Poorly paid, but proud to work in teams producing ‘quality’: an oral history of women’s experiences working in BBC Drama

May, Tom (2022) Poorly paid, but proud to work in teams producing ‘quality’: an oral history of women’s experiences working in BBC Drama. Critical Studies in Television, 17 (3). pp. 297-310. ISSN 1749-6020

[img]
Preview
Text (Final published version)
Final published version.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (578kB) | Preview
[img]
Preview
Text (Advance online version)
17496020221102051.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (578kB) | Preview
[img]
Preview
Text
CST17issue3MayFINAL.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (245kB) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020221102051

Abstract

This article presents a range of hitherto unheard women’s testimonies of their experiences working in the BBC Drama Plays department during the 1970s and 1980s. It incorporates the subjective interview testimony of nine women who all worked to varying degrees on BBC1’s prestigious strand of one-off dramas, Play for Today (1970-84) to reveal commonalities and differences in their gendered work experiences. This incorporates topics such as discrimination, pay, working conditions, emotional labour and trade unionism. There is attention to what made working for the BBC unique, compared to ITV or independent production companies. It is discerned that BBC women workers generally saw the BBC as a meritocracy, but also that some regret the decline in the strength of television trade unions, which they saw as leading to a situation of pervasive exploitation in television today.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: BBC, television, women, gender, oral history, workplace discrimination, broadcasting, trade unions, Britain
Subjects: P300 Media studies
P900 Others in Mass Communications and Documentation
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Arts
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 06 May 2022 09:41
Last Modified: 27 Sep 2022 14:15
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/49057

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics