Additional Information
Elements of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., THE AVENGERS, and THE FORSYTE SAGA were melded together in the internationally produced, half-hour TV series THE PROTECTORS. Former U.N.C.L.E star Robert Vaughn was cast as Harry Rule, an American private eye working as one-third of a team of crime-preventing protectors operating in Europe. Rule's cohorts included onetime FORSYTE SAGAÆs leading lady Nyree Dawn Porter as Contessa di Contini, a sexy Britsh noblewoman who was an expert at fencing and martial arts -- not unlike THE AVENGERS' Emma Peel. The third member of the triumvirate was Frenchman Paul Buchet (Tony Anholt), who did most of the team's leg work. THE PROTECTORS was produced by Gerry Anderson, who'd cemented his reputation on such marionette adventure shows as FIREBALL XL-5 and THUNDERBIRDS, and who would go on to mastermind the expensive sci-fi series SPACE: 1999.
