Prof Jamie Medhurst
BA (Hons), MLib, PhD, FRHistS, FHEA

Professor of Media and Communication
Acting Head of Department (Theatre, Film & Television Studies)
Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies
Contact Details
- Email: jsm@aber.ac.uk
- ORCID: 0000-0001-5054-9403
- Office: 2.00, Parry - Williams Building
- Phone: +44 (0) 1970 622152
- Twitter: @jamie_medhurst
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Sj1_KSQAAAAJ
- Research Portal Profile
- Personal Pronouns: He/His
Profile
I have been a member of staff in the Department since 1996 (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, and now Professor of Media and Communication) and before that was Tutor in Information Studies in the Department of Information Studies (1993-96) teaching on media information sources and services. I have undertaken various administrative and managerial roles during my time in Aberystwyth: Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts (2005-2008), Departmental Director of Learning and Teaching (2007-2010) and Head of Department (January 2011 - July 2014, August 2018 - January 2019, and August 2022-July 2023). I'm married and have two sons and a daughter.... and a host of pets! Outside of work I enjoy watching rugby, coarse fishing, spending time with the children, playing the organ and occasionally preaching at Eglwys St Mair in Aberystwyth. During December, a large part of my time is spent in a bright red and white fur suit, black boots and false white beard.
Additional Information
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Higher Education Academy and am an external examiner at Birkbeck, University of London (BA Film and Media) and the University of Liverpool (BA Communication and Media). I have examined around 17 PhD theses as external examiner in universities in the UK and Australia. I have reviewed papers for Contemporary Wales, Critical Studies in Television, Media History and Twentieth Century British History together with book proposals for Routledge, Sage Publications and Palgrave-Macmillan.
- Editor-in-chief, Media History
- Chair, Academic Advisory/User Group, National Broadcast Archive of Wales
- Member, Media Studies Commission, FIAT/IFTA (Fédération Internationale des Archives de Télévision/International Federation of Television Archives)
- Member, Institute of Welsh Affairs Media and Democracy Advisory Group
- Honorary Associate of the Centre for Media History, Maquarie University, Australia
- Member, UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowships (UKRI FLF) programme Peer Review College
- Steering Group Member, Entangled Media Histories (EMHIS) research network
- Member, Project Advisory Board, Connected Histories of the BBC (AHRC-funded project at University of Sussex)
- Member, Royal Television Society Shiers Trust Award Jury
- Member, Advisory Committee for AHRC-funded project ‘The History of Forgotten Television Drama in the UK’ at Royal Holloway University of London
- Member, Bournemouth University Broadcasting Archives Advisory Group
- Member, Consultative Group, 'People's Voices in a People's War: Aberystwyth 1939-1945' (Heritage Lottery Funded Project)
Teaching
Module Coordinator
Coordinator
Lecturer
Moderator
Attendance Dept Admin
- FM10720 - Studying Communication
- FM21920 - Advertising
- FM32620 - Television History
- FM33740 - Documentary Production
- FM34520 - Experimental Cinema
- FM38220 - Cult Cinema: Texts, Histories and Audiences
- TC10620 - Gweithio yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TC11220 - Sylfeini Perfformio: Corff, Cymeriad a Thestun
- TC20320 - Sylfeini Hunan-Gyflwyno
- TFM3960 - Film Production Research Project
- TFM6420 - Introduction to Media Production Skills
- TP10220 - Body, Voice, Expression.
