The Avengers: The Extraordinary Agents "Extraordinary Crimes against the people...and the state... must be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional..." "I tried work once. It didn't work out... Too much like work." (The Murder Market) John Steed, Eton, British Army guards regiment (or so he said in the episode The Murder Market, but Steed was known to lie when it suited him), further service and duties with Her Majesty's Government.... Classified. Operating behind the cover of a man-about-town, John Steed was England's number one spy. The country would have fallen to any one of a number of diabolical masterminds but for Steed and his (current) partner. Debonaire and polished to a fault, he drove vintage automobiles, wore tailored suits, bought his bowlers at the best hat shop, and drank only the best champagne...frequently. All on a civil servant's salary. How he managed, we never knew. "and his partner..." Well, there were several partners over the years, most of them talented amateurs. Dr. David Keel: During the first season, Steed teamed with the idealistic young doctor, David Keel. As played by actor Ian Hendry, David Keel was the moral opposite of the ruthless John Steed. Keel's fiancee had been killed by drug dealers, and in searching for her murderers, he met the mysterious secret agent, John Steed. After the closure of this case, he continued to work with Steed, never as a dupe or sideman, but as an independent operative. Keel never condoned Steed's ruthless methods, but found ways to work with the agent that followed his own strong moral code. "You're going away? Good, I shall be able to get some of my own work done for a change." (The Undertakers) Dr. Catherine Gale: Anthropologist, amateur spy and, conveniently, a widow, Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale set the precedents for Steed's women partners. She is ascerbic and scholarly, a cool blond beauty capable of taking care of herself and matching wits with John Steed. Cathy is financially independent, skilled in martial arts and the use of firearms, romantically unattached and free to risk life and limb at a moment's notice. Which she does, readily, and with no apparent desire for financial compensation. Like David Keel before her, Cathy Gale believes in justice and fair play. Where Steed rarely concerns himself with the human costs of his work, Cathy always cares. She doesn't like many of Steed's methods and deplores his callous win-at-any-cost attitude. She often distrusts him and keeps an eye out for the traps he might lead her into. Often, it seems as though she cares little for Steed himself, but works with him because he presents her a way to set some of the evil in the world to right. "Steed, it will be a crime if we don't find a body!" (.. oh heck, what was that episode!!) Emma Peel, degree unknown (probably has several), chairman of Knight Industries, founded by her father, Sir John Knight. Thankfully, Emma is rarely seen at board meetings and takes little interest in the day-to-day operations of Knight Industries. The last time she was in the office, she fired John Keller, a Knight Industries automation expert who sought to replace human labor with machines. Given the aggressiveness of England's labor unions, this business decision was a real fiasco. Emma's board of directors secretly hope that one day she'll be fatally bonked on the head by a cybernaut, but given her luck so far, that's not likely. "You're very valuable property!" (Noon Doomsday) Tara King, finishing school and secret service academy graduate. Steed's youngest partner and his first professionally-assigned partner, Tara King is absolutely positively smitten with him. Possessing beauty and poise, along with those other more deadly skills needed in the intelligence game, Tara would be first-ranked as a trophy wife.... if John Steed bothered to marry her. That isn't necessary, of course. The romantic relationship between Steed and Tara is so obvious it's a wonder they bother with the facade of keeping separate abodes. Return to Index Page The Diabolical Masterminds