It was heavily implied that Sapphire and Steel were not human, given their abilities and manner.
Steel, for example, often had gaps in his knowledge of human culture and even Sapphire's grace was tempered with a cool detachment
from the humans they interacted with. In Adventure 5, Steel confirmed that they were alien, "in the extraterrestrial sense,"
but what this qualification means is not clear. The two also referred to being involved in the mystery of the Mary Celeste,
and in one case stated they would be waiting for a ship to surface in seventy-five years. This could mean they were either
exceptionally long-lived or some kind of time travel was involved.
Sapphire and Steel, who were Operators, were occasionally assisted by other operatives, including Lead and Silver. There
were 127 operatives in total, including 12 transuranic elements, which could not be assigned where life existed. Although
they were described as elements, many of the code names were non-elements, such as Sapphire, Steel, Diamond and Jet, the last
a past love interest of Steel's. Sapphire also had a flirtatious relationship with Silver, contributing to an air of underlying
sexual tension on the occasions that Silver was called upon to assist the duo.
Among Sapphire's abilities was the power to manipulate time in small ways as well as divine the age or historical details
of an object by touching it. Her most prominent ability was to "take back time," literally rewinding it in a localised area
to see or replay the past. She also exhibited an ability to obtain information about people — their ages and backgrounds
as well as psychological insights into their personality — just by being close to them. Sometimes it appeared that she
did not discover this information herself but was receiving the information telepathically from some external source. She
could also manipulate people's emotions, and project illusions. When she used her powers, her eyes would usually glow blue.
Steel, on the other hand, could freeze himself to absolute zero which gave him the ability to destroy "ghosts", which
were in actuality remnants of Time. He apparently possessed immense strength (in Adventure 3 he tied knots in elevator cables
to prevent the elevator from being used) and a degree of invulnerability. He exhibited telekinetic abilities, being able to
paralyse people with a look, weld metal with his bare hands or undo deadbolts with a gesture.
Other operatives that appeared also had special powers. Silver (played by David Collings), a Specialist who was specified
as a Technician, was good with electronics and gadgets, even being able to create small objects out of nothing. Lead (played
by Val Pringle), on the other hand, possessed superhuman strength and could act as needed insulation for Steel when he froze
himself to extreme temperatures. The operatives could also communicate telepathically with each other, and in Adventure 5
Sapphire granted this ability to a human being, whom she dubbed "Brass" for the duration.
