TV drama exam style questions The Avengers

TV drama exam style questions
The Avengers. ‘The Town of No Return’. Series 4, Episode 1. ITV 2 October 1965
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzXkwfhBIcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyZBeO_sE0

Question 3 (15 marks)
In this question you will be rewarded for drawing together
elements from your full course of study, including different
areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts.
• How far does the extract challenge traditional
representations of gender in order to reach a 1960s
television audience?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzXkwfhBIcc
• In your answer you must:
• analyse the extract’s use of gender representations.
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far
the extract challenges or conforms to traditional
representations of gender including stereotypes.
Exam style questions: Representation

elements from your full course of study, including different
areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts.
• How far does the extract challenge traditional
representations of gender in order to reach a 1960s
television audience?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyZBeO_sE0
• In your answer you must:
• analyse the extract’s use of gender representations
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far
the extract challenges or conforms to traditional

The Avengers
• Explain how historical and social contexts influence
television programmes. Refer to The Avengers from
1965 to support your answer.
Exam style questions: Contexts

The Avengers
• Explain how social and/or cultural contexts influence
representations in television programmes. Refer to the
set episode of The Avengers from 1965 that you have
studied to support your answer.

The Avengers
• Explain how historical contexts influenced the portrayal
of heroes and villains in television programmes. Refer
to The Avengers from 1965 to support your answer.

Historical, Social and Cultural Contexts:
1960’s & The Avengers
How is the British society and culture of the 1960’s represented in The Avengers?

 Every media text reflects the times (historical context) and society
(social context) in which it is produced. The representations created by
the media are a product of a specific society’s culture (cultural
context), and these representations are shaped by the ideologies
(example of cultural context) present in that society at that time.
 Television representations are constructed following a mix of tradition
and conventions while at the same time responding to the social and
cultural changes of the time.
 The Avengers as a distinctive generic identity that is rooted in the 1960s
(historical context) British (social context) pop culture (cultural
context).
Why are they important?

In order to understand a media text, you must consider it within its historical,
cultural and social context.
Historical context: When was the text made?
Social: Where was the text made?
Cultural: What is the hegemonic ideology of that society?
When looking at them from the perspective of the audience, there are two
contexts (historical, social and cultural) that you need to think about when
analysing them:
 The (historical, social and cultural) context of production: the context in
which they were made.
 The (historical, social and cultural) context of consumption: the context in
which they are consumed by the audience.

So, when studying a media text, it is important to think about:
• The historical and social (economic and political) context for the text.
• The cultural context of construction: conventions, attitudes, ideologies and
expectations exposed in the text.
• These historical, social and cultural contexts are factors that influenced the
representations depicted in the text.
• The institutional context of the text:
Who made it?
Why they made it?
When/where was distributed?
Who is the target audience?
Other texts created by the same institution or within the same genre that are
known by the audience? Other texts referenced? (intertextuality)

What contexts are explored in The Avengers?
 Music and fashion
 Gender (Feminism)
 Sexuality
 Race/Ethnicity (Multiculturalism in Britain)
 The Cold War
What themes are represented in The Avengers?

 London had transformed from the bleak, conservative, post-WW2 city, into the
capital of fashion, full of freedom, fun, hope and opportunity.
 Parents of the Sixties teenage generation had spent their own teenage years
working and fighting for their lives in the Second World War and wanted their own
children to enjoy their youth and be able to have more fun and freedom.
 This era was the beginning of teenage culture in Britain, (a new era that had
started in the 1950s in America.)
The Swinging 60’s

 Teenage culture and the music associated to it appeared in the
1950s in America, being exported to the U.K. and the rest of
the world by the end of that decade. It wasn’t until the early
Sixties and the appearance of ‘British Invasion’, with groups like
The Beatles and Rolling Stones, that rock and roll music truly
began its ground-breaking changes in the British mainstream.
 These bands experimented with new sounds and developed
innovative pieces of music. Their later albums included lyrics
encouraging rebellion against the authorities, such as in The
Beatles’ song ‘Revolution’, from their 1968 ‘white’ album.
 Young people began to stand up for their beliefs and their
individuality, demanding changes in society and expressing
themselves in ways that distanced them from the previous
generation, adopting hairstyles, clothing and language
completely different to the previous generation’s ones.
MUSIC and FASHION in the 60’s!

