Jonathan Bignell presents a wide-ranging analysis of the television phenomenon of the early twenty-first century: Reality TV. He explores the cultural and political meanings of Reality TV, explains the genesis of the form and its relationship to contemporary television production, and considers how it connects with, and breaks away from, factual and fictional conventions in television. He discusses whether Reality TV should be considered a new television genre, and also considers its links with wider media culture around the world. Relationships with surveillance, celebrity and media culture are explored, leading to an appraisal of the directions that television culture is taking in the new century.