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- Queen's University Belfast, English, Faculty Memberadd
- Film Studies, Film Genre, Horror Film, Film Adaptation, Japanese Cinema, East Asian Cinema, and 38 moreSF Film and Television, Television genres, Science Fiction Film, Cult television, Comic book films, World Cinemas, British television history, SF History, National Identity, Gothic television, Period films, Superheroes, Horror Television, Cultural History, Gothic Studies, Television Studies, Genre Theory, H.P. Lovecraft, History of Communication, Cultural Heritage, Popular Culture, Cultural Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Folklore, Weird Fiction, Ghost stories, M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Transnational television, Telefantasy, Media History, Public Service Broadcasting, Broadcasting, History of Broadcasting, History of the BBC, Ghosts, and Performance Theoryedit
- I was awarded my PhD by the University of East Anglia based on my thesis 'Genre, Taste and the BBC: The Origins of Br... moreI was awarded my PhD by the University of East Anglia based on my thesis 'Genre, Taste and the BBC: The Origins of British Television Science Fiction'. Major elements of this thesis have been presented at conference and published as articles and book chapters building on that material. I have taught various aspects of the media, primarily film and television but including radio and the press and social media, at the University of East Anglia, the University of Portsmouth and now at Queen's University Belfast. At Queen's I am the convenor for the MA in Broadcast Literacy in the School of English. I published my first monograph in 2015, entitled 'Haunted Seasons: The Seasonality of Television Gothic' for the Palgrave Gothic series.edit
Why do the English have ghost stories at Christmas? Why does US television have special Halloween episodes? Is this all down to Dickens, or is it a hangover of an ancient, pagan past? Why does it survive? Haunted Seasons explores these... more
Why do the English have ghost stories at Christmas? Why does US television have special Halloween episodes? Is this all down to Dickens, or is it a hangover of an ancient, pagan past? Why does it survive? Haunted Seasons explores these and related questions, examining the history and meaning of seasonal horror. It reaches back through archaeological evidence of ancient beliefs, through Shakespeare, and Victorian ghost stories, and the works of M.R.James, and onwards to radio and television. The broader genre of supernatural television is considered in relation to the irruptions of abnormality into the normal, along with the significance of time and the seasons in these narratives and their telling. Particular focus is placed on the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas strand and the Halloween episodes of The Simpsons to help us interpret the continued use of these seasonal horror stories and their place in society, from fireside to television.
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This chapter explores the ghost story on television, and particularly the tensions between the medium and the genre. Television has long been seen as a nearly-supernatural medium, an association that the very term 'medium' enhances. In... more
This chapter explores the ghost story on television, and particularly the tensions between the medium and the genre. Television has long been seen as a nearly-supernatural medium, an association that the very term 'medium' enhances. In particular, the very intimacy of television, and its domestic presence, have led to it being considered to be a suitable and effective venue for the ghost story, while at the same time concerns have risen over it being too effective at conveying horror into the home. The ghost story is thus one of the genres where the tensions between the medium's aesthetic possibilities and desire for censorship can be most clearly seen. As such, there is a recurring use of the ghost story in relation to different techniques of special effects and narrative on television, some more effective than others, and the presence of the ghost story on television waxes and wanes as different styles become more or less popular, and different narrative forms, such as single play or serial or series, become more or less dominant. Drawing on examples primarily from a British and US context, this chapter outlines the history of the ghost story on television and demonstrates how the tensions in presentation, narrative and considerations of the viewer have influenced the many changes that have taken place within the genre.
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Arguably, the title of American Horror Story sets out an agenda for the program: this is not just a horror story, but it is a particularly American one. This chapter examines the way that the program uses seasonal celebrations as a way of... more
Arguably, the title of American Horror Story sets out an agenda for the program: this is not just a horror story, but it is a particularly American one. This chapter examines the way that the program uses seasonal celebrations as a way of expressing that national identity, with special emphasis on the importance of family to those celebrations. The particular seasonal celebrations focused on are those of Halloween and Christmas, each of which has associations with the supernatural. However, the use of the supernatural at those seasons is one which is particularly associated with the US, presenting Halloween as a time of supernatural incursion and horror, and of disruption to society and the normal order of things, while Christmas is presented more as a time of unity for the family. Where the supernatural emerges in American Christmas television, it is typically as a force to encourage togetherness and reconciliation, rather than as a dark reminder of the past. While these interpretations of these festivals have been broadcast abroad by American cultural products, not least American television, they have different associations and implications elsewhere, as will be shown. So the particular uses of these festivals is part of what marks American Horror Story out as American, as is the way that the program's narratives have been structured to fit in with US television scheduling. This chapter, then, argues that the structures of the narratives combines with their use of the festivals of Halloween and Christmas in order to enhance the sense of this series as a particularly American horror story.
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With its origins in the trick films of the 1890s and early 1900s, British science fiction film has a long history. While Things to Come (1936) is often identified as significant for being written by H.G.Wells, one of the fathers of... more
With its origins in the trick films of the 1890s and early 1900s, British science fiction film has a long history. While Things to Come (1936) is often identified as significant for being written by H.G.Wells, one of the fathers of science fiction as a genre, the importance of the interactions between media in the development of British science fiction film are often set aside. This chapter examines the importance of broadcast media to film-making in Britain, focusing on the 1950s as a period often valourised in writings about American science fiction, to the detriment of other national expressions of the genre. This period is key to the development of the genre in Britain, however, with the establishment of television as a popular medium incorporating the development of domestic science fiction television alongside the import of American products, together with the spread of the very term ‘science fiction’ through books, pulps and comics as well as radio, television and cinema. It was also the time of a backlash against the perceived threat of American soft cultural power embodied in the attractive shine of science fiction with its promise of a bright technological future. In particular, this chapter examines the significance of the relationship between the BBC television and radio services and the film production company Hammer, which was responsible for multiple adaptations of BBC properties, including a number of science fiction texts. The Hammer adaptation of the television serial The Quatermass Experiment proved to be the first major success for the company, moving it towards its most famous identity as producer of horror texts, though often horror with an underlying scientific element, as with their successful series of Frankenstein films. This chapter thus argues that the interaction between film and broadcast media in relation to science fiction was crucial at this historical juncture, not only in helping promote the identities of filmmakers like Hammer, but also in supporting the identity of the BBC and its properties, and in acting as a nexus for the then current debates on taste and national identity.
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Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some... more
Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some forms of civilisation. With one exception there is no non-diagetic music during the series; instead, music comes at moments when groups of survivors can relax and celebrate their gradual rebuilding of a form of civilisation. Its absence acts to reinforce the feeling of the loneliness of the characters and the emptiness of this depopulated world. The one piece of non-diagetic music is a sitar theme that marks each appearance of an Indian woman who has guided a community of survivors into an alternative form of civilisation to the technological world that was destroyed, and which many survivors are keen to recreate. In the typical absence of music of the rest of the series, this disruption of the soundtrack adds to the feeling of difference and mysticism that surrounds this character and her community. This chapter investigates the use of music in 'Survivors', showing how its appearances act to indicate and characterise the slow redevelopment of forms of civilisation in this post-apocalyptic world.
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This chapter examines the way that the term "science fiction" was imported into Britain from the USA and the BBC's initial reticence at using this term due to its associations with a particular type of product. However, as production... more
This chapter examines the way that the term "science fiction" was imported into Britain from the USA and the BBC's initial reticence at using this term due to its associations with a particular type of product. However, as production documents make clear, "The Quatermass Experiment" and other programmes at the time were made with an awareness of a growing interest in and market for the kinds of materials associated with the term "science fiction". Furthermore, this awareness of the term's associations did start to shape the productions themselves. This paper will therefore analyse the process of genrification in the 1950s and the ways in which it was related to tensions between different media (pulp fiction and comics on the one hand and public service television on the other) and different national contexts between the USA and Britain.
