Britishness and The Avengers

How was Britishness represented in Episode 1?

• The costumes the male agent wore a suit and a bowler hat, the typical stereotype of a British man, the female agent wore black skin tight jumpsuits which is a typical 60's outfit, however when she was undercover she was wearing a typical dress with a hat and held a handbag. 
• The settings were the richer, higher class parts of London and was a small seaside town and everyone knows each other. this is quite stereotypical as other countries think of London and small towns with a fish and chip shop when they think about Britain. 
• The props used by the male agents was a typical British car, he walked with an umbrella and wore a bowler hat which are both stereotypical for man to wear in the 60's and are what people think of when they think about British men. The female agent walked around with a handbag which is stereotypical for any woman to do especially in the UK. 
• Character interaction with the female agent was very polite and formal as a woman would interact back in the 60's as it was how they were expected to interact with people. Interaction with the male character was the same with any other character both male and female, he spoke with a posh tone but had a good sense of humour, he wasn't sexist towards women but had a comedic sense when talking to them. They both had very British accents. 
• Dialogue between both of the gannets was very formal, they were both sharing ideas, they were both very polite to each other, however later on in the episode the female agent took over the dialogue and was speaking to the male agent as if he was one of her students. 
• Stereotypes throughout the episode was that the male agent took charge over almost any situation, he spoke for the female agent sometimes. They both took roles that were gender orientated for them, for example the male agent did more fighting than the female agent, he was out looking for clues and talking to lots of people however the female agent wasn't doing as much as he was. The male agent can be related to Sherlock Holmes and James Bond as they both wear suits, they both talk to lots of people and ask questions, they both fight but James Bond does more action. 

Case Study: The Town of No Return

Case Study: The Town of No Return


Plot
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, and says good morning to the man and walks off.
After a bout of fencing at Mrs. Peel's flat, Steed and Mrs Peel leave on a train to visit Little Bazeley by the Sea, a village in Norfolk where agents have been reported to go missing.[1] On the train they share a carriage with a portly gentleman, Jimmy Smallwood (played by Patrick Newell who would later play Mother), who is going to visit his brother the local blacksmith. 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".

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 imposters 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 imposter.

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. Mrs Peel revisits the church and confronts the vicar, who suddenly pulls out a gun and reveals he is also an imposter. Mrs Peel is tied up in the blacksmith's until Steed arrives, overpowers the shifty local and frees her.

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.

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; 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.

Links to social and cultural context
The clothes that are worn by the characters are more 50's style than 60's apart from the eye makeup on some of the female characters. 

Audiences appeal
The episode appeals to a male and female audience because of the action that both genders have experienced in the episode. Audiences may be able to relate to some of the scenes in the episode. The characters use language that some people may be able to relate to. 

The Avengers 1965

The Avengers Fact File:

• The Avengers was created by the ITV.
• The target audience for the TV show was males and females ages 15 to 50, social grade B to E. The show aired after 9PM.
• The first episode of the TV show aired on 7th January 1961. 
• The Avengers had 
• The show had 6 seasons.
• The last episode of the show was aired on 21st May 1969.
• The budget for series 4 was considerably increased due to the fact that they were pushing for the show to be aired in the US. 

Duopoly in the 1960s

Duopoly in the 1960s, also known as The Golden Age. It was the era of two competing broadcasters, ITV and BBC. The two institutions had full control over the programmes as they produced them in house. The competition between the two would have had negative impacts on the country as they both have similar soaps such as Eastenders on BBC ONE and Coronation Street on ITV. It can be quite boring as they'd probably both have the news on at the same time. It would be less mainstream than it is now.

Television Industries: Ownership ITV

ITV Fact File 

• The name and number of ITV channels are: ITV, ITV2, ITVBe, ITV3, ITV4, CITV. In total ITV has 6 channels. 

• The most popular ITV show is Coronation Street.
•    
• Other platforms include: Phones, laptops, internet, television.
• ITV generates income purely through advertising. 
• Make more money and can be more creative since not owned by the government. 

Television Industries: Ownership BBC

BBC Fact File 

• The BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation. It was founded on 18th October 1922 by John Reith. He quit the BBC in 1938, one year before television was released to the public.

• BBC channels include: BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC NEWS, BBC Parliament, BBC Alba. In total, there are nine BBC channels.

• Most popular BBC 1 programmes are: The Apprentice, Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing.
• The most expensive programme the BBC has made is would be Doctor Who.
• Other platforms include: mobile phones, laptops, television, radio, internet.
• It generates income in other ways such as selling programmes to other companies, or through TV licensing.