‘You don’t need influence … all you need is your first opportunity!’: The Early Broadcast Talent Show and the BBC

Popular histories of the reality talent show often position programmes like Opportunity Knocks as key generic precursors to the popular formats of today. But the visibility of such shows in such popular histories - and in popular memory - disguises the fact that the genre has been almost totally neglected in both television historiography and celebrity studies. In drawing upon archival documentation, this article looks at early examples of the broadcast talent show in Britain, with a particular focus on radio’s Opportunity Knocks, and examines the institutional and cultural discourses which surrounded them

‘That perfect girl is gone’:Pro-ana, Anorexia and Frozen (2013) as an ‘Eating Disorder’ Film

The study of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) sites occupies a significant place in critical feminist work on eating disorders. But pro-ana sites have been studied as particular subcultural spaces which function to produce communities, identity positions and modes of subversive/ conformist femininities. Although anorexia might often be experienced as all-encompassing, people who are anorexic/ pro-anorexic don’t just ‘do’ anorexia. They also participate in everyday activities like engaging with media and as with ‘normal’ audiences, such encounters provide important resources for identity construction. In drawing on the feminist bid to challenge the conception of anorexic voices as pathological and ‘sick’, existing only ‘outside of the true’ (Saukko 2008, 77), this article explores a sample of pro-ana responses to Frozen, undertaking an analysis of the ways in which Frozen has been understood as an ‘eating disorder’ film and used in relation to pro-anorexic/ anorexic identities

Revisiting Play School: A historical case study of the BBC’s address to the pre-school audience

Although clearly recognised in broader institutional histories of British children’s television as a significant moment in the BBC’s address toward the pre-school child, Play School (BBC 1964-88) has not been the focus of sustained archival analysis. This arguably reflects the fact that a good deal of work on children’s television in Britain adopts either an institutional or an audience focus, and the study of programmes cultures is often more neglected. This article seeks to revisit Play School using available historical documentation – including memos, scripts and press cuttings - from the BBC Written Archive Centre, as well as early surviving episodes (principally from 1964). In doing so, it seeks to explore how it fitted into BBC’s historical address to the pre-school child, how it intersected with discourses on pre-school education, and the range of institutional and social contexts surrounding its emergence. Key Words: Play School * Pre-school television * BBC * Child audienc

‘Little Lena’s a Big Girl Now’: Lena Zavaroni and the Anorexic Star

Lena Zavaroni became famous as a child star on the British TV talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1974, suffered from anorexia from age 13, and subsequently died from complications associated with the problem in 1999, age 35. This article uses 165 press articles from 1974-99 to analyse how Zavaroni’s relationship with anorexia was constructed in the British popular press. Existing feminist work suggests that stars with anorexia are worth studying because they make eating disorders popularly visible, with the coverage providing an occasion to analyse how the media constructs anorexia in relation to particular ideologies of femininity. But this article argues that it is important to explore how discourses on fame become intertwined with discursive constructions of anorexia, shaping how such problems are explained and gendered. Because Zavaroni appeared in the media as a child, her trajectory also dramatises how anorexia is seen to be linked not only with the role of the media, but with the development of female identity. Thus, whilst bringing stardom and celebrity into the frame, this article thus seeks to contribute to the feminist work which interrogates how popular constructions of anorexia mark out normative/ disordered femininities

Swivelling the spotlight: stardom, celebrity and ‘me’

Celebrity studies critiques the ways in which celebrity culture constructs discourses of authenticity and disclosure, offering the cultural and economic circulation of the ‘private’ self. Rarely, however, do we turn the spotlight on ourselves as not only scholars of stardom and celebrity, but also part of the audience. Autoethnography has become increasingly important across different disciplines, although its status within media and cultural studies is less visible and secure, not least because the emphasis on personal attachments to media forms may threaten the discipline’s still contested claim to cultural legitimacy. The study of stars and celebrities has often found itself at the ‘lower’ end of this already debased continuum, perhaps making such tensions particularly acute. Based on three personal narratives of engagements with stars and celebrities, this co-authored article explores the potential relationships between autoethnography and celebrity studies, and considers the personal, intellectual, and political implications of bringing the scholar into the celebrity frame

Feminist approaches to Anorexia Nervosa: a qualitative study of a treatment group

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are now often approached as biopsychosocial problems. But it has been suggested by scholars interested in sociocultural factors that all is not equal within this biospsychosocial framework, with the ‘social’ aspects of the equation relegated to secondary factors within ED treatment contexts. Although sociocultural influences are well-established as risk factors for EDs, the exploration of whether or how such perspectives are useful in treatment has been little explored. In responding to this context, this article seeks to discuss and evaluate a 10 week closed group intervention based on feminist approaches to EDs at a residential eating disorder clinic in the East of England. Methods: The data was collected via one-to-one qualitative interviews and then analysed using thematic discourse analysis. Results: The participants suggested that the groups were helpful in enabling them to situate their problem within a broader cultural and group context, that they could operate as a form of ‘protection’ from ideologies regarding femininity, and that a focus on the societal contexts for EDs could potentially reduce feelings of self-blame. At the same time, the research pointed to the complexities of participants considering societal rather than individualised explanations for their problems, whilst it also confronted the implications of ambivalent responses toward feminism. Conclusions: Highly visible sociocultural factors in EDs – such as gender - may often be overlooked in ED clinical contexts. Although based on limited data, this research raises questions about the marginalisation of sociocultural factors in treatment, and the benefits and challenges including the latter may involve

The Structure of the {\beta} Leonis Debris Disk

We combine nulling interferometry at 10 {\mu}m using the MMT and Keck Telescopes with spectroscopy, imaging, and photometry from 3 to 100 {\mu}m using Spitzer to study the debris disk around {\beta} Leo over a broad range of spatial scales, corresponding to radii of 0.1 to ~100 AU. We have also measured the close binary star o Leo with both Keck and MMT interferometers to verify our procedures with these instruments. The {\beta} Leo debris system has a complex structure: 1.) relatively little material within 1 AU; 2.) an inner component with a color temperature of ~600 K, fitted by a dusty ring from about 2 to 3 AU; and 3.) a second component with a color temperature of ~120 K fitted by a broad dusty emission zone extending from about ~5 AU to ~55 AU. Unlike many other A-type stars with debris disks, {\beta} Leo lacks a dominant outer belt near 100 AU.Comment: 14 page body, 3 page appendix, 15 figure

Isotopic difference in the heteronuclear loss rate in a two-species surface trap

We have realized a two-species mirror-magneto-optical trap containing a mixture of $^{87}$Rb ($^{85}$Rb) and $^{133}$Cs atoms. Using this trap, we have measured the heteronuclear collisional loss rate $\beta_{Rb-Cs}'$ due to intra-species cold collisions. We find a distinct difference in the magnitude and intensity dependence of $\beta_{Rb-Cs}'$ for the two isotopes $^{87}$Rb and $^{85}$Rb which we attribute to the different ground-state hyperfine splitting energies of the two isotopes.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure