Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A Senior Lecturer at Aberystwyth University has been part of an online history project to mark 80 years since the BBC broadcast its very first television programme. Dr Jamie Medhurst is one of six academics who’ve written about key moments in the history of BBC television - from the Opening Night to the coronation of King George VI in 1937, the development of Alexander Palace and coverage of the 1948 Olympics. Their articles have been published in a special section on ‘The Birth of TV’ on the main BBC website which went live yesterday to celebrate the anniversary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/birth-of-tv . “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to contribute to this unique project marking the first 80 years of television on the BBC,” said Dr Medhurst who is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Aberystwyth’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television as well as Co-Director of the University’s Centre for Media History. “As a group of media historians, we have had ...

An Aberystwyth media historian has been awarded a Research Project Grant by the Leverhulme Trust to study the relationship between television and society in Wales during the 1970s. Dr Jamie Medhurst, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication and co-director of the University’s Centre for Media History, was awarded £114,000 for the three-year project which includes a PhD studentship to focus on a particular aspect of the study. Dr Medhurst said: ‘This project will create a unique and original history of television and society in Wales during the 1970s, paying particular attention to the ways in which television mediated the changing nature of society and how television itself, rather than merely reflecting what was happening, was subject to, and part of, the same changes. ‘Through systematic examination of primary source material, I want to explore the complex relationship between politics and policy, national identity, language, everyday life and television during the decade and hop...

Aberystwyth University has appointed Dr Jamie Medhurst as the Head of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies. Dr Medhurst is an alumnus of the University and is an expert on broadcasting history with a particular interest in early television and the BBC (1923-39), ITV in the 1950s and 1960s, media history and historiography. Dr Medhurst joined the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies in 1996 as a Lecturer in Film and Television Studies. Since joining the Department he held a number of positions and was promoted to a Senior Lectureship in 2010. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Editorial Board of Media History and a member of the AHRC’s Peer Review College. Speaking of his appointment, Dr Medhurst said: “I’m delighted to be offered this exciting role and I look forward to leading the Department in the future. Courses within the Department prove to be consistently popular amongst s...

On Sunday, October 17, the people of Merthyr are being invited to share their memories of watching on television some of the historic events that took place between 1950 and 2000. These memories will provide the basis for ‘Media and Memory in Wales 1950 – 2000’, a major new study into the influence of television on family life in Wales during the second half of the 20th century, “the age of television”. Over the coming months Dr Iwan Morus and Dr Jamie Medhurst from Aberystwyth University will also be interviewing people in Wrexham, Caernarfon, and Carmarthen about their memories of watching these historic events and how they reflect their sense of belonging and identity. They will be in Merthyr as part of the BBC Cymru Wales Roadshow at the Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre from 10.00 am to 4.30 pm. on Sunday 17th October. The historical events covered by the study are: The Coronation of Elizabeth II (1953), the drowning of the Tryweryn valley (1950s), the Aberfan disaster (1966), the inv...