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posted by hanov3r at 10:29 AM on September 10, 2020
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posted by chappell, ambrose at 10:31 AM on September 10, 2020
posted by chappell, ambrose at 10:31 AM on September 10, 2020
Oh, this one hurts... But now we have all the time in the world.
Such a fantastic actor. Will miss her so much.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:35 AM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Such a fantastic actor. Will miss her so much.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:35 AM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
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It's funny to see all the people from different generations and their touchstones with her career. As a child of academics who was a kid in the 80s and 90s, she was the fabulous host of PBS "Mystery" who took over from Vincent Price.
posted by selfnoise at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2020 [17 favorites]
It's funny to see all the people from different generations and their touchstones with her career. As a child of academics who was a kid in the 80s and 90s, she was the fabulous host of PBS "Mystery" who took over from Vincent Price.
posted by selfnoise at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2020 [17 favorites]
Emma Peel, Bond girl, Mrs. Danvers, Lady Olenna Tyrell, etc.
Introducer of Mystery!
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posted by Going To Maine at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
Introducer of Mystery!
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posted by Going To Maine at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
And, of course, Rigg and Price starred together in Theatre of Blood.
posted by Grangousier at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
From the Guardian comments:
It's quite all right. She's having a rest. We'll be going soon.
There's no hurry. You see, we've got all the time in the world.
posted by lalochezia at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
It's quite all right. She's having a rest. We'll be going soon.
There's no hurry. You see, we've got all the time in the world.
posted by lalochezia at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
Whatever you thought of GoT, watch this bit of scenery chewing from two masters.
posted by lalochezia at 10:44 AM on September 10, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 10:44 AM on September 10, 2020 [8 favorites]
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an amazing career and she really went out with a bang on GOT.
"Tell Cersei. I Want Her to Know It Was Me"
posted by supermedusa at 10:46 AM on September 10, 2020 [10 favorites]
an amazing career and she really went out with a bang on GOT.
"Tell Cersei. I Want Her to Know It Was Me"
posted by supermedusa at 10:46 AM on September 10, 2020 [10 favorites]
Important life lessons from Mrs. Peel: Always keep your bowler on in time of stress, and watch out for diabolical masterminds.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:49 AM on September 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:49 AM on September 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Tweet from Mark Harris of Vulture:
2 years ago I sat next to Diana Rigg at a Tonys party. She was in My Fair Lady--at 80. She told me it was a great role because she could get tons of reading done btw scenes. Then she gave me her phone and said, "Find Uber on this and get me the hell out of here." RIP to a great.
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posted by holborne at 10:50 AM on September 10, 2020 [28 favorites]
2 years ago I sat next to Diana Rigg at a Tonys party. She was in My Fair Lady--at 80. She told me it was a great role because she could get tons of reading done btw scenes. Then she gave me her phone and said, "Find Uber on this and get me the hell out of here." RIP to a great.
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posted by holborne at 10:50 AM on September 10, 2020 [28 favorites]
Emma Peel, Bond girl, Mrs. Danvers, Lady Olenna Tyrell, etc.
Introducer of Mystery!
Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper!
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:53 AM on September 10, 2020 [10 favorites]
Introducer of Mystery!
Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper!
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:53 AM on September 10, 2020 [10 favorites]
I remember 5 kids +parents gathered around the rented TV set. If an aeroplane flew over the reception went haywire. Sunday night, The Avengers. My brother would say, "she's wearing leather trousers, there's going to be a fight". She'd beat the shit out of five guys. Coolest hero ever.
posted by night_train at 10:58 AM on September 10, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by night_train at 10:58 AM on September 10, 2020 [13 favorites]
I am quite bummed by this, but did a triple-take at this picture because the woman in Trump’s gun-toting power couple was seemingly trying to channel Mrs. Peel.
posted by sageleaf at 11:00 AM on September 10, 2020
posted by sageleaf at 11:00 AM on September 10, 2020
Thank you, Mrs. Peel
posted by kirkaracha at 11:02 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:02 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
It was especially lovely seeing her on Detectorists with her real-life daughter Rachael Stirling.
