From Venus with Love

"From Venus with Love" is the first episode of the fifth series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, and guest starring Barbara Shelley, Derek Newark, Jon Pertwee, and Philip Locke.^[1] It was first aired on ABC on 14 January 1967. The episode was directed by Robert Day, and written by Philip Levene.

Plot

Several astronomers—and members of the British Venusian Society—have been found dead, their hair bleached white. The Society had planned on sending a satellite to the planet Venus. As Steed and Peel investigate, they discover all the astronomers had been looking directly at the planet before they were found dead, which members say heralds an invasion by the Venusians. Steed and Peel soon uncover a scheme featuring lasers, a treacherous eye surgeon Dr. Primble, and a quest to launch a satellite to monitor Venus.

Cast

• Patrick Macnee as John Steed
• Diana Rigg as Emma Peel
• Barbara Shelley as Venus Browne
• Philip Locke as Dr. Henry Primble
• Jon Pertwee as Brigadier Whitehead
• Derek Newark as Crawford
• Jeremy Lloyd as Bertram Smith
• Adrian Ropes as Jennings
• Arthur Cox as Clarke
• Paul Gillard as Cosgrove
• Michael Lynch as Hadley
• Kenneth Benda as Mansford

Production

Abstract painting from the vault also appeared in episodes "Epic" (1967) and "Wish You Were Here" (1969). It can also be noticed in the series The Saint and The Power Artist.

Jeremy Lloyd (Bertram Smith) would later play an MI5 agent Carruthers in the stage play of The Avengers.^[2]

Radio adaptation

"From Venus with Love" was adapted as a radio play and directed by Dennis Folbigge. Starring Donald Monat as John Steed and Diane Appleby as Emma Peel, it was broadcast as part of The Avengers radio series on Springbok Radio, which transmitted between 6 December 1971 and 28 December 1973.

The adaptation contains a few changes, which include mention of the Mother (and a phone call to Steed, ordering him to investigate Cosgrove's death, but the voice on the phone is not heard). Dr. Henry Primble is much older in this adaptation. The new scene with Steed and Emma in a rooftop garden was added to the script.

There are also some production errors. For example, in episode 4, Hugh refers to Dr. Primble as "Primple". And in episode 2, Brigadier Whitehead is referred to as Major Whitehead.^[3]

References

External links

• From Venus with Love at the Internet Movie Database
• Episode overview on The Avengers Forever! website

The Avengers
Characters	John Steed Cathy Gale Emma Peel Tara King Mike Gambit Purdey Mother Father
Episodes	Series 1 "Hot Snow" "Crescent Moon" "Girl on the Trapeze" "Dance with Death" "The Frighteners" "Tunnel of Fear" Series 2 "Mr. Teddy Bear" "Propellant 23" "The Decapod" "Bullseye" "Mission to Montreal" "The Removal Men" "The Mauritius Penny" "Death of a Great Dane" "The Sell Out" "Death on the Rocks" "Traitor in Zebra" "The Big Thinker" "Death Dispatch" "Dead on Course" "Intercrime" "Immortal Clay" "Box of Tricks" "Warlock" "The Golden Eggs" "School for Traitors" "The White Dwarf" "Man in the Mirror" "Conspiracy of Silence" "A Chorus of Frogs" "Six Hands Across a Table" "Killer Whale" Series 3 "Brief for Murder" "The Undertakers" "Man with Two Shadows" "The Nutshell" "Death of a Batman" "November Five" "The Gilded Cage" "Second Sight" "The Medicine Men" "The Grandeur That Was Rome" "The Golden Fleece" "Don't Look Behind You" "Death a la Carte" "Dressed to Kill" "The White Elephant" "The Little Wonders" "The Wringer" "Mandrake" "The Secrets Broker" "Trojan Horse" "Build a Better Mousetrap" "The Outside-In Man" "The Charmers" "Concerto" "Esprit de Corps" "Lobster Quadrille" Series 4 "The Town of No Return" "The Gravediggers" "The Cybernauts" "A Surfeit of H2O" "The Hour That Never Was" "A Touch of Brimstone" "What the Butler Saw" Series 5 "From Venus with Love" "The Fear Merchants" "Escape in Time" "The See-Through Man" "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" "The Winged Avenger" "The Living Dead" "The Hidden Tiger" "The Correct Way to Kill" "Death's Door"
Related	List of cast members The New Avengers Film
Category:The Avengers