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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Anthony Hayward

Laurie Johnson obituary

Avengers Diana Rigg United States
Laurie Johnson began composing for the screen after success as a conductor on stage and television.
Laurie Johnson began composing for the screen after success as a conductor on stage and television. Photograph: Roberta Parkin/Redferns

Laurie Johnson, who has died aged 96, was a composer of some of the most distinctive television theme tunes of all time.

One of the most dramatic, accompanied by stylish visuals, was for The Avengers when the tongue-in-cheek series combining espionage with fantasy was revamped in 1965 for its fourth run. This coincided with the programme’s sale to US television, a change to shooting from video to film, and the arrival of Diana Rigg as the kung-fu kicking Emma Peel to assist the bowler-hatted, umbrella-twirling agent and English gentleman John Steed (played by Patrick Macnee)

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