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The idea of early television drama prioritising the concept of 'intimacy' was so important that Jason Jacobs emphasised it in the title of his examination of the subject, The Intimate Screen. However, producers of this drama were often... more
The idea of early television drama prioritising the concept of 'intimacy' was so important that Jason Jacobs emphasised it in the title of his examination of the subject, The Intimate Screen. However, producers of this drama were often looking for ways in which they could expand beyond the limitations of the live studio. In the period from 1936 to 1953 special effects and pre-recording were used in escaping these limitations and engaging the audience through press coverage of effects and innovations, while the style of these productions became more concerned with 'realism' as the television audience expanded geographically and socially.
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Songwriter Cole Porter is unusual in having had two biopics based on his life: Night and Day (1946) starring Cary Grant, and De-Lovely (2004), starring Kevin Kline. The differences in the treatment of the character of Cole Porter between... more
Songwriter Cole Porter is unusual in having had two biopics based on his life: Night and Day (1946) starring Cary Grant, and De-Lovely (2004), starring Kevin Kline. The differences in the treatment of the character of Cole Porter between the films are striking, and indicate a change in the way that society envisions its artists, and the very act of creativity. Night and Day was conceived partly as a showcase of Porter's songs, but also as a means of providing inspiration to soldiers returning wounded from World War II, based on Porter's recovery from a traumatic riding accident. It depicts Porter as an everyman following a trajectory of achievement, from having little to great success, which was positioned as easy to emulate. De-Lovely, on the other hand, is about the relationship between Porter and his wife Linda, and the way that his creativity was influenced by his changing relationships with various people. Drawing on the work on biopics of scholars such as G.F.Custen, together with research into the shifting ideas of how creativity operates and is popularly understood, this article uses these biopics as case studies to examine the representation of changing concepts of the artist and the act of creativity through Hollywood film. It also considers how these changing conceptions and representations connect to shifts in American society.
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While the BBC had been broadcasting television Science Fiction productions from as early as 1938, and Horror since the start of television in 1936, American Telefantasy had no place on British television until ITV’s broadcast of... more
While the BBC had been broadcasting television Science Fiction productions from as early as 1938, and Horror since the start of television in 1936, American Telefantasy had no place on British television until ITV’s broadcast of Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) in 1956. It would be easy to assign this absence to the avoidance of popular American programming, but this would ignore the presence of Western and adventure serials imported from the US and Canada for monopoly British television. Similarly, it would be inaccurate to suggest that these imports were purely purchased as thrilling fare to appease a child audience, as it was the commercial ITV that was first to broadcast the more adult-orientated Science Fiction Theatre (1955-7) and Inner Sanctum (1954). This article builds on the work of Paul Rixon and Rob Leggott to argue that these imports were used primarily to supply relatively cheap broadcast material for the new channel, but that they also served to appeal to the notion of spectacular entertainment attached to the new channel through its own productions, such as The Invisible Man (1958-1959) and swashbucklers such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-60). However, the appeal was not just to the exciting, but also to the transatlantic, with ITV embracing this conception of America as a modern place of adventure through its imports and its creation of productions for export, incorporating an American lead into The Invisible Man and drawing upon an (inexpensive) American talent pool of blacklisted screenwriters to provide a transatlantic style and relevance to its own adventure series. Where the BBC used its imported serials as filler directed at children, ITV embraced this transatlantic entertainment as part of its identity and differentiation from the BBC.
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In defining what he termed 'Television's Second Golden Age', Robert J.Thompson refers to characteristics such as being 'not regular TV', internal continuity, mixed genres but an aspiration towards 'realism', complex writing,... more
In defining what he termed 'Television's Second Golden Age', Robert J.Thompson refers to characteristics such as being 'not regular TV', internal continuity, mixed genres but an aspiration towards 'realism', complex writing, self-consciousness and intertextuality. Such characteristics are displayed by the BBC series Life on Mars (2006-2007) which intermingles the Seventies tough cop show with psychological fantasy. This chapter examines the way that the series can be understood as a dramatisation of the negotiation that the creators undertook with their Seventies source material to update it for the values and qualities of contemporary television drama. It will emphasise the importance of television in the generation of the imagined 1973 and its characters, but also as an ongoing connection between the real and the imagined within the programme, including forming a breach of the boundaries between the two. Sam's actions within his Seventies world to remake it to include his own ideas of justice and due process while retaining the passion and freedom of action that the milieu provides will also be be examined in relation to the series' creators' needs to remake the Seventies tough-cop show in the light of modern social and media mores. The paper will also consider how Sam has to come to terms with his father's crimes, as the series' creators had to come to terms with the 'crimes' of taste, morality and approach of their 'parent' programmes from the Seventies' Golden Age.
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Drawing on material from the BBC Written Archive Centre, this article examines the earliest sf dramas broadcast by the BBC Television Service: two adaptations of Karel Čapek's "R.U.R." ("Rossum's Universal Robots") from 1938 and 1948.... more
Drawing on material from the BBC Written Archive Centre, this article examines the earliest sf dramas broadcast by the BBC Television Service: two adaptations of Karel Čapek's "R.U.R." ("Rossum's Universal Robots") from 1938 and 1948. These productions are used as sites of formal experimentation with the possibilities of the new medium, representing one aspect of contemporary debates about the purpose of television and the style it would assume.
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This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror on television and radio at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These... more
This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror on television and radio at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain numerous traditions dedicated to looking back and forward, such as end of year reviews, or addresses from heads of state to the 'family' of the nation in which they consider the past year and look hopefully to the future. As part of these traditions, the seasonal horror story, whether delivered as an oral tradition, published, or broadcast, offers a clear opportunity to engage with causes of unease and fear. At the same time, it allows these fears to be diminished as they are treated as 'just entertainment', and traditional forms of the seasonal horror story are recreated as nostalgic pastiche or given a comedy treatment. Even here, these more-lighthearted renditions can allow audiences to engage with and work through issues that concern them in ways similar to those stories intended to cause fear, even if the fear itself is softened. This paper will outline the significance of narratives of fear as part of traditions of reflection at particular seasons.
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This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain... more
This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain numerous traditions dedicated to looking back and forward, such as end of year reviews, or addresses from heads of state to the ‘family’ of the nation in which they consider the past year and look hopefully to the future. As part of these traditions, the seasonal horror story, whether delivered as an oral tradition, published, or broadcast, offers a clear opportunity to engage with causes of unease and fear. At the same time, it allows these fears to be diminished as they are treated as ‘just entertainment’, and traditional forms of the seasonal horror story are recreated as nostalgic pastiche or given a comedy treatment. Even here, these more-lighthearted renditions can allow audiences to engage with and work through issues that concern them in ways similar to those stories intended to cause fear, even if the fear itself is softened. Examples of such issues that have been dealt with through seasonal horror include disconnection from society in A Christmas Carol, the power of grief in The Woman in Black, or the power of the media in Ghostwatch or of technological change in Black Mirror’s Christmas episode ‘White Christmas’. Utilising these and other examples, this paper will outline the significance of narratives of fear as part of traditions of reflection at particular seasons.
