Dr
Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman, was the first regular female
partner of John Steed following the departure of Steed's original
male co-star, Dr David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). She made her
first appearance at the start of the series' second season in 1962.
Initially, Gale was
one of several rotating partners who worked with Steed (the others
being medical man Dr Martin King and nightclub singer Venus Smith).
By the third season, however, she was Steed's only partner.
Gale was born 5
October 1932. She was an anthropologist who married a farmer in
Africa and there learned to hunt, fight and take care of herself.
When her husband was killed, Gale returned to London to earn a Ph.D.
in anthropology. She was the curator of a museum when she first
encountered John Steed and agreed to work alongside him from 1962-1964.
The relationship
between Steed and Gale was marked by sexual tension of a type absent
from later partners, plus Gale and Steed also had a rocky working
relationship, with Gale not always appreciative of Steed's methods
nor his habit of "volunteering" her for missions. Still,
the two appear to have become quite close as the episode "The
Golden Eggs" has her actually living in Steed's apartment as she
searches for a new home of her own (the reason for her displacement
is not revealed). In keeping with The Avengers' policy of avoiding
direct references to romance between the two leads, however, it's
quickly stated that Steed is actually sleeping at a nearby hotel.
Cathy Gale was
considered a trail-blazing female character for British television,
displaying a level of self-assurance and physical prowess rarely seen
in women on television before that time. Her later mode of dress - a
leather outfit designed to make it easier for Gale to fight - started
a fashion trend, as did her wearing of what were dubbed "kinky
boots". (The term became a catch phrase and Honor Blackman and
her co-star Patrick Macnee even recorded a moderately popular single
entitled "Kinky Boots".) The influence of Cathy Gale could
be felt in productions on both sides of the Atlantic; characters
considered to have been influenced by her in some way include the TV
version of Honey West and the Doctor Who character Sara Kingdom, as
well as the character that succeeded her in The Avengers, Emma Peel.
Blackman left the
series after its third season in order to co-star in the James Bond
film Goldfinger. She was replaced by actress Diana Rigg as Emma Peel,
who continued Gale's habit of wearing leather during action sequences
until she was given her own unique costuming when series production
switched to colour.
1. Mr
Teddy Bear
September
29, 1962
"Why aren't you dead?"
- Catherine Gale
A man is murdered whilst being interviewed
on live television. one-Ten is sure that it is the work of the
ruthless assassin Mr Teddy Bear, and he asks Cathy Gale to trap the
man - by arranging for him to murder Steed.
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer: Martin Woodhouse
Guest starring: Bernard Goldman, Douglas
Muir, Kenneth Keeling
First episode broadcast with Honor
Blackman was actually her fourth to be shot.
2.
Propellant 23
October
6, 1962
"Well it's some sort of sixth sense
you know, we get it in my job.
And I got it at the briefing this morning."
- John Steed
At Marseilles airport,
Steed and Cathy find the courier they were due to meet dead. His
sample of new liquid rocket fuel has been taken. Facing an array of
enemy agents, the duo must recover the flask of Propellant 23.
Director: Jonathan Alwyn,
Writer: John Manchip White
Guest starring: Geoffrey
Palmer, Trader Faulkner, Nicholas Courtney
3.
The Decapod
October
13, 1962
"Just how many bodyguards do you go
through in a week?"
- John Steed
Borb, the president of the Balkan
Republic, is visiting London to sign a military deal. His private
secretary is killed by a masked wrestler, the Decapod. Steed is
assigned to augment the president's bodyguards, but the wrestler
continues to kill those close to Borb.
Director: Don Leaver, Writer: Eric Paice
Guest starring: Raymond
Adamson, Lynn Furlong, Philip Madoc
4.
Bullseye
October
20, 1962
"My name is Catherine Gray, from The
Woman About London Magazine."
- Catherine Gale
Shareholders in Anderson's, a small-arms
manufacturers, are being killed one by one whilst a tycoon plans a
take-over. Rifles and other weapons, possibly manufactured by
Anderson's, are being smuggled into Africa. Cathy Gale joins the
board with a 20 per cent share in order to investigate.
Director: Peter Hammond , Writer: Eric Paice
Guest starring: Judy
Parfitt, Bernard Kay, Charles Carson, Ronald Radd
5.
Mission to Montreal
October
27, 1962
"No, I'm afraid not. He's been
murdered. Somebody's cut his throat, come on. I think they were after
you. Your dressing gown's absolutely ruined."
- John
Steed
A film star's stand-in is murdered, and
microfilm of North American early warning systems has been stolen.
