Available Formats
Time Lords and Star Cops: British Science Fiction Television in the 1970s80s
By (Author) Philip Braithwaite
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press
1st March 2025
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Popular culture
791.456150941
Paperback
248
Width 138mm, Height 216mm, Spine 13mm
288g
British science fiction television of the 1970s and 1980s is full of Machiavellian protagonists and fatalistic endings. It presents a complex world of moral and ethical dilemmas, appropriate to the emerging political landscape of Thatcherite Britain. This book analyses the science fiction series of the period including Blake's 7, Doctor Who and Sapphire & Steel alongside Britain's transition from social-democracy to neoliberal economics and the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. It examines the abrupt shifts in themes and tone that these series often exhibit compared to their predecessors, highlighting comparisons to the similarly abrupt change in Britain's political landscape.
Philip Braithwaite is a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire