Module Identifier TF30620  
Module Title TELEVISION DRAMA  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Glen Creeber  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite TF10420  
Course delivery Lecture    
  Seminars / Tutorials   Seminar  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours  60%
Semester Assessment Essay: 2,500 word essay For information on due dates for submission of assessed work, please refer to the departmental web pages at http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts/duedates.shtml 40%
Supplementary Assessment Students will be required to submit a new essay based on a new question or if the examination is failed, to resit during the University's resit period. 

Learning outcomes

Typically, upon completion of this module a student will be able:

- To demonstrate an awareness of the range of dramatic formats on television
- To show an analytical understanding of a range of televisual dramatic texts
- To critically evaluate discourses relating to the academic study of television drama
- To critically apply theoretical models of television theory to the television dramas studied.


Content

The lectures, seminars and screening will study the history and development of British television drama. Questions such as authorship, notions of quality and the difference between naturalism and non-naturalism will be addressed.

Aims

This module builds upon the method used in the Part I television module and analyses the non-verbal structure of television writing. The main development of the module when compared with Part I lies not only in the quality of analysis required but more importantly, in the more comprehensive focus on individual 'authors' such as Potter and Bleasdale.

Reading Lists

s
Lena O, My Lena (Alun Owen); Up the Junction (Nell Dunn/Ken Loach); Boys from the Blackstuff (Alan Bleasdale); Cathy Come Home (Jeremy Sandford/Ken Loach); The Singing Detective (Dennis Potter); Prime Suspect (Lynda LaPlante); The Kingdom (Lars Von Trier)

Books
** Supplementary Text
Feuer, Jane (1995) Seeing Through the Eighties: television and Reaganism BFI
Hartley, John (1992) Tele-ology Routledge
MacCabe, Colin (1986) High Theory, Low Culture: analysing popular television and film St Martin's Press
Selby, Keith and Cowdery, Ron (1995) How to Study Television Macmillan
McQueen, David (1998) Television: a media student's guide Arnold
Millington, Bob & Nelson, Robin (1986) Boys from the Blackstuff: the making of a television drama Comedia
Nelson, Robin (1997) Television Drama in Transition: forms, values and cultural change Macmillan
Paget, Derek (1990) True Stories? Documentary Drama on radio, screen, and stage MUP
Potter, Denis (1986) The Singing Detective Faber
Dyer, Richard et al, (1981) Coronation Street BFI
Creeber, Glen (1998) Dennis Potter: between two worlds. A critical reassessment. Macmillan
Corner, John (ed.) (1991) Popular Television in Britain: studies in cultural history BFI
Cook, John (1998) Dennis Potter: a life on screen MUP
Brunsdon, Charlotte (1997) Screen Tastes: soap operas to satellite dishes Routledge
Brandt, George (ed.) (1993) British Television Drama in the 1980's CUP
Brandt, George (ed.) (1981) British Television Drama CUP
Ellis, John (1982) Visible Fictions Routledge
Crisell, Andrew (1997) An Introduction History of British Broadcasting Routledge
Williams, Raymond (1990) Television: technology and cultural form Routledge
McKnight, George (1997) Agent of Challenge and Defiance: the films of Ken Loach Flicks Books
Hill, John & McLoone, Martin (eds.) (1997) Big Picture, Small Screen: the relations between film and television Luton Press
Goodwin, A. et al (1990) Drama-Documentary BFI
Gilbert, W. Stephen (1998) Fight and, Kick and Bite: the life and work of Denis Potter Hodder and Stoughton
Fiske, John (1987) Television Culture Routledge
Ridgman, Jeremy (ed.) (1998) Boxed Sets: television representations of theatre University of Luton Press
Self, David (1984) Television Drama: an introduction Macmillan
Shubik, Irene (1981) Play for Today: the evolution of television drama Davis-Poynter
Stead, Peter (1993) Dennis Potter Seren Books
Taylor, Don (1990) Days of Vision: working with David Mercer, Television Drama then and now Methuen
Tulloch, John (1990) Television Drama, agency, audience and myth Routledge
Wayne, Mike (ed.) (1998) Dissident Voices: the politics of television and cultural change Pluto
** Essential Reading
Cooke, Lez (2003) British Television Drama: a history London BFI

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6