Factual Routledge Factual Heritage Television / Hardcover / 2026

This book explores the role of heritage in contemporary British visual culture through analysis of a selection of British factual television series. This book will appeal to scholars and students in television studies, popular culture, history and heritage studies, cultural studies and media studies.

This book explores the role of heritage in contemporary British visual culture through an analysis of a selection of British factual television series.

Despite being the most popular genre on British and American television since the late-2000s, factual entertainment is often dismissed for its triviality. As such, it has been left out of discussions concerned with visual depictions of British heritage onscreen, which are typically reserved for costume dramas. This book explores television’s relationship with contemporary nostalgic culture, examining Britain’s relationship with its past, its heritage, and its identity. Focusing on a cross-section of factual television programmes, from talent shows and cooking competitions to children’s television and national live sporting events, the author argues that they not only explicitly reflect the socio-political context and nostalgic culture in Britain in the decade following the 2008 financial crisis but have also been instrumental in shaping it.

Proposing a new subgenre of factual entertainment – factual heritage television – this book will be a must-read for scholars and students in television studies, popular culture, history and heritage studies, cultural studies and media studies.