Diagnosing History: Medicine in Television Period Drama

This timely collection examines the representation of medicine and medical practices in international period drama television. A preoccupation with medical plots and settings can be found across a range of notable historical series, including Outlander, Poldark, The Knick, Call the Midwife, La Peste and A Place to Call Home. Such shows not only offer a critique of medical history, but also demonstrate how contemporary viewers access and understand the past. Topics covered in this collection include the innovations and horrors of surgery; the intersection of gender, class, race and medicine on the American frontier; psychiatry and the trauma of war; and the connections between past and present pandemics. Featuring 15 original chapters on period TV from the UK, US, Spain and Australia, this book offers an accessible, global and multidisciplinary contribution to both televisual and medical history.