The Problematic Gaze

Fresh from winning 'Best History Podcast' at The Independent Podcast Awards, welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. To watch video versions of our full episodes check out The Problematic Gaze YouTube channel here ! Click here to...

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , we rewatch the very first episode of Game of Thrones with our eyes wide open — and the rose-colored glasses off. Once hailed as a gritty feminist epic, the show’s legacy now looks a lot messier. We dig into how Game of Thrones glorified sexual violence, punished ambitious women, and stripped its female leads of power and complexity. But it didn’t stop ther...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. To watch video versions of our full episodes check out The Problematic Gaze YouTube channel here ! Click here to follow us on all our socials Please leave us a review wherever you get your pod...

This week on The Problematic Gaze , we dive paws-first into the fur-covered chaos of Are You Being Served? ’s infamous 1977 episode “Mrs. Slocombe Expects.” It’s pregnancy panic at Grace Brothers when Mrs. Slocombe’s feline-related misunderstanding leads to a scandalous stir—and some jaw-dropping innuendos that would never make it past the censors today. We unpack: The smirking sexism behind the s...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. To watch video versions of our full episodes check out The Problematic Gaze YouTube channel here ! Click here to follow us on all our socials Please leave us a review wherever you get your pod...

This week on The Problematic Gaze , we’re joined by the brilliantly opinionated Michael and Hilary Whitehall , hosts of The Wittering Whitehalls Podcast , for a dive into one of the more bizarre corners of 1960s British television: The Avengers episode “Quick-Quick Slow Death”   from 1966. From first hand tales of Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman, with a side swerve of Dame Peggy Ashc...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. In this episode, Dave is late to the Only Murders In The Building party and Dr Lee survives his post wedding blues to report on unfolding events in Morpeth! To watch video versions of our full...

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , we dive headfirst into the controversial Cagney and Lacey episode titled "The Gimp." Aired in the gritty 1980s heyday of network TV, this installment tackled disability, desire, and the thin blue line — but did it break ground or just break bad? Join us as we unpack the ableist tropes, dated language, and surprisingly progressive moments that sti...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. In this mini-episode we announce our future special guests, Michael and Hilary Whitehall from The Wittering Whitehalls podcast. We're giddy kippers as we've been nominated for 3 awar...

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , we take a closer look at one of The Office (UK) ’s most painfully awkward episodes: “Training.” From David Brent’s relentless need to perform authority to the complete breakdown of professionalism, “Training” is a masterclass in how power, ego, and insecurity collide in everyday workplaces. We break down how the episode uses discomfort as comedy, what it r...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. Click here to follow us on all our socials Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.   And if our fellow Gazers want...

Secret Diary of a Call Girl wants you to think it's in control — sexy, smart, subversive. But is it really? In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , we peel back the glossy layers of the pilot episode to expose the contradictions hiding beneath the lingerie. Who’s really being seduced here? We break down how Secret Diary plays with fantasy, flirts with feminism, and whether its bold aestheti...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. Click here to follow us on all our socials Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.   And if our fellow Gazers want...

Buckle up Gazers this ain't gonna be pretty! In 1965, the BBC made a film so terrifying, so brutally honest about nuclear war, they banned it before it ever aired. The War Game wasn’t a horror movie—it was a government-funded drama-documentary about a nuclear attack on the UK that hit too close to home. Why did the BBC pull the plug? What did Peter Watkins show the public that authorities did...

Welcome Gazers to The Problematic Gazette, a welcome bonus addition to our main show. Our Dave and Dr Lee chew the fat, read out Gazer comments  and  discuss things we've seen, read and heard this week. Click here to follow us on all our socials Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.   And if our fellow Gazers want...

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , we revisit Only Fools and Horses ' classic 1989 outing The Unlucky Winner Is —the one where Del enters Rodney’s teenage artwork into a kids’ competition and wins a family holiday to Spain… with a few strings attached. We explore how this sun-soaked farce touches on the cultural landscape of late-80s Britain—from the rise of the yuppie dream to the era...

In this episode of The Problematic Gaze , Dr. Lee and Our Dave dive deep into the glossy paranoia of The Stepford Wives (1975) — a chilling suburban satire that’s part sci-fi horror, part feminist nightmare. What does this cult classic really say about gender roles, domesticity, and the backlash to second-wave feminism?  We explore the film’s historical context, its uncanny aesthetic, and its last...

This week on The Problematic Gaze, we hop in our Telly Tardis and jump between the year 2000 and 1985 — courtesy of Will & Grace’s infamous two-parter, Lows in the Mid-Eighties. It’s the big bang of the Will & Grace universe, where we witness the origin stories of our favorite neurotic New Yorkers: Will's awkward coming out, Grace's wedding-that-wasn’t, Jack’s dramatic entrance (...

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  This week, we deep dive into the one off TV event 'It's A Royal Knockout' from 1987. It's a time when Princess Diana had the world in her thrall and the rest of the Royal family fumed in her shadow. Princ...

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  This week, we step back to into the world of high glam, high fashion and crime busting women with an episode of hit US crime drama 'Charlie's Angels' from 1976. What can these plucky females tell us about the...

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  This week, we step back into the world of the grotty student flatshare with an episode of the anarchic cult sitcom 'The Young Ones' from 1984. Click here to watch our chosen episode of 'The Young Ones' fr...

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  This week, as we attempt to record ourselves for YouTube (watch this space!) we cast out Gaze back to the year 2000 and join spirit animals Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha for a dissecting of the international smash...

Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  This week, as the UK swelters in a heatwave, we turn up the heat and cast our gaze on 80's blockbuster action film Top Gun. There's aerial dogfights, a plucky but tortured hero, shiny Hollywood masculinity, power b...

PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  Continuing our Pride Month special curation, we watch the celebrated, Academy Award winning film musical Cabaret. Starring Liza Minelli and Michael York and Joel Grey, the film celebrates the decadence of...

PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL Greetings from PG Towers! Join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV Producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV,  Film and Popular Culture from yesteryear.  Continuing our Pride Month special curation, we watch the cult LGBT+ comedy film 'But I'm A Cheerleader' starring Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Rupaul, and Cathy Moriarty.  Megan Bloomfield...