I am a film and television historian with specialisms in docudrama and terrorism. I have taught documentary for over two decades.
I have a first-class degree in English and History, and a Ph.D. in English, both from the University of Hull.
I joined the 我要吃瓜 in 2009, before which I was a lecturer at the University of Hull.
My main administrative role at present is divisional Admissions/Recruitment officer. My previous roles include Programme Director of Film & Media, during which time Film & Media rose to #1 in Scotland and #6 in the UK, and senior Adviser of Studies for all CMC students.
My main research areas are docudrama and terrorism. I have a long record publishing on the history of British television drama. My methods include archival research, close textual analysis rooted in a sense of programme-making practice and industrial contexts, and attempts to conceptualise and interrogate methods of studying hybrid forms.
My first book, Alan Clarke (2005), pioneered methods of studying television direction. Sight & Sound made it their 'Book of the Month'. My second book, The Art of Invective: Selected Non-Fiction 1953-94 (2015), was a co-edited collection of non-fiction by Dennis Potter. The collection was described by Jonathan Meades in Literary Review as 'one of the very finest collections of occasional (but far from ephemeral) writing I have read […] The scholarship of the editors is impeccable'. My third book, An Adventure in Space and Time (2025 - forthcoming), covers paratextuality, promotional screen cultures, branding/presentation/idents, school teaching of history, historiography/counterfactuals, Doctor Who, television history, and docudrama studies methods and debates, including the role of disclaimers.
For over twenty years I have disseminated research outwith conventional academic routes. I contributed to various DVD and blu-ray releases for the BBC, BFI and Network: these include the award-winning Dissent and Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC and, most recently, Pinter at the BBC. I have written for many fanzines and non-academic book publishers. I have given public talks and interviews with practitioners at venues including the BFI Southbank, Manchester Cornerhouse and HOME.
I made dozens of contributions to the BFI resources Screenonline and Mediatheque, and I have contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. I edit and write for my own website:?www.britishtelevisiondrama.org.uk, which has run since 2009 (and incorporates a Play for Today resource I have edited since 2003). The site includes a detailed list of my publications, conference papers, public talks, media appearances and much more: .
PhD supervision:
I welcome any applications within film and television studies, in particular those which use historical, archival or textual approaches.
I am particularly keen to receive applications about documentary, docudrama, terrorism in the media, British television drama, British cinema, or film or television history.
However, I am also happy to receive applications that don't necessarily fit with those topics. I have experience teaching, researching and writing on a range of topics, including adaptation, English literature, African literature, labour history, comic books, welfare and radio comedy. I have supervised PhDs in film theory and cultural theory, and undergraduate dissertations with a wide range of approaches across media, film, television, feminism, artists' exhibition practices, creative industries, and interdisciplinary work such as a Faculty prize-winning dissertation synergising media and psychology approaches to binge-watching.
Website Content
Simpson, Alan Francis (1929–2017), scriptwriter
Rolinson D (2021) Simpson, Alan Francis (1929–2017), scriptwriter. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [Online database] 14.01.2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380351
Book Chapter
Saville, Philip (1927–2016), television, film, and theatre director
Rolinson D (2020) Saville, Philip (1927–2016), television, film, and theatre director. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-112120?rskey=tLXwxa&result=1
Book Chapter
Rolinson D (2019) British Cinema and Television. In: Hill J (ed.) A Companion to British and Irish Cinema. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 332-346. https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/A+Companion+to+British+and+Irish+Cinema-p-9781118477519
Manual / Guide
Pinter at the BBC, Essays in DVD booklet (2)
Rolinson D (2019) Pinter at the BBC, Essays in DVD booklet (2). https://shop.bfi.org.uk/pinter-at-the-bbc-5-dvd-set.html#.XFL4QNL7Tct
Article
Drama as Science Documentary: The Ethics of Making and 'Banning' The Black Pool
Rolinson D (2017) Drama as Science Documentary: The Ethics of Making and 'Banning' The Black Pool. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 37 (1), pp. 96-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2016.1272808
Other
'Rita, Sue and Bob Too', Essay in DVD/Blu-ray booklet
Rolinson D (2017) 'Rita, Sue and Bob Too', Essay in DVD/Blu-ray booklet. [Dual format DVD/Blu-ray booklet.] 22.05.2017. http://shop.bfi.org.uk/directors/alan-clarke/rita-sue-and-bob-too.html#.WOdf69LyuM8
Book Chapter
British Docudrama: New Directions in Reflexivity
Rolinson D (2016) British Docudrama: New Directions in Reflexivity. In: Ebbrecht-Hartmann T & Paget D (eds.) Docudrama on European Television: A Selective Survey. Palgrave European Film and Media Studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 199-227. http://www.palgrave.com/de/book/9781137499783
Other
Rolinson D (2016) Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC. Essays in accompanying book (6 in blu-ray version, 1 in DVD version). [Box Set Book] 06.2016. http://shop.bfi.org.uk/dissent-disruption-the-complete-alan-clarke-at-the-bbc-limited-edition-blu-ray-box-set.html#.V-UFJ4grJpg
Edited Book
The Art of Invective: Selected Non-Fiction 1953-1994, by Dennis Potter
Greaves I, Williams J & Rolinson D (eds.) (2015) The Art of Invective: Selected Non-Fiction 1953-1994, by Dennis Potter. London: Oberon. https://www.oberonbooks.com/dennis-potter.html
Book Review
A Sense of Place: Regional British Television Drama 1956-82
Rolinson D (2015) A Sense of Place: Regional British Television Drama 1956-82. Review of:
Lez Cooke, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2012. 240pp. ISBN 9780719086786. Critical Studies in Television, 10 (3), pp. 121-123. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.7227/CST.10.3.9; https://doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2015.982016
Article
Studio as hybridised community space: For the Love of Albert
Rolinson D (2015) Studio as hybridised community space: For the Love of Albert. Critical Studies in Television, 10 (3), pp. 5-22. http://cst.sagepub.com/content/10/3/5.abstract; https://doi.org/10.7227/CST.10.3.2
Book Review
Rolinson D (2015) Jimmy McGovern. Review of: Steve Blandford,
Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2013, 224pp. 978-0-7190-8248-1. Critical Studies in Television, 10 (2), pp. 143-145.
