Venus Smith : Partner or not ?

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:07 pm

She's a partner, definitely. One of the second tier ones, like Dr. King or Forbes, or Carol, but one nonetheless. Sure, she doesn't fight, but she does come through with a few scraps now and then. And remember that Steed was manipulating everyone at this point, even Cathy (and sometimes Emma), so that doesn't really factor into it. I've a soft spot for her, really. She's quite sweet, and from her backgrounder she seems to be alone, trying to make her way in showbiz, and Steed, as annoying as he is, is probably a bit of a support system. By the end she's started to wisen up. Essentially, the problem is that her character is a hangover from the Keel era, and was meant to be incorporated in so Keel and Steed could slouch around nightclubs in their dirty macs smoking. Then Ian Hendry left and she became sort of a stopgap. So I think that's part of the reason the character doesn't fit as well as we'd like.

Artanis · Post by **Artanis** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:40 am

Yes, Venus was a partner but definitely not the level of Cathy, Emma and Tara. I like most of her episodes and the singing wasn't too bad. Overall, I think it was an interesting idea to have her on the show and even Dr. King too, but they didn't quite work out. I'm glad Cathy took over full-time in Season 3.

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:27 am

JohnSteedFr wrote: Furthermore, if she would be a partner, she would appear on books's covers or on pictures.
On the ultimate Avengers' cover, we don't see her. Same case for THE AVENGERS AND ME.

Nor was David Keel, to be fair, who I do consider a partner.

Steed manipulated Cathy, yes. But at least she had some input, took the reigns sometimes, made decisions and wasn't a complete pawn.

Venus was more like a Doctor Who companion who just got caught up in the procedings.

JohnSteedFr · Post by **JohnSteedFr** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:28 pm

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:
JohnSteedFr wrote: Furthermore, if she would be a partner, she would appear on books's covers or on pictures.
On the ultimate Avengers' cover, we don't see her. Same case for THE AVENGERS AND ME.
Nor was David Keel, to be fair, who I do consider a partner.

Steed manipulated Cathy, yes. But at least she had some input, took the reigns sometimes, made decisions and wasn't a complete pawn.

Venus was more like a Doctor Who companion who just got caught up in the procedings.

On books they just showed pictures of the femmes fatales.
Among those beautiful ladies, I don't add Venus because she's absolutely not trained, determined, learned...

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:38 pm

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:Nor was David Keel, to be fair, who I do consider a partner.

Keel wasn't a partner. Keel was the central character. Steed was the sidekick in Season 1. That's something that's easy to forget!

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:06 pm

Alan wrote:
Dandy Forsdyke wrote:Nor was David Keel, to be fair, who I do consider a partner.
Keel wasn't a partner. Keel was the central character. Steed was the sidekick in Season 1. That's something that's easy to forget!

True on both counts.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:14 pm

I too cannot bear to listen to her caterwauling.

A failed experiment, but presumably she was cast before Cathy "Charlie (or was it George)" Gale?

Not a partner, more a stooge/decoy. Dr Martin King was more of a partner than she ever could be.

Charlie Parker · Post by **Charlie Parker** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:50 pm

Venus is an odd quanitiy as she tended to be shoe horned into a storyline. As a one off in The Decapod she sort of works (even though bad scripting means we have no confrontation between Steed and Venus about the way he treats her), then on she doesn't really fit into the plots. School for Traitors probably works best as she does fit in with the storyline much better then Mrs Gale would. Ultimately thought she's a hinderance in terms of character, abilty and circumstances for involvement (that said A Chorus of Frogs is a great episode).

Overall in my view: Georgina Jones from Adam Adamant was everything Venus Smith should of been.

Artanis · Post by **Artanis** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:38 am

I like Venus' character but the most annoying thing is how she always get captured and Steed has to save her. She doesn't seem to be worth all that trouble for just the little help she provides.

Dandy Forsdyke · Post by **Dandy Forsdyke** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:26 am

Artanis wrote:I like Venus' character but the most annoying thing is how she always get captured and Steed has to save her. She doesn't seem to be worth all that trouble for just the little help she provides.

As I understand it she was added to the cast to share the second season with Dr Keel.