With the British government’s latest diktat concerning the future of the public service broadcaster, Channel 4, now fully revealed, it is time to consider the contribution Channel 4 has made, not only to the British media landscape, but to personal and public experiences as a whole over the last 40 years. I say both personal and public experiences because that is how television works, and Channel 4 has been influential in both respects.
When it comes to the shortage of Production Managers there’s a coyness about stating the blindingly obvious, argue Christa van Raalte and Richard Wallis The shortage of Production Managers and Coordinators has become a hot topic. It was highlighted in the recent Screen Skills review of unscripted television, with some of the underlying issues further discussed in Adrian Pegg’s impassioned Broadcast article.
28 April 2022 will mark the centenary of the birth of Nigel Kneale – or more properly Thomas Nigel Kneale – a Manx-born writer whose works loom large in my own areas of interest and also across various genres of British television as a whole.
The Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2018-) just entered its fourth season.
Like many of you (I’m guessing), I have spent much of my HE career teaching the theory elements on practice or production-focused degree programmes. The theory/practice line (and yes, it’s tempting to type ‘division’) can be a challenging one to negotiate, not least in terms of helping students understand how what I do relates to my industry colleagues’ work.
Some of you may have seen the announcement of an issue of Open Philosophy (2022; 5:1) which is devoted to a ‘Topical issue: Ethics and Politics of TV Series’ or, as the editorial explains, ‘Taking TV Series Seriously’. The editorial, which is somewhat breath-taking, can be found here.
On a Good Day… there’s a knock at the door and it’s the postal operative with a ‘Do Not Bend’ envelope that they don’t want to bend and you open it up and inside you see this… Fig 1: Adam Adamant Lives! (2|entertain: 2006) … and you are so relieved because you were so worried about what 2|entertain were going to do to the viewing notes you’d written for their DVD release of Adam Adamant Lives! (1966-1967). The series – a
Oh jings, is it that time again? Already? For the semi-regular look into the lives, laughs and lunacy of my lot? Yes, it is. So, what do you need to know? Well, MDBJ got a new rug for the living room. The children, quoth she, are to be banned from going near it, looking at it, thinking about it in general and that is that! They will destroy it inadvertently and my life will be ruined again. No, don’t mention the couch!
I am keenly anticipating the simultaneous launch (in April) of three edited collections I have been working on with fellow editors Sarah Cardwell and Lucy Fife Donaldson. The books are part of a new sub-series from MUP, collectively titled ‘Moments in Television’. They derive from the parent ‘Television Series’ books about TV drama creators, a series that has been running for nearly 20 years.
Partly due to an excess of clutter and partly due to the onset of old age, I’ve recently decided to tidy up my study. Over the years I’ve been an obsessive collector and haven’t been able to bring myself to throw stuff away.