INTERROGATING TELEVISION DRAMA

Here are a series of questions which can be posed about tv drama.

They are taken from chapter 3 of my book

for use in media studies courses such as module Social History and TV Drama at DCU

In terms of a particular production:

Is it a significant story ?
Does it have metaphoric thrust ?
Does it shed light on common experience ?
Does it cleanse perception or muddy it ?
Does it order experience or add to the clutter ?
Does it capture the rhythms of historical experience ?
Does it provoke recognition, revelation or catharsis ?
Has it credibility, integrity, proportion, clarity, vividness, insight, purpose, depth, relevance, resonance, resolution ?
What is the overt plot of the story ?
What are the unspoken assumptions which set the framework of the story ?
What is the underlying world view ?
What are the underlying presuppositions about class ? sexuality ? morality ? religion ? business ? the range of legitimate lifestyles ? the structure of power ? the distribution of wealth ?
How are these presuppositions encoded in the narrative conventions, camera movements, editing, casting, dialogue, visual imagery ?
What issues are raised ? Why ?
What issues are not raised ? Why not ?
What is said about what issues are raised ?
Why ?
What is not said ? Why not ?
What are the key concepts which set the limits within which issues are raised ?
What are the alternative key concepts ?

In terms of the overall flow of television:

What stories are being told ? By whom ? Why ?
What alternative ways could these stories be told ?
What stories are not being told ? Why not ?
How to characterise the standardised plots, settings, patterns of resolution, modes of characterisation, predominating in tv drama ?
How to explain the similarities and differences between American, British, Irish, Australian productions ?
How have these changed over the years ?
What is the relationship between the patterns of development of these changes and the larger patterns of social change ?

taken from IRISH TELEVISION DRAMA: A SOCIETY & ITS STORIES
part 1 CONCEPTS / CONTEXTS / CRITERIA
chapter 3 Judgements of Television Drama pages 70-71