From historical iconography to political saints: The television biopic as a media construction of the transition

Abstract

 In the first decade of century historical series and telemovies based on our recent past had been succeeding in Spanish screens as a genre rised from the 90´s thanks to biopic,  along with anniversaries and literature on the issue. This mixture of fiction and non fiction helps to widen a deconstructive gallery of public roles and characters for a sanctifier political iconography of recent Spain.

Through analysis of three telemovies: 23-F: el día más largo del Rey (2009), Adolfo Suárez, el presidente (2010), and  De la ley a la ley (2017), all released in generalist networks, this study explores a kind of media story of the considered architecs of the post Francoist political miracle. In celebrating 40th anniversary of 1978 Spanish Constitution, modern  monarchy, first Premier of democracy , and as well its legal parlamentary designer, are shown as a saint political trinity customized for a recent collective memory.