The Birth of British Television

The Birth of British Television PDF

Author: Mark Aldridge

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-09-16

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 0230346723

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When the BBC launched the world's first regular, high-definition television service on 2 November, 1936 it was the culmination of decades of technological innovations. More than this, however, the service meant that the principle of television had finally found its place. The Birth of British Television – A History traces the early history and development of television, from the experiments of amateurs to the institutionalised developments that led to the world's first regular, high definition television service. Author Mark Aldridge provides a clear, in-depth and accessible introduction for those either exploring the period for the first time or seeking new insights into the beginnings of the industry. In tracing the origins and development of television, Aldridge focuses on a number of important factors including the attitude of the press towards early television and examines the way that expectations of television changed over time prior to its official launch. Utilising new research, this illuminating study examines how the aims for a new television service developed, and the extent to which content and technology were linked. The Birth of British Television approaches this formative period from several perspectives, from private individuals to the BBC and government, while also examining the broader opinions at the time towards the new medium through press reports and feedback from the general public. Also included is an assessment of early programming, which helps to offer a new and profound evaluation of the development of early television. Mark Aldridge is a Lecturer in Film and TV Studies at Southampton Solent University, UK. He specialises in British television and both film and television history. His previous publications include T is for Television (2008), an analysis of the work of Russell T. Davies, co-written with Andy Murray.

British Television Drama

British Television Drama PDF

Author: Lez Cooke

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-04-09

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1844578968

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This widely-respected history of British television drama is an indispensable guide to the significant developments in the area; from its beginnings on the BBC in the 1930s and 40s to its position in the twenty-first century, as television enters a multichannel digital era. Embracing the complete spectrum of television drama, Lez Cooke places programmes in their social, political and industrial contexts, and surveys the key dramas, writers, producers and directors. Thoroughly revised and updated, this second edition includes new images and case studies, new material on British television drama before 1936, an expanded bibliography and a substantial new chapter that explores the renaissance in the quality, variety and social ambition of television drama in Britain since 2002. Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be of value to anyone interested in the rich history of British television and modern drama.

The Television History Book

The Television History Book PDF

Author: Michele Hilmes

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-03-11

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1839024674

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Traces the history of broadcasting and the infludence developments in broadcasting have had over our social, cultural and economic practices. Examining the broadcasting traditions of the UK and USA, 'The Television History Book' make connections between events and tendencies that both unite and differentiate these national broadcasting traditions.

The Vision of a Nation

The Vision of a Nation PDF

Author: G. Schaffer

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-20

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1137314885

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Telling the stories behind television's approaches to race relations, multiculturalism and immigration in the 'Golden Age' of British television, the book focuses on the 1960s and 1970s and argues that the makers of television worked tirelessly to shape multiculturalism and undermine racist extremism.

History on Television

History on Television PDF

Author: Ann Gray

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0415580382

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This interdisciplinary study of history programming identifies and examines different genres employed by producers and tracks their commissioning, production, marketing and distribution histories. With comparative references to other European nations and North America, the authors focus on British history programming over the last two decades and analyse the relationship between the academy and media professionals. They outline and discuss often-competing discourses about how to 'do' history and the underlying assumptions about who watches history programmes. History on Television considers recent changes in the media landscape, which have affected to a great degree how history in general, and whose history in particular, appears onscreen.

A History of Independent Television in Wales

A History of Independent Television in Wales PDF

Author: Jamie Medhurst

Publisher: University of Wales Press

Published: 2010-07-01

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0708323081

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Despite the growing body of work on the media in Wales, very little exists on the history of commercial television in Wales. This book seeks to address this imbalance by tracing the growth and development of ITV in Wales and assessing its contribution to the life of the nation. ITV has been a powerful force in British broadcasting since its inception in 1955. When commercial television came to Wales for the first time in 1958, it immediately got caught up in with matters of national identity, language and geography. Compared with the BBC, it is a relative newcomer; its growth was slower than that of the BBC and it took until 1962 to complete the network across the UK. Once it had arrived, however, its impact was considerable. The book will provide an historical narrative and critical analysis of independent television (ITV) in Wales from 1958 up until the present day.

