This book explores the role of television in the 1950s and early 1960s, with a focus on the relationship between Tories and TV. The early 1950s were characterized by recovery from war and high politics. Television was a new medium that eventually came to dominate mass media and political culture. But what impact did this transition have on political organization and elite power structures? Winston Churchill avoided it; Anthony Eden wanted to control it; Harold Macmillan tried to master it; and Alec Douglas-Home was not Prime Minister long enough to fully utilize it. The Conservative Party’s relationship with the new medium of television is a topic rich with scholarly questions and interesting quirks that were characteristic of the period. This exploration examines the changing dynamics between politics and the media, at grassroots and elite levels. Through analysing rich and diverse source materials from the Conservative Party Archive, Anthony Ridge-Newman takes a case study approach to comparing the impact of television at different points in the party’s history. In mapping changes across a thirteen year period of continual Conservative governance, this book argues that the advent of television contributed to the party’s transition from a membership-focused party to a television-centric professionalized elite.

Political Communication in Britain is a now established series of nine books, the first of which appeared in the aftermath of the 1979 General Election. This book follows the structure of previous volumes and features commentaries and assessments from the pollsters who monitored voter opinion during the 2017 General Election. It also includes chapters from party strategists responsible for devising and executing the rival campaigns. Furthermore contributions from journalists offer a media perspective on the campaign. The remainder of the book consists of academic material designed to complement and augment the aforementioned professionals’ chapters. Here the focus is on the major dynamics of political communication, specifically the roles of the press, television, advertising, internet and other such phenomena during the 2017 Snap Election.

Des Freedman explores Labour's divided response to the development of commercial television in the 1950s and assesses the impact of Wilson's governments on television in the 1960s. His key argument is that Labour has always been a vigorous but ultimately unreliable advocate of television.

This edited collection brings together leading international scholars to explore the connection between Brexit and the media. The referendum and the activism on both sides of the campaign have been of significant interest to the media in the UK and around the world. How these factors have been represented in the media and the role of the media in constructing the referendum narrative are central to assisting the development in our understanding of how UK and global democracy is being manifested in contemporary times. This book explores these topics through presenting a wide range of perspectives from research conducted by leading international scholars, and concludes with an assessment of the potential democratic and international implications for the future. By grappling with a highly important and controversial topic in a comparative and varied way, the volume contributes to theoretical debates about the nature and role of the media in complex social, political and cultural contexts.

The Conservatives since 1945 is about how and why parties in general, and the Conservative Party in particular, make changes to the face they present to the electorate, the way they organize themselves, and the policies they come up with. This is an in-depth but comprehensive study based on original archival sources.

In 1945, Winston Churchill, fresh from winning World War Two for Britain, called an election. Within days, he was thrown out, and a completely new form of government took hold. What followed was a revolutionary period in British history, in which centuries of tradition were questioned. Socialism appeared to be waiting in the wings. This book traces the origins of this transformation in the long history of British democracy. It examines the ideas and actions which began in the 1930s that enabled this revolution and the new society that emerged beyond its origins and into the 21st Century. The problems that this revolution sought to solve remain to this day, as the British government in 2024 wrestles with strikes, social disorder, and massive economic headwinds. Understanding the history of the present dilemmas is essential if we are to grapple successfully with the enduring problems Britain still faces to this day.

Think you know everything there is to know about Hammer Films, the fabled "Studio that Dripped Blood?" The lowdown on all the imperishable classics of horror, like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out? What about the company's less blood-curdling back catalog? What about the musicals, comedies and travelogues, the fantasies and historical epics--not to mention the pirate adventures? This lavishly illustrated encyclopedia covers every Hammer film and television production in thorough detail, including budgets, shooting schedules, publicity and more, along with all the actors, supporting players, writers, directors, producers, composers and technicians. Packed with quotes, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, credit lists and production specifics, this all-inclusive reference work is the last word on this cherished cinematic institution.

Albert Abramson published (with McFarland) in 1987 a landmark volume titled The History of Television, 1880-1941 ("massive...research"--Library Journal; "voluminous documentation"--Choice; "many striking old photos"--The TV Collector). At last he has produced the follow-up volume; the reader may be assured there is no other book in any language that is remotely comparable to it. Together, these two volumes provide the definitive technical history of the medium. Upon the development in the mid-1940s of new cameras and picture tubes that made commercial television possible worldwide, the medium rose rapidly to prominence. Perhaps even more important was the invention of the video tape recorder in 1956, allowing editing, re-shooting and rebroadcasting. This second volume, 1942 to 2000 covers these significant developments and much more. Chapters are devoted to television during World War II and the postwar era, the development of color television, Ampex Corporation's contributions, television in Europe, the change from helical to high band technology, solid state cameras, the television coverage of Apollo II, the rise of electronic journalism, television entering the studios, the introduction of the camcorder, the demise of RCA at the hands of GE, the domination of Sony and Matsushita, and the future of television in e-cinema and the 1080 P24 format. The book is heavily illustrated (as is the first volume).

The British `New Wave' of dramatists, actors and directors in the late 1950s and 1960s created a defining moment in post-war theatre. British Realist Theatre is an accessible introduction to the New Wave, providing the historical and cultural background which is essential for a true understanding of this influential and dynamic era. Drawing upon contemporary sources as well as the plays themselves, Stephen Lacey considers the plays' influences, their impact and their critical receptions. The playwrights discussed include: * Edward Bond * John Osborne * Shelagh Delaney * Harold Pinter