Introduction

Abstract

The first edition of this book was published in 2000 and was distinctive in bringing together practitioners and academics to provide a variety of perspectives on the development of UK television drama in the latter part of the twentieth century. Whilst there was a particular focus on the institutions, practices and personnel of the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of the 1960s and 1970s — reflecting the conference from which several of the contributions came, and the research project out of which it arose¹ — the collection was diverse and reflected on a broad sweep of contemporary and historical concerns. This second edition maintains the pluralism of the first, in terms of its methods and approaches, and many of the original contributions, especially those of professionals who were — and in some cases still are — significant contributors to the developments they discuss (though some, sadly, are no longer with us). However, it is important to recognise that much has changed on the television landscape since 2000, and the main reason for producing a second edition is to engage with some of those developments.