Author Description

"From Mrs Peel in The Avengers to the first female Doctor Who, this book offers a timely focus on the popular phenomenon of the cult TV heroine. First, the enduring phenomenon of Cult TV is carefully explored, taking account of academic approaches to date including questions of genre, the role of the audience and the external environment of technological advances and business drivers. Catriona Miller then suggesting a fresh account of the psychological dimension of the phenomenon utilising Carl Jung's concepts of the transcendent function and active imagination. Her analysis of the heroines themselves focuses on the workings of the audiovisual text alongside examination of narrative and character arcs, to explore the complex ways in which the heroines demonstrate both progressive visions of female emancipation whilst at the same time remaining enmeshed in more traditional representations of femininity. Established Cult TV favourites such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer are examined alongside more contemporary offerings such as Wynonna Earp, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. A thematic approach places each type of heroine (such as warriors and witches) into a historical context, before comparing shows across the decades, with the sometimes surprising conclusion that earlier representations were less conflicted about their feminist credentials, though the most recent (post #Metoo) are allowing a more woman-centred voice to be heard. This book both challenges and celebrates the Cult TV heroine and looks to the role of fantasy in helping us to imagine what might be possible for women in contemporary culture"--