The Avengers International Fan Forum

jamieavenger wrote:I love Steed in this era - edgier and more ruthless. A good contrast to Mrs Gale.

Same can't be said for the Venus Smith character - I do wonder what the point of her was. Were the producers more interested in showcasing Julie Steven's singing ability than developing an interesting character?

Venus was actually created to be part of the Keel era in season one. The idea was that Steed and Keel would hang about in seedy nightclubs, and Venus would act as their contact in the nightclub, gathering intel on the unsavoury clientele and passing it on to them. Had season one lasted the full 33 episodes as planned, she would have been introduced, but then there was the strike, and Ian Hendry took work on in the interim, and suddenly found himself over-committed when the series came back. Since they needed someone to fill the gap, they used a character they already had plotted out. Like Dr. King, she bought them some time while they worked out what the new direction for the show would be.

A five minute song is five minutes of dialog that doesn't need to be written.

Timeless A-Peel wrote:

jamieavenger wrote:I love Steed in this era - edgier and more ruthless. A good contrast to Mrs Gale.

Same can't be said for the Venus Smith character - I do wonder what the point of her was. Were the producers more interested in showcasing Julie Steven's singing ability than developing an interesting character?

Venus was actually created to be part of the Keel era in season one. The idea was that Steed and Keel would hang about in seedy nightclubs, and Venus would act as their contact in the nightclub, gathering intel on the unsavoury clientele and passing it on to them. Had season one lasted the full 33 episodes as planned, she would have been introduced, but then there was the strike, and Ian Hendry took work on in the interim, and suddenly found himself over-committed when the series came back. Since they needed someone to fill the gap, they used a character they already had plotted out. Like Dr. King, she bought them some time while they worked out what the new direction for the show would be.

Where did you read that ? Thanks so much Timeless for posting this !

JohnSteedFr wrote:

Timeless A-Peel wrote:

jamieavenger wrote:I love Steed in this era - edgier and more ruthless. A good contrast to Mrs Gale.

Same can't be said for the Venus Smith character - I do wonder what the point of her was. Were the producers more interested in showcasing Julie Steven's singing ability than developing an interesting character?

Venus was actually created to be part of the Keel era in season one. The idea was that Steed and Keel would hang about in seedy nightclubs, and Venus would act as their contact in the nightclub, gathering intel on the unsavoury clientele and passing it on to them. Had season one lasted the full 33 episodes as planned, she would have been introduced, but then there was the strike, and Ian Hendry took work on in the interim, and suddenly found himself over-committed when the series came back. Since they needed someone to fill the gap, they used a character they already had plotted out. Like Dr. King, she bought them some time while they worked out what the new direction for the show would be.

Where did you read that ? Thanks so much Timeless for posting this !

Oh, ages ago in one of the Dave Rogers books, I believe. Her background was sketched out in a fair bit of detail for an Avengers character. She was definitely meant to be a Keel-era character, which accounts for her imperfect fit in season 2--the series had already evolved beyond the sort of storyline she was meant to fit. If they hadn't been in a bit of a tight spot after Ian left, they probably wouldn't have used her at all. So she was handy stop-gap. They had no idea where Cathy Gale would go, after all. I've posted about it before, but I'm glad it's new to you.