This ground-breaking study analyses Beckett's television plays in
relation to the history and theory of television. It argues that they
are in dialogue with innovative television traditions connected to
Modernism in television, film, radio, theatre, literature and the visual
arts.
Using original research from BBC archives and manuscript sources, the
book provides new perspectives on the relationships between Beckett's
television dramas and the wider television culture of Britain and
Europe. It also compares and contrasts the plays for television with
Beckett's Film and broadcasts of his theatre work including the recent
Beckett on Film season. Chapters deal with the production process of the
plays, the broadcasting contexts in which they were screened,
institutions and authorship, the plays' relationships with comparable
programmes and films and reaction to Beckett's screen work by audiences
and critics.
It will be essential reading in literature and drama studies, television
historiography and for devotees of Beckett's work.