What the hell has happened to Skins? Boldest of bold moves to chuck out your cast after just two seasons, and start again with a completely new one. Or just plain foolish? I'm not sure. I guess it can work if you come up with half a dozen characters as good as the last lot. But at the same time you can't just mimic what's gone before. We might want to see more of Tony, Sid and Cassie, but if it's not actually them, we certainly don't want a pale imitation. So you are basically creating a brand new show and have to win over the audience all over again. Brave indeed. For me the first two episodes in the new series were a disaster. They represented all the worse bits about Skins, teenagers having sex and doing drugs, ooooh, shocking. Er, get in line behind Hollyoaks, Eastenders and every other soap. Tonally it was all over the place too. A teacher farting into a megaphone in a school assembly, James dropping his trousers nonchalantly in front of everyone, another teacher almost having a breakdown as a result - was this Carry On Skins? By the second episode we had James (again!) initiating a food fight between two rival gangs (one led by the disastrously miscast Mackenzie Crook) and other shenanigans at a brothel, which involved James getting one over Crook. There was slapstick everywhere! And it was all a little odd and annoying. By the end of it, even James' best mate was fed up with him, My only question was how did it take this long?
But then, but then. Then came episode three. Then came Thomas. Thomas has given Skins its soul back. Here was an episode about a guy we actually cared about, who was charismatic, gentle and fascinating. It lurched into silly slapstick only once, when to settle their dispute, Thomas and big, bad gangster Crook had a chili eating contest (why the hell would you give 300 quid to anyone who settled their disputes this way?) My other concern is that Thomas was sent packing by his mum at the end! But surely, please, he will come back soon. I think the best praise a screenwriter can give a show is when they come away and say, I wish I'd written that.
Speaking of which, we're half way through Toby Whitehouse's Being Human over on BBC3. The pilot last year was simply wonderful so expectations were high for the series. I've got to be honest, I preferred pilot Annie to series Annie. No disrespect to Lenora Chrichlow, but she was so awesome and alive in Sugar Rush, it's hard to see her as a ghost! I'm also missing Adrian Lester as Herrick but mostly because I have a bit of a man crush on him (he's just sooo smooth.) But anyway, back to the series and there is plenty of good writing to enjoy. The genesis of the show is that Touchpaper wanted a series about flatmates, which Toby thought was a bit This Life - so came back to them with the flatmates being a vampire, werewolf and a ghost. What a simplistic and absolutely fantastic example of taking something familiar, and totally freshening it up. And once again, it's not really that the stories are breaking new ground, but that the characters are so enjoyable to spend time with. It's probably no coincidence then that my two fave shows at the moment then are this, and Hustle.
Okay time to go, because I have an enormous book to read and critique for a company (I kid you not, it's over 700 pages!) Don't forget to watch Moses Jones and Whitechapel tonight so you know what I'm talking about this time next week!!
Showing posts with label Hustle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hustle. Show all posts
Monday, 9 February 2009
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Things we noticed watching TV this week 20 (Spoilers)
How good is Waterloo Road? It doesn't get a lot of coverage or buzz. It's not really one of the flagship shows for BBC1. But it's been of a consistent quality right from the word go. And what I particularly like about this show, is that it started in season one as 8 episodes, was given the backing to increase to 12 the following year. And then three and now four are both twenty odd. I think this is a great example of how to build a series in this country. We're not the US and we know this. We neither have the infrastructure or money to whack out shows of 20+ episodes right from the off. But there is nothing wrong with building a series slowly, bringing together a team of creative people, and allowing them to hit a stride and rhythm to increase the output but not decrease the quality.
From a writing point of view, what Waterloo Road demonstrates once again are the importance of characters. Thinking about it now off the top of my head (albeit a little sleepily) I can't really remember any specific story lines. But I can tell you quite a few of the characters that have been in the show across the series. Waterloo Road is essentially a grown up Grange Hill, a school based soap opera (seriously it's not a derogatory word.) You can see a point where it will match the episode volum of Casualty or Holby. And like those two shows, this is the school where everything happens! I mentioned in my last post my love of Sky One's Dream Team. And you knew if you signed for Harchester United you were going to be in for a torrid time. This was the football club that went through plane crashes, bus explosions, assassinations, bombs, armed police raids and much more. So there was a certain suspension of belief needed but this was all part of the fun and if you couldn't get into it on that level, then why bother watching TV shows at all! So to with Waterloo Road. Fires, knives, shootings, a former prostitute head teacher and so on. Of course it's ridiculous. But that's missing the point. These are precinct dramas. If it's not Holby then it's Albert Square. I personally think soaps can get themselves in trouble when they go for the bigger and bigger stories. It's not really about that. It's about bringing together a group of interesting characters and letting them interact. Do it properly and they'll generate stories for you. Do it well and we'll care about them too. Waterloo Road brings together a nice mix of older characters (played by talented, experienced actors) and (no less talented) youngsters. Maybe it's not as edgy as Skins. But in its prime time weekly slot on a mainstream channel, I think it's a great example of how to go about creating a returning series.