What a lot of wonderful memories she's left us.
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posted by kristi at 11:05 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
What a lot of wonderful memories she's left us.
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posted by kristi at 11:05 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:09 AM on September 10, 2020
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:09 AM on September 10, 2020
My grandparents introduced me to the Avengers TV series at an impressionable age, so Diana Rigg has been one of my icons for a very long time. Will watch some episodes tonight in her honor.
posted by merriment at 11:14 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by merriment at 11:14 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
She was powerfully memorable in “In This House of Brede” but Emma Peel is who we all wanted to be when we grew up.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:16 AM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:16 AM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
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Loved the Avengers as a kid and she was my favorite. It was so great to see her in GoT and watch her out act the younger cast without even getting up out of her chair.
posted by octothorpe at 11:22 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Loved the Avengers as a kid and she was my favorite. It was so great to see her in GoT and watch her out act the younger cast without even getting up out of her chair.
posted by octothorpe at 11:22 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
omg, Black Narcissus still to come!
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:23 AM on September 10, 2020
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:23 AM on September 10, 2020
And for the few who may not know the genesis of Emma Peel, "when Honor Blackman left The Avengers to play Pussy Galore in the Bond film Goldfinger, the producers of the show began the unenviable task of creating a character who could fill her leather suits. The result of this effort was Emma Peel (a reference to her ability to appeal to male audiences, aka "M. Appeal")". More here.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:24 AM on September 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:24 AM on September 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Like most British men of a certain age, I've never forgotten the infamous Touch of Brimstone episode of the Avengers. ('She's yours to do with what you will ..') To protect the morals of American manhood it was never screened on US television.
posted by verstegan at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by verstegan at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
Not just Bond Girl, but perhaps /the/ Bond Girl insofar as she is the only one Bond has married (at least up until now).
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posted by Fukiyama at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by Fukiyama at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
she saved us all from annihilation more than once
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posted by philip-random at 11:52 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by philip-random at 11:52 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by ominous_paws at 11:58 AM on September 10, 2020
posted by ominous_paws at 11:58 AM on September 10, 2020
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RIP the best Chancellor that Stirling University ever had...
posted by aeshnid at 12:03 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
RIP the best Chancellor that Stirling University ever had...
posted by aeshnid at 12:03 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
saw dame rigg perform the lead in wyndham's theater production of euripides' medea in 1993.
so, that's two excellent roles brutally murdering children.
bravo and
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posted by 20 year lurk at 12:10 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
so, that's two excellent roles brutally murdering children.
bravo and
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posted by 20 year lurk at 12:10 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ahhh, damn.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:17 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:17 PM on September 10, 2020
And let us not forget Baroness Frieda von Stangel. "I thought you were an Obersturmbannführer!"
posted by No Robots at 12:28 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by No Robots at 12:28 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
This made me unexpectedly sad. Perhaps be cause as a child of the 70s watcing Avengers reuns she was so striking in that role in a way I had never really seen a woman portrayed before.
And, what a wonderful post Avengers life she lead.
Finally, she was a Woman in a Bond film; I always saw her that way, not a Bond girl.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:29 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
And, what a wonderful post Avengers life she lead.
Finally, she was a Woman in a Bond film; I always saw her that way, not a Bond girl.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:29 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Fanboys on the Internet accusing female characters of being Mary-Sues is an annoying thing these days. Emma Peel was a Mary-Sue though.
And yet, they happened to cast the one actor who was completely believable in the role.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:44 PM on September 10, 2020
And yet, they happened to cast the one actor who was completely believable in the role.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:44 PM on September 10, 2020
She was wonderful. I've had a massive crush on the woman since forever. Old Avengers episodes are sporadically shown on afternoon telly and the charisma oozing from the fuzzy black&white moving images of her is just phenomenal. I remember the beginning of one episode where you see a figure get out of a car in the far distance. You can't even see what the person's hair looks like or even what they're wearing (apart from the fact they are wearing something.) Yet it's unmistakably her.
