Contemporary medical television and crisis in the NHS

Hannah Hamad

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
5 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article maps the terrain of contemporary UK medical television, paying particular attention to Call the Midwife as its centrepiece, and situating it in contextual relation to the current crisis in the NHS. It provides a historical overview of UK and US medical television, illustrating how medical television today has been shaped by noteworthy antecedents. It argues that crisis rhetoric surrounding healthcare leading up to the passing of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 has been accompanied by a renaissance in medical television. And that issues, strands and clusters have emerged in forms, registers and modes with noticeable regularity, especially around the value of affective labour, the cultural politics of nostalgia and the neoliberalisation of healthcare.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)136-150
Number of pages15
JournalCritical Studies in Television
Volume11
Issue number2
Early online date11 May 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2016

Keywords

  • medical television
  • NHS
  • nurses
  • affective labour
  • nostalgia

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