This ground-breaking study analyses Beckett's television plays in relation to the history and theory of television. It argues that they are in dialogue with innovative television traditions connected to Modernism in television, film, radio, theatre, literature and the visual arts.
Using original research from BBC archives and manuscript sources, the book provides new perspectives on the relationships between Beckett's television dramas and the wider television culture of Britain and Europe. It also compares and contrasts the plays for television with Beckett's Film and broadcasts of his theatre work including the recent Beckett on Film season. Chapters deal with the production process of the plays, the broadcasting contexts in which they were screened, institutions and authorship, the plays' relationships with comparable programmes and films and reaction to Beckett's screen work by audiences and critics.
This book is a major contribution to Beckett scholarship and to studies of television drama. It will be essential reading in literature and drama studies, television historiography and for devotees of Beckett's work.
- ISBN10 071906421X
- ISBN13 9780719064210
- Publish Date 30 June 2012 (first published 1 October 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Manchester University Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 240
- Language English