We are a group of researchers based in the Department of English and Creative Arts at Edge Hill University, at Salford University and at the University of Manchester, but connected through projects and journal editorship throughout the world. Our group includes:

Anthony N. Smith

Anthony Smithis Lecturer in Television Theory at the University of Salford.  He is author of the book, Storytelling Industries: Narrative Production in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), and articles in New Media & SocietyComedy StudiesTelevision & New Media and Critical Studies in Television.

Perelandra Beedles

Perelandra Beedles

Perelandra formerly worked as production manager and producer/director for the BBC, ITV and Sony. She now examines gendered practices of production that disproportionately affect women, as well as issues around sustainable production.

Dipali Das

Dipali researches Indian cinema on British terrestrial television between 1968-1989. Her focus is on the two programmes Nai Zidagi Naya Jeevan and Movie Mahal. She explores their production history as well as finding out what role the programmes had for the Indian Diaspora at the time of broadcast.

Josh Kelly

Josh Kelly

Josh is currently working on his PhD which examines the representation of masculinity in contemporary US, Australian and European crime drama. He is particularly interested in exploring how transnational and national representations of hegemonic masculinities intersect in crime drama that can also be classed as ‘quality television’.

Brett Mills

Brett Mills

Brett researches popular contemporary television, exploring questions of cultural value, genre, and creative work. His main interests include comedy – especially the sitcom – and the representation of animals on television; his most recent book is Animals on Television (2017).

Claire Parkinson

Claire Parkinson

Claire’s research on multispecies relations and mediated encounters includes publications on natural history, wildlife, and animal reality television programmes. She is the author or editor of eight books that include Popular Media and Animals (2011) and Animals, Anthropomorphism and Mediated Encounters (2019).

Ekwutosi

Ekwutosi Sanita Nwakpu

Ekwutosi Sanita Nwakpu is a Media PhD/GTA student at Edge Hill University. Her study focuses on the media audience as well as contemporary issues in media studies. She has written and co-authored a few interdisciplinary journal publications, some of which focused on Nigerian media. Her current research investigates the reactions/responses of British and Nigerian television audiences to mediated proximal and distant disaster victims. She worked as an assistant lecturer at Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Nigeria before joining Edge Hill University. Ekwutosi has an M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester, as well as a B.Sc. in Mass Communication from Ebonyi State University in Nigeria.

Lucy Rivers

Lucy Rivers is examining contemporary sitcoms through the lens of humour theory in order to understand the complexities of representations of mental health. She has just been commissioned to write a chapter about BoJack Horseman for a forthcoming book entitled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Critical Essays on BoJack Horseman.

Matthew Pateman

Matthew is head of the Department of Creative Arts. He has a particular research interest in the work of Joss Whedon on whom he has recently published a monograph (2018).

Kay Stonham

Kay is a practicing radio and TV comedy writer and lecturer in scriptwriting and screenwriting, as well as commissioned writer on many TV and radio series. She is currently researching the impact of class and other identities on the commissioning of television narrative comedy in the UK.
She is co-founder of Female Pilot Club, a group that exists to showcase female written out-of-option pilot scripts in front of a live audience.

Andrea Wright

Andrea Wright

Andrea has examined period drama on television, and the role and function of Christmas specials within the larger context of our lived Christmas experiences. She has a particular interest in screen fairy tales.

Elke Weissmann

Elke Weissmann

Elke is currently working with Trisha Dunleavy on a research project on television drama in the multiplatform age. She is also working on a research project on climate change, local television and community action. Her interests span all genres of television, including lifestyle, soap opera and documentary.

Jennifer Woodward

Jennifer Woodward

Jennifer specialises in science fiction which she explores in relation to all media. She also leads the BA (Hons) in Film.

Rebecca Wynne-Walsh

Dr Rebecca Wynne-Walsh  has recently completed her PhD entitled Basque Gothic Cinema (1990-2020): A Regionalist Challenge to the Spanish Model of National Cinema Production and Cultural Identity with Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has now begun a new role as lecturer in Film Studies and Production at Edge Hill University. Her research interests include, film studies, cinema history, horror cinema, Gothic studies, streaming cultures, Hispanic studies, regionalism, transnationalism, postcolonialism, trauma studies and folklore studies.

Hannah Andrews

Hannah Andrews

Hannah has conducted research on the intersection of film and television, biographical drama and Spitting Image. She is also an editor for Critical Studies in Television.

Hannah has conducted research on the intersection of film and television, biographical drama and Spitting Image. She is also an editor for Critical Studies in Television.

Laura Minor

Dr Laura Minor is a Lecturer in Television Studies at the University of Salford, UK. Her research explores women’s work in/on television, female authorship, and social class.

Robert Watts

Robert Watts is a lecturer in Television and Creative Industries at the University of Manchester. His research focuses on transnational TV drama aesthetics, particularly in how discourses of ‘prestige’ and ‘global appeal’ intersect with issues of regionality in TV drama’s production and critical reception.

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