Silver

Real Name: Silver

Identity/Class: Unknown

Occupation: Technician / Specialist

Affiliations: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Steel, Mercury, Bronze, presumably the other "elements"

Enemies: Transient Beings (including "the Old Man", "Johnny Jack" and "the Man")

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unknown

First Appearance: Sapphire and Steel Adventure 3, Episode 3 (ITC, 13th January 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Able to teleport (generally to and from missions, not once he is at the site of an investigation). Able to communicate telepathically with other agents. He is able to instantly duplicate most small objects, no matter how complex, and can even create a complete duplicate of a full-sized car given a few minutes. He can also transmute physical objects, fixing broken glass, turning a nail into liquid metal, generate blow torch flames from a metal tube, or turn on a disconnected light bulb by touch. He also seems able to operate simple machinery from a distance, having been seen to open both tills and car doors without making physical contact. He may have some level of superhuman strength, and may be able to run time back and forth on objects in a limited fashion. He is able to comprehend the workings and functions of any device, gadget or machine, with only the most cursory of examinations. He probably has a greatly extended lifespan by human terms. Since it is implied that other "elements" can tap his powers telepathically when needed, it seems likely the reverse might be true; e.g. he might be able to call on limited versions of the powers displayed by Steel for instance.

History: Silver was an agent of an unknown force, who worked to preserve the fabric of time from anything which might threaten it. His origins were unknown, and though he appeared humanoid, he was definitely not from Earth. He was described as a Technician, a Specialist, and normally would be sent on assignments when his special skills were needed by the Operators and Investigators, who generally scouted things out first. Generally he would receive some level of briefing prior to being dispatched.

Though he presumably worked with a number of other agents during his career, by 1979 (Earth time) his relationship (either professional or perhaps personal) with fellow agent Copper was reported to be problematic. He also worked with both Sapphire and Steel, two Operators who were generally partnered together on missions; he appeared to have a casual romantic relationship with the former, and a cool, nearly hostile relationship with the latter.

(Adventure 3) Silver joined Sapphire and Steel at their investigation of problems within a time travel capsule/home located atop a 20th century tower block. Steel was unhappy at his arrival, since they had not requested his help; Silver claimed he had "just happened to be passing" but Steel was convinced he had been sent by their superiors. Within the capsule an unknown force had seemingly eliminated the inhabitants, though the three agents soon discovered one, a child, had been spared, aged to adulthood and was now under the control of their unidentified opponent. The child-man seemed to be able to cause timeslips when he touched things; when Silver was attacked and unable to avoid physical contact, he was seemingly destroyed, sent back "to his beginnings - maybe even further than that." Luckily for Silver, his fellow agents managed to restore the child and everyone else, bringing Silver back into existence, as well as neutralising the creature which had been behind it all.

(Adventure 6) Silver was sent on another mission, though for some reason instead of being given a proper briefing, he simply had the information he would need placed straight into his brain in non-verbal form, "more like a kind of knowledge". Even more bizarre, he found himself at the investigation site, a quiet roadside cafe, with no sign of his fellow agents. Some six hours later, Sapphire and Steel arrived. As the investigation got underway, the three encountered a number of humans arriving at the cafe seemingly from different time zones. Things took a decidedly more sinister turn though when they realised that the mission was a trap; at some point Sapphire and Steel (and perhaps Silver) had angered "a higher authority", and the cafe mission was a trap. The humans at the cafe were in fact "transient beings", immensely powerful creatures from the distant past, able to assume any shape. Knowing the transient beings normally lacked the ability to escape from the past, the agents theorised they must have been equipped with some method of time travel. Silver managed to duplicate the beings' time travel device (disguised as a chess set), and used it to banish two of the three transient beings to another time. However he failed to stop Sapphire and Steel being entrapped, caught in the cafe for all eternity, surrounded by a void of nothingness.

Comments: Created by P.J.Hammond. Played by David Collings in both the original series and the Big Finish audios, making him the only actor to reprise his TV role in the latter.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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