What's happened to BBC dramas?

[Fnaar]

I was really looking forward to Outcasts, but by end of episode 1 I was thinking (as Paul calf might have opined)
"bag o' sh!te!" (link NOT really safe for work)

 

[yello]

In fairness, it's not just the beeb. Ever watch any of the CSI programmes (sorry, the French seem to love dubbed US cop programmes)? Talk about generic. You can guarantee what's his face in Miami is going to stand like a sleeze, lower his sunglasses and opine 'I hate paedophiles' or some other such preachy crap. And the Manhattan bloke seems to have confused real life persona with character since he seems to instruct the script writers to make him look like some kind of god-like hero week in, week out - and have an equally preachy soapbox for his repugnant pseudo-liberal republican views. As if there isn't enough real crime in New York, he has to save the world each week from extremists of one sort or another. I don't mind crap, it can be enjoyable, but offensive crap really gets me! Sorry, personal bug bear....


Maybe I was harsh on the new Dr Who, maybe again through disappointment. I was optimistic because Russell T Davies scripted the excellent 'Queer as Folk'. Now, I wasn't expecting butt plug gags in Dr Who but I was hoping for something with some inventiveness. The 1st couple of series (with Ecclestone), I liked... but after that... it seemed to become cgi obsessed. And, again, people just running around from one scene to the next. I realise plot doesn't need to be to believable in sci-fi but it was often just plain ropey.

I do realise that this type of tv stands or falls by its success. Maybe Python was right, maybe we are all idiots, but I believe people wouldn't watch it if it didn't entertain. Somebody is clearly doing something right.

 

[buddha]

These days, I'll watch the first minute or so. Then I'll channel-hop until I'm on something like the Quest channel where they show entertaining stuff, like how envelopes and cat food are made.

 

[Ravenbait]

And I thought Blake's 7 was bad...

Blake's 7 had some excellent dialogue, brilliant badinage and character-driven plot. I once thought about drawing a Venn diagram of the double acts it had and decided it was better to leave it as plain brilliance. You wouldn't have Avon doing something stupid just because the plot called for him to get into a mess (he'd leave that to Vila). Yes it was cheesy, but it was a spaghetti western in space long before Joss Whedon had even considered Firefly.

Sam

 

[dellzeqq]

great telly drama has always been thin on the ground, and thinner still when Stephen Poliakoff, Russell T. Davies or Joss Whedon aren't there to make it great. For every Casanova there's three Silent Witnesses. One-offs are hit and miss, but, then again, take a look at the roster at your local multiplex - they're mostly crap. Money helps, but not always - Boardwalk Empire is rubbish.

The big news at the BBC (apart from reduncancies) is that Jay Hunt has gone to C4 (those of you wondering why C4 News made such a big thing over the Miriam O'Reilly case might give some thought to this...'welcome aboard - not'). Give it 18 months and BBC1 might be less a little less bland.

 

[beanzontoast]

Blake's 7 had some excellent dialogue, brilliant badinage and character-driven plot. I once thought about drawing a Venn diagram of the double acts it had and decided it was better to leave it as plain brilliance. You wouldn't have Avon doing something stupid just because the plot called for him to get into a mess (he'd leave that to Vila). Yes it was cheesy, but it was a spaghetti western in space long before Joss Whedon had even considered Firefly.

Sam

Didn't say I didn't watch it! It was certainly quite ground-breaking, if a bit 'BBC Sand Pit-ish' though - the suspension of disbelief took extra effort at times. And I never could take to Servalan.


Now Soolin was a whole different matter....

 

[Arch]

Waking the Dead was unremittingly grim

And often factually dubious. The episode in which they unearthed a perfect little baby skeleton was the end for me. They would pull out all the FX stops to show some dreadful half rotten victim, but they couldn't get that right.

(Pedant's note: Babies don't have perfect little skeletons to find, much of their 'bone' is only cartilege, and rots. It's how we grow, for god's sake)

 

[just jim]

They need to think big, but have believable human characters. They should adapt an Ian M. Banks "Culture" novel. And why not?

 

[yello]

Babies don't have perfect little skeletons to find, much of their 'bone' is only cartilege, and rots.

Cheers for the tip Arch! I'll remember it for the plethora of forensic type programs that litter our screens. Don't they make catching the baddie look SO easy... tap it into a computer, 'match match match', book 'im Danno. Job done!

 

[Dayvo]

And I never could take to Servalan.

You're joking, right! http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...WswaTsPHuDA&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

 

[Danny]

It is disappointing that the BBC now rarely makes good quality drama.

The best TV drama now comes out of the US where programmes like The Wire and Madmen make the BBC output look poor and outdated. Sadly all the best US drama has now been bought up by Sky.

Having said that I think Outcasts has actually improved a bit as the series has gone along.

 

[beanzontoast]

You're joking, right! http://www.google.co...=1t:429,r:1,s:0

No, really - she was too bossy by half!

 

[dellzeqq]

Sky have an almost perfect record of buying stuff that's past its best. Lost was in steep decline when they bought it (and it wasn't that good when it started). True Blood has slumped. And as for Curb Your Enthusiasm....... Boardwalk Empire slumped in the US.

I'd be optimistic. We've seen decent stuff come out on BBC2 and BBC4. Jane Hunt's departure will be very good for BBC1 (and, possibly, the death of C4 as an independent channel).

 

[Tinuts]

It is disappointing that the BBC now rarely makes good quality drama.

The best TV drama now comes out of the US where programmes like The Wire and Madmen make the BBC output look poor and outdated. Sadly all the best US drama has now been bought up by Sky.

Having said that I think Outcasts has actually improved a bit as the series has gone along.

Yes, there are some good US offerings but the best TV drama I've seen recently has been The Promise. No, not BBC, but certainly mostly British made and not American in the slightest.

 

[Dayvo]

No, really - she was too bossy by half!

OK - so you probably won't like Lady Sonia, then, either!