Book Review
Rolinson D (2014) The Beiderbecke Affair. Review of: William Gallagher,
BFI TV Classics, British Film Institute/Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 128pp. ISBN 978-1-84457-469-8. Critical Studies in Television, 9 (3), pp. 127-128. https://doi.org/10.7227/CST.9.3.11
Other
Red Shift. Essay in DVD booklet
Rolinson D (2014) Red Shift. Essay in DVD booklet. [DVD Booklet] 10.2014. http://shop.bfi.org.uk/pre-order-red-shift.html#.V-UF_YgrJpg
Article
The many Doctors symposium: William Hartnell
Rolinson D (2014) The many Doctors symposium: William Hartnell. Science Fiction Film and Television, 7 (2), pp. 217-219. https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2014.12
Article
Report on The Singing Detective 25th Anniversary Symposium, University of London, 10 December 2011
Rolinson D (2013) Report on The Singing Detective 25th Anniversary Symposium, University of London, 10 December 2011. Journal of Screenwriting, 4 (3), pp. 335-343. https://doi.org/10.1386/josc.4.3.335_7
Book Chapter
Is This England ’86 and ’88? Memory, haunting and return through television seriality
Rolinson D & Woods F (2013) Is This England ’86 and ’88? Memory, haunting and return through television seriality. In: Fradley M, Godfrey S & Williams M (eds.) Shane Meadows: Critical Essays. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. http://www.euppublishing.com/book/9780748676392
Book Chapter
The helium of publicity: mass-mediated 'terrierism'
Rolinson D (2013) The helium of publicity: mass-mediated 'terrierism'. In: Leggott J & Sexton J (eds.) No Known Cure: The Comedy of Chris Morris. London: BFI, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 223-247. https://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_26348.html
Book Chapter
Rolinson D (2012) "You’re still living in the Middle Ages!": Time Travel in Doctor Who and Pseudo-Historical, Neomedieval, Alternate Realities. In: Robinson C & Clements P (eds.) Neomedievalism in the Media: Essays on Film, Television, and Electronic Games. hors série, 0. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press. http://mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=8617&pc=9
Book Review
Shadows of Progress: documentary film in post-war Britain
Rolinson D (2012) Shadows of Progress: documentary film in post-war Britain. Review of:
Patrick Russell and James Piers Taylor (eds), London, British Film Institute–Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, xii+429 pp., ISBN 978-1844573219. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 32 (3), pp. 479-482. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2012.699622
Book Chapter
Small Screens and Big Voices: Televisual Social Realism and the Popular
Rolinson D (2011) Small Screens and Big Voices: Televisual Social Realism and the Popular. In: Tucker D (ed.) British Social Realism in the Arts since 1940. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 172-211. http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=390272
Other
Rolinson D (2011) Tales Out of School. [Essay as DVD booklet] 07.2011.
Article
A Documentary of last resort? The case of Shoot to Kill
Rolinson D (2010) A Documentary of last resort? The case of Shoot to Kill. Journal for the Study of British Cultures, 17 (1), pp. 47-58. http://www.britcult.de/jsbc/09-back-numbers.htm#Vol.17,1/2010
Book Chapter
The last studio system: a case for British television films
Rolinson D (2010) The last studio system: a case for British television films. In: Newland P (ed.) Don’t Look Now: British Cinema of the 1970s. Bristol: Intellect, pp. 163-176. http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=4699/
Article
Moonbase 3 and the limitations of reality in Apollo-era television SF
Rolinson D (2010) Moonbase 3 and the limitations of reality in Apollo-era television SF. Science Fiction Film and Television, 3 (1), pp. 79-92. https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2010.5
Other
Rolinson D (2008) This Sporting Life. [Essay as DVD booklet] 2008.
