The article seeks to describe and examine one of the possible (and arguably increasingly popular) approaches to the subject of fascism in contemporary TV drama: a narrative strategy that is defined by its willingness to go beyond the depiction of fascism as the absolute political Other, but nonetheless aims to produce a compelling and thorough critique of fascism. This is largely achieved by turning the subject of fascism into an ostensibly non-central element of the plot. By examining a number of contemporary TV series (The Crown, The Man in the High Castle, Peaky Blinders, Pennyworth and The Knick), and drawing certain analogies to Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones, I aim to showcase the narrative effectiveness of a thus defined “back-burner” strategy — while linking this effectiveness to the formal possibilities opened up by contemporary TV drama.