- TP19920 - Theatre Technologies 2
- TP21620 - Devised Performance Project
- TP22520 - Scenographic Composition
- TP25920 - Acting for Camera
- TP33120 - Theatre, Gender and Sexuality
- TP35520 - Ensemble Performance Project
- FM10820 - Introduction to Post-Production and Editing
- FM24420 - Art Cinema
- FM30820 - Advanced Sound
- TC10520 - Creu Ffilm
- TC21020 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 1: Perfformio
- TFM3520 - Exhibiting Film
- TFM3640 - Film Producing
- TP10020 - Theatre and Performance Design in Context
- TP33340 - Playwriting
- FM10620 - Studying Media
- FM11120 - Movements in Film History
- FM11240 - Making Short Films 2
- FM38420 - Videogame Theories
- FM39820 - Sales and Distribution
- TC29920 - Ffilm a Theatr Americanaidd
- TC31920 - Ffilm a Chyfryngau Cymru
- TC36820 - Ffilmiau Hollywood
- TP11120 - Studio Theatre Project
- TP31240 - Advanced Studio Practice (scenography)
- TP33420 - Performance and Architecture
- TP36040 - Independent Research Project
- TPM1340 - Compositional Practices
- FM10120 - Studying Film
- FM17620 - Introduction to Film Production
- FM20620 - Television Genre
- FM20920 - Creative Fiction: Horror
- FM21520 - Stardom and Celebrity
- FM22320 - Youth Cultures
- FM22620 - Media, Politics and Power
- FM34240 - Fiction Film Production
- FM36040 - Independent Research Project
- TC10820 - Cydweithio Ensemble
- TC11320 - Creu Cynyrchiadau Amlgyfrwng
- TC31120 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Cyfryngau
- TFM0120 - Gender and Media Production
- TFM0220 - Digital Culture
- TFM0320 - Narrative and Affect
- TFM0720 - 16mm Filmmaking
- TP11020 - Theatre in Context 1
- TP11720 - Scenography Site Project
- TP22320 - Principles of Scenography
- TP38140 - Independent Production Project
- TPS0360 - Professional Practice Year
- FM11420 - Making Short Films 1
- FM22440 - Directing and Producing
- FM22820 - Film Craft 1
- FM37520 - Advanced Cinematography and Production Design
- TC37020 - 'Arwyr': Dogfennu Gyrfaoedd yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TFM4820 - Research Concepts and Skills
- TP10120 - Body, Voice, Perception
- TP30020 - Contemporary Drama
- TPM1540 - Creative Production Project
- TPM1820 - Engaging Publics
- FM10220 - Studying Television
- FM11520 - Making Short Films 1
- FM17320 - Writing Continuing TV Drama
- FM26520 - Creative Documentary
- FM27120 - Writing Audio Drama
- FM30920 - Advanced Editing
- FM34120 - Media Semiotics
- FM38320 - Gender and the Media
- TC21120 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 1: Cyfryngau
- TC21820 - Ffilm a Chyfryngau Cymru
- TC30620 - Theatr a Ffilm Gyfoes: Cymru a'r Byd
- TC31320 - Cynhyrchiad Annibynnol
- TFM0840 - Documentary Practices
- TFM3720 - Aspects of Media Law
- TFM4520 - Case Studies in Film History
- TFM6520 - Advanced Media Production Skills
- TP19820 - Theatre Technologies
- TP21220 - Acting: Process and Performance
- TP23220 - Shakespeare in Performance
- TP23820 - New Media Performance
- TP32820 - Place, Space and Landscape
- TP35940 - Advanced Scenographic Project
- TPM0860 - Research Project
- TPM1020 - Space, Time, Material and Form
- TPS0260 - Professional Practice Year
- FM21620 - Writing for Film and Television
- FM22920 - Film Craft 2
- FM25420 - Creative Studio
- FM25520 - Digital Culture
- FM30020 - Contemporary Film and the Break-Up of Britain
- FM36720 - Media Law
- TC21220 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu: Gorffen
- TC31020 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Perfformio
- TC36140 - Prosiect Ymchwil Creadigol
- TC39920 - Ffilm a Theatr Americanaidd
- TFM0920 - Ecocriticism and Ecocinema
- TFM1060 - Practice Research Project
- TP11320 - Theatre in Context 2
- TP11820 - Design Skills
- TP22620 - Theatre Design Project
- TP24940 - Theatre Production Project
- TP39020 - Musical Theatre Dramaturgies
- FM20120 - LGBT Screens
- FM23820 - Work in the Media Industries
- FM30320 - Contemporary TV Drama
- FM33540 - Experimental Media Production
- FM37020 - Scriptwriting 1
- FM37120 - Scriptwriting 2
- TC10720 - Gweithio ar Gamera
- TC20220 - Prosiect Ymchwil Ymarferol
- TC20620 - Theatr a Ffilm Gyfoes: Cymru a'r Byd
- TC21420 - Ymchwil Creadigol Ymarferol
- TC27020 - 'Arwyr': Dogfennu Gyrfaoedd yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TC31220 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Gorffen
- TP11420 - Site-Specific Performance Project
