Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by British actress Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure-series The Avengers. She was born as Emma Knight, the daughter of industrialist Sir John Knight. The name Peel added to Emma refers to her sexual attractiveness to male viewers, hence M-appeal; where M means men. She replaced Cathy Gale, the first of John Steed’s (played by Patrick McNee) female cohorts. Gale was played by Honor Blackman who left at the end of the series’ third season. Actress Elizabeth Shepherd was the initial choice of replacement but was deemed unsuitable by the producers after the first episode. The Emma Peel character defined by Diana Rigg became iconic as both a feminist heroine & as an enduring sex-symbol, renowned for her martial-arts prowess, sultry sexuality &intelligent witticisms.