Article
'A new wilderness': memory and language in the television science fiction of Nigel Kneale
Rolinson D & Devlin K (2008) 'A new wilderness': memory and language in the television science fiction of Nigel Kneale. Science Fiction Film and Television, 1 (1), pp. 45-65. https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.1.1.5
Article
'The Surprise of a Large Town': depicting regional space in Alan Plater’s Land of Green Ginger
Rolinson D (2007) 'The Surprise of a Large Town': depicting regional space in Alan Plater’s Land of Green Ginger. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 4 (2), pp. 285-306. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2007.4.2.285
Book Review
Fires were started: British cinema and Thatcherism
Rolinson D (2007) Fires were started: British cinema and Thatcherism. Review of:
Lester D Friedman (ed), London, Wallflower Press, 2005 (2nd edn), xxiv + 341 pp., ISBN 978-1904764717. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 27 (4), pp. 590-592. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439680701553560
Book Chapter
'Who done it': discourses of authorship in the John Nathan-Turner era
Rolinson D (2007) 'Who done it': discourses of authorship in the John Nathan-Turner era. In: Butler D (ed.) Time and Relative Dissertations in Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who. Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 176-189.
Other
Rolinson D (2007) The Firm Special Edition. [DVD commentary, Essay as DVD booklet] 08.2007.
Book Review
Documentary: The Margins of Reality
Rolinson D (2007) Documentary: The Margins of Reality. Review of:
Paul Ward, New York: Wallflower, 2005, 144pp. ISBN 9780231850094. Scope: An Online Journal of Film and TV Studies, (8). http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/issues/2007/june-issue-08.aspx
Other
Rolinson D (2007) Hell Drivers. [Essay as DVD booklet] 03.2007.
Other
Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire
Rolinson D (2006) Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. [Essay as DVD booklet] 08.2006.
Authored Book
Rolinson D (2005) Alan Clarke. Television Series. Manchester: Manchester University Press. http://manchester.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.7228/manchester/9780719068300.001.0001/upso-9780719068300
Book Chapter
Rolinson D (2005) Sweet Sixteen. In: McFarlane B (ed.) The Cinema of Britain and Ireland. 24 Frames. London: Wallflower Press, pp. 251-259. http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-1-904764-39-7/the-cinema-of-britain-and-ireland
Book Chapter
'If they want culture, they pay': consumerism and alienation in 1950s comedies
Rolinson D (2003) 'If they want culture, they pay': consumerism and alienation in 1950s comedies. In: MacKillop I & Sinyard N (eds.) British Cinema of the 1950s: A Celebration. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 87-97. http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9780719064890
Article
"Bring something back": The strange career of Professor Bernard Quatermass
Rolinson D & Cooper N (2002) "Bring something back": The strange career of Professor Bernard Quatermass. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 30 (3), pp. 158-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/01956050209602852
Book Review
Rolinson D (2002) J. Lee Thompson. Review of:
Steve Chibnall, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000, 380pp. ISBN 9780719060120. Scope: An Online Journal of Film and TV Studies, August 2002. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/issues/2002/august.aspx
Book Review
Documentary, Interpretivism and Positivism (Review Essay)
Rolinson D (2001) Documentary, Interpretivism and Positivism (Review Essay). Review of: No Other Way to Tell It: dramadoc/docudrama on television, Derek Paget, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1998, pp. vii + 237. ISBN 978-0719045332 New Documentary: a critical introduction, Stella Bruzzi, London, Routledge, 2000, pp. 199. ISBN 978-0415385244 Lies, Damn Lies and Documentaries, Brian Winston, London, BFI, 2000, pp. 186. ISBN 978-0851707976. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 21 (3), pp. 323-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439680120069443
Book Review
Windows on the sixties: Exploring key texts of media and culture
Rolinson D (2001) Windows on the sixties: Exploring key texts of media and culture. Review of: Windows on the Sixties: exploring key texts of media and culture, Anthony Aldgate, James Chapman, and Arthur Marwick (eds), London, I.B. Taurus, 2000, 194 pp. ISBN 978-1860643835. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 21 (2), pp. 190-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439680120051523
In 2025/26 I am coordinating and teaching Terrorism in the Media (at Honours level) and The Moving Image, our first-year core module on film and television style. I am giving one lecture each on modules Media Audiences & Reception Studies and Researching the Media and Culture, and supervising dissertations at undergraduate level. In Summer 2025 I am supervising postgraduate dissertations. In 2024/25 I coordinated and taught Documentary Film and Television: The Poetic Eye (at Honours level), but that module may not run for the next two years.
I have vast experience in creating and coordinating modules. I have previously taught across a wide range of subjects including contemporary media industries, television business, public service broadcasting, research methods, film theory, Chinese cinema, European cinema, silent cinema, gender studies, literature, history, medievalism, superheroes, Hitchcock, comedy, television ghost stories and Scottish media. I continue to supervise dissertations on a wide range of topics for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In Summer 2025, I am supervising dissertations for the postgraduate programme Public Relations & Strategic Communications.