ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the significance of comedy to the history of British broadcasting, and to the construction of British national identity from both domestic and international perspectives. There is an understanding, as will be explored, that comedy characterises social behaviour within the UK and that particular manners of joking contribute to constructions of Britishness. As is the case with a number of “national or ethnic groups” (Laineste 2014: 541) British humour is characterised as being a distinctive and recognisable form which is understood to a great extent through the traditions of television sitcom and sketch programmes, central to the British public service broadcasting ethos. Referring to English humour specifically, Andy Medhurst argues that the “pleasures [and] politics . . . of English comedy, widely acclaimed by English audiences contributes significantly to how English culture has imagined its Englishness” (2007: 1), while Jeffrey Richards shows that English popular culture during the Second World War reiterates the idea “that a sense of humour is the English secret weapon” (1997: 87). Indeed, the UK government has also acknowledged comedy as a significant part of its national identity, within the description of how to accustom oneself to living in the United Kingdom as a British citizen issued by the Home Office. Understanding the use of humour in interpersonal communication, as well as comedy’s role in British film and television are both noted in the handbook Life in the United Kingdom upon which the ‘Life in the UK’ citizenship test is based (Home Office 2014: 104-5). With comedy occupying a space at this legislative level, it is not surprising that it also appears consistently in public service broadcasting policy. With this societal significance in mind, this chapter seeks to contextualise the existing literature on creativity as outlined in Chapter 1, with the institutional regulation of British broadcasters within which comedy producers practise their creativity. In particular, given the existing research that outlines creativity as an often individual endeavour, supported by freedom and unconventional working conditions, this chapter looks to the heavily
regulated landscape of British television production and the collaborative creative processes that define this cultural industry. Taking the position that British humour is a particular and significant cultural category imbued with a public service purpose, this chapter outlines the historical, social, cultural, organisational, and regulatory aspects of the British television comedy industry. Again, this is not only to relay the significance of comedy to British public service broadcasting, but the extent to which particular comedy formats move beyond the “common-sense notion” (Dyer 1992: 12) of entertainment. This chapter also throws into light how the broadcasting institutions themselves categorise comedy formats through departmental distinctions and what implicit constructions of cultural value are implicit therein, particularly given that entertainment “is one of the most automatically moralised concepts” (Gray 2008: 4). In doing so, this chapter examines broadcasting regulation, the conditions in which it is said to stimulate creating innovative new content and the further relationship between public service remits and the public and private funding structures within which comedy must be produced.