The film star, despite an aversion to travelling by sea, proceeds to
Montreal on a luxury liner. In an attempt to find the mocrofilm Dr
King is assigned as her personal doctor, and Steed goes under cover
as a steward.
Director: Don Leaver, Writer: Lester Powell
Guest starring: Patricia
English, Iris Russell, Mark Eden, Harold Berens
6.
The Removal Men
November
3, 1962
"Your husband's in Italy, on business.
By the time he comes back I'll be miles away."
- John
Steed
Steed is trying to infiltrate a group of
assassins currently based in the South of France. He robs the leader
of some jewellery in order to impress him, then waits for them in the
local club. It just so happens that Venus Smith is singing there.
Director: Don Leaver, Writer: Roger
Marshall / Jeremy Scott
"You didn't really think you could
take over this country with a few fanatics in fancy dress, did you?"
- Catherine Gale
The owner of a stamp shop is murdered when
excitedly talking on the phone to a contact about the rare Mauritius
Penny that has turned up on a list. Cathy Gale applies for a job in
the shop, and she and Steed witness another murder in an auction room.
Guest starring: Richard
Vernon, Sylva Langova, David Langton
8.
Death of a Great Dane
November
17, 1962
"Pretty good base. Keeps your pallet
perceptive, and stopes you getting sloshed."
- John
Steed
A man involved in a car crash is found to
have fifty thousand pounds worth of diamonds in his stomach. Steed
investigates the man's joke shop, Big Laugh, and then the offices of
multi-millionaire Litoff. The burial of one of Litoff's Great Danes
is not quite what it seems.
Director: Peter Hammond, Writer: Roger
Marshall / Jeremy Scott
Guest starring: John
Laurie, Leslie French, Mike Moyer
Later remade as The Avengers: The
£50,000 Breakfast (Series 6, episode 3, October 14th 1967).
9.
The Sell-Out
November
24, 1962
"I can't lose sight of him. He's been
following me for the past two days."
- John
Steed
Steed's department is guarding M. Roland,
A UN negotiator in London for important talks, but cannot prevent an
assassination attempt. Indeed, it seems that one of Steed's
colleagues is selling secrets - and Steed finds that even he is under suspicion.
Director: Don Leaver, Writer: Anthony
Terpiloff / Brandon Brady
Guest starring: Frank
Gatliff, Jon Rollason, Carleton Hobbs
10.
Death on the Rocks
December
1, 1962
"Oh, don't misunderstand me, It's
just that I need a wife for a couple of weeks."
- John
Steed
Illegal diamonds are swamping the market.
The wife of a diamond merchant is murdered. Time for Steed and Gathy
Gale to feign marriage.
Director: Johathan Alwyn, Writer: Eric Paice
Guest starring: Gerald
Cross, Meier Tzelniker, Ellen McIntosh
11.
Traitor in Zebra
December
8, 1962
"They have a very fine laboratory,
they are quite satisfied with my work, and in one week I've
discovered absolutely nothing."
- Catherine Gale
Secrets are finding their way from HMS
Zebra, a naval base, to the enemy, rendering the Navy's
missile-tracking equipment useless. Steed and Mrs. Gale investigate,
and find their attention drawn to the local sweet shop.
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer: John Gilbert
Guest starring: John Sharp,
Richard Leech, Noel Coleman, Katy Wild
12.
The Big Thinker
December
15, 1962
"Oh, you're almost completely thawed out."
- John
Steed
Plato, the most advanced computer in the
world, which could be used to target intercepting missiles, keeps
breaking down. The body of a professor on the team is found within.
Director: Kim Mills, Writer: Martin Woodhouse
Guest starring: Anthony
Booth, Walter Hudd, David Garth
13.
Death Dispatch
December
22, 1962
"Steed. S, T, double E, D."
- John
Steed
A British courier is attacked in Jamaica,
and he protects the contents of his diplomatic bag at the expense of
his life. But why? The case only contains mundane documents.
Director: Jonathan Alwyn, Writer: Leonard Fincham
Guest starring: Richard
Warner, David Cargill, Valerie Sarruf, Douglas Muir
14.
Dead on Course
December
29, 1962
"Isn't that unusual?"
- John
Steed
A plane crashes in Ireland in suspicious
circumstances, and the bodies are taken to the nearby St. Mary's
Convent . Steed calls in Dr. King to check up on the circumstances of
death, while he samples Irish hospitality and bad deeds at Shamrock Airport.
