AMERICAN TELEVISION ON BRITISH SCREENS

Since the 1950s British broadcasters have used American programmes as schedule fillers, cornerstones and as ’must see’ attractions. However, many critics, broadcasters and scholars alike have tended to malign, ignore or sideline the contribution such programmes have made to British television. Through analysis of popular and industrial discourses, the changing roles of such programmes on British screens and interviews with key British broadcasters, this work explores how American programs have become an important part of British television culture.