Dr. Catherine "Cathy" Gale is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

played by

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...

, on the 1960s British series '' The Avengers''. She was the first regular female partner of

John Steed Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed usually known as John Steed, is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the 1960s British spy series '' The Avengers'' and its 1970s sequel '' The New Avengers'', played by Patr ...

, following the departure of Steed's original male co-star, Dr David Keel (played by

Ian Hendry Ian Mackendrick Hendry (13 January 1931 – 24 December 1984) was a British actor. He worked on several British TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, including the lead in the first series of '' The Avengers'' and '' The Lotus Eaters'', and played ...

). She made her first appearance at the start of the series' second season in 1962.

Fictional biography

Initially, Gale was one of several rotating partners who worked with Steed (the others being medical man Dr Martin King and

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

Venus Smith). By the third season, however, she was Steed's only partner. Gale was born 5 October 1930. She was an anthropologist who married a farmer in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and there learned to hunt, fight and take care of herself. When her husband was killed, Gale returned to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to earn a Ph.D. in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

. She was the curator of a museum when she first encountered John Steed and agreed to work alongside him from 1962 to 1964. She is engaged in charities. The relationship between Steed and Gale was marked by

sexual tension Sexual tension is a social phenomenon that occurs when two individuals interact and one or both feel sexual desire, but the consummation is postponed or never happens. A common scenario is where the two individuals function in proximity, such as c ...

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 A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

and Honor Blackman and her co-star

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

even recorded a 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 Honey West is a fictional character created by the husband and wife writing team Gloria and Forest Fickling under the pseudonym "G.G. Fickling", and appearing in eleven mystery novels by the duo. The character is notable as being one of the firs ...

'' and the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' character

Sara Kingdom Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

, as well as the character who succeeded her in ''The Avengers'', Emma Peel. Blackman left the series after its third season in order to co-star in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film '' Goldfinger''. She was replaced by actress

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...

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. The Emma Peel episode "Too Many Christmas Trees" sees Steed receive a Christmas card from Mrs Gale, and he wonders what she can be doing in Fort Knox, a cheeky reference to Blackman's appearance as Pussy Galore in ''Goldfinger''. Another reference was made to Catherine Gale in the Tara King episode "Pandora", where the names Cathy Gale and Emma Peel are seen on two envelope folders. She was featured on an episode of ''The New Avengers'', "The Midas Touch", where Steed had a woman visiting at his place, while he had an 8×10 color photo of her, along with two other photos that included Emma Peel and Tara King. Unlike her successors, she was rarely knocked unconscious, and usually managed to fend off abduction attempts.

Reception

Dave Rogers writes in ''The Complete Avengers: The Full Story of Britain's Smash Crime-Fightin Team!'': "Most people enjoyed the show's originality, and the Cathy Gale character, as one of the screen's earliest liberated women, was a revelation." In the British Film Institute's 1996 tribute book, ''The Avengers'', Toby Miller writes: "Mrs Gale was known from the first for her clothes, designed by Michael Whittaker with a view to being six months ahead of women's fashions. Guns were kept at different moments in a garter under her culottes, in her armpit, and then in a compact. She wore knee-high boots, tailored leather suits and a trench coat at a time when such outfits were only seen in porn magazines and fetishist outlets." He further writes that "Mrs Gale was straightforward and virtuous as well as sensual, Steed slightly untrustworthy, wilful and exciting: a 'sophisticate but not lacking in virility'. Unlike Mrs Peel, Mrs Gale is a Monica Seles ''avant la lettre'', squealing and screaming as she does battle with assailants in ways that made a few male viewers anxious."

Other media

Beth Chalmers voiced Mrs. Gale in Big Finish's 2017 audio adaptation of the ''Avengers'' novel ''Too Many Targets''.

Fictional biography

Reception

Other media

References

Further reading