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Perfect StrangersDateline: 13th May, 2001 In the desert of competent mediocrity which is present-day British TV drama, a new Stephen Poliakoff is an event to look forward to as much as we used to look forward to the latest Dennis Potter. And I'm sorry, but yes, I do believe that TV drama today is both competent and mediocre. Having abandoned the single play (alas for the days of Play for Today and The Wednesday Play!) quite some time ago in favour of the series or mini-series, British television now presents us with writing well in excess of 90% of which is formulaic. Usually it's well done (both in terms of the writing and the performances) - and sometimes it can even be quite daring in terms of the use of the medium - but it is writing to a formula. No one should be surprised at this. I would suggest that 90% plus of writing for the theatre is equally formulaic. If you look at the average amateur theatre's programme - and I really and truly don't mean to be in any way insulting here - you'll see that the vast majority of plays are formulaic potboilers. Take a look at the plays which tour the country: most of them are written to a formula. Formulae work, that's why most theatre and TV (as well as film and radio) is formula-based. People like what they like - and want more of it. Unfortunately, because of the ever-present pressure of ratings, TV has suffered from this more than any other artistic medium. As a result, over the last few years originality has been conspicuously absent from that box in the corner. So, as I said right at the beginning, a new Stephen Poliakoff is an event to look forward to. Paul Hoggart of The Times agrees: Stephen Poliakoff has a privileged position these days. He is probably the only television dramatist who is regularly allowed to take artistic risks. There is plenty of raw social realism around, of course, in the tradition of Ken Loach, some of it very powerful, but Poliakoff is actually licensed to use television drama as an art form. On Thursday 10th May we saw the first chapter of the latest Poliakoff opus, Perfect Strangers. It will continue for the next two Thursdays on BBC2. Does it live up to Shooting the Past, to which Poliakoff himself says it is closely linked? The critics' verdict has yet to be issued, except for Hoggart's, and he would not really commit himself with only one third of the series shown. However Pseuds' Corner (aka BBC2's Newsnight Review) did pronounce judgement, since its "critics" have the advantage of having seen the whole thing through to the end. (Newsnight Review, for those who don't know it, is a late-night BBC2 programme whcih offers minor writers (and other artists), obscure critics, and people who once, some thirty years or so ago, produced some work which made some sort of splash, the opportunity to sound superior at the expense of those artists who actually do something. They make ex cathedra pronouncements which, fortunately, make little impact because hardly anyone ever actually watches the programme. I got my information about what they said from the BBC Website.) Ekow Eshun (Who? Believe me, he is well-known - to the people who know him. Alright, he's editor of Arena magazine, which describes itself as "The most stylish, highest quality men's magazine that money can buy. Featuring the cream of the world's photographic and journalistic talent it's about money power and success") (the lack of punctuation is theirs, not mine) found it self-indulgent - "like drinking a pint of treacle," he said. He goes on to say, "Poliakoff as both the writer and director indulges himself and his actors. So scenes that should last five minutes last four or five times that." Were we watching the same programme? I don't remember any 20/25 minute scenes. But I suppose I haven't seen the whole thing. But enough of this sniping at others! I hear you say. What about your own opinion? For that, I'm afraid, you'll have to go to the next page! Articles Indices: |
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