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Part One - Issue 890 - January 4th 1969:
HAVING recently returned from an expedition in Africa, the famous naturalist and
explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington, has invited Gilbert Carter, a senior civil servant of
the Ministry of Agriculture, to dinner at his home in Surrey...
Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.
The famous naturalist and explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington,
has recently returned from Africa with some seeds which he believes are of prehistoric
origin. He has invited Gilbert Carter, a senior civil servant to dinner at his
home in Surrey to discuss them. As they talk, they are unaware that a mysterious
figure is lurking outside the window.
Sir Edmund says that he believes the seeds will grow into an ivy so vigorous that it will smother all other forms. of vegetation. Carter says that the seeds need to be quarantined in a government laboratory and tells Sir Edmund that he will be back in the morning to collect them. The mysterious figure chuckles to himself that they then won’t be there, and appears to pour something from a test-tube into a hedge.
Next day, Steed and Tara are called in when the seeds and Sir Edmund are discovered to be missing. There are signs of a violent struggle and something odd has been scribbled on the blotter. Tara notices something odd about the ivy outside the window, it’s growing very fast.
Part Two - Issue 891 - January 11th 1969:
The famous naturalist and explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington, has mysteriously vanished
from his home, together with some strange prehistoric seeds which he has found in an
African desert. Gilbert Carter of the Ministry of Agriculture, calls in John Steed
and Tara King to investigate; and Tara is horrified to see an ivy plant growing before
her...
Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.
The ivy has begun to grow up around Tara’s neck, so Steed cuts it off at the roots. They study the message of the blotter – ‘J.A.G.’ – and wonder what it means. Gilbert Carter heads back off to London and leaves Steed and Ms. King to find Sir Edmund and the seeds.
In the library Tara finds a book by J.A. Grimstone, and surmises that he could be ‘J.A.G.’. Steed tells her that he is Dr. Jason A. Grimstone, a brilliant bio-chemist who had a collapse through over work. He calls the nursing home where the doctor was treated, but discovers that he was discharged over two years ago, and the nursing home do not know his current whereabouts. The book says he owned a small island off the Cornish coast, so they decide to try there.
Later that day, Steed and Tara arrive at a small fishing village in Cornwall. They can see Grimstone’s island, so they attempt to hire a boat under the pretence that they are going to be bird watching. The boat owner tells them that the island has been overgrown like a jungle for years, and that it is a place of darkness and evil that they are better off staying away from.
Part
Three - Issue 982 - January 18th 1969:
THE famous naturalist and explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington, has mysteriously vanished,
together with some strange seeds which he has brought home from Africa. Steed and
Tara King believe a Doctor Jason Grimstone is connected with the case - but when they
attempt to visit an island, where the doctor once lived, they are warned by a local
fisherman to keep away as it is a place of evil...
Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.
Steed and Tara cross the water to the island. The mysterious figure from earlier on is watching from within the dense undergrowth and decides to prepare a welcome for them. The boat owner’s warnings seem to be true, the island is overgrown by dense ivy, which has killed all the other vegetation. Even the birds have been silenced. They fight their way through the ivy to reach the house.
Inside there are fresh footprints. Steed and Tara find a series of steps which lead down into a laboratory in the caves beneath the house. The mysterious figure creeps up behind them, gun in hand, and tells them that they came uninvited, but that they will now be forced to stay.
Part Four - Issue 893 - January 25th 1969:
STEED and Tara King are investigating the disappearance of the famous naturalist and
explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington, and some strange, prehistoric seeds which he found in an
African desert. The trail leads to an island, which was once the home of a Doctor
Jason Grimstone. In caves beneath a derelict old house they stumble on an amazing
laboratory - then ... suddenly, the doctor appears...
Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.
The mysterious figure, now confirmed as Dr. Jason Grimstone, forces them into his laboratory. In there, they find the previously missing Sir Edmund Whittington. He is relieved to see the Avengers, as Grimstone is planning a diabolical experiment. Grimstone tells Steed that he is working on a wonderful new fertiliser that will only work on ivy. He plans to use it in conjunction with the seeds that Sir Edmund had discovered to make a kind of horticultural bomb which he will use to entomb the whole city of London.
He has Sir Edmund’s seeds in a large test tube, and tells the trio that he is going to show them the first trial experiment, but as he goes to put in a few drops of fertiliser, the ivy around him springs up and the whole phial of fertiliser douses the seeds. The seeds sprout furiously and grab Grimstone.
Part
Five - Issue 894 - February 1st 1969:
STEED and Tara King are investigating the disappearance of the famous naturalist
and explorer, Sir Edmund Whittington, and some strange prehistoric seeds which
he had brought back from Africa. The trail leads them to the island home
of a brilliant but insane biochemist, Doctor Jason Grimstone. There, in
a cave, they find Sir Edmund is being held prisoner by the doctor. The
mad scientist is planning a terrible vengeance on society, but as he demonstrates
an incredible fertiliser on one of Sir Edmund's seeds, he is suddenly enveloped
in furiously growing tropical ivy...
Written by unknown, drawn by John Canning.
Steed fires at the plant with a gun and Grimstone faints. The sound of the shot echoes through the caves and the roof starts to collapse. Steed, Tara and Sir Edmund find the stairs are blocked. They move down another tunnel, with the roof collapsing behind them as they go. Steed is carrying Grimstone. They find themselves trapped at the end of the tunnel, with an underground river flowing past them. Steed constructs a makeshift submarine from a barrel and starts to wade along the river.
Part Six - Issue 895 - February 8th 1968:
STEED and Tara King are attempting to rescue Sir Edmund Whittington, who
is being held prisoner by a Doctor Jason Grimstone on an island off the coast
of Cornwall. All goes well until they are trapped by a rock fall in a
cave.
Steed makes a desperate attempt to get help using an inverted barrel as a submarine
and walking along the bed of a submerged river.
Written by?, drawn by John Canning.
Steed struggles along under the water until he sees a light. He swims upward.
Tara, Sir Edmund and Doctor Grimstone have been waiting for hours when Steed turns up wearing frogman's gear. He has brought snorkelling equipment for them all, and they swim out to discover that the house has collapsed into the cave burying the doctor's laboratory and all his experiments.
The shock has blotted out Dr. Grimstone's memory so Tara and Steed take him to a nursing home where he can spend the rest of his life 'harmlessly pottering with his plants'. Steed laughingly warns the matron not to give him any chemical fertilizer and the pair drive away.
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