text by Dorota Babilas
A fascinating online lecture series Neo-Victorian Television, which ended two weeks ago, was organized by the Morphing Culture(s) Research Group at the University of Szczecin and hosted by a good friend of QAQV, Dr Barbara Braid.
The 10-part series included talks by:
Antonija Primorac on the Imperial Gothic in The Terror,
Rosario Arias on post-colonialism in The Luminaries,
Chris Louttit on new adaptations of Dickens’ Oliver Twist (especially The Artful Dodger and Dodger),
Dorota Babilas on neo-Victorian representations of the Queen in ITV’s Victoria,
Sarah E. Maier and Rachel M. Friars on queering the Wild West in Godless,
Lucyna Krawczyk-Żywko on variations on neo-Victorian crime fiction (including Ripper Street orThe Artful Dodger),
Anna Gutowska on neo-Victorian women in new screen biofictions (such as Dickinson and The Empress),
Megen de Bruin-Molé on neo-Victorian Gothicism (esp. Penny Dreadful),
Helena Esser on neo-Victorianism and Steampunk (esp. The Nevers and Carnival Row).
The lectures introduce relevant and timely insights proving that television and streaming platforms have engaged with neo-Victorian themes in many diverse ways and, despite commercial failure of some of the shows, the genre’s potential is far from being exhausted. The list of discussed titles may provide inspiration for interesting watching material for the summer. And for those who missed the events live, some of the lectures have been recorded and are available on the Morphing Culture(s) YouTube channel:
