Long form television dramas (LFTVDs) are influenced by social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts. Social contexts include such factors as changes in gender roles, inequalities based on gender, race and ethnicity, and social attitudes to sexualities. They include the social anxieties and/or contested social values of the time and place that television programmes are made. These will influence representations. Cultural contexts include the influence of national cultures on television programmes, for example the cultural importance of television dramas in reflecting, re-interpreting and re-enforcing national cultural identities and representations of social groups, events and the individuals within those (and on occasion, challenging and subverting those representations to try and instigate cultural change and domestic conversations on representations and identity).

Political contexts include the influence of political debate on regulation of television; how television programmes can reflect and comment upon national political institutions given the freedom of Western programme makers to criticise and satirise their own political systems; and how in political dramas such as Deutschland 83 or Stranger things the audience may need to have political knowledge to understand some representations.

 Economic contexts include the competitive nature of the television industries and influence of high budgets on flagship television programmes, e.g. the opportunities for character development in ‘authored’ high-budget programmes allow for more complex, individualised three-dimensional characterisation rather than stereotyping. They may also include the disparity between production budgets for US television dramas and European television dramas and their sources of funding and how budget can influence representations through allowing more or less choice to programme makers when constructing representations, for example, with regard to locations, settings, costumes, filming, lighting, sound and editing technology.

I am going to consider the effects of contexts on the American LFTVD Stranger things and the European LFTVD Deutschland 83.

In stranger things, we see the influence of social contexts. The episode reflects socially contested gender and racial/ethnic relations in that it represents a world in which apparent conformity to social norms masks underlying tensions and conflicts; in particular, we see Karen - mikes mum acting as the 'perfect house wife' and Benny acting as a strong and powerful man when eleven enters his diner, both illustrating Butler’s idea of the performative of gender. some dominant characters such as Hopper and Benny help, reinforce the patriarchal power, but one of the main representations in Stranger things is of 'absent fathers' we see female mothers such as Joyce and Karen going against this theory. Racial and ethnic representations are ambiguous: a Black boy called Lucas is one of the main characters of the narrative however it wouldn't of been typical for a black family to be living in a middle class suburban town in that time period.

In stranger things, we see the influence of cultural contexts: the episode shows the influence of the American culture of living in a typical small town in the 80's. This reflects the development of Hollywood cinema in the 80's. In addition to this it became instantly reconigsable due to the speilbergian white middle class town from these 80's blockbuster hits which show how global audiences could identify and relate to the town when it was used in Stranger things otherwise known as Hawkins. In stranger things, we see the influence of political contexts: the programme reflects how society is constantly aware and in fear of the government as we see in the hawkins lab how they are 'the other' and how the public never knows what they are up to. this is typical in certain series so it can be understood by a wider audience.

In stranger things, we see the influence of historical contexts: the episode explores this by the iconic signs i.e. chopper, av system, walkie talkies, wall phone etc. all of these shows reference to the 80's which will help target the audience of people who grew up during that time as they can relate with them making them want to watch it even more. 

In stranger things, we see the influence of economic contexts: Netflix is a streaming service which also means it cannot be watched on any other platform apart from Netflix service. in addition to this it was $6 million per episode which shows it was of high production value due to the effects used, actors, set, design, costume etc.  

In Deutschland 83, the representations reflect social contexts: the episode reflects how the east side values women in their society and equality compared to the west. An example of this if from Lenora, Martins auntie. she has high dominance and power in the government as she sets up the spy operation by offering martin to go undercover. This is also questions the normal stereotype of family being to look out for one another whereas Lenora puts her nephew in danger i.e. his hand being broken.  in addition to this, the episode also reflects the social contradictions in divided 1980's Germany. We see the east side as a rigidly controlled state whereas the West is less controlled and the military is represented as rigidly patriarchal. However both sides are represented as white along with racial integration of the american military. This helps add to the 'otherness' of both German and american governments and military forces and the influence of social anxieties about the German past. overall emphasizes the verisimilitude experienced throughout the episode, creating a stronger bond between audience and characters as they can relate and it feels real.

In D83, the representations reflect cultural contexts: the episode reflects German concerns about cultural amnesia/ remembering that may date back to their mid-20th century history but this also apply to the reunification and division of Germany as a whole. These concerns that have been released in other media products apart from D83 represent the ambiguities of the east German experience which were then buried and lost in the triumph of the west at reunification. The representational complexity and sophistication of the programme reflects the context of the high expectations of LFTVD. Despite this. the spy narrative however is of a global resonance and helps explain the international success of the series despite the poor audience figures in Germany itself. 

In D83, the representations reflect political contexts: the episode reflects the division of the politcal german world in the 80s. In this case, east Vs west, communist VS capitalist. The east was run the by the soviet union and east germany whereas the west was run by France, US and England. This is reflected in the episode as we see how the west is allowed a lot more freedom than the west. i.e. with music, clothing choices as we see from the brands such as Puma, live in a lot less fear of the governemnt etc. Compared to the east who had limited products available to buy, only certain films and shows were allowed to watch, one type of car was allowed to be driven etc. We are shown this political shock from the reaction of Martin when he moves over to the West side.The series requires some understanding of German national politics but does not assume this knowledge on the part of audiences, providing enough exposition to enable politically literate audiences to understand the narrative.

In Borgen, the representations reflect economic contexts of the high competitive nature of US cable and satellite television in which channels such as Sundance channel seek quality programming to maintain the brand (e.g. by moving into international cooperation to produce and premiere foreign-language programming) and the reliance of German commercial broadcasters. In addition to this D83 is a high-budgeted programme which allows for more complex, individualised three-dimentional characterisation rather than stereotyping e.g. racial integration of black american general wouldnt of been typical in that time. The benefit of this is that it encourages cooperation with other European television producers, creating a very national product yet with international appeal. (e.g. D83 was the first foreign language programme to air on a US network)

In conclusion, the representations in these two LFTVDs do reflect their national social, cultural and political contexts, with Stranger things explicitly interrogating what it means to be American through the speilbergian white middle class coiety which was represented in hollywood films. Audience may also be a factor here. The sophisticated international audiences for LFTVDs may demand both local colour, so specifically national or even local representations, but also archetypal themes that can be enjoyed globally, such as protecting the homeland or creating a new politics. The free-market American television market as compared to the highly regulated and small german television market may also account for some of the representational differences. The german programme has to have cultural significance as D83 one big drama for the season, whereas stranger things was released already onto the popular streaming service netflix which alreadye nsured it a small amount of success, the storyline and genre was what made it international . And was released as VOD. It is likely that genre, audience, industries and contexts all intertwine in their influence on representations in LFTVDs.