Andrews, Hannah, Ph.D. (2011) Public service broadcasters and British cinema, 1990–2010. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The relationship between television institutions and film in Britain has a complex history, influenced by profound changes in both industries over time. The involvement of public service broadcasters (PSBs) in British cinema has been a regularly-acknowledged, but under-examined phenomenon. There is a dearth of up-to-date scholarship dealing with the relationship, particularly as it unfolded over the turbulent decades of the 1990s and 2000s. This thesis updates and expands the existing field on the relationship between British television and film cultures. It does so by examining the ways in which PSBs have been involved in film culture, as producers, distributors and exhibitors. It also discusses the significant changes to this relationship wrought by the coming into dominance of digital technologies, and the responses of the PSBs to digitalisation. The body of the thesis is separated into two parts. Part One examines the relationship between television and film at the end of the analogue era, ending roughly in 2002. The first chapter explores the historical background to television films in Britain, discussing the semantic turn from describing single dramas shown on television as ‘plays’ and ‘films’. The second chapter outlines three case studies which explore the relationship between television and distribution. The third chapter discusses the industrial relationship between film and television, and the distinct discourses of ‘quality’ applied to each form. The second part of the thesis discusses the effects of digital technologies on the PSB’s role as producer, distributor and exhibitor of films. Chapter Four explores the position of the PSB as patron of low-budget, digital production schemes. In Chapter Five, the opening night and subsequent decade of broadcasting on the FilmFour digital television channel is analysed. Chapter Six takes as its subject the online film output of the BBC, particularly via its iPlayer platform, and its short film distribution network, the BBC Film Network.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Public service television programs -- Great Britain, Television broadcasting of films, Made-for-TV movies, Digital cinematography, Motion picture industry -- Great Britain, Television broadcasting -- Great Britain
Date:	October 2011
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Brunsdon, Charlotte
Extent:	355 leaves : ill., charts
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/44037

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