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There is a long tradition in the UK, in England in particular, of the Christmas ghost story. The most famous is probably Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, but close behind are the ghost stories of... more
There is a long tradition in the UK, in England in particular, of the Christmas ghost story. The most famous is probably Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, but close behind are the ghost stories of M.R.James. James wrote many of his stories as Christmas entertainments, but this link was reinforced in the 1970s when the BBC broadcast an annual Ghost Story for Christmas, most of which were adapted from James. However, these are not the only examples of broadcast Christmas ghost stories, which also include Christmas episodes of typically non-supernatural programmes which are given a supernatural twist. This paper will examine the significance of this broadcast afterlife of the Christmas ghost story, as a perpetuator of tradition, retaining a largely oral delivery, but which is also subject to the shifting broadcast landscape. This subjects the Christmas ghost story to the gaze of those without this specific cultural tradition, raising the potential for confusion in valuable international markets. In turn, this raises the question of whether the culturally-specific Christmas ghost story has much of an afterlife left in the face of the internationalisation of broadcasting.
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There is a long-standing tradition in England of telling ghost stories or similar horrific tales at Christmas, commemorated in 15th/16th century mentions of ‘winter tales’ and hinted at existing even earlier. The tradition was sustained... more
There is a long-standing tradition in England of telling ghost stories or similar horrific tales at Christmas, commemorated in 15th/16th century mentions of ‘winter tales’ and hinted at existing even earlier. The tradition was sustained through the 19th century by being transformed into a literary form in the work of people such as Washington Irving and Charles Dickens. This continued into the twentieth century with writers such as M.R.James, but the form also changed medium again as it was introduced first into radio and then to television.
This paper will outline the shifts that take place in this narrative tradition as it moves from oral to literary, then to broadcast forms. This encompasses its movement between audiences and contexts. What was once a way of bringing community together with local tales becomes something that is national but still personal, as readers enjoy the latest Victorian Christmas annual and read the ghost stories to their family. The broadcast version of the tales professionalises this telling still more, by removing the interpretation of the reading by whichever member of the family is reading aloud to the rest. The domination of British broadcasting by England and English traditions also means that this Christmas ghost story tradition is maintained and spread at the expense of local traditions, such as those of Scotland and Ireland which would place the telling of scary stories at Halloween.
This paper will outline the shifts that take place in this narrative tradition as it moves from oral to literary, then to broadcast forms. This encompasses its movement between audiences and contexts. What was once a way of bringing community together with local tales becomes something that is national but still personal, as readers enjoy the latest Victorian Christmas annual and read the ghost stories to their family. The broadcast version of the tales professionalises this telling still more, by removing the interpretation of the reading by whichever member of the family is reading aloud to the rest. The domination of British broadcasting by England and English traditions also means that this Christmas ghost story tradition is maintained and spread at the expense of local traditions, such as those of Scotland and Ireland which would place the telling of scary stories at Halloween.
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Each Christmas during his tenure as Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, M.R.James would take part in a ritual celebration of Christmas with students and colleagues which invariably culminated with the reading of a ghost story. This... more
Each Christmas during his tenure as Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, M.R.James would take part in a ritual celebration of Christmas with students and colleagues which invariably culminated with the reading of a ghost story. This tradition drew on a long tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas that can be traced back through the likes of Henry James, Dickens and Washington Irving, to the ‘winter’s tales’ of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and probably beyond. With the development of broadcast media, these traditions were adapted for for radio and television, including adaptations of M.R.James’ stories. This paper will examine the BBC’s adaptations of M.R.James stories for Christmas, primarily in the 1970s set known collectively as A Ghost Story for Christmas, along with the later adaptations in the 2000s. It will focus primarily on the process of adaptation in the context of the wider adaptation of the traditions of Christmas in television broadcasting. In particular, the paper will consider the importance of nostalgic attachment to the past, particularly a Victorian / Edwardian ideal of Christmas past, and the role of the Christmas ghost story in undercutting the potential sentimentality of that attachment, and how that aspect was retained for the 1970s adaptations, but lost in the attempted revivals of the strand in the 2000s due to cultural shifts generally and within broadcasting. Where once they revealed horrific connections to the past, the adaptations are now nostalgic for the comfortable horrors of past Christmases.
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While there has been a growing acknowledgement of the existence of earlier examples of television science fiction, the typical history of the genre still privileges Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment (1953) as foundational. This was... more
While there has been a growing acknowledgement of the existence of earlier examples of television science fiction, the typical history of the genre still privileges Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment (1953) as foundational. This was a significant production, and an effective piece of television drama, but it was not the first piece of British television science fiction, nor the first British television science fiction serial, nor even the first such serial to have a sequel. This paper will draw upon the early history of British television science fiction, particularly focusing on comparisons between the Quatermass serials and the first British TV SF serial, Stranger From Space (1951-1953), in considering the factors that lead to the ‘forgetting’ of particular productions, including marketing, adaptation and target audience. Stranger From Space was produced as ten-minute episodes within a children’s magazine programme, and written by Hazel Adair and Ronald Marriott. It was thus not associated with ‘serious’ programming for an adult audience and, while a novelisation was published, the serial was not recorded or adapted for the cinema, meaning it had very little afterlife, unlike The Quatermass Experiment. Despite Adair’s subsequent long career as a television writer and producer, Stranger From Space lacked a capable self-promoter and mythologiser like Nigel Kneale, whose presentations of British television before him have become important to television history, despite editing out key material, including his own pre-Quatermass adaptations of science fiction material. This paper will thus also engage with the wider issues of the construction of history.
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Drawing upon extensive research into British television listings, and comparative research into other cultures, this paper considers the relationship between the Gothic and the seasons within specific cultural contexts. Various cultures... more
Drawing upon extensive research into British television listings, and comparative research into other cultures, this paper considers the relationship between the Gothic and the seasons within specific cultural contexts. Various cultures have different associations of horror and Gothic tales with specific times of the year, practices which sometimes have literary or pre-literary roots, but which may also be more modern. For the English, it is the Christmas ghost story, while for the United States horror belongs at Halloween, and in Korea summer is the time for chilling films and television series. The cultural specificity of this seasonal connection with the Gothic is demonstrated by the way that, for example, the inclusion of a supernatural element in a Downton Abbey Christmas special was received with puzzlement by American reviewers, who directly stated that this was a Halloween, not a Christmas element. At the same time, there is an element of cultural influence at play, as the increasing importance of US imports to Britain helped develop Halloween as a more significant festival, while the English dominance of British broadcasting has spread the Christmas ghost story to Wales, Scotland and Ireland, where there was no pre-existing tradition. This paper will present the broad findings of this research, with appropriate specific examples, to suggest why these uses of the Gothic at particular seasons of the year differ, and what this tells us about the cultures. It thus aims to encourage consideration of the hitherto under-studied area of the seasonal in relation to modern cultural production.
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Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and its sequels are rightly lauded as effective and successful pieces of early television science fiction. However, they were not the first examples of British television science fiction,... more
Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and its sequels are rightly lauded as effective and successful pieces of early television science fiction. However, they were not the first examples of British television science fiction, nor the first TV SF serials, nor the first original television science fiction, nor were they even Kneale’s first pieces of television sf, and these facts are frequently overlooked. This paper will take a brief overview of the British television science fiction before The Quatermass Experiment, demonstrating the diversity of approaches to the genre, which covered adult and children’s dramas, single plays and serials, adaptations and original material. In these early days of the medium of television, the genre also offered particular opportunities to attempt to expand the medium spatially and temporally beyond the small, live screen. The paper will also look at the science fiction adaptations that Kneale wrote for the BBC before creating The Quatermass Experiment, Mystery Story (1952) and Number Three (1953), and consider how they may have informed his ideas for his own creation. This paper thus proposes to act as a brief corrective to some of the received ideas about how British television science fiction began, and the role of Nigel Kneale and The Quatermass Experiment in those origins.
