Many dramas and survival documentaries are dominated by tough, muscular men sporting bushy beards, like Ant Middleton in Channel 4's Mutiny

Now well into the 21st-century, we're meant to have moved on from the tough as nails, grunting, hunting male stereotype to a softer version of masculinity embodied by Metro Man and the stay-at-home dad.

But have we? Looking at our screens it seems we have reverted back to celebrating an older ideal of manhood, with dramas and survival documentaries dominated by tough, muscular blokes usually sporting bushy beards.

From Tom Hardy's brutal James Delaney in Taboo to former Special Forces warrior Ant Middleton driving on his motley crew in Channel 4's Mutiny, it seems like the home-dwelling modern man has fallen by the wayside.

Writing on The Conversation, lecturer in English, Film and Television Nicola Bishop suggests we may be turning back to views held by our Victorian forebears.

During the mid-19th century, there developed a concept of Muscular Christianity, which was meant to purge young English men of their effeminate intellectualism in favour of athleticism and stern Christian morality.

At the time, the intention was to mould men fit to serve in the far-flung reaches of the British Empire, but Dr Bishop believes its ideals are being revived today as part of a reaction against modern ideas about manhood.

Another manly man on our screens recently was Tom Hardy's lead character in BBC One drama Taboo

She says programmes such as Mutiny represent an 'action man' sub-genre of reality TV, which seeks to pit modern men against hardships familiar to their predecessors to see if they can cope.

The heroes of this process are hard men like Middleton, who leads a crew 3,600 miles through rough seas in a reenactment of the voyage made by the mutineers of the HMS Bounty.

The struggles faced by Middleton and his comrades give them the chance to demonstrate the physical and mental grit that modern British men are thought to have lost, Dr Bishop says.

Other examples of the growing hardman genre of TV include Bear Gryll's The Island, which drops people on desert islands in the Pacific to see if they can survive.

She says programmes like Channel 4's Mutiny represent an 'Action Man' sub-genre of reality TV, which seeks to pit the modern man against hardships familiar to their predecessors. The BBC's Poldark, pictured, could be an example of this

Other examples of the growing hard-man genre of TV include Bear Grylls' The Island, which drops people on desert islands in the Pacific to see if they can survive

Dr Bishop also mentions BBC 2's Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week, which puts competitors through endurance challenges and stood apart from similar shows by including women.

She claims the surprised reaction to the victory of Claire Miller in the first series, described as 'shaming' the men in one newspaper, demonstrated British concerns about a 'crisis' of masculinity.

Dr Bishop claims the surprised reaction to the victory of Claire Miller (pictured) in Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week, demonstrated British concerns about a 'crisis' of masculinity

Another example of a manly man on our screens recently was Tom Hardy's lead character in BBC One drama Taboo.

James Keziah Delaney, who returns to London from Africa in 1814 to claim his father's inheritance, is a violent psychopath who eats the hearts of his victims and lusts after his sister.

Yet he also wins the grudging respect of the viewer through his cunning and unflinching determination against the might and brutality of the East India Company, which is determined to thwart his ambitions.

While Poldark might be a more civilised character than Delaney, he is also violent, spiteful and frequently dishonorable, such as when he turned up at Elizabeth's house unannounced and forced himself on her.

But his bravery, fighting skill and unflinching loyalty to his tenants is not to be doubted, presenting him very much as man of action and defender of the home.

And, in good news if you are a Poldark fan, it seems like his brand of gruff, unflinching masculinity isn't leaving our living rooms any time soon.