ABSTRACT
This chapter will look at the construction of expert authority and knowledge in the context of the television series House where the leading actor brings a backstory to the screen through his personal origins, British national persona and history of previous acting roles. Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Dr Greg House bene®ts from the authority that derives from these factors. Theoretical authority and practical authority are compared and, while the character of Greg House is written as if he were a maverick, it is concluded that the casting of Laurie reinforces an unexamined validation of (and a conservative trust in) expert authority, in general, and its `right' to disobey protocol and convention especially in the ®eld of medicine.