Speaking of which, take a bow over at Hustle. I love Hustle. Generally speaking, for a TV series, I usually prefer a continuing story rather than stories of the day to dominate. If I watch your show, I am a loyal audience member. And so I like being engrossed in a story that runs and runs. But Hustle, with it's different con and therefore story every week, is just such great fun. And again, I don't think it's necessarily about the plots. Sure they are cool and I like trying to work them out (got the first two this season but not episode three.) But it's more that I like spending time with these characters. It's great to have Micky Stone back and whilst Sean and Emma are no Danny and Stacie yet, the two new members have brought a new dimension to the show and freshened it up a little bit. (Although I still think Ash is my favourite.) I love the jokey amorality about the show. Yes the gang have a strict code (you can't con an honest man) and they are like modern day Robin Hoods (well, without the giving to the poor bit) but it's great watching Micky rob this bloke of his wallet and car, inside the first few minutes of the season opener. We fantasize vicariously through them as they take down the rich and corrupt in a society that is on its economic knees.
Characters. Characters. Characters. I'm not saying anything ground breaking here. I know that. But here's a little secret. I've never written a series pilot before. Never looked to create a series and a world where characters have to live beyond the 60 to 120 minutes of one off TV or Film features. And I'm just about to. So it's worth reminding myself, if nobody else, that you better come up with a set of characters that people are going to be interested in and care enough about, to spend hours and hours of TV time with.
From a writing point of view, what Waterloo Road demonstrates once again are the importance of characters. Thinking about it now off the top of my head (albeit a little sleepily) I can't really remember any specific story lines. But I can tell you quite a few of the characters that have been in the show across the series. Waterloo Road is essentially a grown up Grange Hill, a school based soap opera (seriously it's not a derogatory word.) You can see a point where it will match the episode volum of Casualty or Holby. And like those two shows, this is the school where everything happens! I mentioned in my last post my love of Sky One's Dream Team. And you knew if you signed for Harchester United you were going to be in for a torrid time. This was the football club that went through plane crashes, bus explosions, assassinations, bombs, armed police raids and much more. So there was a certain suspension of belief needed but this was all part of the fun and if you couldn't get into it on that level, then why bother watching TV shows at all! So to with Waterloo Road. Fires, knives, shootings, a former prostitute head teacher and so on. Of course it's ridiculous. But that's missing the point. These are precinct dramas. If it's not Holby then it's Albert Square. I personally think soaps can get themselves in trouble when they go for the bigger and bigger stories. It's not really about that. It's about bringing together a group of interesting characters and letting them interact. Do it properly and they'll generate stories for you. Do it well and we'll care about them too. Waterloo Road brings together a nice mix of older characters (played by talented, experienced actors) and (no less talented) youngsters. Maybe it's not as edgy as Skins. But in its prime time weekly slot on a mainstream channel, I think it's a great example of how to go about creating a returning series.
Speaking of which, take a bow over at Hustle. I love Hustle. Generally speaking, for a TV series, I usually prefer a continuing story rather than stories of the day to dominate. If I watch your show, I am a loyal audience member. And so I like being engrossed in a story that runs and runs. But Hustle, with it's different con and therefore story every week, is just such great fun. And again, I don't think it's necessarily about the plots. Sure they are cool and I like trying to work them out (got the first two this season but not episode three.) But it's more that I like spending time with these characters. It's great to have Micky Stone back and whilst Sean and Emma are no Danny and Stacie yet, the two new members have brought a new dimension to the show and freshened it up a little bit. (Although I still think Ash is my favourite.) I love the jokey amorality about the show. Yes the gang have a strict code (you can't con an honest man) and they are like modern day Robin Hoods (well, without the giving to the poor bit) but it's great watching Micky rob this bloke of his wallet and car, inside the first few minutes of the season opener. We fantasize vicariously through them as they take down the rich and corrupt in a society that is on its economic knees.
Characters. Characters. Characters. I'm not saying anything ground breaking here. I know that. But here's a little secret. I've never written a series pilot before. Never looked to create a series and a world where characters have to live beyond the 60 to 120 minutes of one off TV or Film features. And I'm just about to. So it's worth reminding myself, if nobody else, that you better come up with a set of characters that people are going to be interested in and care enough about, to spend hours and hours of TV time with.
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