Play for Today

[pmcray]

Talking of no-brainer commissions for TV executives: Play for Today. Reading about the kinds of things that were broadcast makes me weak with desire. The depth, breadth, seriousness (with the opportunity for comedy) and sheer ambition of what was produced is quite extraordinary. The past is another country and at least in so far as these kinds of things were broadcast a better one. To think, this is what was provided for primetime audiences. And ITV used to show opera.

And what he need isn't a single short series of one-off plays on BBC4 or even BBC2, but the proper thing: a five year commitment from the BBC to produce 26 new original plays to be shown at 9:00 on BBC1. The project would allow new writers, directors and actors to learn their trades through a BBC repertory company. Perhaps a new Mike Leigh or Dennis Potter might emerge. Imagine the places we'd go! Of course, there was much that by the numbers, plain dull or simply.nugatory. But at least people were given the chance to do something interesting and see something interesting - and very often it worked magnificently.

I know, I know. Television in the UK in 2011 just doesn't work like that. and the world is a poorer place for it.

See also http://www.britishtelevisiondrama.org.uk/?page_id=858.

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Definitely - and don't forget the spin-offs, the plays that ended up as series, such as the awesome Gangsters.

But the BBC did try something like this not so long ago, on BBC3, albeit there were only a handful of plays rather than a long series. Being Human started out as one of them.

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

In 2010, I ploughed by way through the whole of Wood and Lawrence's "About Time" series that analyses each story of Classic Who in exhaustive and exhausting detail. The Philip Martin stories ("Vengance on Varos" and "Mindwarp") sounded fascinating (I had rather lost contact with DW by the mid-80s and it will be a while before I get round to watch the stories as part of my DW watch), so I bought the boxed set of "Gangsters", which includes the PfT pilot. Of course, I won't have time to watch it until I have seen the whole of Who, in about three years.

The BBC have certainly done a number of series of one-off plays over the years. But what is needed is a large, long-term commitment to original one-off dramas. With that kind of ecosystem in place, there is the real possibility that we could see again something like the glories of the 1970s.