British Science Fiction Television: A Hitchhiker's Guide

Front Cover
John R. Cook, Peter Wright
Bloomsbury Academic, 2006 - Fiction - 296 pages
From "Doctor Who" to "Red Dwarf", "Thunderbirds" to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", British science fiction shows have delighted audiences worldwide with their distinctive visions of the future. This pioneering book, written by leading writers in the field, gives for the first time a detailed national survey of this well-loved British TV genre. It provides in-depth analyses of these shows, as well as others including "Blake's 7", "The Prisoner and Threads", showing too their value in illuminating wider aspects of our recent social and cultural history. It also features a contribution by the biographer of the late Douglas Adams, author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", as well as an exclusive published interview with "Thunderbirds" creator Gerry Anderson. Designed to appeal to students and fans alike, "British Science Fiction Television" offers a thought-provoking and accessible read for those interested in science fiction, television history and their respective relationships to wider media, culture and society.

About the author (2006)

Peter Wright made his debut as a dancer with Ballets Jooss during World War II. He created his first ballet, A Blue Rose, for Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1957. Wright’s productions of the classics now feature in the repertories of companies around the world. In 1969 he joined The Royal Ballet as Associate to the Directors, later Associate Director. In 1990 Wright was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award by the Royal Academy of Dance. In 1991 he was made a Fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music and received an Honorary Doctorate from London University. He was awarded a Knighthood (1993), an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Birmingham (1994), the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (2004) and the Centenary Award for Dance (2013). He is President of the Benesh Institute, a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Dance and Patron of the London Ballet Circle.