Matt Hills - Böcker

In 2014, the UK science-fiction television series Black Mirror was released on Netflix worldwide, quickly becoming a hit with US audiences. Like other beloved British imports, this series piqued Americans' interest with hints of dark comedy, clever plotlines, and six-episode seasons that left audiences frantic for more. In Transatlantic Television Drama, volume editors Michele Hilmes, Matt Hills, and Roberta Pearson team up with leading scholars in TV studies and transnational television to look at how serial dramas like Black Mirror captivate US audiences, and what this reveals about the ways Americans and Brits relate to each other on and off the screen.Focusing on production strategies, performance styles, and audience reception, chapters delve into some of the most widely-discussed programs on the transatlantic circuit, from ongoing series like Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Orphan Black, and Sherlock, to those with long histories of transnational circulation like Masterpiece and Doctor Who, to others whose transnational success speaks to the process of exchange, adaptation, and cooperation such as Rome, Parade's End, Broadchurch, and Gracepoint. The book's first section investigates the platforms that support British/American exchange, from distribution partnerships and satellite providers to streaming services. The second section concentrates on the shift in meaning across cultural contexts, such as invocations of heritage, genre shifts in adaptation, performance styles, and, in the case of Episodes, actual dramatized depiction of the process of transatlantic television production. In section three, attention turns to contexts of audience reception, ranging from fan conventions and fiction to television criticism, the effects of national branding on audiences, and the role of social media in de- or re-contextualizing fans' response to transnational programs.

In 2014, the UK science-fiction television series Black Mirror was released on Netflix worldwide, quickly becoming a hit with US audiences. Like other beloved British imports, this series piqued Americans' interest with hints of dark comedy, clever plotlines, and six-episode seasons that left audiences frantic for more. In Transatlantic Television Drama, volume editors Michele Hilmes, Matt Hills, and Roberta Pearson team up with leading scholars in TV studies and transnational television to look at how serial dramas like Black Mirror captivate US audiences, and what this reveals about the ways Americans and Brits relate to each other on and off the screen.Focusing on production strategies, performance styles, and audience reception, chapters delve into some of the most widely-discussed programs on the transatlantic circuit, from ongoing series like Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Orphan Black, and Sherlock, to those with long histories of transnational circulation like Masterpiece and Doctor Who, to others whose transnational success speaks to the process of exchange, adaptation, and cooperation such as Rome, Parade's End, Broadchurch, and Gracepoint. The book's first section investigates the platforms that support British/American exchange, from distribution partnerships and satellite providers to streaming services. The second section concentrates on the shift in meaning across cultural contexts, such as invocations of heritage, genre shifts in adaptation, performance styles, and, in the case of Episodes, actual dramatized depiction of the process of transatlantic television production. In section three, attention turns to contexts of audience reception, ranging from fan conventions and fiction to television criticism, the effects of national branding on audiences, and the role of social media in de- or re-contextualizing fans' response to transnational programs.

Instead of approaching cultural theory as a set of pronouncements to be learnt, this book considers why lecturers, students and cultural producers and consumers outside the University system might all want to theorize what culture is and how it works. Taking its cue from J L Austin's infamous How to Do Things With Words, which argued that language doesn't just reflect the world but is used to achieve things in the world, this book approaches cultural theory as something to be used, performed, adapted, transformed and created in new contexts by its own consumer-producers. How To Do Things With Cultural Theory considers how key theories have been constructed and written, treating theory as a text to be analysed. What narratives recur across different cultural theories? And what does it mean to construct one's cultural identity as a 'theorist'? Addressing the cultural and subcultural identities that 'theory' generates and sustains, this book asks what desires, fantasies, ideals and politics drive people to become 'cultural theorists'. As well as analysing the production and circulation of theory, this book also tackles the thorny question of how best to read theory.Despite being what lecturers and students spend much of their time doing, the act of reading theory has typically been taken for granted or rendered invisible within cultural theory itself.

The BBC TV series Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013; this book analyses how promotion, commemorative merchandise and 3D cinema screenings worked paratextually to construct a 'popular media event' while sometimes uneasily integrating public service values and consumerist logics.

Adventures Across Space and Time brings together key academic, critic and fan writings about Doctor Who alongside newly-commissioned work addressing contemporary issues and debates to form a comprehensive guide to the wider Whoniverse.The perennially popular BBC series holds a unique place in the history of television and of TV fandom: the longest running science-fiction show, the series and its fan communities have tracked social and cultural changes over its 60 year lifetime. Adventures Across Space and Time presents classic writings on Who and its fandom by leading scholars including John Fiske, Henry Jenkins, John Tulloch and Matt Hills, but also represents writings and art by fans, including fans who went on to become showrunners, writers or even the Doctor himself, with contributions by Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, Douglas Adams and Peter Capaldi. This innovative anthology addresses Doctor Who's showrunners, Doctors, companions, enemies and collaborators as well as issues and debates around queer fandom, intersectionality, the 'wokeness' of the Doctor, fan media including websites, podcasts and vlogs, fan activism and questions of race and sexuality in relation to the show and its spin offs. It considers Doctor Who as a peculiarly British phenomenon but also one that has delighted, engaged and sometimes enraged viewers around the world.

The Doctor may have regenerated on many occasions, but so too has Doctor Who. Moving with the times, the show has evolved across fifty years...New Dimensions of Doctor Who explores contemporary developments in Doctor Who's music, design and representations of technology, as well as issues of showrunner authority and star authorship. Putting these new dimensions in context means thinking about changes in the TV industry such as the rise of branding and transmedia storytelling. Along with its faster narrative pace, and producer/fan interaction via Twitter, 'new Who' also has a new home at Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff Bay. Studying the 'Doctor Who Experience' in its Cardiff setting, and considering audience nostalgia alongside anniversary celebrations, this book explores how current Doctor Who relates to real-world spaces and times. New Directions of Doctor Who is the scholarly equivalent of a multi-Doctor story, bringing together the authors of Triumph of a Time Lord and TARDISbound, as well as the editors of Time and Relative Dissertations in Space, Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things, Torchwood Declassified and Doctor Who, The Eleventh Hour.It also features contributions from experts on TV brands, bioethics, transmedia and cultural icons. As 'new Who' creates ongoing mysteries and poses exciting questions, this collection demonstrates the vitality of Doctor Who studies.

Before Saturday March 26th 2005, "Doctor Who" had been off the air as a regular, new TV series for more than fifteen years; until a production team led by Russell T. Davies re-imagined the programme so successfully, so triumphantly, that it's become an instant Christmas tradition, a BAFTA winner, an international 'superbrand' and a number one rated show. It's even been credited with reinventing family TV. This is the first full-length book to explore the 'new Who' phenomenon through to the casting of Matt Smith as the new Doctor. It explores "Doctor Who" through contemporary debates in TV Studies about quality TV and how can we define TV series as both 'cult' and 'mainstream'. Further, the book challenges assumptions in focusing on the importance of breath-taking, dramatic moments along with narrative structures, and in analysing the significance of Murray Gold's music as well as the series' visual representations. Matt Hills is a lifelong "Who" fan and he also considers the role of fandom in the show's return. He investigates too the multi-generic identity, the monster-led format, and the time-travelling brand of BBC Wales' 'Doctor Who'.In the twenty-first century, TV is changing, but the last of the Time Lords has been more than ready: he's been fantastic.