Sensing the City Through Television

An investigation of the fictional representations of the city in contemporary British and American television drama, assessing their political, sociological and cultural implications.

The book draws on the following five key case studies for specific and detailed analysis: 

• Queer as Folk

• Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City

• The Cops

• Homicide - Life on the Street

• Holding On

Each is discussed in terms of structure, content, characterisation and narrative, and placed within its specific ideological context. The case studies represent an interesting range of British and American cities and city sub-cultures. The author extends his analysis to investigate the intrinsic issues related to the implications of popular and high drama and culture. Featuring excerpts of exclusive interviews with Tony Garnett and members of the production team of The Cops and Tony Marchant and David Snodin of Holding On.

As one of the first substantial investigations of the city in television drama, this book reflects a growing general interest in the politics of representation. It is also designed for accommodation into the very popular academic courses on drama and in film and media studies: as a textbook and for supplementary reading.