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It has become a standard approach when considering screen presentations that incorporate the country house to examine them in the light of Andrew Higson’s formulation of the heritage drama, which presented an essentially conservative,... more
It has become a standard approach when considering screen presentations that incorporate the country house to examine them in the light of Andrew Higson’s formulation of the heritage drama, which presented an essentially conservative, depoliticised spectacle of grandeur, safely distanced from the reality of the majority of viewers. However, the country house has also long been a location for the gothic or horror tale, from Castles Otranto, Frankenstein or Dracula, via Abbeys Nightmare, Northanger and Newstead, or less grandly-named, or even nameless, abodes such as those in The Turn of the Screw, Uncle Silas’ Bartram-Haugh or The House of Usher itself. These representations, on page or screen, could be expected to be more subversive than the prettified spectacle of the heritage drama, revealing horrors of the oppressed and repressed beneath the attractive shell of the home. However, this paper will argue that, as the country house has become displaced as the location of horror in film and television, when it does appear in this context it is as part of the comfortingly familiar framework of the traditional filmic or televisual Gothic tale. By drawing directly on memories of previous productions and stories these dramas generate a feeling of familiarity, a feeling which operates to provide a comforting envelope around the terrors which are unveiled through the narrative. In particular, the paper focuses on the long tradition of the ghost story at Christmas, which takes in literary and televisual versions of country house horror such as The Turn of the Screw and The Woman in Black, and even the conservative setting of Downton Abbey in its first Christmas special. A ghost in a country house, particularly at Christmas, is no longer a disruptive eruption of abnormality into a conservative normality, it is rather something accepted, expected and traditional.
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Whether the occasion be Hallowe’en in America or Christmas in Britain, there are times of year when television is more likely to engage with tales of horror, including in series which would not normally incorporate the supernatural. These... more
Whether the occasion be Hallowe’en in America or Christmas in Britain, there are times of year when television is more likely to engage with tales of horror, including in series which would not normally incorporate the supernatural. These eruptions of the abnormal at particular points of the calendar derive from social events which served to mark out the passing of the year in pre-television times. While elements of these social events remain, television’s seasonal horror serves to domesticate these engagements with the supernatural, reducing the engagement with the social implications of these events and focusing them on the personal. This follows from the previous domestication of these elements from public events to domestic ones in the Nineteenth Century, as part of the ongoing move of entertainment and ritual from public to private, from social storytelling, to reading magazine stories within the family, to watching them on television. The domestication and move to the private is not simply in the place of reception of these stories, but seasonal horror also concentrates on narratives with domestic settings, bringing the social horror firmly into the home. However, this domestication also drives the narratives away from the engagement with social and community concerns, domesticating the supernatural narrative not only in the sense of bringing it into the home, but also in the sense of rendering it safe to have in the home.
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Both the United States and Britain have traditions of marking out particular seasons with horror programming on television. In Britain, this traditional time is at Christmas, while in the US the time is at Hallowe’en. These productions... more
Both the United States and Britain have traditions of marking out particular seasons with horror programming on television. In Britain, this traditional time is at Christmas, while in the US the time is at Hallowe’en. These productions may be single dramas, like the annual BBC Ghost Story for Christmas which ran through much of the 1970s and was revived in the mid-2000s, which told a different ghost story each year. They may also be represented by eruptions of the abnormal in series which do not normally allow for the presence of the supernatural, as with the Hawai’i 5-O episode ‘Ka Iwi Kapu’, the Castle episode ‘Demons’, or the Quantum Leap episode ‘The Boogieman’.
This paper will argue that these productions mark a stage in the domestication of social rituals and events, particularly in terms of the marking out of the year through particular events. Where at one point the calendar was punctuated by celebrations amongst the community, there has been an increased domestication of this demarcation of the year, accelerated by the spread of literacy and of domestic media such as radio and television. This is connected to the privatisation of culture, both in the sense that it has moved away from the public to the private, and also in the influence of business and capitalism and the associated changes in culture upon social practices. Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ has been described as marking, and defining, the change of the social celebration of Christmas to a domestic, familial one that retains concerns about wider society.(Hutton, 1997: 113-114) Seasonal television horror takes this further, by emphasising the domestic nature of the medium through the domestic nature of the narrative, and moving further away from the supernatural tale as social commentary by containing and naturalising it. Not only that, but elements of the horror aesthetic become retained as an aspect of the season, with even the supernatural elements removed, as can be seen by the BBC Dickens adaptations appearing each Christmas since 2005, which have taken on a distinctly Gothic appearance of deep shadow surrounding innocent characters being menaced while surrounded by oppressive and ornate architecture.
While elements of social concern may be present in these texts, they are thus often distanced from the contemporary in time, completing the domestication of the seasonal horror story. Where once the calendar was marked out by communal activities which included engagement with supernatural elements which related to social concerns, now the domestication of these narratives through television means that they are presented as less significant, typically distanced from us in space and time, or they are normalised and contained by their presence in ongoing series, where the continuing nature of the narrative demonstrates that these forces cannot influence us in any lasting manner. In essence, we are left only with the ghosts of our past fears, retained as aesthetic and trappings and nostalgic recurrences, played out because that is what is expected of the time of year, rather than to serve a particular purpose.
This paper will argue that these productions mark a stage in the domestication of social rituals and events, particularly in terms of the marking out of the year through particular events. Where at one point the calendar was punctuated by celebrations amongst the community, there has been an increased domestication of this demarcation of the year, accelerated by the spread of literacy and of domestic media such as radio and television. This is connected to the privatisation of culture, both in the sense that it has moved away from the public to the private, and also in the influence of business and capitalism and the associated changes in culture upon social practices. Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ has been described as marking, and defining, the change of the social celebration of Christmas to a domestic, familial one that retains concerns about wider society.(Hutton, 1997: 113-114) Seasonal television horror takes this further, by emphasising the domestic nature of the medium through the domestic nature of the narrative, and moving further away from the supernatural tale as social commentary by containing and naturalising it. Not only that, but elements of the horror aesthetic become retained as an aspect of the season, with even the supernatural elements removed, as can be seen by the BBC Dickens adaptations appearing each Christmas since 2005, which have taken on a distinctly Gothic appearance of deep shadow surrounding innocent characters being menaced while surrounded by oppressive and ornate architecture.
While elements of social concern may be present in these texts, they are thus often distanced from the contemporary in time, completing the domestication of the seasonal horror story. Where once the calendar was marked out by communal activities which included engagement with supernatural elements which related to social concerns, now the domestication of these narratives through television means that they are presented as less significant, typically distanced from us in space and time, or they are normalised and contained by their presence in ongoing series, where the continuing nature of the narrative demonstrates that these forces cannot influence us in any lasting manner. In essence, we are left only with the ghosts of our past fears, retained as aesthetic and trappings and nostalgic recurrences, played out because that is what is expected of the time of year, rather than to serve a particular purpose.
Research Interests:
This paper explores the relationship between the eruptions of the abnormal which are a key part of the Gothic genre across media, and the use of the genre within mainstream television series to provide an occasional special episode that... more
This paper explores the relationship between the eruptions of the abnormal which are a key part of the Gothic genre across media, and the use of the genre within mainstream television series to provide an occasional special episode that breaches the normality of that programme. Such episodes typically occur at particular parts of the year: Christmas in Britain and Hallowe’en in the US. The supernatural element of these episodes forms a wound of irrationality in series which typically depend upon an essentially rational mode, e.g. detective series like Bergerac, Castle and Hawai’i Five-O. This echoes the specialness of the time of the year in those seasonal episodes, times which have been perceived as wounds or weakenings in the boundary between the natural and supernatural worlds. But even in episodes broadcast at other times of the year these intrusions of the abnormal into the apparently normal serve to open up the normative rationality of the texts to suggest a wider universe and the existence of spiritual and supernatural possibilities. These programmes thus suggest that rationality remains the dominant and most useful way of understanding the universe, but that the possibility of the irrational should be accepted.