 Steed - Personified
the traditional British
gentleman (hero).
 Peel – Embodied the
new ideas of youth
and femininity born in
the 1960s.
GENDER: Exploring the changing gender roles
in the 1960s

 1960’s - The Feminist Movement starts to appear
in European and American universities, although it
is still very minoritarian. Small groups of women
organize protests and organise themselves in
women’s liberation groups.
 Lawsuits for equal pay and women’s rights in the
workplace - women had lower salaries and
worked in ‘pink collar’ jobs such as secretaries ,
not professional ‘white collar’ jobs such as
lawyers/doctors, and were paid significantly less
(60%) than men.
FEMINISM: the influence of patriarchy and
feminism representations in The Avengers

 Use of contraceptives/safe birth control. This
changed the relationships attitudes of many
young women to sex and sexuality. It was
introduced in the UK on the NHS in 1961 for
married women only - this lasted until 1967,
when it was extended to all women.
 Fighting for reproductive freedom - Women’s
abortion rights

Changes in the 1960’s for women
 More females than ever were entering the paid workforce, and this increased
the dissatisfaction among women regarding huge gender differences in pay
and advancement and sexual harassment at the workplace.
 The first contraceptive pill was licensed in the UK in 1961 but was reserved for
married women. A proposal to extend it to unmarried women was rejected in
1965, and not approved until a decade later in 1974. By the end of the Sixties,
more than 80 percent of wives of childbearing age were using contraception.
in the 1960s

Changes in the 1960’s for women
Basic goals of the feminists movement in the Sixties:
 equal pay for equal work
 end to domestic violence
 restricting severe limits on women in managerial jobs
 end to sexual harassment
 sharing of responsibility for housework and child
upbringing.
in the 1960s

How is feminism represented in The Avengers?
 Seen as Steed’s professional equal (heroine) rather than
as the archetype of the female character that needs to be
saved and protected by the male hero. She is a strong,
self-confident, assertive character who does not need the
protection of the male hero (and who in fact saves Steed’s
life on several occasions during the series)
 Clothes & fighting ability – This way of representing the
female character connoted modern liberated femininity.
She embodies the new international fashion in women
who like to dress differently to their mothers and fight like
men. Miniskirts and leather outfits added to the highly
fetishistic dimension, which was far removed from the
‘girl-next-door’ image that was represented in TV during
the 50’s.

Using your notes, answer these questions:
 How do the gender representations reflect the historical
and contemporary social and cultural contexts of the
time within both set products?
 What are the gender differences in the roles of Steed
and Emma in The Avengers compared to gender roles in
Cuffs?
in the 1960s

 Since the Buggery Act of 1533, passed by Parliament during the reign of Henry VIII, gay men who were
publicly gay, were either sent to death, to prison or put into mental institutions. In the 1960s, if men
were sent to mental institutions, they endured experimentation, torture, pain-causing drugs and
electroshock therapy as a “cure for homosexuality”. Female homosexuality, however, was never explicitly
targeted by any legislation.
 In 1963, The Minorities Research Group (MRG) became the UK's first lesbian social and political
organisation. They went on to publish their own lesbian magazine called ’Arena Three’
 In 1965, a UK opinion poll found that 93% of respondents see homosexuality as a form of illness
requiring medical treatment. Mid 60’s, gay activists became increasingly aware of the threat of prison.
 In 1966, Humphry Berkeley introduce a law to legalise male homosexual relations. He lost his seat in
Parliament due to his actions to legalise gay sex.
 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that decriminalised
homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and
between two men who had attained the age of 21.
 Legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales was passed by the Parliament of the
United Kingdom in July 2013 and took effect on 13 March 2014. The first same-sex marriages took place
on 29 March 2014.
SEXUALITY: The illegality of male gay sex in
the early 60’s and its timeline.

