Dr James McLean

I am the programme director for the Media Production and Media & Communication undergraduate degrees at the University of Hull. I have experience working in various creative pre-production and production roles across the media sectors on multiple franchise products, including Doctor Who, Star Wars, and High School Musical. My industry experience has included working on video game productions for Disney, BBC, and Lucasfilm franchises. I have experience in writing, design development, and storyboarding for commercial adverts and promotions in the UK and overseas. I have also illustrated for comics, television shows, books, journals, and DVDs.

My research has widened in the last few years, looking at the role of storytelling in society; how media storytelling (such as podcasts, film, or virtual technologies) can reveal, advocate, and make sense of the challenges facing marginalised or invisible groups in society today. I have been working regionally, applying my skills to local communities, exploring the benefits of media storytelling to groups with learning disabilities (VOICE) and mental health (ERNI). I have been working alongside colleagues in criminology in the role of the creative arts for men serving at HMP Hull and the documentation of that journey, using traditional and emergent techniques. I am in the early stages of a project that will explore storytelling in tourist-intensive regions, in particular for those identifying as neurodivergent.

Outside of research into social engagement, my research interests investigates the ongoing practices of professional media production, and their impact and meanings on culture and consumption. Building upon a special edition I co-edited on video games and transmedia, I'm currently co-editor on an edited collection focusing on video games and detective fiction for Bloomsbury publishing. I have publications that consider production through the lenses of adaptation, genre, fan-cultures, and the transnational movement of media, including Doctor Who, Battle of the Planets, and Kingdom Hearts.

I continue to contribute to media projects, including work in visual design, storytelling, and podcast hosting, with expertise on shows such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Millennium. I have television expertise that centres around US/UK cult television, and I have been engaged in multiple media projects that have engaged with creators and professionals within the industry. I have interviewed industry professionals, including BAFTA award-winning documentary producer Neil Grant; Chris Carter (The X-Files); television producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and director Graeme Harper (Doctor Who); television producer Adrian Munsey (Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age for Sky Arts); and Hollywood actors such as Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Barbara Bain (Mission Impossible/Space: 1999).