I might even watch the last series of GOT eventually to see the end of her role. Even that.
And she was in the best Bond, and the best character in it, though it's always shocking revisiting the sexism of old films. There's an interview of her somewhere talking about how little she was paid on the Avengers compared to the male actors.
I can't be sad, she was 82, she was a wonderful woman and her life conformed to her tremendous energy. She did well. But I can miss her. Well done, Diana Rigg. You were fabulous.
posted by glasseyes at 12:54 PM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
I might even watch the last series of GOT eventually to see the end of her role. Even that.
And she was in the best Bond, and the best character in it, though it's always shocking revisiting the sexism of old films. There's an interview of her somewhere talking about how little she was paid on the Avengers compared to the male actors.
I can't be sad, she was 82, she was a wonderful woman and her life conformed to her tremendous energy. She did well. But I can miss her. Well done, Diana Rigg. You were fabulous.
posted by glasseyes at 12:54 PM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
Then there was the time Harry Potter hit her in the face with a condom.
posted by No Robots at 12:59 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by No Robots at 12:59 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
She was also wonderful in The Assassination Bureau, until frustratingly sidelined towards the end of the film. Like OHMSS it had Telly Savalas as the villain, and with due respect to Mr Lazenby, I've often wondered what it would have been like if they'd cast brutal, smouldering Oliver Reed as Bond instead.
And as Lady Dedlock in the 1985 BBC Bleak House adaptation.
And she got to do Every Day a Little Death in the film of A Little Night Music.
posted by Grangousier at 1:01 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
And as Lady Dedlock in the 1985 BBC Bleak House adaptation.
And she got to do Every Day a Little Death in the film of A Little Night Music.
posted by Grangousier at 1:01 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Emma Peel started out in leather but as time went on her outfits got a lot more nifty and stylish and Mary Quantish. In A Sense of History she turns up to a fancy dress party in the same Robin Hood outfit as the villain, a handsome enough guy. There is no contest, for all they spend the party giving each other side eye.
posted by glasseyes at 1:09 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by glasseyes at 1:09 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Considering the state of television as I was approaching puberty, Diana Rigg/Emma Peel was an obvious choice for a childhood crush. And I kept a preference for a woman who could do a good karate kick.
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posted by oneswellfoop at 1:09 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by oneswellfoop at 1:09 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 1:20 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 1:20 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by Halloween Jack at 1:23 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:23 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by HandfulOfDust at 1:24 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by HandfulOfDust at 1:24 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by Faint of Butt at 1:25 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:25 PM on September 10, 2020
The Touch of Brimstone episode referred to above has an awesome leather-clad Mrs. Peel in an outfit, it turns out, that Diana Rigg reportedly designed herself. (That she designed it was mentioned in a Telegraph article behind a paywall. I read it elsewhere many years ago as well.) I am one of many who wanted to be like Mrs. Peel.
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posted by Bella Donna at 1:25 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by Bella Donna at 1:25 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
I will always have a big fat crush for her.
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posted by quazichimp at 1:40 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by quazichimp at 1:40 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
I took karate as a young girl in part because I wanted to be like Emma Peel.
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posted by droplet at 1:43 PM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
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posted by droplet at 1:43 PM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
🌹🤺🌂
posted by rjs at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by rjs at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
She has always been my ne plus ultra, utterly incomparable. I worshipped Emma Peel as a kid (I still have a B&W advertisement for the show on my bulletin board in my office, and she was the reason On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the only Bond film I didn't loathe completely until Casino Royale came along. I loved her book No Turn Unstoned, it just seemed like such a nifty thing to do, to make a book of bad theatre reviews. And I got to see her on stage as Collette here in Seattle, and interview her afterward (where we talked a bit about the book), and it was one of the highlights of my life.
What a lady.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:46 PM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
What a lady.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:46 PM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
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posted by dannyboybell at 2:47 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by dannyboybell at 2:47 PM on September 10, 2020
One of the first crushes I had that I was able to identify as a crush was Emma Peel. I saw her on stage once - excellent. She had such a varied career and was fabulous in all of it.