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer: Eric Paice
Guest starring: Donal
Donnelly, Liam Gaffney, Elizabeth Murray
Untitled
15.
Intercrime
January
5, 1963
"His name's Palmer, he's an up and
coming safe-cracker."
- John
Steed
Steed wants Mrs. Gale to impersonate Hilda
Stern, a recently arrested assassin about to be used by the
trans-national crime syndicate Intercrime. Things go swimmingly,
until the real Hilda Stern breaks out of Holloway and confronts the imposter.
Director: Jonathan Alwyn, Writer: Malcolm
Hulke / Terrance Dicks
Guest starring: Kenneth J.
Warren, Julia Arnall, Angela Browne
Intercrime would make one return
appearance in the final season episode "Homicide and Old
Lace" with Tara King.
16.
Immortal Clay
January
12, 1963
"It's bad to feel sorry for people in
our business. It slows you up."
- John
Steed
Marling Ceramics, run by Cathy's friends,
Richard and Allan Marling, claim to be on the verge of creating an
unbreakable china. However, when Steed arrives to investigate, a body
is discovered in a tank of clay.
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer: James
Mitchell (VI)
Guest starring: Paul
Eddington, James Bree, Bert Palmer, Douglas Muir
When Miller is finishing the cup, the
camera pans with him towards a table and loudly bumps into it, making
the screen wobble and shake for a moment.
17.
Box of Tricks
January
19, 1963
"I see, then this is the best
treatment for me. It doesn't involve exercise or diet or anything
nausiating like that."
- John
Steed
Classified information is finding its way
into the wrong hands and Steed feels sure that this has something to
do with the death of the magician's assistant at the club where Venus
Smith is working. Steed investigates the lethal vanishing cabinet.
Director: Kim Mills, Writer: Peter Ling /
Edward Rhodes
Guest starring: Ian Curry,
Jane Barrett, Maurice Hedley, Julie Stevens
AV
CLUB FEATURETTE DEPARTMENT
Untitled
Julie Stevens plays Venus
Smith in the "The Avengers" episode, Box of Tricks.
Here she's singing
"It's a Pity to Say Goodnight" supported by The Dave Lee Trio
Steed is entrusted with the safe-keeping
of a new fuel formula when its inventor is found in a coma. The
scientist had been involved in a black magic circle which leads Steed
and Cathy into the world of hexes and magic powers.
Director: Peter Hammond, Writer: Doreen Montgomery
Guest starring: Peter Arne,
John Hollis, Pat Spencer, Douglas Muir
This episode originally contained Steed's
first meeting with Cathy; however when the edition was reshuffled in
transmission order, the introductory scenes were therefore redundant
and edited out.
19.
The Golden Eggs
February
2, 1963
"My name's Catherine Gale, I want to
talk to you."
- Catherine Gale
A burglar steals two gold-plated eggs from
Dr Ashe, not knowing that they contain a deadly virus. The man
quickly falls ill, but refuses to indicate where the case containing
the eggs is buried.
Director: Peter Hammond, Writer: Martin Woodhouse
Guest starring: Peter Arne,
Pauline Delaney, Donald Eccles, Gordon Whiting
Guest star Peter Arne, cast
as Redfern in this episode, played a different
character (Cosmo Gallion)
in the previous episode (Warlock).
Peter Arne was known for
playing villain in British films beginning with Strangers' Meeting
(1957). He continued to play sinister types in Blood on the Sword
(1958), Intent to Kill (1958), Danger Within (1959), Conspiracy of
Hearts (1960), The Hellfire Club (1961), The Treasure of Monte Cristo
(1961) and The Pirates of Blood River (1962) with Christopher Lee. In
the 60's he moved on to TV roles and found bit parts in features
including a couple of Blake Edwards movies. He became an antique
dealer with his sister as a sideline.
At age 63 Peter Arne had
been cast to play the part of "Range" in the "Doctor
Who" episode "Frontios" in 1983. He had just returned
from a costume fitting when he was bludgeoned to death in his
apartment with a log from the fireplace. The role was later filled by
William Lucas. The prime suspect in Arne's murder was a schoolteacher
from Italy who had been living rough in a local park, for whom Arne
had been providing food, and who drowned a few days later in an
apparent suicide. Police suspect the murderer came to Arne's home for
whatever reason, and became incensed either when Arne made a pass at
him, or refused his request for accommodation. The alleged killer's
body was found washed up near Wandsworth bridge 3 days later, his
bloodstained clothes found upstream at Putney. The coroner concluded
that the man killed Arne and then committed suicide whilst in a
disturbed state of mind.