Research Interests:
This paper will explore the relationship between the eruptions of the abnormal which are a key part of the Gothic genre across media, and the use of the genre within mainstream television series to provide an occasional special episode... more
This paper will explore the relationship between the eruptions of the abnormal which are a key part of the Gothic genre across media, and the use of the genre within mainstream television series to provide an occasional special episode that breaches the normality of that programme. Such episodes typically occur at particular parts of the year: at Christmas in Britain and at Hallowe’en in the US. The supernatural element of these episodes forms a wound of irrationality in series which typically depend upon an essentially rational mode, such as detective series like Bergerac, Castle and Hawai’i Five-O. This echoes the specialness of the time of the year in those particularly seasonal episodes, times which have been perceived as wounds or weakenings in the boundary between the natural and supernatural worlds. But even in episodes broadcast at other times of the year these intrusions of the abnormal into the apparently normal serve to open up the normative rationality of the texts to suggest a wider universe and the existence of spiritual and supernatural possibilities, possibilities which can be safely contained by the typical rationality of the shows with the exception of these occasional eruptions. These programmes thus suggest that rationality remains the dominant and most useful way of understanding the universe in a post-Enlightenment Western culture, as long as the possibility of the irrational is accepted.
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Originally published between 1970 and 1976, the manga Kozure Ōkami, or Lone Wolf and Cub, has been adapted into various other media and other languages, as well as providing inspiration for other media products. This paper will take an... more
Originally published between 1970 and 1976, the manga Kozure Ōkami, or Lone Wolf and Cub, has been adapted into various other media and other languages, as well as providing inspiration for other media products. This paper will take an overview of this, to borrow Adam Roberts’ phrase, ‘mega-text’, ‘interlinked sequences of texts, often spanning several media.’ (Roberts, Adam, The History of Science Fiction (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) p.272) By examining the transformations made at each point of development of the mega-text, we can gain an understanding of the demands of different industrial and cultural contexts. The Kozure Ōkami text moves from manga, to Japanese film, to Japanese television, to American re-editing of the Japanese films to construct a new story, to American translation of the manga and the films and television series, to American graphic novels inspired by the manga, which are then turned into American films themselves. With all of these transformations and translations, what remains the same? What are the differences between American and Japanese expressions of the narrative? The American adaptations, as opposed to translations, of the narrative tend to show more promise for a happier future, that the destructiveness of vengeance and misplaced concepts and misunderstandings of honour can be resolved and shut away, unlike the Japanese versions of the narrative. Does this demonstrate a cultural or an industrial difference? While the scope of the mega-text means that this paper can only present an overview of these transformations and the questions and ideas that they suggest, it is hoped that this will serve to tie in with more specific discussions across the symposium, as well as outlining the scope and purpose of my wider examination of the Kozure Ōkami text.
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Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some... more
Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some forms of civilisation. With one exception there is no non-diegetic music during the series; instead, music comes at moments when groups of survivors can relax and celebrate their gradual rebuilding of a form of civilisation. Its absence acts to reinforce the feeling of the loneliness of the characters and the emptiness of this depopulated world. The one piece of non-diegetic music is a sitar theme that marks each appearance of an Indian woman who has guided a community of survivors into an alternative form of civilisation to the technological world that was destroyed, and which many survivors are keen to recreate. In the typical absence of music of the rest of the series, this disruption of the soundtrack adds to the feeling of difference and mysticism that surrounds this character and her community. This paper investigates the use of music in 'Survivors', showing how its appearances act to indicate and characterise the slow redevelopment of forms of civilisation in this post-apocalyptic world. It relates the use of music particularly to the development and ideals of the British folk music revival in the Twentieth Century, which is tied up with notions of British identities and particularly middle-class ideals of rural society as, at least in part, a reaction to the perceived threat of American popular culture.
In the "Kozure Ōkami" ("Lone Wolf and Cub") manga and its adaptations, Ogami Ittō and his infant son Daigoro are the only survivors of a family slaughtered by a power-seeking rival. Ittō is presented as the ideal of the samurai who seeks... more
In the "Kozure Ōkami" ("Lone Wolf and Cub") manga and its adaptations, Ogami Ittō and his infant son Daigoro are the only survivors of a family slaughtered by a power-seeking rival. Ittō is presented as the ideal of the samurai who seeks to pass these qualities on to his son. The relationship between father and son serves to set the Lone Wolf and Cub narrative apart from the many other stories of vengeance-seeking ronin, but it also acts to underline the theme of the manga, which condemns the lingering effects of feudal society upon modern Japan. This narrative was adapted a number of times for Japanese film and television, with American translations and transformations of the manga and these adaptations introducing differing interpretations of the characters, setting and narrative, both subtle and less subtle. The narrative and characters have alse inspired two American print graphic narratives, "Lone Wolf and Cub 2100" and "Road to Perdition", with the latter being translated again into an American film. Theses versions of the narrative present a more hopeful ending, suggesting that the violence has acted as a purge of problems from the past and present and particularly separating the child from the violence. This paper examines the differences between these narratives, particularly their treatment of the lead characters and their approach to the presence or absence of hope for the future at the end of the narrative. It considers these in relation to differing understandings of audience and popular narrative, considering what this tells us about broader cultural difference.
BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson stated, in relation to the 2009 broadcast of a new adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, ‘Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the... more
BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson stated, in relation to the 2009 broadcast of a new adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, ‘Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed’. The history of ghost story adaptations as part of the British television Christmas is a long one, particularly if adaptations of A Christmas Carol are included, and these productions frequently feature Nineteenth Century settings or associations, as with the adaptations of M R James stories that appeared in the 1970s and the 2000s, as well as Affinity (2008), The Turn of the Screw (1999, 2009) and even the Lark Rise to Candleford Christmas special (2008). This paper demonstrates the importance of television Gothic in relation to seasonality, and the cultural reasons for these connections. Focussing primarily on the long history of ghost stories and other Gothic tales which are broadcast specifically on British television at Christmas, it shows how these connect to traditions of family story-telling derived largely from the Victorian creation of the modern Christmas, and how the elements of nostalgia, heritage and taste play into concepts of national identity. It also raises questions as to how these considerations can be applied in other national contexts, and to other national television systems and their scheduling of Gothic specials, TV movies and similar programming which breaches the normal television schedules.
This paper demonstrates the importance of television Gothic in relation to seasonality, and the cultural reasons for these connections. Focussing primarily on the long history of ghost stories and other Gothic tales which are broadcast... more
This paper demonstrates the importance of television Gothic in relation to seasonality, and the cultural reasons for these connections. Focussing primarily on the long history of ghost stories and other Gothic tales which are broadcast specifically on British television at Christmas, it shows how these connect to traditions of family story-telling derived largely from the Victorian creation of the modern Christmas, and how the elements of nostalgia, heritage and taste play into concepts of national identity. It also raises questions as to how these considerations can be applied in other national contexts, and to other national television systems and their scheduling of Gothic specials, TV movies and similar programming which breaches the normal television schedules.