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posted by rmd1023 at 3:59 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by rmd1023 at 3:59 PM on September 10, 2020
Add me to the list of girls who wanted to be Emma Peel: calm, cool, classy, smart, and not afraid of anything. I saw her a couple of years ago in My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center. I know her role was Mrs. Higgins. In my heart, she was always Mrs. Peel.
posted by AMyNameIs at 4:29 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by AMyNameIs at 4:29 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by doctornemo at 4:39 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by doctornemo at 4:39 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 6:24 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 6:24 PM on September 10, 2020
When I was a wee lad, watching her on The Avengers (those leather pants and the way she brushed her hair aside with a pistol, yowza), between her, Julie Newmar and Angela Cartwright, my childhood television crushes. RIP
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posted by dbiedny at 7:34 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by dbiedny at 7:34 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Another first-crush Mrs. Peel MeFite here. Fortunate to see her in The Misanthrope. All long ago, but rather than feel old about it I will follow her example and wear patent leather catsuits keep being a person, not an old person.
posted by skyscraper at 7:44 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by skyscraper at 7:44 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
so great to see her in GoT and watch her out act the younger cast without even getting up out of her chair.
I'm watching The Detectorists, and finishing up the second season. In a handful of appearances, always in brief, barbed conversation with one of the leads (the significant other of her character's daughter), Rigg was so gifted that she evoked considerable sympathy for both the feckless boyfriend in the show and the actor playing him in their scenes.
Rigg was first-rate.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:23 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm watching The Detectorists, and finishing up the second season. In a handful of appearances, always in brief, barbed conversation with one of the leads (the significant other of her character's daughter), Rigg was so gifted that she evoked considerable sympathy for both the feckless boyfriend in the show and the actor playing him in their scenes.
Rigg was first-rate.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:23 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by FuturisticDragon at 9:34 PM on September 10, 2020
posted by FuturisticDragon at 9:34 PM on September 10, 2020
Another heavy crusher on '60s Diana Rigg. She was beautiful, but what was most alluring about her was her attitude. She didn't take shit from John Steed. She didn't take shit from James Bond.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:42 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:42 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
This is very sad. I've loved her in everything I have seen her in from Emma Peel to the Queen of Thorns.
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posted by Fuchsoid at 10:54 PM on September 10, 2020
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posted by Fuchsoid at 10:54 PM on September 10, 2020
I’m a pretty stoic guy, but I was tearing up last night when I saw the news. Mrs. Peel was truly my first crush and I still find myself attracted to women like her today.
posted by jvbthegolfer at 10:14 AM on September 11, 2020
posted by jvbthegolfer at 10:14 AM on September 11, 2020
I still find myself attracted to women like her today.
If I could find any, I would be too.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:24 PM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
If I could find any, I would be too.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:24 PM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
She was simply the best and I wanted so badly to be as cool and mysterious as she was as Mrs. Peel, with all the fab clothes (who was Mr. Peel?). RIP.
posted by Lynsey at 3:04 PM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Lynsey at 3:04 PM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Saw her star in a gender-flipped version of Moliere’s The Misanthrope on Broadway nearly fifty years ago. She had tremendous stage presence. It was a most enjoyable show.
(Everyone I knew longed to grow up to be Mrs. Peel, and to have her wardrobe.)
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posted by kinnakeet at 5:54 PM on September 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
(Everyone I knew longed to grow up to be Mrs. Peel, and to have her wardrobe.)
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posted by kinnakeet at 5:54 PM on September 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
Diana Rigg. Damn 2020 really is a tire fire.
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posted by evilDoug at 9:53 PM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by evilDoug at 9:53 PM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 5:35 PM on September 13, 2020
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 5:35 PM on September 13, 2020
Cinema, Campari and a carrier bag of Quality Street: Edgar Wright remembers Diana Rigg
posted by Grangousier at 5:19 AM on September 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 5:19 AM on September 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by theora55 at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2020