Tara King

Tara King is a fictional character of British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers, played by Canadian actress Linda Thorson. Sixth partner of agent John Steed (and fourth female partner), she appeared in season 6 (in color) of the series (1968-1969), playing in 33 episodes. She is Emma Peel's successor. She is also the first of John Steed's partners to be a real spy.

The character

Arrival

Unlike Steed's other partners, we know few things about her. She enlisted at an early age in the Intelligence Service as a trainee, under the number 69. Her first contact with the bowler-hatted agent is described in the first episode of season 6: The Forget-me-Knot. This was a rather spectacular meeting: thinking Steed is the "enemy" of her training, she pounces on him before she realizes she has made a mistake. Shortly after, she makes Steed's acquaintance. During their talk, we learn John Steed is considered as an idol by all agents, Tara included. She then helps him to resolve the episode's investigation.

The Avengers (TV series)

The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series created in 1961. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) and his assistant John Steed (Patrick Macnee). Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. Steed's most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and later Tara King (Linda Thorson). Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity. The Avengers ran from 1961 until 1969, screening as one-hour episodes its entire run.

The pilot episode, "Hot Snow," aired on 7 January 1961. The final episode, "Bizarre," aired on 21 May 1969.

The Avengers was produced by Associated British Corporation, a contractor within the ITV network. After a merger in July 1968 ABC Television became Thames Television, which continued production of the series although it was still broadcast under the ABC name. By 1969 The Avengers was shown in more than 90 countries. ITV produced a sequel series The New Avengers (1976–1977) with Patrick Macnee returning as John Steed, and two new partners.