SEXUALITY: Assumptions of heterosexuality in The Avengers
compared to the leading gay character in Cuffs.
 In what way attitudes towards same sex relationships have changed in UK’s TV dramas
form the 1960s to the 2010’s?
 Why do you think that, in spite of presenting itself as a very modern TV series, The
Avengers avoid presenting themes of homosexuality in the 1960’s?

 How do the representations of sexualities reflect the
historical, contemporary, social and cultural contexts?
Use the notes from 1960s/2010s and everything we have
spoken about in relation to The Avengers & Cuffs.
In the 1960s homosexuality was viewed as…. This hegemonic view on homosexuality
can be seen represented in TV programmes such as The Avengers because…
This view of homosexuality differs to society in 2010’s as gay marriage was legalised
in…. This is reflected in Cuffs as…
SEXUALITY: Assumptions of heterosexuality in The Avengers
compared to the leading gay character in Cuffs.

Using your notes, answer these questions:
 How do the representations of sexuality reflect the
historical and contemporary social and cultural
contexts of the time within both set products?
 What are the differences in the representations of
sexuality in The Avengers compared to gender roles in
Cuffs?
in the 1960s

Let’s discuss…
 How many ethnic minorities are represented in The
Avengers? And how many in Cuffs?
a group within a community which has different national or cultural
traditions from the main population.
ETHNICITIES: the assumption of a common ‘white’ culture
in 1960s Britain, despite presence of other ethnic groups
in British society.

Compare the representation of white race in The
Avengers to the multi-culturalism of Cuffs:
How do the race and ethnicity representations in Cuffs
and The Avengers reflect their social, historical and
cultural contexts of British society?
RACE AND ETHNICITY:
REPRESENTATIONS IN BRITISH TV DRAMAS

 After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world's
strongest nations.
 The Cold War (1945-1991) was a long period of tension between the capitalist
democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern
Europe.
 The West was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the
Soviet Union. These two countries became known as superpowers.
 There was great distrust between the USA and the Soviet Union.
 Arms Race → Who had the better weapons?
 Space Race → Who could accomplish space races first?!
 The Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVqziNV7dGY
COLD WAR: The fear of Russian spies in 1960s
Britain

 Paranoia was common during the Cold War – due to
propaganda, ignorance, fear and secrecy.
 The threat of replacement ‘insiders’ in The Avengers
reflects the Cold War paranoia, compared to the more
common everyday threat of crime in Cuffs.
Britain

Series 4, Episode 1: ‘The Town of No Return”
Plot:
 Steed and Emma, are on the trail of several murdered
agents. They visit Little Bazeley by the Sea, a town that
strangers rarely leave alive, and discover it is being
secretly infiltrated (invaded) by enemy agents.
The Avengers: Plot

Act 1:
Introduction: On a beach a shifty man is attending to his lobster
pots when a man emerges from the tide concealed in a water tight
black covering; he walks up the beach, removes the covering, says
good morning to the man and walks off.
Set up: During a bout of fencing at Mrs. Peel's flat, Steed and Mrs
Peel discuss their new mission.
The Avengers: Narrative structure
(Act 1: Equilibrium)

Act 2: Disruption of the equilibrium
Conflict/Problem: They must leave on a train to visit Little Bazeley by the Sea, a village
in Norfolk where agents have been reported to go missing.On the train they share a
carriage with a portly gentleman, Jimmy Smallwood, who is going to visit his brother the
local blacksmith.
Journey into the unknown: On arrival Steed, Peel and Smallwood are shadowed by the
shifty local man from the beach. At the local inn, The Inebriated Gremlin, they are served
by landlord Piggy Warren, who introduces them to Mark Brandon, the school inspector,
and Jill Manson, a teacher. Mrs Peel announces herself as a new teacher, assigned by the
ministry to the local school. When Smallwood leaves to visit his brother the blacksmith,
several strange men in boots with rifles depart through the inn and follow him.
Meanwhile, Steed and Mrs Peel find their rooms in a shabby state, with the shutters
nailed shut. Smallwood fails to find his brother, and heads for the church, followed by the
shifty local. Later the shifty local is seen hunting Smallwood across the landscape with
bloodhounds. This is heard back at the village and dismissed by Piggy as "badger
hunting".
(Act 2: Disequilibrium)

