Humans of Warwick - Helen Wheatley

Professor Helen Wheatley

Professor, SCAPVC - Film and Television Studies and Academic Director of the Warwick Institute of Engagement

“I’m a TV historian, but people always ask me for the latest viewing recommendation!”

“I came to Warwick to do an MA, many years ago now, and I initially thought that I wanted to study film.

But I’ve always had an interest in the things that matter most to ordinary people. People like my mum, my friends and family. Television is clearly one of those things, so I was drawn to study it and why it’s important in their lives. As Warwick was one of the founding places, in the whole world, for the study of TV, being here amongst colleagues who care about television as much as I do make this the natural place for me to be. And I’ve now made it my life’s work.

I love taking my research out to the community as well. As Academic Director of Warwick Institute of Engagement, this won’t be a surprise to anyone. It’s fantastic to bring historic programming out of the archives and into the public domain. We’ve held a number of events in Coventry as part of the ‘Ghost Town’ project. That sounds like quite a negative name, but it’s not meant to be. Obviously, there’s the famous song by The Specials but a ghost town to me is one that’s haunted and carries it’s past with it.

The footage and programmes we chose to share show Coventry throughout the years, and we’ve had people come along who’ve found family, friends and even themselves on the screen. It’s an incredibly moving and powerful experience for those that encounter lost loved ones or their younger selves via the TV archive. People also talk about seeing the buildings that have disappeared or businesses that have closed. It’s lovely to hear their stories and I’m privileged to be able give them the opportunity to tell them.

We’ve been able to hold them in different venues across the city including lots of events in the Cathedral, which made a beautiful location. At one screening we showed a programme about the construction of the Cathedral, including the making of the Cathedral’s beautiful glass. It was funny to watch the audience look round to spot the piece of glass being made on the screen, now in its position at the entrance. There was a lot of pointing going on. I subsequently collaborated on an archive-based documentary about the building of the Cathedral for BBC4.

As a TV historian you’d think that I spend all my spare time watching the telly, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! But, if you do want a recent TV recommendation, and you may have already seen it because lots of people did. ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix is a must watch. It’s an incredible piece of TV, such a difficult topic to deal with and all four of the hour-long episodes were filmed in one shot, without interruption. It’s technically mind blowing and could well end up being a future topic that we study. It’s just swept up at the Emmys as well!”