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Steed and Ms. King in TV Comic: Story Twelve

Story Twelve
Issues: 949 to 955, February 21st to April 4th 1970

Part One - Issue 949, February 21st 1970:
LATE one Friday evening, a high level conference at the Admiralty, London, comes to an end.

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

A high level conference at the Admiralty is coming to an end, before he joins the flagship of the NATO Fleet on Monday Admiral Broadside is planning to enjoy the weekend at his favourite hobby, Naval History. A few streets away a couple of suspicious-looking workmen are loosening bolts on some scaffolding. They say that the Admiral’s car always comes that way and tonight he’ll be out of luck. As he turns the corner, they give the scaffolding a push. At the same time a black cat runs across the path of the Admiral’s car and his driver brakes sharply, just avoiding the collapsing scaffolding. Mother contacts Steed and Tara and instructs them to meet him aboard H.M.S. Victory. In a riverside café, the two thugs who had failed to kill the Admiral are receiving a roasting from their leader. They promise to get him next time.

Steed and Tara drive down to the Admiral's house in TV Comic #950Part Two - Issue 950, February 28th 1970:
FOLLOWING an attempt on the life of Admiral Horatio Broadside, Steed and Tara King are ordered to report to Mother aboard H.M.S. Victory at Portsmouth.

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

At the Victory, Mother tells Steed and Tara about the failed attempt on the Admiral’s life. The Admiral is of vital importance to the NATO Fleet exercises and certain foreign powers would be delighted to see them fail, which would happen if he was not with the flagship. Tara suggests that he go aboard now, but Mother tells her that he refuses to do so. He won’t ‘scuttle for safety’. Mother wants Steed and Tara to guard the Admiral over the weekend.

They drive down to his house. His butler greets them at the door and tells them that the Admiral is taking a turn on the sands and they can wait for him indoors. The Admiral is not alone on the sands, however, and the two assassins are waiting with telescopic sites on their rifles. Steed and Tara are shown into the viewing gallery of the Admiral’s house which is full of Naval paraphernalia and has a fantastic view of the beach and the sea. Tara looks through a telescope and spots something which alarms her.

Part Three - Issue 951, March 7th 1970:
MOTHER orders John Steed and Tara King to act as bodyguards to Admiral Horatio Broadside, as he fears an attempt will be made on the Admiral's life.  They drive down to the Admiral's house only to find he is out walking on the sands.  While they wait for him, Tara spots something through a telescope.

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

Tara has seen the two potential assassins lying in ambush for the Admiral. There is not time to get down to the beach to warn him, so Steed decides to use the two cannons which sit either side of the entrance to the Admiral’s house. The cannon ball lands bang in the middle of the two villains and they flee. The Admiral is furious that somebody has used his cannon. Steed tells him that they used it to save his life. The Admiral realises that they are Secret Service agents sent to protect him but he tells them that they have nothing to worry about as he is off to see in his yacht for the weekend. Steed tells him that they will accompany him. Elsewhere, the two villains are again being lambasted by their leader. He decides that he will do the job himself. The Admiral tells Tara that they are going to sea to hunt for hidden treasure.

Part Four - Issue 952, March 14th 1970:
The Admiral explains his plan in TV Comic #952TWO attempts have been made on the life of Admiral Horatio Broadside to prevent him from taking part in a forthcoming NATO fleet exercise - Mother has ordered Steed and Tara King to protect the Admiral, but they find that it entails a weekend at sea.

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

The Admiral has been researching treasure trove for years and he tells Steed and Tara that he has found the exact spot where a British frigate foundered in 1814 when it was returning with booty from the peninsular war. Steed and the Admiral change into frogman suits and prepare to dive to the wreck. Meanwhile, the three villains are following the Admiral’s boat in a submarine. Before launching a torpedo, however, the leader decides to see what the Admiral is up to. Come midday the yacht is in exactly the right position and Steed and the Admiral descend into the green depths. They discover the frigate in exactly the position it should be in. It is facing with its hull facing upwards. Steed and the Admiral enter the hull and find that air has been trapped within it since the ship went down. In the submarine, the leader of the villains decides the time has come to surface and pay the Admiral a visit.

Part Five - Issue 953, March 21st 1970:
ATTEMPTS have been made on the life of Admiral Horatio Broadside to prevent him taking part in a forthcoming NATO fleet exercise - Steed and Tara King have been ordered to protect the Admiral and join him on a hunt for a sunken treasure ship.  They find the wreck, but a submarine that has been following them starts to close in.

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

The U-Boat arms its guns unseen by Steed and Company.  Horatio Broadside explains that he has left limpet mines in the wreck to blow a hole in it so that they can drop a grapple through and lift the salvage.  Tara turns and notices the U-Boat.  As she does, the villains shoot out the radio mast on the Admiral's yacht.

The leader of the villains demands that the other boat surrenders as they cannot signal for help.  Tara reasons that they have no choice and Steed agrees, but asks Tara to act frightened when he starts yelling and then to push him overboard.  Steed yells to the U-Boat to 'fire your guns if you dare!'.  On cue, Tara pushes him overboard, to the horror of the watching admiral.

Part Six - Issue 954, March 28th 1970:
Tara astounds the Admiral in TV Comic #954ATTEMPTS have been made on the life of Admiral Horatio Broadside to prevent him taking part in a forthcoming NATO fleet exercise - John Steed and Tara King have been ordered to protect the Admiral, and go with him on a hunt for a sunken treasure ship.  They find the wreck but are then attacked by a mysterious submarine...

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

The Admiral is astounded that Tara has knocked Steed into the sea and is laughing about it. She says that she has realised what he intends to do. The lead villain commands his men to shoot Steed when he comes to the surface. However, instead of surfacing Steed is heading for the sunken ship and its air pocket. He reaches it just in time. When he doesn’t surface, the villains assume that he must have drowned. Little do they know, Steed is below the hull of their submarine affixing a limpet mine to it. He swims to safety. Above the water, the villains have trained their guns on the Admiral’s yacht and are preparing to fire.

Part Seven - Issue 955, April 4th 1970:
FOLLOWING attempts on the life of Admiral Horatio Broadside, John Steed and Tara King are ordered to protect him.  They join him on a hunt for a sunken treasure ship, and locate the wreck when they are attacked by a mysterious submarine.  Steed pretends to fall overboard and fixes a limpet mine to the hull of the submarine...

Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.

Suddenly, the submarine is rocked by a huge explosion. Steed’s limpet mine has done its job. The submarine begins to sink and the three villains are thrown into the brine. Steed reappears as the Admiral and Tara polish off the sodden villains. Steed recognises the villains’ leader as Von Cramer, the ex U-Boat Captain turned international spy. The Admiral thinks that the destruction of the submarine will have impacted on the old wreck, but Steed has salvaged a chest for the Admiral. Inside are the old ship’s log books and various pieces of equipment. The Admiral is delighted to have found such excellent pieces of naval history.


Back to Tara King era TV Comic Index (11-20) on to story number thirteen