The Church on British Television: From the Coronation to Coronation Street

250 Pages·2020·2.117 MB·English

by  Marcus Harmes, Meredith Harmes, Barbara Harmes

The Church on
British Television
From the Coronation to Coronation Street
Marcus Harmes · Meredith Harmes
Barbara Harmes
The Church on British Television
Marcus Harmes
Meredith Harmes • Barbara Harmes
The Church on British
Television
From the Coronation to Coronation Street
Marcus Harmes Meredith Harmes
Open Access College Open Access College
University of Southern Queensland University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, QLD, Australia Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
Barbara Harmes
Open Access College
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
ISBN 978-3-030-38112-7 ISBN 978-3-030-38113-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38113-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect
to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: Alan Mather / Alamy Stock Photo
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To Tosca
A
cknowledgements
Associate Professor Richard Scully, Dr Catriona Mills and Dr Jeremy
Patrick read parts of the manuscript and we are grateful for their time and
suggestions. Staff at Lambeth Palace Library, the Church of England
Records Centre and the National Archives have provided much appreci-
ated assistance in research. Edwin Apps and Alvin Rakoff both generously
shared memories and reflections of their respective television programmes.
vii
P - A c
ost wAr rchbishoPs of Anterbury
Geoffrey Fisher 1945–1961
Michael Ramsey 1961–1974
Donald Coggan 1974–1980
Robert Runcie 1980–1991
George Carey 1991–2002
Rowan Williams 2002–2012
Justin Welby 2013–
ix
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
Part I Shaping the Medium 15
2 Being on Television Part One: Broadcasting the Institution 17
3 Being on Television Part Two: Broadcasting the Individual 37
4 Policy and Possibilities Part One: The Commercial Channel 65
5 Policy and Possibilities Part Two: The Third Channel
and Beyond 77
Part II Shaped by the Medium 107
6 Comedy and Blasphemy 109
7 ‘Cricket, Steam Engines and a Complete Ignorance
of Theology’: The Comedy of Bishops’ Appointments 135
xi
xii CONTENTS
8 The World in Peril: The Church and Science Fiction 159
9 The Church and Its Communities: Upper, Middle and
Lower Class 181
10 The Church and Its Moral Communities: Conflict and
Crime 195
11 The Church and Its Communities: The Church Domestic 211
12 Conclusions: Church, State and Life 233
Index 245
A
bbreviAtions
ABC Associated Broadcasting Company
ACCM Advisory Council for the Church’s Ministry
ATV Associated Television
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
BCC British Council of Churches
CERC Church of England Record Centre
CRAC Central Religious Advisory Committee
HTV Harlech Television
IBA Independent Broadcasting Authority
ITA Independent Television Authority
ITV Independent Television
LPL Lambeth Palace Library
RTV Church of England Radio and Television Council
xiii