I have been reminded lately that great quality drama – both writing and acting – is no longer limited to the silver screen, TV and stage. I am an avid follower of Bernie Su’s and Hank Green’s The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. The “LBD” is a transmedia modernisation/adaption of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and is another great example of quality writing and acting. It is well worth viewing if you have not yet seen it. The main content is based around twenty-something grad student Lizzie Bennet’s YouTube blog in which she discusses her daily life with her parents and sisters Jane and Lydia. The Mary Bennet of the original becomes a cousin, and Kitty is Mary’s cat. Lizzie’s vlogs are supplemented by in character tweets and also vlogs by younger sister Lydia. Her best friend and blog editor is Charlotte Lu, and she has a volatile relationship with one William Darcy. Speaking of Twitter, one of the real challenges the writers of the LBD had not faced by Jane Austen was to keep the in world characters ignorant of events in our world dominated by cell phones, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The main characters all have Twitter accounts. The writers…
Over the last few days I have watched three very different productions of Sherlock Holmes; an episode of the 1980s Granada television series starring Jeremy Brett, the modern day BBC production starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr's return to the role in the movie Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. All of these are excellent in their own way, but are very, very different from each other. Of the three, the Jeremy Brett version is the closest to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle conception of the consulting detective. Granada Television set out to make a series that was faithful to the source material, and many consider Brett to be the definitive Holmes of his generation. The series captured very well Holmes' brilliant intellect and mercurial nature. The BBC production is very different; updated and set in the modern era, it has a very different vibe to it, but it still captures Holmes' lightning quick mind and ascorbic personality. Brilliantly played by Cumberbatch, you can almost see the wheels clicking round in his mind as he works through the mystery. More so than the Brett production it places a strong emphasis on the relationship between Holmes and Watson, played by…
Today I went out to the cinema despite the freezing cold to see this movie. Technically, it was excellent, with some superb performances, Gary Oldman and Benedict Cumberbatch both giving standout performances. Of course, it helped that all the main leads are very easy on the eye. However, as a woman, I was shocked by how darned chauvinistic it was. There was barely a single female character who wasn’t a) simple arm candy for the main characters b) a glorified tealady c) an adulteress or d) a damsel in distress the rescue of whom is held out as a reward for one of the main male characters The only positive female character , a smart secretary who seemed to know what was what (who got maybe 10 minutes’ screen time) was portrayed as less than traditionally attractive, and was forcibly put out to pasture (retired) very early on. Sadly, I fear that’s not too far from the truth of life in the 1970s British intelligence service. It’s been a while since I read John Le Carré’s novel on which the movie is based, so I can’t recall exactly if it’s as chauvinistic. When speaking with friends they asked me what…
Having watched some excellent quality drama recently I decided to review what they had in common. First of all, it would probably help if I gave examples of what I consider quality television. It includes, but is not limited to: the Sci-Fi Channel's reimagined Battlestar Galactica, ABC's Lost, HBO's highly acclaimed production of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, and the UK's ITV channel Downton Abbey. At first glance, these may not seem to have much in common. What connection could there possibly be between a futuristic sci-fi drama, a time-travel mystery, a swords and sorcery fantasy series and a period piece set in early 20th century England? The answer, dear reader, is characters, people in whom we have a vested interest, portrayed by competent actors. We may not necessarily like the characters, but we do have to want to know what happens to them. It is not even a case of identifying with the characters. I have never been stranded on a mystery island with a Smoke Monster, nor survived a robotic genocidal attack. However, at the core of all of these shows is human interacting with human, humans dealing with situations outside their comfort zone, humans dealing…