EXAM QUESTION 5

In the Avengers we are entered into the small town of Little Bazeley, in which John Steed and Emma Peel find themselves alone with impostors pretending to be people who lived there.

John Steed and Emma Peel are very high class social citizens. Their posh accents make them stand out from the crowd and their well dressed appearance allows te watcher to acknowledge their status. In the 1960s was a time of intense change for women in the world with the flower power movement and basic equality for both men and women were accomplished. The show was released 20 years after the second world war, which is not a particularly long time. In this particular episode they make reference to this by intertwining it within the story line, Piggy Warren, the pub owner was supposedly killed in action but he was still running the pub which made John question as to if they were impostors.

The roles that were played were very different for the period of time too. Having a woman play a lead role was almost unheard of in the 1960's. The producers of the show were very skeptical as to whether the audiences at home would accept a woman playing a lead role. This was very well received, which lead to a new milestone in the equality between men and women.

The things that the characters were wearing were also slightly gender based as well. For example John was wearing a very fancy suit and steel bowler hat. This attire is very reflective of his earnings as well as his social status. Emma Peel was also wearing clothes in those days that were 'in fashion' but in this day and age might be considered, bad.