British Television Intellectuals

Unusual Kinds of Star

John Tulloch

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781835952153
• eBook ISBN:
  9781835952160
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Television

This book explores for the first time the rise of one of Britain's least-recognised but most significant television genres. Working within the frame of public intellectual theory, it tells the story and analyses the means by which 'unusual kinds of star' became Britain's TV intellectuals and have developed as a genre for over 65 years.

Names included here are AJP Taylor, Kenneth Clark, Jacob Bronowski,, Jonathan Miller, Simon Schama, Marcus du Sautoy, Niall Ferguson, Mary Beard, Alice Roberts, Pam Cox, Brian Cox, David Olusoga, Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke, all of whom have starred in their different ways, combining within their productions an outstanding combination of television creativity and intellect for a huge international audience.

Built deeply into the assumptions of these television intellectuals have been understandings about civilisation itself, veering from Kenneth Clark's fear for its survival in his 1969 BBC series Civilisation, to the fear of it (in the form of colonialism) in the reworking of Clark's concept, now called Civilisations (2018) by the BBC and Civilizations by PBS in the USA.

Finally, in its Coda the book explores in the era of climate change continuing BBC/PBS assumptions about 'civilisation' by way of First Nations 'deep-history'.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Civilisation to Civilisations: Benchmark Events
• 2. Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man: A Feeling for Language
• 3. Jonathan Miller's Atheism: Irony and Unshakeable Disbelief
• 4. Marcus du Sautoy's The Story of Maths: Solving Problems as Triumph and Tragedy
• 5. Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: Landscapes of Threat and Opportunity
• 6. Simon Schama's ‘The Two Winstons’ and ‘The Second Moment of Creation’: Then and Now
• 7. Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Legend as History, History as Myth
• 8. Alice Roberts’ Digging for Britain and Pam Cox's Servants: Reaching for the Audience
• 9. David Olusoga's ‘First Contact’ and ‘The Cult of Progress’: Imperial Conquistadores or Trading Partners?
• 10. Janina Ramirez's and Alastair Sooke's ‘Beirut’:Barbarism, Tourism and Layered Identity
• 11. Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars: Expert Identities
• 12. British Television Intellectuals: ‘A Gateway to Something Else’
• Coda: Tim Winton's Ningaloo: ‘Resisting the False Shape of Closure’
• References
• Index
• Back Cover