Television and the Moving Body

To watch television is to watch bodies in motion: walking, dancing, cooking, fighting, running, playing, travelling, and so on. Television and the Moving Body presents the first detailed exploration of the moving body on television. It analyses different types of movement, including walking, dancing, sports, and craft, outlining how these different movement profiles are employed to construct time, tell stories, work through cultural issues, and foster empathy.
Through a range of case studies across different genres and formats, including Gogglebox, The West Wing, Taskmaster, The Repair Shop, Strictly Come Dancing and Sense8, this book examines what television’s moving bodies tell us both about normative ideas of movement and identity, and about television itself.

Dr Zoë Shacklock is a Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on the body in contemporary television, with particular interests in movement, queerness and empathy.