Think Avengers and the first thing that springs to mind is the sublime Joanna Lumley, kicking ass in leather with a wry grin and a twinkle in her eye. With her infamous ‘Purdey’ bob and quick one-liners she was a beautiful feminist icon. Which makes it all the more disheartening to hear that the press at the time didn’t see her as such; that at the Avengers launch she was treated as just another bit of telly totty. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Joanna revealed that as she pulled up in a shiny Rolls Royce, clutching the infamous bowler hat and cane, the waiting photographers said: “Joanna if you could just come up on the Rolls Royce and hoik up your skirt and show us your stockings.” Apparently there was a “full roar” from the assembled press when she told them she was wearing tights, not stockings, and they announced that “if you’re not wearing stockings then we won’t cover the occasion and we won’t take any pictures.” She had to run inside and ask a woman if she could have her stockings in exchange for five pounds, just to please the photographers and get the job done. Here’s hoping that the world has moved on since then. And that if the press call had been for Joanna’s other alter ego - Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous, she’d have whacked each one of them and told them where they could shove the Bolly darling.
Sweet Revenger
