Brett Gregory: In today’s episode I’ll be discussing with Dr Laura Minor, Lecturer in Television Studies at the University of Salford, her extremely refreshing, sobering yet vital new book, ‘Reclaiming Female Authorship in Contemporary UK Television Comedy’, published by Edinburgh University Press.
Primarily, this text explores a new wave of female comedy writers, performers and producers who have gained attention and traction in the British television industry over the past 25 years. In turn, it also investigates the ideological and industrial barriers that still exist today in terms of gender, class, race, region and age.
BG: Hi, Laura. As an academic, could you tell us briefly about the origins and history of British television comedy?
Laura Minor: British television comedy emerged as a distinct cultural and industrial tradition in the 1950s, so it built on established musical and radio comedy traditions that we already had in Britain. TV comedy has been shaped by its emphasis on class-based humour and social commentary in Britain, developing influential genres like the sitcom pioneered by Hancock’s Half Hour, as well as sketch shows like Monty Python.
BG: And what about its aesthetic conventions?
LM: In terms of British comedy its aesthetic has often been defined by its character-driven narratives, often exploring themes of social awkwardness and failure. As well as this, British comedy is usually written by individuals, or they are written by pairs, and because of this they’ve cultivated a strong writer-performer tradition, and this is exemplified by shows again like Hancock’s Half Hour where comedians both create and star in their work, to more recent TV series like Fleabag, like Chewing Gum, for instance.
BG: In your opinion, why is domestic comedy – sitcoms, stand-up, pantomimes etc. – so popular with British audiences? What does this say about our national psyche?
LM: I know you ask me for my opinion on this, but I really can’t answer the question without referencing Brett Mills who has done so much amazing work on comedy and sitcoms specifically, and they argue that the genre’s popularity with British audiences is deeply intertwined with national identity and self-perception. So, British people fundamentally believe they have the best sense of humour in the world, and that being British is connected with being funny, or at least wanting to be seen as funny, and I think this suggests a need for shared experiences and common ground in an increasingly fractured and diverse society.
BG: But British people do have the best sense of humour in the world: just look at the last six Prime Ministers we’ve elected into office!
LM: As well as this, British comedy’s persistent focus on class, failure and social awkwardness might reflect a society still dealing with its changed, and changing, position in the world. A lot of our comedy is based around a certain ironic self-loathing, an ability to find the absurdity in being British itself.
BG: In the book you focus your feminist critical observations on the role of the ‘unruly’ woman in British television comedy. That is to say, the ‘nosy, excessive, and even grotesque’ female character which has had a long tradition in the genre.
For instance, in my lifetime I recall Mrs. Slocombe from Are You Being Served?, Hyacinth Bouquet from Keeping Up Appearances, and Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous etc.
You argue however that these ‘unruly’ comedic creations, and their female creators, are much more than that, and should be critically re-evaluated as ‘fastidious’ as well?
LM: I think rather than replacing the concept of the ‘unruly woman’ we need to recognise both unruliness and fastidiousness working together in contemporary women’s comedy, both in an era of fourth wave feminism and contemporary post-feminism. You know, so much has changed since Kathleen Rowe conceptualised the ‘unruly woman’ in the 1990s, and how this figure used humour to undermine patriarchal norms. So, when I studied comedians like Julia Davis, or Phoebe Waller-Bridge, or Michaela Coel, for instance, I noticed that while they might present unruly characters on screen, the women were simultaneously demonstrating incredible precision and strategic thinking in how they navigated the television industry.
BG: You examine Phoebe Waller-Bridge who achieved phenomenal success with her comedy-drama Fleabag and, in turn, was elevated to international stardom by Hollywood when she was cast with Harrison Ford in the movie blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
From a Marxist perspective however it could be argued that Waller-Bridge’s comedy was found to be an acceptable instance of 21st century ‘empowered womanhood’ to the neoliberalist British mainstream. That is to say, the protagonist in Fleabag – upper middle class, white, straight, late 20s to mid 30s, able-bodied, cisgendered, London-centric – in no way, shape or form interrogates or even questions an utterly inequitable cultural status quo which is underpinned and maintained by a patriarchal value system.
