Breaking the generic mould? Grayson Perry, Channel 4 and the production of British arts television

Noonan, Caitriona; Genders, Amy

Abstract

© 2018, © The Author(s) 2018. This article examines Channel 4’s critically acclaimed series, Grayson Perry: Who Are You? (2014). Using interviews with those involved in making the series and textual analysis, we argue that the elements that contributed to the success of the series are inherently difficult to replicate due to the political economy of contemporary television production, thereby threatening the sustainability of the genre. However, while arts television rarely constitutes a commercial success in a traditional ratings sense, we outline the strategic value of the genre in contributing to Channel 4’s identity as Britain’s alternative public service broadcaster.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 25, 2018
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 3, 2018
• Journal: Critical Studies in Television
• Print ISSN: 1749-6020
• Electronic ISSN: 1749-6039
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 79-95
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1749602017746355
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/870926
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1749602017746355
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Copyright(c)2018 Reprinted by permission of SAGE publications.
• Contract Date: May 2, 2018