Act 2: Recognition of the disruption
Twists and turns:
• The following morning Steed and Mrs Peel examine strange footprints leading out of the sea and up the beach,
and find Smallwood dead and buried in the sand.
• Mrs Peel visits the school and finds it and the teachers very unusual. She discovers that the school has been
unused for years and a large number of adult sized Wellington boots are stored there. She visits the local church
where the vicar shows her the parish records, of which several decades are missing.
• Meanwhile, Steed investigates the old wartime airfield and finds it in a similarly derelict state. Steed discovers a
mention of a pilot, killed in 1942, named Piggy Warren: the name used by the pub landlord. Both Mrs Peel and
Steed learn that the village folk are impostors and are hiding something. They seek out Smallwood's brother and
find the shifty looking local who owns the bloodhounds pretending to be the blacksmith. Earlier they had seen a
photo of Smallwood's brother so they know that he too is an impostor.
• While Mrs Peel is investigating the school, an elderly man – the real School inspector – runs in, pursued by the
phony school inspector and the shifty local, and says little but "below, below" before dying.
Breaking point:
• Mrs Peel revisits the church and confronts the vicar, who suddenly pulls out a gun and reveals he is also an
impostor. Mrs Peel is tied up in the blacksmith's until Steed arrives, overpowers the shifty local and frees her.
(Act 2: Disequilibrium)

Act 2: Recognition of the disruption
Final confrontation:
• In the school, Steed and Mrs Peel discover enough food to feed an army. Mrs Peel reveals a diagram on the back
of the old blackboard of Britain and a submarine in the North Sea. Wondering where have all the people gone,
they surmise that this is a gradual invasion by a foreign power: small groups have been dispatched from a
submarine located in the North Sea, explaining the bootprints at the beach and adult sized Wellington boots at
the school, replacing the locals one by one until only the invaders remain.
Act 3: Attempt to restore equilibrium/Reinstatement of the equilibrium
Climax:
• Heeding the dying man's words, they head to the old airfield's underground bunkers. There they discover a
small army of enemy agents and a big supply of explosives and some high tech equipment. Steed and Mrs Peel
are eventually found by some of the impostors;
Resolution:
• A fight ensues before they overpower them and leave after sealing the invaders permanently underground.
They depart the village on a motor scooter driven by Mrs Peel.
(Act 3: New equilibrium)

How is this context represented in The Avengers?
 It takes for granted the existence of a Russian spy ring in
Britain…
 Steed knows where their headquarters are. And this
episode aired at the time when the reality of Soviet
Unions were penetrating the British intelligence.
 English system is seen as an obstacle, preventing the
Russians from carrying out their plans.
Britain

Bring it all in!
Using the resources provided (factsheet, booklet, example
answers as well as your notes from lessons and previous
tasks) attempt to produce an answer for the exam
question examples in the next slides.

elements from your full course of study, including different areas of
the theoretical framework and media contexts.
Watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzXkwfhBIcc
How far does the extract challenge traditional representations of
gender in order to reach a 1960s television audience?
In your answer you must:
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the
extract challenges or conforms to traditional

elements from your full course of study, including different areas of
the theoretical framework and media contexts.
Watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyZBeO_sE0
How far does the extract challenge traditional representations of
gender in order to reach a 1960s television audience?
In your answer you must:
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the
extract challenges or conforms to traditional

TV drama exam style questions The Avengers

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TV drama exam style questions The Avengers