The British pre-school children’s television programme Teletubbies was made by Ragdoll Productions for BBC and first screened from 1997-2001. To my delight it was announced at the end of September that the series will return later this year, now produced by DHX Media.

Elke Weissmann starts, David Leventes Palatinus continues. Please feel free to chip in. A few years ago my wonderful supervisor, Christine Geraghty, asked me what my experience was of speaking to other academics about television. My experience was fine – people seemed interested and polite. They spoke about programmes that they enjoyed and compared their experiences to mine.

In conversation with a colleague from English Literature recently, a question was posed that inspired this blog: ‘Is it ethical to charge students £9,000 in fees on the basis that a degree will get them a better job?’ I’m not sure I can answer either yes or no to this question, but it certainly provoked me to think about the various factors and contradictions at play for degrees in subjects like media, film and television, from either the

The look of the stylish British spy and detective shows, filmed in colour in the 1960s, results from where and how they were made, and pop sensation Cliff Richard had a lot to do with it. The musical The Young Ones (d. Sidney J. Furie), starring Cliff, was shot at Elstree Studios near London in 1961, and a quite extensive backlot town was built for the film.

The first episode of EastEnders was broadcast on BBC1 on 19 February 1985. Created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, the serial is set in the fictional London borough of Walford. It is shot on a purpose-built outside set at Elstree Studios and also interior television studios on the site. The task of the first episode of any soap is to introduce location, characters and storylines, and to set a tone for the drama.

The TARDIS is one of Doctor Who ’s most distinctive iconographic components and it performs as a space for narrative action, as a vehicle, as an object within a setting, and as a place that is inhabited.  In this post I want to link together some ideas about how the TARDIS functions aesthetically, with ideas about how it enables and constrains the production of Doctor Who .

In police drama, the protagonists’ surveillance and investigation of the fictional world, and their ability to enforce the law, depend on being able to move in and between places and spaces. A few years ago I wrote about ideas around seeing and knowing in relation to US police series, and working on the current AHRC-funded research project ‘Spaces of Television’ has got me thinking about space and movement in British police shows.

“I haven’t anything to be – except this.” Dushane, Top Boy (Channel 4, 31.10 – 3.11.11) Channel 4’s Top Boy ended last night after less than 4 hours of screen-time.

At last its time to re-launch CST Online. Things move fast in the online world. While the old site did its job, long have I yearned for a slick, clean looking site. That day has now come.