Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies

This article outlines and examines the role comedy and entertainment have played at the BBC in constructing a sense of national identity both in the UK and overseas. It demonstrates the ways in which UK national identities are intertwined with ideas of a sense of humour, and the extent to which this is a performative act. Beginning with a historical approach, the article shows how the BBC, over time, has employed comedy as a way to evidence particularities of UK national identities, and the importance of the organisation in contributing to this.

This article discusses the important role the BBC played in advancing the careers of ABC women in the post-war era. Adopting an integrated, transnational approach, it revisualises the British broadcasting empire from a dominion perspective, a gendered perspective. This research follows ABC television producers as they undertook transformative, transnational excursions and recognises the necessary mobility, flexibility and ingenuity women activated in order to succeed. It identifies how they exploited the imbalanced dominion dynamic and strategically used their BBC experiences to counteract the compromising gender constraints of their local production environments.

Although the dominant narrative among Africans is that Western media portray Africa in a one-sided and negative way, this belief is being challenged as a result of the intervention of the BBC’s Africa Eye documentaries. Although the series focuses on the dark side of Africa, it succeeds in revealing, in great detail, hidden stories about Africa, particularly Nigeria, of which many citizens were ignorant. As such, negative coverage may help to correct social anomalies and chart a way forward for correcting them. This development is a game-changer that has restored Nigerian audiences' confidence in Western media.

This provocation gives an overview of the BBC in India in terms of television news. It discusses the BBC's sensibilities in relation to the interests and perceptions of Indian audiences through two methods: one, a review of available secondary literature; and two, brief conversations with media professionals who have previously or currently work with the BBC in India. It briefly comments on the conflicting journey of the BBC in India but argues that despite the colonial legacy and the initial narrative of privileging the imperial voice, the BBC is largely viewed as a fair and impartial news source by Indian audiences.

This article explores historical representations of Liverpool in two television dramas: ITV’s Cilla (2014) and the BBC’s Boys from the Blackstuff (1982). It is concerned with the ways that television drama can both record and recreate places from the past. Focussing on two dramas set in Liverpool at formative moments in the city’s past, it considers the centrality of an evocation of place and specifically the space of the city to both series and the ways that television dramas that mobilise such a strong sense place can become intrinsic to the heritage and history of the places they depict.

The article examines formal innovation, authorship and representation within Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s television series Fleabag (2016–2019). Through close examination of the developed use of direct address within the programme, in particular two key moments of trans-diegetic address, the analysis considers how, contrary to ontological assumptions, the adaptation of the theatrical ‘aside’, when converted for screen, can function to support, strengthen, layer and enhance aspects of a narrative, as well as help build performer/audience connectivity through perceptions of intimacy, authenticity and female agency.