In the "Kozure Ōkami" ("Lone Wolf and Cub") manga and its adaptations, Ogami Ittō and his infant son Daigoro are the only survivors of a family slaughtered by a power-seeking rival. Ittō is presented as the ideal of the samurai who seeks... more
In the "Kozure Ōkami" ("Lone Wolf and Cub") manga and its adaptations, Ogami Ittō and his infant son Daigoro are the only survivors of a family slaughtered by a power-seeking rival. Ittō is presented as the ideal of the samurai who seeks to pass these qualities on to his son. The relationship between father and son serves to set the Lone Wolf and Cub narrative apart from the many other stories of vengeance-seeking ronin, but it also acts to underline the theme of the manga, which condemns the lingering effects of feudal society upon modern Japan. The portrayal of Daigoro is the main means of transmission of this concept, as he is shown to have the form of samurai society, but also the capacity for violence, without any understanding. This paper will examine Japanese film and television adaptations of the manga in relation to their portrayal of Daigoro. It will consider the particular demands and effects of transforming the acts of a three year-old child from drawn form to actual performance. Comparison will be made with the change in the child's age and the role played by the son in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel "Road to Perdition", identified as an homage to "Lone Wolf and Cub", and its 2002 film version.
Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some... more
Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some forms of civilisation. With one exception there is no non-diagetic music during the series; instead, music comes at moments when groups of survivors can relax and celebrate their gradual rebuilding of a form of civilisation. Its absence acts to reinforce the feeling of the loneliness of the characters and the emptiness of this depopulated world. The one piece of non-diagetic music is a sitar theme that marks each appearance of an Indian woman who has guided a community of survivors into an alternative form of civilisation to the technological world that was destroyed, and which many survivors are keen to recreate. In the typical absence of music of the rest of the series, this disruption of the soundtrack adds to the feeling of difference and mysticism that surrounds this character and her community. This paper investigates the use of music in 'Survivors', showing how its appearances act to indicate and characterise the slow redevelopment of forms of civilisation in this post-apocalyptic world.
Research Interests:
Songwriter Cole Porter is unusual in having had two biopics made based on his life: Night and Day (1946) starring Cary Grant, and De-Lovely (2004), starring Kevin Kline. The differences in the treatment of the character of Cole Porter... more
Songwriter Cole Porter is unusual in having had two biopics made based on his life: Night and Day (1946) starring Cary Grant, and De-Lovely (2004), starring Kevin Kline. The differences in the treatment of the character of Cole Porter between the films are striking, and indicate a change in the way that society envisions its artists, and the very act of creativity. Night and Day was conceived partly as a showcase of Porter's songs, but also as a means of providing inspiration to soldiers returning wounded from World War II, based on Porter's recovery from a traumatic riding accident. It depicts Porter as an everyman following a trajectory of achievement from little to success that was positioned as easily emulatable. De-Lovely, on the other hand, is more about the relationship between Porter and his wife Linda, and the way that his creativity was influenced by his changing relationships with various people. Drawing on the work on biopics of scholars such as G.F.Custen, this paper will use these biopics as case studies to examine the representation of changing concepts of the artist and the act of creativity through Hollywood film.
Between 1971 and 1978 BBC1 showed, each year, a Ghost Story for Christmas, mainly based on the stories of M.R.James. The strand was revived in 2005 on BBC4, with a further production appearing on that channel in 2006. Where the original... more
Between 1971 and 1978 BBC1 showed, each year, a Ghost Story for Christmas, mainly based on the stories of M.R.James. The strand was revived in 2005 on BBC4, with a further production appearing on that channel in 2006. Where the original productions largely drew upon a 1970s nostalgia for the Victorian / Edwardian era, the new productions showed more nostalgia for the 1970s plays and one of their predecessors, Jonathan Miller's 1968 Omnibus episode 'Whistle and I'll Come to You'. This paper considers the recursive nature of these productions and the implications of the shift from referring to literature to referring to previous television in relation to the implied audience.
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This paper will examine the performances and characterisation of the central character in three adaptations of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's manga Kozure Ōkami (Lone Wolf and Cub) to show how these different interpretations represent a... more
This paper will examine the performances and characterisation of the central character in three adaptations of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's manga Kozure Ōkami (Lone Wolf and Cub) to show how these different interpretations represent a coherent but nuanced idea of the warrior father. This idea stretches across different media adaptations, from manga to film and television, with the first two case studies under consideration being the 1971-1974 film series starring Tomisaburo Wakayama and the 1973-1976 television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya. But this idea also extends across cultures, as the central relationship between father and son in the manga is the acknowledged inspiration for Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition. Tom Hanks' performance in the 2002 film adaptation of this version forms the third case study in this paper. The nuances of these three different performances and characterisations, particularly in the differences in the relationship between father and son, illustrate the shifts between cultures and media brought about by these adaptations and form the focus of the paper.
When the BBC broadcast their first television version of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' in 1954, the response was striking. One viewer called the people responsible for the production 'sadists and readers of horror comics',... more
When the BBC broadcast their first television version of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' in 1954, the response was striking. One viewer called the people responsible for the production 'sadists and readers of horror comics', linking the broadcast to the then-current campaign to ban American horror comics from Britain. Similar connections were made between the campaign and the production within newspaper stories regarding the play. This paper will draw upon material from the BBC Written Archives in examining the discourse around this production relating it to horror comics, in order to show how the cultural concerns expressed by viewers and newspapers related to the concerns that Martin Barker in particular has identified as being embodied in the horror comics campaign.
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"The connection between the BBC and the Hammer film company is not often commented on beyond the passing association with each of the films which Hammer adapted individually from BBC properties. Yet the number of such properties as a... more
"The connection between the BBC and the Hammer film company is not often commented on beyond the passing association with each of the films which Hammer adapted individually from BBC properties. Yet the number of such properties as a whole and the importance of their position within the development of Hammer as a company has received less attention. This paper will investigate the way that Hammer's films based on BBC radio properties helped the company to establish itself as a successful British exploitation film-maker, while the adaptations of the Quatermass television serials led to the establishment of the Hammer identity as a British horror film producer. The paper will also examine the BBC attitude towards Hammer, as revealed through files at the BBC Written Archives Centre, which expose some of the tensions of the differing corporate identities. However, this paper will argue that it was these very tensions which were at the heart of the success of these properties in both media, and that the differing approaches to the material taken by the BBC and Hammer are suggestive of differing aspects of British post-War cultural identity.
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Early conceptions of the new medium of television identified it as sharing qualities of radio, theatre and film in its combination of liveness, intimacy and image. However, there were many varied opinions on how television should separate... more
Early conceptions of the new medium of television identified it as sharing qualities of radio, theatre and film in its combination of liveness, intimacy and image. However, there were many varied opinions on how television should separate itself from these influences, and on how much it should borrow from them. Some believed that film should not be used in television, others that the outside broadcast or studio talk were the ideal material for the system, and others that television would operate as a mass medium in cinemas rather than in the domestic context of the home. Drawing on archival material, this paper will examine these debates around the creation of a particular identity and role for television separate from pre-existing media and consider the ways that they relate to the issues of purpose surrounding the success or failure of more recent new media.
This paper examined the ways that the text of Life on Mars can be understood as a dramatisation of the negotiation that the creators undertook with their Seventies tough-cop show source material to update it for the values and qualities... more
This paper examined the ways that the text of Life on Mars can be understood as a dramatisation of the negotiation that the creators undertook with their Seventies tough-cop show source material to update it for the values and qualities of contemporary television drama. It will emphasise the importance of television in the generation of the imagined 1973 and its characters, but also as an ongoing connection between the real and the imagined within the programme, including forming a breach of the boundaries between the two. Sam's actions within his Seventies world to remake it to include his own ideas of justice and due process while retaining the passion and freedom of action that the milieu provides will also be be examined in relation to the series' creators' needs to remake the Seventies tough-cop show in the light of modern social and media mores. The paper will also consider how Sam has to come to terms with his father's crimes, as the series' creators had to come to terms with the "crimes" of taste, morality and approach of their "parent" programmes from the Seventies' Golden Age.
