The Avengers spawned possibly the greatest single ever released and it came out sometime in February 1964. Since I’m mid-way through reviewing that month’s episodes, I think it’s the moment to take a look at it.

I’m not going to review all the spin-offs (there were a series of Avengers novels for example). But this record is too important to ignore.

The music is by Dave Lee, who appeared with his trio in a number of Venus Smith episodes of The Avengers though this is not quite in the same style (the music was actually written for TW3, the lyrics added for this release).

The genius of Kinky Boots, for some reason, wasn’t recognised on its release. But it earned a well deserved place in the top 10 of the UK singles chart when it was re-released in 1990. And if Kinky Boots weren’t good enough, it’s basically a double A-side…

When I first heard this (introduced to it by my lovely cousin), it was the first association between Honor Blackman and The Avengers that I’d come across. I’d seen several Emma Peel episodes, but not the earlier ones. Her work on this proved to me how great she’d be.

But, of course, it’s Macnee’s performance that makes Let’s Keep it Friendly such a hit. The way he holds the note on ‘whisky and lime’. Sublime.

(Whisky and lime is a crime, of course.)