20.
School for Traitors
February
9, 1963
"Do we know who was blackmailing him?"
- John
Steed
Steed, investigating the suicide of a
University tutor, discovers that the man seems to have shot himself
with a gun with a silencer attached. Venus is sent a tub of acid
'face-cream', and there is another mysterious suicide.
Director: Jonathan Alwyn, Writer: James
Mitchell (VI)
Guest starring: Melissa
Stribling, Julie Stevens, John Standing, Richard Thorp
"School for Traitors" was the
fourth of the six episodes featuring Julie Stevens as nightclub
singer Venus Smith. This episode was first broadcast the same night
it was videotaped.
21.
The White Dwarf
February
16, 1963
"What do you think, having myself a
good time, while there's still time to have it."
- John
Steed
Astonomer Professor Richter believes that
the sun's stellar companion, a white dwarf, is returning to the solar
system. If it does, that's the end of everything. So why on Earth
would anybody want to murder him now?
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer:
Malcolm Hulke
Guest starring: Peter
Copley, George A. Cooper, Philip Latham
As Steed fetches Cathy's bag to her in his
flat the boom is clearly visible between them.
22.
Man in the Mirror
February
23, 1963
"Hey, you're that man in the
photograph... but you're dead!"
- Venus Smith
Venus has her camera and films stolen
whilst taking pictures in a fun fair. One film is missed, however,
and when developed a face can be seen in the Hall of Mirrors - that
of Trevelyan, the cypher clerk who has committed suicide. But Venus's
photograph was taken after the man's death.
Director: Kim Mills, Writer: Geoffrey Orme
/ Anthony Terpiloff
Guest starring: Ray
Barrett, Daphne Anderson, Julie Stevens, Michael Gover
23.
Conspiracy of Silence
March
2, 1963
"May I remind you, Mrs. Gale, we are
dealing with the Mafia and not the boyscouts!"
- John
Steed
The Mafia aren't about to let Steed get in
the way of their lucrative drug-smuggling operation between Britain
and North America, and arrange for him to be assassinated. Steed
survives, and tracks his intended killer to a circus, where some of
the clowns prove to be anything but figures of fun.
Director: Peter Hammond, Writer: Roger Marshall
Guest starring: Robert
Rietty, Sandra Dorne, Alec Mango, Roy Purcell
24.
A Chorus of Frogs
March
9, 1963
"What? Well where do you think you're
going to stay, under the bed?"
- Venus Smith
A holiday for Steed in Greece is, of
course, no straightforward affair. A deep-sea diver dies in
mysterious circumstances, whilst bathyscope experiments are taking
place on the yacht where Venus is singing.
Director: Raymond Menmuir, Writer: Martin Woodhouse
Guest starring: Eric
Pohlmann, Julie Stevens, Yvonne Shima, John Carson
Sixth and final appearance of Julie
Stevens as Venus Smith. Julie Stevens was born on December 20th 1936
in Prestwich, England. In addition to her short stint as Steed's
partner on The Avengers she is known for her work on the film Carry
on Cleo (1964), the TV series Girls About Town (1969) and as a
hostess on the game show For Love or Money (1959). Stevens also
presented ABC Weekend Television's "The Sunday Break" a
religious program for teenagers during the early 1960s, and in the
early 1970s presented BBC2's Play School (1964) program for pre-schoolers.
25.
Six Hands Across a Table
March
16, 1963
"That accident last night wasn't an accident."
- John
Steed
What should have been a quiet weekend at
the home of an old friend soon turns into a thick web of treachery
and scheming, which throws Cathy into the world of shipbuilding,
cross-company romance, mysterious 'accidents' and misguided nationalism.
Director: Richmond Harding, Writer: Reed
De Rouen
Guest starring: Guy
Doleman, Campbell Singer, Philip Madoc
26.
Killer Whale
March
23, 1963
"Not that Wales. Whales, Moby Dick."
- John
Steed
Cathy is managing the boxer Joey Frazer,
but Pancho Driver's gym, where the man is training, is, Steed
suspects, the centre for shipments of illegal ambergris.
Director: Kim Mills, Writer: John Lucarotti
Guest starring: John
Bailey, Kenneth Farrington, Julie Paulle, Morris Perry
Dr
Cathy Gale, played by Honor Blackman, was the first regular female
partner of John Steed following the departure of Steed's original
male co-star, Dr David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). She made her
first appearance at the start of the series' second season in 1962.
