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Box-set Britain is missing out on the real drama closer to home.
onecitizen
Posts: 5,042 Forum Member
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The head of the BBC is moaning that British people would rather watch US made box set drama than home made programmes.
I thinks this is because the US made stuff is a lot more engaging than the usual depressing BBC productions.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/tv-radio/article4122419.ece
I thinks this is because the US made stuff is a lot more engaging than the usual depressing BBC productions.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/tv-radio/article4122419.ece
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I can't really tell anyway as the site is paywalled.
All that I can see is:
And it would look as if the comment (hardly a moan perhaps) was a generic one across ALL UK broadcasters (seeing as Broadchurch was mentioned in the only bit that I can see), but for some unfathomable reason you have chosen to make it a BBC-related one.
The viewing figures here for the UK dramas are of course much higher than those for e.g. the US programmes on the likes of Sky Atlantic, even the ones on ITV, Channel 4, etc. I would hazard a guess that even if Game of Thrones was shown on BBC1 at 9pm Monday evenings it wouldn't get the same viewing numbers as Sherlock or Downton.
Having said all that, Game of Thrones is far, far beyond anything that UK TV is likely to produce anytime soon in terms of programming quality. Having the biggest budget on US TV helps, obviously.
I think there's good and bad on both sides of the pond. Happy Valley and Broadchurch are as good (if different) as anything else. In fact, they are preferable to some people.
If there are "snobs" they are just as likely to be on the other side of the argument.
i.e "Us Tv is better".....
to
"British Tv is better".
They can both be brilliant in their own way.
For me the UK seems unable to move beyond the family friendly 'Merlin/Robin Hood' style of drama. Where beautiful people exchange sharp, witty dialogue in a fast paced script full of 'twists' and happy endings. They don't seem to have the courage of the US to have ambiguous characters or very dark story lines. Basically speaking they're not prepared to explore real life beyond a certain point.
I mean Broadchurch was a notable exception of quality drama; but even that never came close to the exploring the dark realities of murder the same way as The Killing did. The Hour was a reasonable attempt at drama from the BBC but the quality of writing and courage to abandon traditional plotting like Mad Men, the show it was clearly based on, was obviously lacking. Even Sherlock, a show I know is loved by millions, is still a very 'safe' show when compared to something even like The Mentalist.
For a large section of the UK public there obviously isn't a problem with the above. They don't want to watch torture porn or understand the thinking of a serial killer or engage in a complex show where drama isn't clearly sign posted at every step. But there's also a large section that does - my mum and step dad love both Call the Midwife and The Killing.
Critical aclaim = status.
(And maybe a better job in the US)
You want to try Happy Valley, "very safe" it is not...
Relatives and friends there love to receive discs with UK programmes on them.
I can't remember the last time I watched a US drama series, I have been exposed to them when visiting friends but all the ones I have seen there just seem mass produced, often with wooden acting (awards or not!).
It may once have been true, but in a very different television environment, The reality is that Britain does still turn out some brilliant drama - Downton Abbey, Broadchurch, Peaky Blinders etc - but it also turns out some average, formulaic, mediocre and downright rubbish drama as well. The US in particular has significantly upped its game in recent years - True Detective, Fargo and of course Breaking Bad being recent strong examples. Even their 22 part standard network fare - Good Wife, Chicago Fire, Blue Bloods, Elementary, The Blacklist, Person of Interest, The Mentalist, Law and Order:SVU etc etc - is of much higher quality than used to be the case and IMO is generally preferable to some comparable home grown product. There is also more of it at each level of quality.
Danny Cohen won't win many friends by calling people snobs because they like drama from elsewhere than the BBC and ITV. He should just concentrate on producing great drama. If he does then it will get the attention and credit it deserves - but it won't stop me watching the non BBC and ITV shows I've listed above and many others.
It is just as "snobbish" to claim that British drama is the best in the world Danny
Maybe the word "snob" was used by headline writers (and a bit of lazy copying from some, including the BBC)?
Because all that I can find is this from the BBC website:
And from the Mail:
No use of the word "snob" there.
There's only so many BBC costume dramas I can take. The BBC doesn't usually bother trying to appeal to my age range in any case. American broadcasters do.
Last week I saw a trailer before Wallander for Happy Valley - "now on iPlayer" - so decided to start watching it as it's had such positive reviews. But by the time I was ready to watch it, it had been deleted from iPlayer (and thus wiped from Sky+). The box set audience doesn't like being told that it can't watch a show because it's "expired", and the BBC needs to address this or the good shows that it does still produce will go unwatched by the very audience it's trying to win over.
I agree with everything apart from the larger talent pool. The big hit of the moment - Game of Thrones is wall to wall UK acting talent
Utopia is the only thing that the UK has made that stands up to the top US stuff that has never really taken off in ratings and even that is being remade for US crowds. Broadchurch is bigged up as a huge hit which it was but it was a bit soapy. Downton Abbey is nonsense.
I guess that, to extend that time any further would involve more protracted rights negotiations, and greater rights costs
And accept that online viewing will never match the unlimited nature of PVR viewing.