“It’s all about paying homage,” remarks Oliver at the end of my favourite novel, Oliver’s Travels (1994), “Hearing what the ghosts are saying.” This blissful romantic thriller about national corruption pays homage to many people – from Jimmy James to Ludwig van Beethoven, from Lester Young to the stone masons who build Durham Cathedral, from George Farquhar to Magnus the Martyr.

Last week I provided the first half of an interview I conducted with the late Tony Garnett back in 2010 as part of the research for my PhD thesis. Here is the second and final instalment, in which he discusses soap, the virtues of working with non-actors, and Ricky Gervais… RH: You know Jonathan Bignell at Reading University? TG: Yes, I know Jonathan.

Genre/Nostalgia: A one-day film and television studies symposium, University of Hertfordshire, June 30th 2020 Keynote speaker: Dr Kate Egan, Northumbria University: ‘Nostalgia for British Comedy’s Past: Monty Python, the 1960s and 1970s, and Fan Memories’ Film and TV genres and nostalgia have long been intertwined.

We are happy to invite you to participate in the ECREA European Media and Communication Doctoral Summer School 2020 that will take place at the University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia, from 12-21 July, 2020 (full-day program from 13 to 20 July;

Submission Deadline: February 29, 11: 59 p.m. (Pacific Time) Host: Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers (CAER) The Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers (CAER) welcomes submissions that focus on various aspects of communication in, with and about Eastern and Central Europe.

The MOSF Journal of Science Fiction is accepting submissions for a special issue on environmental studies and science fiction to be released in the summer of 2020. Political and intellectual discourse over the last two decades is replete with the ominous potential of climate change.

Centre for Postdigital Cultures annual conference, 4 – 5 June 2020 @ Coventry University, UK CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: Kreider + O’Leary Daphne Dragona  Daniel Rourke ‘Infrastructure’ has emerged in recent years as the new academic buzzword.

Visual Depictions of the American West How the West Was Drawn and What It Showed Us Nov 16, 2020, 12:00 PM CET – Nov 20, 2020, 12:00 PM CET University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Calle San Bernardo, 3199, 30123 Venice VE, Italy The American West has been depicted for decades through comic books and graphic novels, including by many authors living outside the U.S. Some of the most famous titles and artists are the Tex Willer series (Tex) by Giovanni

The Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK just premiered the longest slow TV broadcast ever with Svalbard Minute by Minute documenting a nine-day Arctic expedition. Next week the Swedish public service broadcaster SVT will try to convince children that slow TV is also for them with two weeks of live broadcasting from 6.30am to 8pm from a Swedish farm.

It was only last week that I heard of the recent passing of Tony Garnett, who will need no introduction for anyone on nodding terms with British television history. Back in October 2010 I was fortunate enough to interview Tony at his home in London while conducting research for my PhD. I was investigating changes in UK television performance style, and he had worked for some time as an actor before becoming a script editor and producer.

“A room without books is like a body without a soul,” remarked the first century AD Roman philosopher Cicero.  Well, apparently anyway.  He was anti-embezzlement – a good thing – and I’m sure he loved his books too.