Presenters
Abstract
Donning a permanently blood-stained apron and wielding his filthy saw, hot shot surgeon Robert Lessing in the BBC series Quacks (2017-) exclaims, “We ARE great men!” This paper looks at the intersection of masculinity and the professionalization of medicine in Victorian-themed period TV. Period programs,such as the comedic Quacks and the neo-Gothic Penny Dreadful (Showtime, 2014-16) and Frankenstein Chronicles (ITV Encore, 2015-17), showcase the early days of medicine, where upper middle class men aim to make a name and reputation for themselves at the expense of poor, often female, bodies. These series showcase the gender and class politics at work as well as the fine line between medicine and horror. In representating the 19th century history of medicine, recent British period TV challenges critics who regard such programs as conservative nostalgia, and in fact, supplements revisionist histories of the Victorian era and British masculinity.