I don’t know why I bothered. I managed fifteen minutes before I switched it off, reminded yet again of the reason why I shun costume dramas. The point is that they’re not really dramas. There’s no drama in them. The values are geared to comfort and safety in order to attract a mass audience that likes their entertainment cosy. There’s no edge; they take no risks; they’re pallid and predictable.
They do, however, make a lot of money for Britain in export revenue.
6 comments:
Was it based on literature or just a costume soap opera? The BBC is pretty good at doing Dickens, Thackery, etc. but of course, it's all relative. If you've ever seen German T.V..., oh well. Here detective dramas are very popular – "Tatort" (Scene of the Crime) has been a huge T.V. success for decades. I suppose it's a little like the British version of the genre. P.S. Your new header picture is gorgeous – is that also the Lake District? I see the ghost of other letters in it below your blog title – is that a copyright mark?
Don’t know what it’s based on, Della. They mostly look all the same to me! I might make an exception for Dickens. It’s interesting that some of the comedy shows have started sending up the costume drama.
My favourite drama at the moment is a ‘cop’ show called Waking the Dead, which is very edgy at times and makes some controversial political points. It also has a good mix of underplayed personalities among its main characters, and the MC is highly flawed.
Yes, that picture was taken high up on the fells not too far from Ullswater. The watermark is unavoidable, I’m afraid, since the only copies I have of these pictures are what appears on the picture library’s website. I lift them from there, which means they’re low resolution and have the watermark to stop people using them for commercial purposes without permission. I feel entitled to use them since it isn’t commercial and they are, after all, my copyright.
You have to make exceptions for Dickens the beeb does them to perfection! Do love the costumes though so in general I'm a costume drama slut! ;)
I wasn't thinking of Dickens actually, Mel, more the 18th century ones. The only one of them I liked was Blackadder III.
Ha ha, that's the first time I've thought of Blackadder as a costume drama.
Some of Baldrick's costumes were brilliant.
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