Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed MC, OM usually known as John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular 1960s British spy series The Avengers and its 1970s sequel The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee in both, and by Ralph Fiennes in the 1998 film of the same name.
Steed is a secret agent working for an unnamed branch of British intelligence. He was teamed with a variety of partners, including Dr. David Keel (1961), Venus Smith (1962-1963), Dr. Martin King (1962-1963), Cathy Gale (1962–1964), Emma Peel (1965–1968), Tara King (1968–1969), Lady Diana Forbes-Blakeney (1969), Purdey, and Mike Gambit (both 1976–1977).
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