This paper will examine how early science fiction productions illustrate the shifting ideas of what television style should be. Television style developed from an experimental early stage where a number of different approaches were tried,... more
This paper will examine how early science fiction productions illustrate the shifting ideas of what television style should be. Television style developed from an experimental early stage where a number of different approaches were tried, as with Jan Bussell's non-realist visuals for his 1938 and 1948 adaptations of "R.U.R.". It then solidified around the idea of television as a live relay of events from somewhere, or even somewhen, else into the viewer's home, as used in "The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde" in 1950. This shift from a freer use of the possibilities of television to a standardised concept of "realist" drama even in relation to fantastic narratives reflected changing understanding of the television audience based on audience research carried out by the BBC.
This paper will examine how early science fiction productions illustrate the shifting ideas of what television style should be. Television style developed from an experimental early stage where a number of different approaches were tried,... more
This paper will examine how early science fiction productions illustrate the shifting ideas of what television style should be. Television style developed from an experimental early stage where a number of different approaches were tried, as with Jan Bussell's non-realist visuals for his 1938 and 1948 adaptations of R.U.R.. It then solidified around the idea of television as a live relay of events from somewhere, or even somewhen, else into the viewer's home, as used in The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde in 1950. This shift from a freer use of the possibilities of television to a standardised concept of "realist" drama even in relation to fantastic narratives reflected changing understanding of the television audience based on audience research carried out by the BBC.
This lecture focused on the expression of cultural traditions of storytelling at particular times of the year through broadcasting on radio and television. It looked primarily at the UK and US traditions of horror stories being broadcast... more
This lecture focused on the expression of cultural traditions of storytelling at particular times of the year through broadcasting on radio and television. It looked primarily at the UK and US traditions of horror stories being broadcast particularly at either Christmas or Halloween, particularly horror or supernatural episodes which interrupt normally non-supernatural programming. It examined the effects of these eruptions of abnormality, while explaining how these traditions developed as cultural expressions and considering the effects of the international transmission of these programmes.
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This lecture focused on the development and movements of traditions of seasonal horror storytelling. This includes the movement of Scots and Irish traditions of Halloween tales over to Canada and the US, where they developed into the... more
This lecture focused on the development and movements of traditions of seasonal horror storytelling. This includes the movement of Scots and Irish traditions of Halloween tales over to Canada and the US, where they developed into the modern North American Halloween. This has in turn been disseminated through the media out to the rest of the world, where the holiday has been adopted in a number of places, without the underlying history. Through such migrations we can consider the influence of the media, and also of different cultures upon each other.
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Invited talk at Oxford Brookes University In 2009, BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson stated that ‘Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed.’ This... more
Invited talk at Oxford Brookes University
In 2009, BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson stated that ‘Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed.’ This seminar outlines the origins of this tradition in literature, considering how it was translated from oral tradition, through literature, to broadcasting. The cultural specificity of the tradition becomes important, not only in understanding the significance of the ghost story at Christmas, but also in contrasting it with different seasonal horror traditions, and interpreting what these tell us about the movement and development of cultural practices across time and space.
In 2009, BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson stated that ‘Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed.’ This seminar outlines the origins of this tradition in literature, considering how it was translated from oral tradition, through literature, to broadcasting. The cultural specificity of the tradition becomes important, not only in understanding the significance of the ghost story at Christmas, but also in contrasting it with different seasonal horror traditions, and interpreting what these tell us about the movement and development of cultural practices across time and space.
Research Interests:
Invited guest speaker at the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, University of Reading, 8 October 2015. Through the 1970s, and with a couple of revivals in the 2000s, the BBC ran a series of annual programmes known by the... more
Invited guest speaker at the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, University of Reading, 8 October 2015.
Through the 1970s, and with a couple of revivals in the 2000s, the BBC ran a series of annual programmes known by the umbrella title The Ghost Story for Christmas. These were mostly directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, and mostly adapted from the work of M.R.James. These productions draw on aspects of season and identity in a number of ways, which will be explored in this talk, with a particular consideration being given to the role of landscape and nature in the productions.
Through the 1970s, and with a couple of revivals in the 2000s, the BBC ran a series of annual programmes known by the umbrella title The Ghost Story for Christmas. These were mostly directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, and mostly adapted from the work of M.R.James. These productions draw on aspects of season and identity in a number of ways, which will be explored in this talk, with a particular consideration being given to the role of landscape and nature in the productions.
Research Interests:
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Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some... more
Apart from the ominous drone that introduces its title sequence and the hopeful bells of its end credits, 'Survivors' (1975-77) used very little music in its depiction of a post-plague world where scattered survivors seek to rebuild some forms of civilisation. With one exception there is no non-diegetic music during the series; instead, music comes at moments when groups of survivors can relax and celebrate their gradual rebuilding of a form of civilisation. Its absence acts to reinforce the feeling of the loneliness of the characters and the emptiness of this depopulated world. The one piece of non-diegetic music is a sitar theme that marks each appearance of an Indian woman who has guided a community of survivors into an alternative form of civilisation to the technological world that was destroyed, and which many survivors are keen to recreate. In the typical absence of music of the rest of the series, this disruption of the soundtrack adds to the feeling of difference and mysticism that surrounds this character and her community. This paper investigates the use of music in 'Survivors', showing how its appearances act to indicate and characterise the slow redevelopment of forms of civilisation in this post-apocalyptic world. It relates the use of music particularly to the development and ideals of the British folk music revival in the Twentieth Century, which is tied up with notions of British identities and particularly middle-class ideals of rural society as, at least in part, a reaction to the perceived threat of American popular culture.
Introduction to the film 'Pan's Labyrinth' tied in to the 'Surreal Friends' exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
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How did blockbusters become the domineering cinematic genre they are today? How do the economics of blockbuster filmmaking shape the stories that they tell? When do blockbusters become (good) art? This panel will discuss the history and... more
How did blockbusters become the domineering cinematic genre they are today? How do the economics of blockbuster filmmaking shape the stories that they tell? When do blockbusters become (good) art? This panel will discuss the history and impact of the blockbuster, and in particular the role of SF and fantasy in driving the genre.
With Melinda Snodgrass, Roz J.Kaveney, Nick Lowe, Stefan Rudnicki
With Melinda Snodgrass, Roz J.Kaveney, Nick Lowe, Stefan Rudnicki
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In this blog entry for the Centre for Public History at Queen's University, Belfast, I write about Christmas ghost stories on British television and the distortion of broadcast history
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Biographies for the BFI DVD release of 'Dead of Night' TV series
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Each Christmas during his tenure as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, M.R.James would take part in a ritual celebration of Christmas with students and colleagues which invariably culminated with the reading of a ghost story. This... more
Each Christmas during his tenure as Provost of King's College, Cambridge, M.R.James would take part in a ritual celebration of Christmas with students and colleagues which invariably culminated with the reading of a ghost story. This tradition drew on a long tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas that can be traced back through the likes of Henry James, Dickens and Washington Irving, to the 'winter's tales' of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and probably beyond. With the development of broadcast media, these traditions were adapted for for radio and television, including adaptations of M.R.James' stories. This paper will examine the BBC's adaptations of M.R.James stories for Christmas, primarily in the 1970s set known collectively as A Ghost Story for Christmas, along with the later adaptations in the 2000s. It will focus primarily on the process of adaptation in the context of the wider adaptation of the traditions of Christmas in television ...
