Skip to content
1981
Class and Film, Part 2
  • ISSN: 2634-1123
  • E-ISSN: 2634-1131

Abstract

The BBC’s (1981–91) premiered less than a week after ITV’s , which codified the core elements of heritage productions. Heritage and preservation were subjects of contentious cultural and political debate during Margaret Thatcher’s time as prime minister, which largely coincided with ’s run. While its case-of-the-week stories offer little generic innovation for the police procedural, ’s content and visual style anticipate the backlash to 1980s–90s heritage productions that emerges near the end of the decade. Jersey’s history, Offshore Financial Center status and its idiosyncratic relationship to the United Kingdom make it ideal for exploring intense scepticism towards unfettered capitalism, the privileges of wealth and the need for a more inclusive definition of heritage, one that accounts for people of economically marginalized status, which, on Jersey, tends to be anyone who is not a millionaire. Practically every episode of concentrates on wealthy lifestyles, class disparity and action located at stately country houses. The goal, though, is not to romanticize them, but to critique them through its disapproving protagonist, Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac. operates as a polemic against wealth, consumption and Thatcherism. In doing so, it consistently advocates for a less exclusive definition of ‘heritage’ that challenges the one associated with Thatcher, lavish television adaptations, like , and Merchant-Ivory’s films.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jclc_00035_1
2024-03-26
2024-10-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. A Man of Sorrows’ (1988), J. Fletcher (dir.), Bergerac, Season 6 Episode 6 (6 February, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  2. A Touch of Eastern Promise’ (1984), C. King (dir.), Bergerac, Season 3 Episode 6 (7 January, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Anon. (2010), ‘Charlie Hungerford’s house to be demolished’, Jersey Evening Post, 29 January, https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2010/01/29/charlie-hungerfords-house-to-be-demolished/. Accessed 4 June 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Campaign for Silence’ (1981), M. Friend (dir.), Bergerac, Season 1 Episode 4 (8 November, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Craig, Cairns (1991), ‘Rooms without a view’, Sight and Sound, 1:2, pp. 1013.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Crossed Swords’ (1988), D. Carson (dir.), Bergerac, Season 6 Episode 2 (9 January, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Et in Arcadio Ego’ (1981), C. Sturridge (dir.), Brideshead Revisited, Season 1 Episode 1 (12 October, UK: ITV).
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Frears, Stephen (1985), My Beautiful Laundrette, UK: Channel 4 Films.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Hampton, Mark P. (1994), ‘Treasure islands or fool’s gold: Can and should small island economies copy Jersey?’, World Development, 22:2, pp. 23750.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Hendy, David (2022), The BBC: A Century on Air, New York: Public Affairs.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Hewison, Robert (1987), The Heritage Industry: Britain in a Climate of Decline, London: Methuen.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Higson, Andrew (2006), ‘Re-presenting the national past: Nostalgia and pastiche in the heritage film’, in L. D. Friedman (ed.), Fires Were Started: British Cinema and Thatcherism, 2nd ed., London: Wallflower Press, pp. 91109.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Home and Abroad’ (1981), C. Sturridge (dir.), Brideshead Revisited, Season 1 Episode 2 (20 October, UK: ITV).
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Hudson, Hugh (1981), Chariots of Fire, UK: 20th Century Fox.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Ice Maiden’ (1983), R. Tronson (dir.), Bergerac, Season 3 Episode 4 (24 December, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Ivory, James (1986), A Room with a View, UK: Merchant-Ivory.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Ivory, James (1987), Maurice, UK: Merchant-Ivory.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Ivory, James (1993), Howard’s End, UK: Merchant-Ivory.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Key, Douglas (1987), ‘Aids, education and the year 2000!’, Woman’s Own, 31 October, pp. 810. Rpt. in https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106689. Accessed 11 June 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. legislation.uk.gov (n.d.), ‘National Heritage Act 1980’, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/17/introduction. Accessed 10 June 2022.
  21. McSmith, Andy (2011), No Such Thing as Society: A History of Britain in the 1980s, London: Constable.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Monk, Claire (2002), ‘The British heritage-film debate revisited’, in C. Monk and A. Sargeant (eds), British Historical Cinema: The History, Heritage, and Costume Film, London: Routledge, pp. 17698.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Nettles, John (1988), Bergerac’s Jersey, London: BBC Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Nice People Die in Bed’ (1981), M. Campbell (dir.), Bergerac, Season 1 Episode 2 (25 October, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Picking It Up’ (1981), M. Friend (dir.), Bergerac, Season 1 Episode 1 (18 October, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Portrait of Yesterday’ (1981), L. Moody (dir.), Bergerac, Season 1 Episode 6 (22 November, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Return of the Ice Maiden’ (1985), M. Custance (dir.), Bergerac, Season 4 Episode 5 (8 November, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Stewart, Graham (2013), Bang! A History of Britain in the 1980s, London: Atlantic.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. The Last Interview’ (1985), B. Farnham (dir.), Bergerac, Season 4 Episode 1 (11 October, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Treasure Hunt’ (1987), R. Tronson (dir.), Bergerac, Season 5 Episode 9 (26 December, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Ward, Martyn (2010), ‘Our independent report on the recent approval for redevelopment of Windward House’, Windward House, https://savewindwardhouse.tripod.com/home.html. Accessed 19 February 2023.
  32. When Did You Last See Your Father’ (1989), A. Kirby (dir.), Bergerac, Season 7 Episode 6 (4 March, UK: BBC).
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Woodall, Joanna (ed.) (1997), Portraiture: Facing the Subject, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Wright, Patrick (1985), On Living in an Old Country: The National Past in Contemporary Britain, London: Verso.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jclc_00035_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/jclc_00035_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error