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THE_VENUS_SMITH

                                              July 31, 2006


Seeing the early 1960s Avengers with
Honor Blackman as the Catherine Gayle
character...
   
There's much to be         
said for the Gayle          
character: tough and          One of the interesting
intelligent, she              details here is that
radiates force when           Steed is a much more
she's angry, she              sleazy, obnoxious fellow.
genuinely seems like        
a dangerous woman.                 He's *using* these
                                   women that he's recruited,
When they had the                  manipulating them into
opportunity to                     handling the dirty work,
re-tool the Avengers               and Catherine Gayle, unlike
for an American                    Mrs. Peel, does not think
market, they took the              it's cute.
opportunity to dump         
this character,      
replacing her with          
the younger, less           
threatening Emma Peel                
("Man Appeal") played             Check details:    
by, of course, Diana              Diana Rigg    
Rigg.                             preceded the    
                                  shift to color
Emma Peel is such a               by a year.    
cultural icon it's                                  
difficult to complain                   Maybe she created
that she "wasn't tough                  the shot at      
enough for the role" or                 America...              
some such, but seeing                      
Honor Blackman raises                      
that temptation.                                     
                         

   A key figure in this evolution is
   the exceedingly minor character
   "Venus Smith":     
                      
   Catherine Gale is not the         
   only female amateur       
   recruited by Steed, a few 
   of the episodes revolve   
   around this other         
   character: bright,                  
   spritely, button cute.                                       
   No combat ability, but she                                        
   can sing -- in theory --                                          
   and they don't pass up any                                    
   chance to slip in musical          "What if Mary Poppins
   comedy numbers into the            were a secret agent?"
   spy thriller plots.       
                    
                    
   She only appears in
   a few episodes, but       (Three, actually, only 
   the fact that she          in the first year: 1963.)
   appears at all is a
   tip-off about the
   way the producers
   were thinking.

   Catherine Gayle was an interesting
   character, but not the kind of sex
   kitten you need to really put something
   over.  She made them uncomfortable...
   Couldn't they try someone, oh you know,
   *cute*?


Mrs. Peel was the 
fusion of these two.
                    
Catherine Gayle
tempered by
Venus Smith.

                    With some hints of
                    Modesty Blaise?

                       BLAZING



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