The Problematic Gaze

We return to the Problematic Gazette on our new Saturday slot and quickly tackle the Prince Andrew revelations, including the iconic photo of him being taken away.

We recall the UK ‘Rear of the Year’ celebrity award, from Barbara Windsor as the first winner (1976) through Amanda Holden as the last (2019)

We recap our recent Dempsey and Makepeace episode and talk about paparazzi, media scrutiny, and made-up tabloid narratives.

And we mark the death of songwriter Billy Steinberg writer of major hits including ‘Like a Virgin,’ ‘True Colors,’ ‘Eternal Flame,’ ‘So Emotional,’ ‘Alone,’ ‘I’ll Stand by You,’ and ‘I Touch Myself.’

We chat about being glued to the Winter Olympics (including curling and moguls), and touch on the Instagram dialect debate we accidentally ignited about Geordie vs Northumbrian accents, which drew hundreds of comments and even input from a linguistics academic!

We also discuss Netflix’s America’s Next Top Model documentary and Tyra Banks’ lack of accountability, recommend the gentle comedy-drama Small Profits (with Michael Palin and others), and get into Doctor Who rumour-mill talk about Russell T Davies, possible new showrunners, and speculation around David Tennant and Billie Piper returning.

We share listeners reaction to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights film and preview our next main-show episode on Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
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Watch 'Dempsey and Makepeace: Love You To Death' on YouTube

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In this episode of The Problematic Gaze, we turn our attention to “Love You to Death” (TX 1985) from Dempsey and Makepeace — the glossy Anglo-American crime drama that paired hard-boiled NYPD import James Dempsey with aristocratic British detective Harriet Makepeace.
“Love You to Death” trades on seduction, jealousy, and lethal obsession, but beneath its high-concept crime plot lies a fascinating web of gendered power dynamics. We explore how the episode frames female desire as dangerous, how male volatility is coded as charismatic rather than threatening, and how the camera lingers — inviting us to participate in a distinctly 1980s televisual gaze.
What does this episode reveal about transatlantic masculinity? How does it negotiate Makepeace’s professional competence against Dempsey’s swaggering authority? And in a decade obsessed with glamour and excess, where does romance end and possession begin?
Join us as we unpack the aesthetics, performances, and cultural assumptions embedded in this stylish slice of mid-80s prime-time drama — and ask whether “Love You to Death” is simply a product of its era, or a case study in how television taught audiences to look, desire, and judge.
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Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!

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 to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!
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POP CULTURE EMERGENCY!! New documentary “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” drops on Netflix on the 16th February. In anticipation of this, here’s another chance to hear our take on this iconic reality milestone.

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 'America's Next Top Model', the US reality show launched in 2003. Now heavily criticised for its promotion of unhealthy body images and questionable racist undertones, this immensely popular show highlights how the modelling industry, and reality TV can age like a glass of fine milk!
Click her to watch 'Top 20 Outrageous America's Next Top Model Moments' discussed in this podcast.
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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 to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!
Gazer Homework: In our next episode we focus on the US sitcom Will and Grace with the two-part "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" episodes (episodes 8 and 9 of season 3)
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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 to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!
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Click here to watch this episode on YouTube

This Valentine’s Day,The Problematic Gaze takes aim at Pillow Talk (1959), the pastel-perfect rom-com that taught generations of viewers to confuse deception with desire. 💋
With sparkling dialogue, immaculate interiors, and a romance built on lies, this film asks us to root for a man who gaslights a woman into falling in love—and calls it charming. We unpack the gender politics, the fantasy of heterosexual warfare, and why mid-century romance keeps looking suspiciously familiar.
Light a candle, pour a drink, and join us as we lovingly dismantle a Valentine’s classic that might be more red flag than rose. 💔🌹

GAZER HOMEWORK: Click here to watch crime drama Dempsey and Makepeace from 1985
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In the 21st episode of the Problematic Gazette, we hosts dive into a jam-packed schedule discussing high fashion knitwear, a fun Geordie Shore retrospective, and tales of celebrity encounters and family links. We also talk about the recent portrayal of Charlie Sheen’s tumultuous life in a Netflix documentary and remember the late Catherine O’Hara. We touch on the Irish edition of 'The Traitors,' Dr Lee's new job, Dave's YouTube tribulations, Claire Foy’s bout with parasites, upcoming Valentine’s Day plans, and a preview of our next show covering the classic 1959 film, 'Pillow Talk.'
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Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!

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 to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.