[Commlist] New Book - The British Sitcom Spinoff Film

Colleagues may be interested in this new publication from Palgrave 
Macmillan – */The British Sitcom Spinoff Film /*by Stephen Glynn.

While perhaps stretching a point to recommend the book as that perfect 
Christmas gift for the /Dad’s Army/, /Absolutely Fabulous/ or 
/Inbetweeners /or fan in your life, do please consider requesting a copy 
for your library. It should prove relevant to module reading lists not 
only in Film and Television Studies, but also History, Sociology, Media 
and Cultural Studies.

Book description:

This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic 
analysis of theatrically-released spinoff films derived from British 
radio and television sitcoms. Regularly maligned as the nadir of British 
film production and marginalised as a last resort for the 
financially-bereft industry during the 1970s, this study demonstrates 
that the sitcom spinoff film has instead been a persistent and important 
presence in British cinema from the 1940s to the present day, and 
includes works with distinct artistic merit. Alongside an investigation 
of the economic imperative underpinning these productions, i.e. the 
exploitation of proven product with a ready-made audience, it is argued 
that, with a longevity stretching from Arthur Askey and his wartime 
/Band Waggon/ (1940) to the crew of Kurupt FM and their recent /People 
Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan/ (2021), the British sitcom spinoff can be 
interpreted as following a full generic ‘life cycle’. Starting with the 
‘formative’ stage where works from /Hi Gang! /(1941) to /I Only 
Arsked!/ (1958) establish the genre’s characteristics, the spinoff genre 
moves to its ‘classic’ stage where, secure for form and content, it 
enjoys considerable popular success with films like /Till Death Us Do 
Part/ (1969), /On the Buses/ (1971), /The Likely Lads/ (1976) and 
/Rising Damp/ (1980); the genre’s revival since the late-1990s reveals a 
more ‘parodic’ final stage, with films like /The League of Gentlemen’s 
Apocalypse/ (2005) adopting a consciously self-reflective mode. It is 
also posited that the sitcom spinoff film is a viable source for social 
history, with the often-stereotypical re-presentations of characters and 
events an ideological metonym for the concerns of wider British society, 
notably in issues of class, race, gender and sexuality.

Stephen Glynn has produced a terrific book on British TV sitcom spinoff 
films. He writes clearly and concisely and with a demonstrable passion 
for the subject. He pulls off the difficult trick of bringing an 
impressive breadth of knowledge to this material while also 
communicating it in helpful and often amusing ways.

-Paul Newland, University of Worcester

Further details are available at the Palgrave Macmillan/Springer website:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-41222-6 
<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-41222-6>


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