Big Brother: Reality TV in the Twenty-First Century - Hardcover

by J. Bignell (Author)

Jonathan Bignell presents a wide-ranging analysis of the television phenomenon of the early twenty-first century: Reality TV, exploring its cultural and political meanings, explaining the genesis of the form and its relationship to contemporary television production, and considering how it connects with, and breaks away from, factual and fictional conventions in television. Relationships with surveillance, celebrity and media culture are examined, leading to an appraisal of the directions that television culture is taking in the new century. His highly-readable style is accessible to readers at all levels of Culture and Media studies.

Author Biography

Jonathan Bignell is Professor of Television and Film at the University of Reading, UK. He works on the history and analysis of television, especially television drama in the UK and USA, using archival sources and the detailed analysis of programmes. Recent publications include An Introduction to Television Studies (3rd editon, 2012), Beckett on Screen: The Television Plays (2009) and A European Television History (co-edited with A. Fickers, 2008)