This article proposes a new critical framework through which to analyze television period drama, recognizing elements that indicate a more progressive point of view than many previous scholarly responses have acknowledged. It begins by assessing the seminal works of Andrew Higson and Claire Monk in the field of period drama, adopting the latter’s term of “post-heritage” to identify an alternative critical perspective. The five guiding elements of the proposed post-heritage framework are then outlined, with reference to pertinent critical works that identify these in period dramas and other production. A preliminary case study of The Crown is then offered, through which the post-heritage framework is demonstrated as an aesthetic methodological process. The Crown’s use of the media within its narrative and conceptual ambiguity are considered particularly closely. The article concludes by suggesting the wider applications for the post-heritage critical framework, and potential further study relating to The Crown.

This article assesses the narrative developments of the Showtime series The Affair (2014–19) alongside the production circumstances reported in the media following its conclusion. Through this, it is argued that actor Ruth Wilson’s objections to the direction of her character positively impacted the series, freeing it from the restrictions of its concept and resulting in a more culturally relevant conclusion than could otherwise have been achieved. Sarah Treem’s position as showrunner, and the accusations levelled at her by the reports around Wilson’s departure, are also investigated, asserting the importance of recognizing the other figures that hold responsibility for a multi-season drama’s production environment. Wilson’s influence on the trajectory of the series is used to argue against auteur theory, the assumptions of which are identified as attributing sole blame for Wilson’s objections to Treem. As it remains unusual for the position of drama showrunner to be held by a woman, the potential harm of such auteurist assumptions is made clear by the example of The Affair.

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Review of: Period Drama, Faye Woods (2022) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 192 pp., ISBN 978-1-47446-282-2, p/bk, £19.99