Experimental British Television

by Laura Mulvey is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London. Jamie Sexton is Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth

• ISBN13: 9780719075544
• ISBN10: 0719075548
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-01
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

Throughout its history, British television has found a place, if only in its margins, for programs that consciously worked to expand the boundaries of television aesthetics. Even in the present climate of increased academic interest in television history, its experimental tradition has generally either been approached generically or been lost within the assumption that television is simply a mass medium.Experimental British Televisionuncovers the history of experimental television, bringing back forgotten programmers in addition to looking at relatively more privileged artists or program strands from fresh perspectives.

Author Biography

Laura Mulvey is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London. Jamie Sexton is Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. ix
List of contributors	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction: experimental British television	p. 1
'Creative in its own right': the Langham Group and the search for a new television drama	p. 17
And now for your Sunday night experimental drama ...: experimentation and Armchair Theatre	p. 31
A 'new drama for television'?: Diary of a Young Man	p. 48
'The very new can only come from the very old': Ken Russell, national culture and the possibility of experimental television at the BBC in the 1960s	p. 70
From art to avant-garde? Television, formalism and the arts documentary in 1960s Britain	p. 89
An experiment in television drama: John McGrath's The Adventures of Frank	p. 106
Don't fence me in: The Singing Detective and the synchronicity of indeterminacy	p. 120
Visions: a Channel 4 experiment 1982-85	p. 136
Experimenting on air: UK artists' film on television	p. 146
Experimental music video and television	p. 166
'Yes, it's war!': Chris Morris and comedy's representational strategies	p. 180
Bibliography	p. 195
Index	p. 205
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