I am Course Leader for BA (Hons) Film, Television and Radio, and teach across a number of modules at all three levels of the course. I am passionate about leading on the curriculum development, teaching and learning, and the student experience to promote a supportive cohesive community that enables all students to achieve and develop their critical and production based skills. My specialisms include broadcasting histories, acting and screen performance, television drama, gay media history and programming for children and science-fiction/fantasy audiences. My teaching and research activity addresses the different contextual relationships within film and broadcast media and their on-going creative developments. I have contributed to a number of television and radio programmes on subjects ranging from black representation in television to the success of Doctor Who, and also been an archival researcher and consultant for the BBC and Channel 4. I am also Film Media Journalism (FMJ) Admissions Co-ordinator the School, University Chair of the LGBT+ Staff Network, a member of the Royal Television Society and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Recently I presented a paper on the media representation of the gay campaigner Peter Wildeblood at Keele University, marking the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK and has I also curated a gay history exhibition ‘Section 28: Abseiling Lesbians & Jenny Living with Eric and Martin’. In addition to my work on Film, Television and Radio I am also involved in teaching on the BA (Hons) Acting and Screen Performance for the School of Creative Arts and Engineering.
Professional memberships and activities
- Royal Television Society
- British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS)
- Media Education Association (MEA)
- International Media & History Association (IAMHIST)
- British Music Hall Society
- Actors’ Benevolent Fund
Academic qualifications
- Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- MA Media & Cultural Studies
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
- BA (Hons) Film, Television & Radio Studies (First Class)
Expertise
History of television and radio; Acting for recorded and live media; Gay representation on British television and radio; Science Fiction television (Doctor Who); children’s broadcasting; television drama and situation comedy; entertainment, music hall and variety theatre; post-war BBC radio comedy; theories of media entertainment.
Research interests
LGBT+ media representation and histories; Media Performances; Film, television and radio memorabilia collecting; British actors and personalities.
Teaching
- FTVR40477 Creative Television Production
- FTVR40476 Principles and Practices of Film, TV and Radio Studies
- FTVR50507 To Boldly Go: Science Fiction and Fantasy in Film, TV and Radio
- DRAM40210 Movers and Shakers - Acting On Screen
- FTVR60446 Media Entertainment: Performance and Drama
- FTVR60512 FTVRS Dissertation
- MA Arts And Creative Technologies (By Negotiated Study)
Publications
My research has contributed to the BFI’s Screenonline, Directors in British and Irish Cinema edited by Robert Murphy, and also their media teaching resources. On television I was the archive researcher for the BBC documentary A Dandy and a Clown, the presenter/interviewer for Grange Hill Memories (Comedy Club, London) and a contributor to the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. I have also chaired panels and presented papers at academic media conferences at Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Manchester and the University of Reading. My other television work includes appearances for BBC, ITV and UK Gold, and as an actor I was in a play on WWI war poet Wilfred Owen.
Section 28 Exhibition: ‘Section 28: Abseiling Lesbians & Jenny Living with Eric and Martin’, Staffordshire University LGBT+ Staff Network, curator & BBC Radio interview. ‘Filming WWI: Balancing historical accuracy with cinematic sensationalism’, WWI Uncovered Snow, Slumps and Secrets, Keele University. ‘‘Serious offences with male persons’: the media representation of the ‘forgotten’ gay campaigner Peter Wildeblood’, 50 Years Since Decriminalisation, Keele University. Presenter and Interviewer, Grange Hill Memories, Comedy Club Theatre, examining the BBC children's series Grange Hill (1978-2008).
Archive researcher and historical consultant for the BBC Four & The Open University documentary series on Five Decades of LGBT+ life in Britain, 7 Wonder, Birmingham. ‘”I’m Free!”: A history of gay men on television since 1955’ at LGBT History Month Symposium. Documentary Archive Researcher, Doctor Who Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook (Limited to 2000) BluRay (2016). ‘How to find Doctor Who toys that will soar in value’, Interview for The Telegraph by Emma Simon, 13 Oct 2013. Archive Researcher A Dandy and a Clown BBC HD television 60m documentary, dir. Chris Chapman, Dene Films, BluRay release (2013).