Janet McCabe

Dr. Janet McCabe is a Reader in Television and Film Studies within the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, specializing in contemporary television, gender politics, and cultural memory. Her work critically examines US and Scandinavian television drama, public service broadcasting cultures, and the transnational circulation of television fiction across global markets.

McCabe's research centers on feminist film and television theory, with deep analysis of gender representation, aging, and historical imagination in series like Sex and the City, Wallander, and Chernobyl. She investigates how television constructs cultural memory, negotiates political trauma, and reimagines national identities through transnational storytelling, with particular focus on Scandinavian drama and HBO's quality television frameworks.

Her publication trajectory reveals consistent engagement with television's role in mediating historical consciousness, from early analyses of Northern Exposure to contemporary studies of transcultural memory work in disaster narratives. Key recurring themes include the gendered body in television, legitimacy of television culture, and public service broadcasting's evolving role in the global media landscape.

As managing editor of Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of TV Studies, McCabe shapes scholarly discourse while actively supervising research students in television history, feminist media studies, and transnational television trade practices.