ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three popular television serial dramas to consider how they disseminate ideas relating to the financial crisis, to suggest they can be seen as 'austerity narratives', and that they all raise issues concerning economic insecurity: Girls, Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey is a period drama set in Britain in the early twentieth century, while both Breaking Bad and Girls are contemporary set in the US, the former in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the latter in New York City, New York. Both Breaking Bad and Girls address contemporary issues, such as the cost of healthcare, employment and unemployment, concerns clearly relevant to a global audience. The realist aesthetic of Girls thus does not dwell on the spectacle of the modern city but creates, rather, a sense of anonymity.