- TP20820 - Theatre and Contemporary Society
- TP21820 - Directors' Theatre
- TP24740 - Scenography Production Project
- MOR0510 - Dulliau Darllen
- PGM1810 - Ways of Working
- CYM5820 - Cyfieithu Creadigol Rhyngwladol
- MOR0120 - Sgiliau Ymchwil a Datblygiad Personol
Blackboard Dept Admin
- FM20120 - LGBT Screens
- FM21520 - Stardom and Celebrity
- FM22620 - Media, Politics and Power
- FM25420 - Creative Studio
- FM30320 - Contemporary TV Drama
- FM33740 - Documentary Production
- FM34240 - Fiction Film Production
- TC10820 - Cydweithio Ensemble
- TC21420 - Ymchwil Creadigol Ymarferol
- TP10120 - Body, Voice, Perception
- TP24740 - Scenography Production Project
- TPM0860 - Research Project
- TPM1340 - Compositional Practices
- TPM1820 - Engaging Publics
- TPS0260 - Professional Practice Year
- FM17620 - Introduction to Film Production
- FM22820 - Film Craft 1
- FM25520 - Digital Culture
- FM30820 - Advanced Sound
- FM30920 - Advanced Editing
- FM32620 - Television History
- TC29920 - Ffilm a Theatr Americanaidd
- TC31920 - Ffilm a Chyfryngau Cymru
- TC36140 - Prosiect Ymchwil Creadigol
- TP10020 - Theatre and Performance Design in Context
- TP21820 - Directors' Theatre
- TP22320 - Principles of Scenography
- TP22620 - Theatre Design Project
- TP31240 - Advanced Studio Practice (scenography)
- TPM1540 - Creative Production Project
- FM10820 - Introduction to Post-Production and Editing
- FM23820 - Work in the Media Industries
- FM27120 - Writing Audio Drama
- FM36720 - Media Law
- FM38220 - Cult Cinema: Texts, Histories and Audiences
- TC10620 - Gweithio yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TC11320 - Creu Cynyrchiadau Amlgyfrwng
- TC31020 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Perfformio
- TC36820 - Ffilmiau Hollywood
- TFM0320 - Narrative and Affect
- TFM0840 - Documentary Practices
- TFM6420 - Introduction to Media Production Skills
- TP11020 - Theatre in Context 1
- TP11820 - Design Skills
- FM11120 - Movements in Film History
- FM11240 - Making Short Films 2
- FM20620 - Television Genre
- FM34120 - Media Semiotics
- FM34520 - Experimental Cinema
- FM37120 - Scriptwriting 2
- FM38320 - Gender and the Media
- FM38420 - Videogame Theories
- TC31120 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Cyfryngau
- TC31220 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 2: Gorffen
- TFM1060 - Practice Research Project
- TP20820 - Theatre and Contemporary Society
- TP21620 - Devised Performance Project
- TP22520 - Scenographic Composition
- TP23820 - New Media Performance
- TP32820 - Place, Space and Landscape
- TP33340 - Playwriting
- TP38140 - Independent Production Project
- TPM1020 - Space, Time, Material and Form
- TPS0360 - Professional Practice Year
- FM10720 - Studying Communication
- FM17320 - Writing Continuing TV Drama
- FM22320 - Youth Cultures
- FM24420 - Art Cinema
- FM26520 - Creative Documentary
- FM37020 - Scriptwriting 1
- TC21120 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 1: Cyfryngau
- TC21820 - Ffilm a Chyfryngau Cymru
- TFM0120 - Gender and Media Production
- TFM0720 - 16mm Filmmaking
- TP25920 - Acting for Camera
- FM10120 - Studying Film
- FM36040 - Independent Research Project
- TC10720 - Gweithio ar Gamera
- TC11220 - Sylfeini Perfformio: Corff, Cymeriad a Thestun
- TC37020 - 'Arwyr': Dogfennu Gyrfaoedd yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TC39920 - Ffilm a Theatr Americanaidd
- TFM0220 - Digital Culture
- TFM0920 - Ecocriticism and Ecocinema
- TFM3640 - Film Producing
- TFM3720 - Aspects of Media Law
- TFM4820 - Research Concepts and Skills
- TP11420 - Site-Specific Performance Project
- TP21220 - Acting: Process and Performance
- TP33120 - Theatre, Gender and Sexuality
- TP33420 - Performance and Architecture
- TP35940 - Advanced Scenographic Project
- FM10220 - Studying Television
- FM11420 - Making Short Films 1
- FM11520 - Making Short Films 1
- FM20920 - Creative Fiction: Horror
- FM22440 - Directing and Producing
- FM22920 - Film Craft 2
- TC20220 - Prosiect Ymchwil Ymarferol
- TC20320 - Sylfeini Hunan-Gyflwyno
- TC21020 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu 1: Perfformio
- TC27020 - 'Arwyr': Dogfennu Gyrfaoedd yn y Diwydiannau Creadigol
- TC31320 - Cynhyrchiad Annibynnol
- TFM3520 - Exhibiting Film
- TFM3960 - Film Production Research Project
- TFM4520 - Case Studies in Film History
- TFM6520 - Advanced Media Production Skills
- TP10220 - Body, Voice, Expression.
