Introduction – Sarita Malik and Darrell M. Newton
1 A little Brit different? BBC America and transnational constructs of Britishness – Darrell M. Newton
2 Scheduling race – Anamik Saha
3 Reframing the 1950s: race and representation in recent British television – James Burton
4 Black British drama, losses and gains: the case of Shoot the Messenger – Sarita Malik
5 The iconic ghetto on British television: Black representation and Top Boy – Kehinde Andrews
6 Whiteness, normativity and the ongoing racial Other: imperial fictions: Doctor Who, post-racial slavery and other liberal humanist fantasies – Susana Loza
7 Myth of a multicultural England in BBC’s Luther – Nicole M. Jackson
8 Framing The Fosters: jokes, racism and Black and Asian voices in British comedy television – Gavin Schaffer
Index

‘Adjusting the contrast makes a meaningful intervention into the whiteness that historically characterises much of UK television studies […] with this rigorous, engaging and eclectic collection, Malik, Newton and their contributors play an important part in the ongoing project to decolonise British television studies.’
Hannah Hamad, Critical Studies in Television

This cutting-edge volume explores texts and practices relating to race and its depiction in this new age of digital services, streaming and on-demand downloads. The contributors address a range of themes, from the management of race in television policy to the construction of Britishness in global programming. Contemporary programmes examined in detail include Doctor Who, Luther, Top Boy,Shoot the Messenger, and Desi DNA. Individual chapters investigate how the 1950s are reframed through Call the Midwife and how historic comedies such as Till Death Us Do Part and Mind Your Language present racial tensions as laughing matters. While efforts have been made to increase diversity on screen, there remain significant problems with the stories being told.

Featuring contributions from Kehinde Andrews, Gavin Schaffer, Anamik Saha, Susana Loza and other noted scholars of media and race, Adjusting the contrast deconstructs cultures of production, showing how public service broadcasting continues to produce programmes rife with racialised tropes.