On British Soaps, etc. Part Two
Susan Edwards
Mervyn Wateron, deputy contraoller of drama at Yorkshire Television and
the producer of "Emmerdale", says that unlike Americans, the British
don't want to see aspirational fantasies about the rich and famous.
Instead, they want to see shows about people like themselves and the
soaps' producers are giving them what they want.
"It's interesting that when television has tried to create long-running
drama series based on the upper or aristocratic classes, they've been the
lease successful", said Mr. Watson. "Those kind of shows tend to get up
people's noses".
In their modest way, the soaps can trace their realistic roots as far
back as 1956 when John Osborne wrote "Look Back in Anger", a
groundbreaking play that abandoned the mostly middle-class drawing-room
dramas of the past to focus on the harsh realities of working-class
life. The same themes can be seen, too, in the films of directors like
Miks Leigh, Ken Loach and Stephen Frears, who eschew frothy,
Hollywood-style folms in favor of stark dramas.
"In the end, you are talking about television responding to the culture
of the day," said Jane Harris, the producer of "Eastenders", which is the
most popular of the British soaps. "Unlike North America, which is
dominated by Hollywood, British television and its film industry is
dominated by public broadcasting, which has a very strong tradition of
social realism.
At the same time, the soap operas speak directly to the British public's
complicated attitudes toward wealth and social mobility. Making a lot of
money has always been seen as a goal here - but also, paradoxically, as
cause for suspicion and as an almost certain recipe for disaster. This
is a nation, after all, where millions of people buy lottery tickets each
week in hope of striking it rich, but tend to revile the people who
actually win.
"The English are an envious nation, and in some sense they resent
success," said Peter Ansorge, senior commissioning editor for television
drama at Channel Four, whose soaps include "Brookside". "In America,
they love success. If you win something, it's brilliant and everybody
loves it, whereas in England if you win something your colleagues stop
speaking to you. If you lose, they say 'hard luck', but secretly they're
happy. This culture of envy argues against soaps set in a cosmetic, nice
environment.
Part 3 to follow.
Whew!
Susan
--
Lorraine Rollo
I'm an American and I love Brtish soaps, Don't care for American soaps at
all they are unrealistic... No one is ever dead or stays dead... Corrie
is my favorite. It is true we are happy if someone wins big, good for
them. My best friend who is from Birmingham does not watch Corrie hates
it and does not want her Mother or I to discuss it... She watches
DOOL...Lori
jean thomson
On 1 Oct 1997 12:28:30 GMT, susa...@uoguelph.ca (Susan Edwards)
wrote:
>Mervyn Wateron, deputy contraoller of drama at Yorkshire Television and
>the producer of "Emmerdale", says that unlike Americans, the British
>don't want to see aspirational fantasies about the rich and famous.
>Instead, they want to see shows about people like themselves and the
>soaps' producers are giving them what they want.
I guess this explains why Dallas and Dynasty were so successful in
Britain!!!