Cult TV: David Lynch's Twin Peaks
- Course Code: HF306
- Dates: 29/04/25 - 20/05/25
- Time: 14:00 - 16:00
- Taught: Tue, Daytime
- Duration: 4 sessions (over 4 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Paul Sutton
Course Code: HF306
Duration: 4 sessions (over 4 weeks)
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What is the course about?
Coming four years after David Lynch’s dark satire of American small-town life, Blue Velvet (1986), Twin Peaks explores similar territory. This course will examine the series via the screening and discussion of key episodes, looking each week at one episode from the first series (1989-91). We will consider the innovations that David Lynch and co-producer Mark Frost brought to this televisual extravaganza and explore facets of the series, from the performances of actors such as Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Dale Cooper to the mournful music of Angelo Badalamenti that enhanced the atmosphere of strangeness that the series communicated so powerfully. We will consider the series as a popular culture event by exploring its context and the responses to it by viewers at the time and we will of course revisit our own reactions to the series.
What will we cover?
We will explore the visual and narrative innovations that the series introduced to mainstream television, and we will examine the effects and influence that the series had on subsequent TV forms. We will consider the cultural, social, and political context for the series and situate it within the wider Lynchean oeuvre.
Screening one episode from the series each week, we will have the opportunity to critically analyse the series in depth. We will share our responses to the episodes and the series through detailed discussion and will incorporate the reactions of those familiar with the series as well as those new to it.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Have an understanding of the cultural impact of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks
- Have a sense of the cultural, social and political context for the series
- Analyse the narrative and aesthetic innovations that the series introduced
- Feel comfortable critically analysing and discussing Twin Peaks.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
The course is for all levels and is suitable for those who enjoy TV that provokes thought and discussion.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The course will involve a weekly introduction to an episode from Twin Peaks as well as a series of themes/concerns to be explored, followed by the screening of an episode from Twin Peaks itself. This in turn will be followed by detailed critical/analytical discussion of the episode and its relationship to the broader series.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You will require a pen and paper (or laptop/device). The tutor will provide support materials via Google Classroom.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Dr. Paul Sutton is an independent film scholar who has taught Film Studies in UK higher education for over 25 years. His research covers psychoanalytic and film theory as well as Italian and French cinema and critical theory. He has published articles in journals such as Screen, French Studies and the Journal for Cultural Research. He is currently writing a psychoanalytic book on film spectatorship, Afterwardsness in Film, and has recently published work on television as a form of palliative care, and an assessment of the films of the Italian experimental filmmaker Ugo Nespolo.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.