Edie Banister is a former agent of MI6.
By former, I mean quite former, as in it has been likely two decades gone by since she was forced to retire. While there is no mention or even hint of it in the two adventures, one short and the other full-length, of her in the present, based on her actions it would be safe to guess the expression "kicking and screaming" might be appropriate; well, in Banister's case you would definitely eliminate the screaming as that is something she would never have done. Kicking, though, is a distinct possibility and considering the training in the martial arts she had way back in her youth and the impressive agility she still can manage if forced, those on the receiving end would be the worse for their experience. Banister is honest enough with herself to know that she would certainly pay for any such vigorous activity the next day but so would the recipient.
Her days out in the field, putting her life on the line in service to Queen and Country, are far behind her as she has already passed her 80th birthday and felt the creeping boredom of retirement for the last two decades. In her day as she recalls, though, she had once been one impressive operative and in the first recorded adventure we have of her she is almost gleeful in having a chance to do something meaningful, "full of steely, silvered resolve, fixing local coppers with her old naval commander's authority and getting the thing done right; playing the sort of retired but still forceful figure every British secret agent should eventually become".
Banister is a terrific example of how, if the mind stays lucid and sharp, which her does exceedingly well, it can compensate a lot for a body that is not as ready-for-action as it once was. And when the drive and determination, fueled in Banister's case with a considerable amount of boredom, pushes her, she shows she is still a viable force. Especially when what everyone else sees is just a really old lady.
Good Lines:
- "Mr. Caspian would have been most upset to be murdered".