LM: Yeah, you know, I think your analysis is spot on. There’s a strong case to be made that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s comedy, while ground-breaking in some respects, is definitely more legible to the mainstream because it operates within neoliberal capitalist paradigms. Unlike Julia Davis’s abject characters, Waller-Bridge’s messy protagonists are always recuperable into the logic of white, middle-class, feminist empowerment.
BG: You cite Kimberlé Crenshaw’s understanding of intersectionality wherein she argues that it is, quote, ‘a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other’. That is, for example, gender in relation to class, region, age and race.
In turn, you analyse the television comedy work of Caitlin and Caroline Moran, and Michaela Coel through this critical prism.
What did you discover from your research and analyses of these female producers?
LM: Yeah, thank you for that question about intersectionality. Obviously, I just touched on it a little bit, but in terms of the other writer/performers that I’ve looked at, I’m going to begin with thinking about Michaela Coel whose experience as a black working-class woman profoundly influenced her work. And what I found particularly interesting was how she transformed traditional notions of the ‘unruly woman’: so, rather than accept stereotypical portrayals of black women as sexually aggressive or angry, she specifically created characters in Chewing Gum who are innocent and naïve.
As well as this the Moran sisters provided another really interesting case study in how class and regional identity intersect with gender. So, through my interview with Caroline Moran I learned how she had to carefully learn to adapt to middle class social rules to navigate the TV industry, and what I found particularly revealing was how the sisters demonstrated different approaches to their work.
So, through these different authors, and through my research, I came to understand that we cannot examine women’s comedy authorship through the lens of gender alone. The intersections of race, of class, nationality and region profoundly affect both creative content and industry access. So, some women exercise power through visible unruliness, others through carefully navigating the industry structures, and what I ultimately discovered was that these women have transformed TV comedy while also revealing the persistent inequalities in the industry that affect different women in different ways, and based on their own social positions.
BG: This said however, do you believe female-authored television comedy in the UK is now a permanent and ever-growing aspect of this country’s entertainment industry, or could it be that it’s just a boom?
For example, according to a July 2024 survey by BECTU, the UK’s trade union for the creative industries, more than half (52%) of UK film and TV workers are currently out of work.
LM: I think my book is cautiously optimistic about female-authored TV comedy in the UK. However, while we have seen some progress, particularly in the 2010s which is the period that I look at, I think meaningful change is yet to be seen. So, in terms of the optimism, you know, I feel optimistic because of the success of writers like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel, as well as female commissioners like Lucy Lumsden and Saskia Schuster who have actively worked to change industry structures.
As well as this, when I examined the class dynamics in British TV comedy, I found persistent barriers which, I think, would come as a surprise to no-one. Through my interview with Caroline Moran, and analysis of other working-class creators, I found that the industry remains dominated by those with private education and established networks with only a few people breaking through. You know, there are exceptions like Sophie Willan, for instance, and her great British sitcom Alma’s Not Normal, like Daisy May Cooper and her show This Country, but these success stories are very infrequent.
So, while I believe we’ve seen really important progress and established some permanent changes, I do worry that without continued vigilance and active intervention this could indeed prove to just be a boom, sadly. The structures that have historically excluded women, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, remain largely intact, so what we’re seeing isn’t necessarily an organic permanent change, but rather the result of specific interventions and individual breakthroughs.
BG: Many thanks for your time, insights and patience, Laura. It’s been an extremely enjoyable, informative and vital discussion.
‘Reclaiming Female Authorship in Contemporary UK Television Comedy’, published by Edinburgh University Press, is essential reading for anybody with a serious interest in the history and production of female-authored comedy, and the state of Britain’s contemporary television industry in general.
It is thoroughly recommended.
