Author: CSTonline

There are only three sports I enjoy watching on television and each has a unique way of handling the articulation of player interiority through sound and vision. First up on the oche, as it were, is darts the bar game where...

There is something bizarrely compelling about watching something that you’ve been told you will disagree with. This is how I encountered Ripper Street which ended this week, apparently axed as a result of disappointing viewing...

On 11th June 2013, the Greek Government reached a decision to close down the, until then, public broadcaster (ERT) citing the rationale that this measure was inevitable and formed part of the “national attempt” to cut down on...

It’s that time of year again. The streets are festooned with lights, mulled wine is on the menu in my local pub, and television is inundated with Christmas ads. We tend not to write that much about advertising in Television...

On 11th June 2013, the Greek Government reached a decision to close down the, until then, public broadcaster (ERT) citing the rationale that this measure was inevitable and formed part of the “national attempt” to cut down on...

It all started with a big bang.  So, there I was, sitting on the couch after a long day, remote in hand, ready to surf a few hundred channels on my television and make the most of a quiet hour at home.  And yet, for all of the...

One of the questions I’ve had to answer in conducting my PhD research is how I’m going to define what I’m looking at when I research British Television Comedy. More specifically, because I’m conducting interviews with ‘comedy...

After celebrating the joys of modern-day ‘flow’ television last month, this time round I’m going to take a (somewhat nostalgic, I admit) trip into the past. Television formed a major part of my childhood and teens, and I imagine...

The current crisp, cold Winter mornings are making a trip I made to Pensthorpe Wildlife and Gardens in early September seem a distant, balmy memory. Having persuaded a friend (who affords me the affectionate moniker of ‘wildlife...

In analysing media in 21st century, we have becomes used to thinking about working relationships which have become virtual. In an ideal world, creators, practitioners and viewers can ignore the constrictions of place and produce...

With the 2014 centenary of the First World War already being trailed, the BBC’s move to a steampunk view of history is fascinating. Between them, Peaky Blinders, set in Birmingham 1920, and Ripper Street, set in the immediate...

Last week (Friday 8th November, to be exact) marked the 25 year anniversary of the UK broadcast of Scott and Charlene’s wedding in Australian soap opera, Neighbours, watched by almost 20 million viewers at the time. As a...

Starting work on the three year AHRC project ‘The History of Forgotten TV Drama in the UK’ at Royal Holloway has led me to think a lot about to what extent I remember television myself, and the reliability of my own memory. A...

Television. So often derided or adored for its alleged properties of distraction or pleasure. Blamed by pediatricians for making children weigh more than is fashionable in evidence-based public policy. Criticized by some...

Horror is not a genre often traditionally associated with television, although as Helen Wheatley, Stacey Abbott and Lorna Jowett have pointed out television has a long history of telling horrific tales. It’s also not a genre...

Outside a cold wind is blowing; the rain batters my window pane, and the shades of night are falling fast. All of which can mean but one thing: autumn has arrived, and with it the Saturday tea-time schedule. Yes, I’m aware that...

It was the recent conference at Hastings, ‘Raymond Williams and John Logie Baird – Television, Technology and Cultural Form’, organized by Professor Deborah Philips of the University of Brighton, which sent me back to Bill Brand...