“The Popular Entertainment Side of Broadcasting Should Receive Much More Attention”: The BBC, Comedy, and Nation-Building at Home and Abroad

Mills, Brett (2022) “The Popular Entertainment Side of Broadcasting Should Receive Much More Attention”: The BBC, Comedy, and Nation-Building at Home and Abroad. Critical Studies in Television, 17 (4). pp. 348-364. ISSN 1749-6020

Preview

PDF (mills-2022-the-popular-entertainment-side-of-broadcasting-should-receive-much-more-attention-the-bbc-comedy-and-nation) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (601kB) | Preview

Abstract

This article outlines and examines the role comedy and entertainment have played at the BBC in constructing a sense of national identity both in the UK and overseas. It demonstrates the ways in which UK national identities are intertwined with ideas of a sense of humour, and the extent to which this is a performative act. Beginning with a historical approach, the article shows how the BBC, over time, has employed comedy as a way to evidence particularities of UK national identities, and the importance of the organisation in contributing to this.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	bbc,bbc comedy,nation building,sitcom,tv comedy,cultural studies,communication ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3316
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Media, Language and Communication Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Apr 2026 11:23
Last Modified:	26 Apr 2026 00:45
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102821
DOI:	10.1177/17496020221119412

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item