• Profile half-length photograph of a man facing to the left wearing a dark jacket and tie, holding a cigarette in his hand, with a white handkerchief in his jacket breast pocket. The man has a prominent straight nose, slicked back hair and his tie forms a slight arch from the knot. In the background, on the left side of the image, there is another half-length frontal portrait of a man. He has white hair, also wears a jacket and tie, is looking to the right, and is smiling.

The Politics of ‘Acting’: Why Cast Comedians?

By Neil Archer What makes a performance ‘truthful’? In one of my previous professional lives, as an actor, this question was one that concerned me on an everyday and practical level. But it’s one I’m still dealing with in my…

Inventing London on Blackfriars Bridge, 1896: Part Two

By Sean Cubitt Catch up with Part One of this blog post. Note from the editors of Journal of British Cinema and Television: Given the current state of culture war, the Journal of British Cinema and Television is extremely keen to encourage further…

Inventing London on Blackfriars Bridge, 1896: Part One

By Sean Cubitt Note from the editors of Journal of British Cinema and Television: Given the current state of culture war, the Journal of British Cinema and Television is extremely keen to encourage further discussion of the sort of topics covered in…

Doing History in the Age of Downton Abbey

Julie Anne Taddeo As the most watched period drama in television history, Downton Abbey has met with popular success but not always critical acclaim. Historians in particular have criticized what they see as the series’ conservative politics and nostalgic view…

Nuancing Ken Russell

By Kevin M. Flanagan Director Ken Russell (1927-2011) tends to evoke extreme reactions. Critics, academics, and fans lavish a few of his works with rapturous praise. His adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love (1969), or some of his composer…