Biographical Television Drama

Hannah Andrews is Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Television at Edge Hill University, UK. She is the author of Television and British Cinema: Convergence and Divergence since 1990 (2014). She has published widely on film, television and media in journals including Screen, Adaptation, Critical Studies in Television, Celebrity Studies and Visual Culture in Britain.

“Andrews’s highly developed conceptual framework should be commended for its regard of complexities that arise at the messy harmonies of both biography and television. The book is primarily intended for researchers working with biography and screen media, who will find it appealing. But owing to its broad analysis, sound theorization, and detailed empirical examinations, biography scholars of all mediums will find this work immensely valuable.” (Blake Cameron, H-Net Reviews, h-net.org, May, 2024)“Biographical Television Drama, Hannah Andrews offers an insightful, discursive account of the intersections between biography and television. … this book Andrews provides television and biography scholars alike with a valuable and versatile framework to understand where, and how, the biographical and the televisual productively intersect.” (Robert Watts, Critical Studies in Television, Vol. 17 (4), 2022)“Hannah Andrews’s book is an exceptionally well-constructed and discursive account of the various storytelling modes through which television drama has represented real people’s lives on screen over the past 60 years. … With this highly thought-provoking book, Hannah Andrews reinforces her position as one of Britain’s most eminent television historians.” (Tom May, Journal of British Cinema and Television, Vol. 19 (2), April, 2022)

• Introduction.- CHAPTER ONE – Defining Biographical TV.- CHAPTER TWO – Tracing a history of Biographical TV Drama.- CHAPTER THREE – Institutional Contexts for Biographical TV Drama.- CHAPTER FOUR – Adapting Real Lives for TV.- CHAPTER FIVE – Representing Real Lives on TV.- Conclusion.