- TP11120 - Studio Theatre Project
- TP11720 - Scenography Site Project
- TP23220 - Shakespeare in Performance
- TP24940 - Theatre Production Project
- TP30020 - Contemporary Drama
- TP35520 - Ensemble Performance Project
- TP36040 - Independent Research Project
- FM10620 - Studying Media
- FM21620 - Writing for Film and Television
- FM21920 - Advertising
- FM30020 - Contemporary Film and the Break-Up of Britain
- FM33540 - Experimental Media Production
- FM37520 - Advanced Cinematography and Production Design
- FM39820 - Sales and Distribution
- TC10520 - Creu Ffilm
- TC20620 - Theatr a Ffilm Gyfoes: Cymru a'r Byd
- TC21220 - Ymarfer Cynhyrchu: Gorffen
- TC30620 - Theatr a Ffilm Gyfoes: Cymru a'r Byd
- TP11320 - Theatre in Context 2
- TP19820 - Theatre Technologies
- TP19920 - Theatre Technologies 2
- TP39020 - Musical Theatre Dramaturgies
- MOR0510 - Dulliau Darllen
- CYM5820 - Cyfieithu Creadigol Rhyngwladol
- MOR0120 - Sgiliau Ymchwil a Datblygiad Personol
- PGM1810 - Ways of Working
I teach in the areas of broadcasting history, media policy, media and politics, the political economy of the media, media archives, and documentary film history.
Research
My research interests include broadcasting history; media policy; film and media archives; media and society in Wales; media in the devolved nations; documentary film history. My latest book, The Early Years of Television and the BBC was published by Edinburgh University Press in June 2022.
I am currently working on a number of books/projects:
Programmes, Protest, and Politics: broadcasting and society in Wales in the 1970s (book to be published by the University of Wales Press in 2025)
Free Cinema: critical perspectives (book to be published in 2026)
Audiences, Identities, and the BBC in Wales, 1923-2023 (book to be published in 2028)
Entangled Media Histories (a research project with colleagues in Macquarie, Lund, and Hamburg universities)
External Research Grants/Awards:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (£23,230), September 2008-January 2009 - research leave to complete a book (A History of Independent Television in Wales, 1956-1968).
British Academy Small Research Grant (£3117), November 2008-August 2009 - 'The Early Years of Television and the BBC, 1923-1939'.
British Academy Overseas Conference Grant (£200), 'Television: the experimental moment 1935-1955', University of Paris 8, 27-29 May 2009.
Arts and Humanities Research Council (£33,000), February 2010-January 2012 - international research network on broadcasting history.
Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant (£113,813), September 2016-August 2019 - Television and Society in Wales in the 1970s
MPhil/PhD
supervision and examining
Research Supervision
Huw Penallt Jones (PhD by publication)
Lucy McFadzean (AHRC studentship): ‘Community, politics and the economy in the cultural policies of the Greater London Council 1981-6.’
Gregor Cameron: ‘Re-performing Who: Tracing Theatre Technique Through Television Time’
Donald F. McLean (PhD by publication): ‘Investigations into the emergence of British television, 1926-1936’
Dafydd Sills-Jones: ‘History Documentary on UK Terrestrial Television, 1982-2002.’
I have examined over 20 PhD theses in areas including public service broadcasting, Welsh language journalism, local radio in England, representations of Wales in documentary and interactive television drama. I would be interested to hear from any potential research students wishing to explore any aspect of media history/policy or issues surrounding media and national identity.
Responsibilities
- Degree Scheme Co-ordinator, BA Media and Communication Studies
- Co-Director, Aberystwyth Centre for Media History