The Persistence of Television examines more than 60 years of television - including popular shows such as Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, and NYPD Blue - to identify the elements that have entertained and informed viewers from the beginning of mass broadcasting to the present day, proposing that most television viewing is rooted in traditional programming that is received in conventional ways. On-screen faces, programmes and genres, and production practices drawn from British, American and Australian television services are examined to demonstrate how continuity persists in the face of change. There's no denying the excitement or the value of the new, but the contributors to this book argue that it runs in tandem with enduring aspects of the already existing.