The Problematic Gaze
Direct 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 of yesteryear that has since been considered problematic. Each week we focus on a different piece of pop culture, and put it into context by looking at the news events and cultural landscape of the year it was released. Out and proud, Dr Lee and Our Dave present a humorous take on life as LGBTQ+ men of a glorious age, and present a digestible mix of academic social commentary, unflinching life lessons, media analysis, and hot takes on feminism, race, politics and cancel culture.
Episodes
77 episodes
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE 'Riot Women', 'Carry On' and Awards Success!!! 🏆
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 ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 79
•
15:44
Winter Is Problematic: Gender, Race, and Ableism in 'Game of Thrones' (2011)
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...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 78
•
38:03
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE Bonus Episode! Celebrity Traitors, Platonic and Things That Go Bump In The Night!!
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 o...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 77
•
19:44
'Are You Being Served?' from 1977 - Class and 'Cat'astrophe: Mrs. Slocombe’s Baby Bombshell
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 feli...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 76
•
46:58
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE Bonus Episode! Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue, RIP Patricia Routledge
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 o...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 75
•
11:32
Ballroom Blitz!: 'The Avengers' from 1966 with special guests Michael & Hilary Whitehall !!
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 te...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 74
•
1:05:03
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE Bonus Episode! Only Murders In The Building, Post Wedding Blues and Twix The Guinea Pig!!
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 ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 73
•
13:45
In 1986, 'Cagney and Lacey' Took On Disability in 'The Gimp' — And It Was… Complicated
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...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 72
•
51:45
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE Bonus Episode! Awards, Special Guest Announcement, Molly Houses and Davina McCall !!!
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 a...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 71
•
8:58
Satire or Just Offensive? Revisiting 'The Office' UK’s ‘Training’ Episode from 2001
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 break...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 70
•
51:50
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE Bonus Episode! Dr Lee's ready for his close up and Our Dave wants to live forever! Plus Alien Earth and Bake Off gripes
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.
•
Season 2
•
Episode 69
•
10:58
Sex and the 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' 2007: Billie Piper, Empowerment, and the Male Gaze
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 contradicti...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 68
•
45:03
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE: Bonus Episode! The Great British Bake Off and Department Q
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.
•
Season 2
•
Episode 67
•
12:43
The Film the BBC Banned: Why 'The War Game' Was Too Real for TV in 1965
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-doc...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 66
•
47:51
THE PROBLEMATIC GAZETTE: Bonus Episode! The Thursday Murder Club, Strictly Come Dancing and more!
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.
•
Season 2
•
Episode 65
•
24:13
'Only Fools and Horses': Del’s Big Lie and Rodney’s Little Life in 1989
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...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 64
•
51:01
Perfectly Programmed: Deconstructing The Stepford Wives from 1975 and the Fear of Feminism
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.
•
Season 2
•
Episode 63
•
55:12
Will, Grace, and the Closet: When Queer Pain Became Primetime Comedy
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 w...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 62
•
51:45
Smize, Cry, Conform: The Messy Legacy of 'America’s Next Top Model'
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', t...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 61
•
1:12:36
The Monarchy’s Most Bizarre PR Stunt: What "It’s a Royal Knockout" Says About Power and Spectacle
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 ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 60
•
57:49
Angels or Objects? The 70s Show That Sold Feminism in a Bikini: 'Charlie's Angels'
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, hi...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 59
•
54:41
'The Young Ones' UK Sitcom from 1984. Punks, Puke and University Challenge
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 stude...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 58
•
48:44
'Sex And The City' from 2000. Staten Island, Firemen and Fairytales!
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 (...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 57
•
1:05:38
'Top Gun' Action Movie Blockbuster from 1986. Tom Cruise, Showers and 80's Power Ballads!
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 th...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 56
•
53:47
'Cabaret' Film Musical from 1972 PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL
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 cur...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 55
•
40:56