This collection of essays by well-known authors on the subject of writing for television is divided into three sections. The first is devoted to the debates about quality television. The second focuses on literature and television. Going beyond the the question of literary adaptation, prominent writers such as Malcolm Bradbury and Fay Weldon voice their concern, but also their continuing engagement, for a tradition of quality television writing, which they see as being under siege in the new world of deregulation and international co-productions. The final section examines "Science on Television" with series editors from Britain and Germany giving first-hand accounts of the scope for serious science reporting on television.

Table of Contents:
General Introduction, Part 1 - Quality Television, Introduction, Television in the Age of Consensus without Sense, ‘Quality’ Television, Quality Television in The Netherlands: Some Hopeful Reflections on Breaking the Taboo, On the Quality of Soap, Zapping One’s Way into Quality: Arts Programmes on TV, Definitions of Quality, Questionable Quality or the Undiscoverable Quality of Television, Part 2 - Literature on Television, Introduction, The Novelist and Television Drama, On Achieving Good Television, Speaking to Nations, Television and Literature, Literature after Television: Author, Authority, Authenticity, Unwritable Films, Unfilmable Texts?, Part 3 - Science on Television, Introduction, Gee-Wizards of the Box?, Science on Television, On Being God and Darwin, Citizen Scientist or A Dinosaur for All Seasons?, Science and Technology on TV: Four European Countries Compared, Selected Bibliography, The Contributors, The Editors, Film Culture in Transition: on the series