Evolution on British Television and Radio: Transmissions and Transmutations (Palgrave Studies in Science and Popular Culture)

Preface
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
	The Evolutionary Epic and Progressive Narratives in Science
	Synthetic Narratives in the History of Biology
	Media Histories and Studies of Science
	Humanist Blockbusters
	Approaches to Studying Media
	Surveying British Broadcasting on Evolution
	Summary of the Argument
	References
Chapter 2: Situating the Story: The Early Years of Evolution on the Wireless
	The Stream of Life
	Controlling the Content, While Developing the Format(s)
	Post-war Consolidations and Contestations
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 3: Evolving Content for the Small Screen, from Radio to Early Television Formats
	Expanding the Cast
	Constructing an Official Institutional Position on Evolution
	Evolution on the Small Screen
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 4: The Most Malleable of Minds: Evolution in Educational Broadcasting
	Religious Contestation of Early Educational Radio on Evolution
	A Short History of BBC Educational Broadcasting
	Educating the Grown-Ups
	Televised Educational Output
	Evolution on Adult Education Television
		The BBC and the Open University
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 5: Imagining Evolution: Drama and Science Fiction
	Evolutionary Themes in Early Radio Dramas
		Orwell, Darwin and the Dramatisation of the Past
		Wells, Ethics and Dystopian Futures
	Evolutionary Themes in British Science Fiction Television
		Kneale and Literary British Science Fiction
		Newman and the Rise of the Serial
		Pedler and Techno-Scientific Anxieties
		Counterculture, Doom and Declensionism
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 6: Humanist Blockbusters: Depicting the Evolutionary Epic on Television
	The Ascent of Man
		Producing Ascent
		A Popular Success, the Reception of Ascent
	Other Popular Depictions of Evolution in the 1970s
		Nigel Calder’s The Life Game
		The Ascent of Man’s Influence on Metanarratives of Science
	Sledgehammers and Humanist Blockbusters, from Ascent to Life on Earth
	Conclusion: The Humanist Blockbuster Goes Global
	References
Chapter 7: Creationism and Non-Darwinian Ideology in British Broadcasting
	Limited Airtime for Fundamentalists and Anti-evolutionists
	Non-Darwinian and Post-Darwinian Evolutionary Ideas
	Reporting on US Affairs or Creating Creationists? Creationism at the BBC
	Religious Metaphors on Science Broadcasts
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 8: Remembering or Deifying? The Darwin Anniversaries of 1959 and 2009
	The Darwin Sesquicentennial Celebrations 1958–1959
		The Darwin Centenary on Radio and Television
	Refining the Mythic Narrative of Darwin’s Life and Influence
	Broadcasting the 2009 Darwin Anniversary, a Reflective Coda
	References
Index