Mary Irwin is the Research Fellow on the 2010-13 AHRC-funded project A History of Television for Women 1947-1989 working with Dr. Rachel Moseley and Dr. Helen Wheatley (Warwick) and Dr. Helen Wood and Hazel Collie (De Montfort). In the first year of the project Mary has researched television programmes made for women in the early postwar period, and considered the work of a key figure in the production of BBC women’s programmes - Doreen Stephens. She has presented her project findings at three conferences during 2011: Screen, Cine Sisters: Histories of Women Working in the Film and Television Industries, and Broadcasting in the 1950s. Her paper on Stephens will appear in the forthcoming special edition of Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture on media for and by women.

In the next year her focus will be on researching television for women produced in the 1960s and 1970s. She is particularly interested in exploring the figure of the young, independent, working woman as she emerges in programmes of this period, both in workplace‑based female ensemble dramas and comedies like The Rag Trade (BBC 1962) and Compact (BBC 1962) as well as programmes which focus on young women’s personal lives and relationships such as the The Liver Birds (BBC 1969), Take Three Girls (BBC 1969) and Man About the House (Thames 1973).

Mary also has research interests in the areas of postwar British television documentary and contemporary British television drama. She completed her doctorate, BBC Television Documentary 1960-1970: A History in 2008, and is developing chapters from this for publication. She is currently co-editing, with Dr Paul Long of Birmingham City University, the unpublished autobiography of post‑war television documentary filmmaker Philip Donnellan. She has written and published on BBC drama series Life on Mars. She is currently focusing on the representation of women in Life on Mars and its follow up Ashes to Ashes.

Mary is a member of the Midlands Television Research Group.

Publications

Irwin M (2011) ‘From Coronation Street to Mean Streets Life on Mars USA’ Scope Online Journal of Film and Television Studies, Institute of Film and Television Studies University of Nottingham: 19

Book Reviews

Irwin, M (2011), ‘Restyling Factual TV Audience & News, Documentary & Reality Genres, Annette Hill’ (2007) Participations Journal of Audience and Reception Studies,  8 : 1

Irwin M (2008) ‘Crime Watching: Investigating Real Crime TV’ Deborah Jermyn (2007) Journal of British Cinema and Television 5:2, 417-419

Irwin M (2006), ‘The Angry Buzz: This Week and Current Affairs Television ‘Patricia Holland (2006) Journal of British Cinema and Television 4:1, 197-199

Forthcoming

Book Chapters

Irwin M (2010) ‘Life on Mars – Gefangen in den 70ern’ in Christian Hißnauer and Thomas Klein(eds) ‘Klassiker der Fernsehserie’ Verlag Press (2012)

Irwin M (2010) ‘Moonage Daydreams: Nostalgia and Cultural Memory Contexts of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes’ with Dr John Cook in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes Stephen Lacey and Ruth McElroy (eds) University of Wales Press (2012)

Journal Articles

Irwin M (2011) ‘What Women Want on Television’ - Doreen Stephens and BBC Television Programmes for Women 1953-1964” Media for and by Women: A Historical Perspective special edition Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 8: 3 (2011)

In Preparation

Irwin M (2011) “You are where you are Sam – you’ve got to make the best of it!” ‘Re-imagining, re-negotiating and re-evaluating memories of the early 1970s in BBC’s Life on Mars’. (Under consideration for inclusion in forthcoming Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television special edition - Memory, Identity and New Fantasy Cultures)