The Magic Box

The Magic Box PDF

Author: Rob Young

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2021-08-03

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 0571284612

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A LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEAR A riveting journey into the psyche of Britain through its golden age of television and film; a cross-genre feast of moving pictures, from classics to occult hidden gems, The Magic Box is the nation's visual self-portrait in technicolour detail. 'The definition of gripping. Truly, a trove of wyrd treasures.' BENJAMIN MYERS 'A lovingly researched history of British TV [that] recalls the brilliant, the bizarre and the unworldly.' GUARDIAN 'A reclamation, not just of a visual 'golden age', but of Britain as a darkly magical place.' THE SPECTATOR 'A feat of argument, description and affection.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Young unearths the ghosts of TV past - and Britain's dark psyche.' HERALD 'Highly entertaining . . . [A] fabulous treasure trove.' SCOTSMAN 'Young is a phenomonal scholar.' OBSERVER 'Impassioned.' THE CRITIC Growing up in the 1970s, Rob Young's main storyteller was the wooden box with the glass window in the corner of the family living room, otherwise known as the TV set. Before the age of DVDs and Blu-ray discs, YouTube and commercial streaming services, watching television was a vastly different experience. You switched on, you sat back and you watched. There was no pause or fast-forward button. The cross-genre feast of moving pictures produced in Britain between the late 1950s and late 1980s - from Quatermass and Tom Jones to The Wicker Man and Brideshead Revisited, from A Canterbury Tale and The Go-Between to Bagpuss and Children of the Stones, and from John Betjeman's travelogues to ghost stories at Christmas - contributed to a national conversation and collective memory. British-made sci-fi, folk horror, period drama and televisual grand tours played out tensions between the past and the present, dramatised the fractures and injustices in society and acted as a portal for magical and ghostly visions. In The Magic Box, Rob Young takes us on a fascinating journey into this influential golden age of screen and discovers what it reveals about the nature and character of Britain, its uncategorisable people and buried histories - and how its presence can still be felt on screen in the twenty-first century. '[A] forensic dissection . . . this tightly packed treatise takes pains to illustrate how what we view affects how we view ourselves.' TOTAL FILM

Armchair Nation

Armchair Nation PDF

Author: Joe Moran

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2013-08-22

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1847654444

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But what does your furniture point at?' asks the character Joey in the sitcom Friends on hearing an acquaintance has no TV. It's a good question: since its beginnings during WW2, television has assumed a central role in our houses and our lives, just as satellite dishes and aerials have become features of urban skylines. Television (or 'the idiot's lantern', depending on your feelings about it) has created controversy, brought coronations and World Cups into living rooms, allowed us access to 24hr news and media and provided a thousand conversation starters. As shows come and go in popularity, the history of television shows us how our society has changed. Armchair Nation reveals the fascinating, lyrical and sometimes surprising history of telly, from the first demonstration of television by John Logie Baird (in Selfridges) to the fear and excitement that greeted its arrival in households (some viewers worried it might control their thoughts), the controversies of Mary Whitehouse's 'Clean Up TV' campaign and what JG Ballard thought about Big Brother. Via trips down memory lane with Morecambe and Wise, Richard Dimbleby, David Frost, Blue Peter and Coronation Street, you can flick between fascinating nuggets from the strange side of TV: what happened after a chimpanzee called 'Fred J. Muggs' interrupted American footage of the Queen's wedding, and why aliens might be tuning in to The Benny Hill Show.

Representing Black Britain

Representing Black Britain PDF

Author: Sarita Malik

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2001-10-25

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 141293284X

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`This is one of the most important books on race, representation and politics to come along in a decade.... Sarita Malik′s book is a brilliant contribution to the literature on race, cultural studies and public pedagogy′ - Henry Giroux, Penn State University Representing Black Britain offers a critical history of Black and Asian representation on British television from the earliest days of broadcasting to the present day. Working through programmes as wide-ranging as the early documentaries to `ethnic sitcoms′ and youth television, this book provides a detailed analysis of shifting institutional contexts, images of `race′ and ethnic-minority cultural politics in modern Britain. Representing Black Britain: focuses on issues of representation, ideology, `race′ and difference; covers a spectrum of television genres including documentary, news, comedy, light entertainment, youth television, drama, film and sport; examines the sociopolitical context of Black Britain; and looks at questions of policy and the institutional context of British broadcasting.