Ahh, I can still remember Agent 99's exclamation and the flutter of her eyelids whenever Maxwell Smart said something mildly risque.

Don Adams, the actor who played secret agent Maxwell Smart, someone close to every late boomer's heart, has died. Yes, we are all at Kaos's mercy now.

Like Gilligan, who also popped off this mortal coil recently, his influence in comedy is probably under-rated. Maybe I'm imagining things but I see a bit of the David Brent in him, in the way what he said often fell very flat and the camera just kept running to accentuate his, and our, embarrassment.

Adams was lucky in having Mel Brooks and Buck Henry writing his scripts, but he made the role his and became a sixties icon. Like every great comedy Get Smart produced some great catchphrases like:

"The old Professor Peter Peckinpah all purpose anti-personnel Peckinpah pocket pistol under the toupee trick."

For more, and some tallies, look here. RIP Max.