Upstairs and Downstairs - by James Leggott & Julie Anne Taddeo (Hardcover)

About the Book

This collection addresses the social and political contexts that have shaped the British TV costume drama as well as the changing historical contexts in which such programs are viewed again and again (in syndication, on DVD, youtube, etc.) and are reinterpreted by a thriving t...

Book Synopsis

This collection addresses the social and political contexts that have shaped the British TV costume drama as well as the changing historical contexts in which such programs are viewed again and again (in syndication, on DVD, youtube, etc.) and are reinterpreted by a thriving twenty-first-century global fan culture.

Review Quotes

A central aim of this book is to follow the evolution of British costume dramas, from the varying approaches to the history and heritage they represent to the sexual politics of feminism, homosexuality, and fandom. Part 1 introduces a range of possible conceptual approaches in highlighting the changing British social and cultural contexts of both production and audience preferences. Part 2 examines the historical accuracy of 'heritage' productions, including their gender and class roles, and challenges the models of the past as they reveal anxieties about national identity, multiculturalism, and masculinity. Part 3 moves the narrative from the domestic customs and morality of past decades into viewers' contemporary concerns and issues. Some of the BBC and ITV series under discussion may not be familiar to readers in the US, even those who are viewers of PBS fare or video-on-demand offerings, but even so there is much to be gained in traversing the critiques of music, fashions, costumes, and historicity in unwatched series and issues embedded in their texts. Given the present staggering popularity of Downton Abbey, both in the UK and globally, the present study is timely and provides a valuable grounding for a genre that is applauded around the world as one of Britain's masterful contributions to quality television. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.

About the Author

James Leggott teaches film and television at Northumbria University, UK. He has published on various aspects of British film and television culture and is the principal editor of the Journal of Popular Television.

Julie Anne Taddeo teaches history at the University of Maryland. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Popular Television and author of Lytton Strachey and the Searchfor Modern Sexual Identity (2002).She is the editor of Catherine Cookson: On the Borders of Legitimacy, Fiction, and History (2012) and co-editor of Steaming into a Victorian Future: A Steampunk Anthology (Scarecrow Press, 2012).