Entertaining television challenges the idea that the BBC in the 1950s was elitist and 'staid', upholding Reithian values in a paternalistic, even patronising way. By focusing on a number of (often controversial) programme case studies - such as the soap opera, the quiz/ game show, the 'problem' show and programmes dealing with celebrity culture - Su Holmes demonstrates how BBC television surprisingly explored popular interests and desires. She also uncovers a number of remarkable connections with programmes and topics at the forefront of television today, ranging from talk shows, 'Reality...

Winner of the Saltire Society Scottish History Book of the Year 2009.Shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year 2009. This book is unique in that it provides the first-ever substantial account of the seven-centuries-old Scottish philosophical tradition. The book focuses on a number of philosophers in the period from the later thirteenth century until the mid-twentieth and attends especially to some brilliantly original texts. The book also indicates ways in which philosophy has been intimately related to other aspects of Scotland's culture. Among the greatest...