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This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain... more
This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain numerous traditions dedicated to looking back and forward, such as end of year reviews, or addresses from heads of state to the 'family' of the nation in which they consider the past year and look hopefully to the future. As part of these traditions, the seasonal horror story, whether delivered as an oral tradition, published, or broadcast, offers a clear opportunity to engage with causes of unease and fear. At the same time, it allows these fears to be diminished as they are treated as 'just entertainment', and traditional forms of the seasonal horror story are recreated as nostalgic pastiche or given a comedy treatment. Even here, these more-lighthearted renditions can allow audiences to engage with and work through issues that concern th...
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Invited research presentation given at the University of Reading, 8 October 2015.
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It has become a standard approach when considering screen presentations that incorporate the country house to examine them in the light of Andrew Higson's formulation of the heritage drama, which presented an essentially conservative,... more
It has become a standard approach when considering screen presentations that incorporate the country house to examine them in the light of Andrew Higson's formulation of the heritage drama, which presented an essentially conservative, depoliticised spectacle of grandeur, safely distanced from the reality of the majority of viewers. However, the country house has also long been a location for the gothic or horror tale, from Castles Otranto, Frankenstein or Dracula, via Abbeys Nightmare, Northanger and Newstead, or less grandly-named, or even nameless, abodes such as those in The Turn of the Screw, Uncle Silas' Bartram-Haugh or The House of Usher itself. These representations, on page or screen, could be expected to be more subversive than the prettified spectacle of the heritage drama, revealing horrors of the oppressed and repressed beneath the attractive shell of the home. However, this paper will argue that, as the country house has become displaced as the location of horr...
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Keynote presentation at the UK's first academic folk horror conference.
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This paper considers the ways in which the television ghost story serves to support understanding and interpretations of history, and particularly an understanding of causality. As Helen Wheatley has identified, the typical detailed... more
This paper considers the ways in which the television ghost story serves to support understanding and interpretations of history, and particularly an understanding of causality. As Helen Wheatley has identified, the typical detailed period settings of the television Gothic operate as a form of 'dark heritage' drama, where, instead of the attractive detail serving to detract from any political content to the narrative, the props, costumes and settings instead suggest and emphasise the underlying historical issues, such as those of class and gender and race. Like the heritage drama, the dark heritage drama serves to give an impression of the past, separate from any supernatural elements. The supernatural allows the emphasis on causality, on the ways that events in the present are caused by the traumas of the past. In some cases, this connection of past and present can be used for educational purposes relating to specific events, as with the Clifton House Mystery and its plot b...
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The ghost story typically presents an interaction of the past with the present, often in the form of 'stone tape' type repeats of an event from the past. The 2016 BBC series The Living and the Dead went beyond this to show the... more
The ghost story typically presents an interaction of the past with the present, often in the form of 'stone tape' type repeats of an event from the past. The 2016 BBC series The Living and the Dead went beyond this to show the merging of multiple time streams, so people made choices in the 'present' because of influences from past and future, and past, present and future interacted, affecting each other. This breaking down of linear time breaks down concepts of rational cause and effect. Simultaneously it emphasises interconnectedness across time, the way that decisions made in the past influence the present, and the way that choices made in the present will influence the future. The series emphasises this temporal hybridity within its narrative, showing traditional life encountering modernisation and the modern finding the value of the traditional, but also making use of familiar imagery and narrative tropes from period dramas to remind the viewer of other texts. By...
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This paper will explore the use of the English landscape as a source of sublime horror, particularly through a shift in perception from idyllic to ominous. Where Peter Hutchings has indicated the importance of the 'uncanny... more
This paper will explore the use of the English landscape as a source of sublime horror, particularly through a shift in perception from idyllic to ominous. Where Peter Hutchings has indicated the importance of the 'uncanny landscape' as a fairly stable location for wrestling with modernity, this chapter will investigate those moments of slippage from the sublime as pleasure and wonder to the sublime as horror. Examples will be drawn from productions such as Glorious 39 (2009), Lark Rise to Candleford (2008-2011), The Living and the Dead (2016) and the Ghost Story for Christmas (1971-1978, 2005-6, 2010, 2013) productions. Non-British productions such as Picnic at Hanging Rock present the invasion of regimented European behaviour into a natural environment that absorbs, rejects and destroys the merely human. However, in the British example, what is central is that this is an already tamed and largely human-formed landscape which suddenly reveals the underlying power of the nat...
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This paper examines the responses to the 1954 BBC adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, as held by the BBC Written Archives Centre, in the light of the British Horror Comics campaign of the mid-1950s.
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Research Interests: Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Art, Television Studies, British television history, and 14 moreLiterature, Popular Culture, Gothic Literature, Cult television, Television History, Gothic television, Television, Seasonality, Horror Literature, Horror Television, Gothic, Visual and Performing Arts, Horror, and Literature and literary theory
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While the BBC had been broadcasting television Science Fiction productions from as early as 1938, and Horror since the start of television in 1936, American Telefantasy had no place on British television until ITV’s broadcast of... more
While the BBC had been broadcasting television Science Fiction productions from as early as 1938, and Horror since the start of television in 1936, American Telefantasy had no place on British television until ITV’s broadcast of Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) in 1956. It would be easy to assign this absence to the avoidance of popular American programming, but this would ignore the presence of Western and adventure serials imported from the US and Canada for monopoly British television. Similarly, it would be inaccurate to suggest that these imports were purely purchased as thrilling fare to appease a child audience, as it was the commercial ITV that was first to broadcast the more adult-orientated Science Fiction Theatre (1955-7) and Inner Sanctum (1954). This article builds on the work of Paul Rixon and Rob Leggott to argue that these imports were used primarily to supply relatively cheap broadcast material for the new channel, but that they also served to appeal to the notion...
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Accounts of science fiction in film and television in the 1950s often present it as dominated by the alien invasion narratives, in which monsters from outer space seek to subjugate or exterminate humanity. Furthermore, these alien... more
Accounts of science fiction in film and television in the 1950s often present it as dominated by the alien invasion narratives, in which monsters from outer space seek to subjugate or exterminate humanity. Furthermore, these alien invasion narratives are commonly presented as rather simplistic products of Cold War tensions in which the alien is merely a thin disguise for soviet aggression. As Andrew Tudor puts it: In the fifties … our way of life is threatened by alien forces which adversely affect the world around us. In this xenophobic universe we can do nothing but rely on the state, in the form of military, scientific and governmental elites … In this respect, then, fifties SF/horror movies teach us not so much ‘to stop worrying and love the bomb’ as ‘to keep worrying and love the state’, an admonition which accords perfectly with the nuclear-conscious Cold War culture of the period.1
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While there has been a growing acknowledgement of the existence of earlier examples of television science fiction, the typical history of the genre still privileges Nigel Kneale's The Quatermass Experiment (1953) as foundational. This... more
While there has been a growing acknowledgement of the existence of earlier examples of television science fiction, the typical history of the genre still privileges Nigel Kneale's The Quatermass Experiment (1953) as foundational. This was a significant production, and an effective piece of television drama, but it was not the first piece of British television science fiction, nor the first British television science fiction serial, nor even the first such serial to have a sequel. This paper will draw upon the early history of British television science fiction, particularly focusing on comparisons between the Quatermass serials and the first British TV SF serial, Stranger From Space (1951-1953), in considering the factors that lead to the 'forgetting' of particular productions, including marketing, adaptation and target audience. Stranger From Space was produced as ten-minute episodes within a children's magazine programme, and written by Hazel Adair and Ronald Marri...