with claws: Diana Rigg as Mrs Peel in the Avengers. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a creepily dark, cold war downer, then The Avengers is the same era's glam, peppy little pick-me-up. From 1961-69, Britain's trend-setting "spy fi" show made the cold war seem rather fun, presenting espionage as