Dear Santa, Well, another year gone. I’ve tried very hard to be good. I’ve tried to look after my family and friends, aimed to be more considerate to people doing difficult customer-facing jobs, and worked doing the best I can writing around half-a-dozen sets of DVD viewing notes, articles for Doctor Who Magazine and TV Years , and fanzine items for the likes of SiG and Celestial Toyroom . Oh, and some blogs.

As I have mentioned, the first original drama series on HBO was Oz – a transgressive and groundbreaking type of prison drama, but unfortunately a show that has been overlooked and forgotten by many viewers and scholars.

The series Black Mirror , first aired on the UK Channel 4 in 2011, has achieved an international standing for its reinvention of speculative anthology television and continues to innovate in the form: the interactive feature-length Bandersnatch (2018) offered viewers a branching, ergodic narrative, multiple endings and the opportunity to experience a type of cyborg textuality through the TV format.

DISCOURSES of FICTIONAL (DIGITAL) TV SERIES  Universitat de València Forthcoming Conference 3-6 November 2020 Conference Convenors: Carmen Gregori-Signes, Claudia Alonso-Recarte, Miguel Fuster-Márquez, Sergio Maruenda-Bataller  Secretaries: Paula Rodríguez-Abruñeiras &

ECREA’S 8th European Communication Conference The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) in partnership with the University of Minho call for papers to be presented at the 8th European Communication Conference, to be held in Braga, Portugal, from 2 October to 5 October 2020.

Call for Papers International Workshop ‘Media Representations of Law and Justice:  Middle Eastern Perspectives’ 12−13 March 2020 Leipzig, Germany The Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) in cooperation with the Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Leipzig is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the international and interdisciplinary Workshop ‘Media Representations of Law and

Editors: Dr. Melanie Robson (UNSW Sydney), Dr. Jessica Ford (University of Newcastle, Australia) and Dr. Phoebe Macrossan (Queensland University of Technology) In his 20 years in the US television industry Ryan Murphy has amassed a large and diverse body of television work. Murphy exemplifies the modern TV mogul, operating as an executive producer, creator, showrunner, writer and director on a wide range of series.

“We are living in a great epistolary age, even if no one much acknowledges it. Our phones, by obviating phoning, have reestablished the omnipresence of text. Think of the sheer profusion of messages … that we now send.

The Comics and Popular Arts Conference (CPAC) invites submissions for our 13th Annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, September 4-7, 2020.

CALL FOR PAPERS Hugh Grant Special issue of Celebrity Studies Journal, edited by Alice Guilluy (London Film Academy) and Eleonora Sammartino (Imperial College London) Deadline for proposals: 18th January 2020

You know, fan conventions and academic conferences are very similar really. You sort of feel the same enthusiasm crackling when you walk into the reception area, and know that you’re going to be surrounded by people with whom you can engage directly because they’re speaking the shared language of the sub-culture. And there’s often great guest speakers and neat screenings.