ABSTRACT
Jimmy Saville, Tracey Ullman, Denis Waterman, Lenny Henry, Clive James, Jan Leeming…Personalities are central to the institution of television. A stock of recognised names acts as an assurance that audiences will return again (and again) to their role as viewers, perpetuating—via advertising or licence revenue—the flow of cash to maintain the institution. There is an economic imperative, then, to television’s construction and maintenance of personalities.
