Pricey BBC Drama

[groovydavidii]

A sometimes perspicacious friend claims that BBC’s extravagant drama (costume) output/bought input, drains its overall budget, therefore other departments such as orchestral music are deprived of essential financial support. Maybe he forgets drama being visual naturally prioritises its rightful medium television. But he might have a point. Myself, no arbiter of good taste, recalls only a handful of memorable drama over the years: early ‘Dr. Who’-Tom Baker, ‘Tinker, Tailor,’ ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Boys of the Blackstuff,’ ‘The Wire,’ ‘The Night Manager’, ‘MacMafia’,“Wolf Hall, 1st episode-’Sherlock’, ‘The Terror’. The rest, unintentionally, forgettable.

[Ein Heldenleben]

A sometimes perspicacious friend claims that BBC’s extravagant drama (costume) output/bought input, drains its overall budget, therefore other departments such as orchestral music are deprived of essential financial support. Maybe he forgets drama being visual naturally prioritises its rightful medium television. But he might have a point. Myself, no arbiter of good taste, recalls only a handful of memorable drama over the years: early ‘Dr. Who’-Tom Baker, ‘Tinker, Tailor,’ ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Boys of the Blackstuff,’ ‘The Wire,’ ‘The Night Manager’, ‘MacMafia’,“Wolf Hall, 1st episode-’Sherlock’, ‘The Terror’. The rest, unintentionally, forgettable.

Your friend is partly right. Quality drama starts at a million pound an hour but (as you mention - bar The Wire - exclusively BBC drama ) it’s often funded partly by co production money. The drama makers , who are nearly always indies, retain further sales rights and that’s alao taken into account when setting the budget. It’s a very competitive market and broadcasters are more or less compelled to pay the market price for talent. Drama gets much bigger audiences than that for orchestral music and the BBC I guess has decided that were it to withdraw from showing quality drama support for the licence fee would rapidly diminish. The trick of course is to produce drama that can be distinguished from run of the mill output.

[Hitch]

Costume drama requires costumes. The BBC sold its extensive costume archive in 2008. Presumably, it now has to hire clothes at the going rate, although I would be happy to be corrected on this matter.

[eighthobstruction]

....is the "sometimes" perspicacious[ness] of your friend dependant upon anything in particular....drink perhaps....yoga/meditation....

[smittims]

In my experience TV dramas are usually well-acted and beautifully filmed but spoilt by a poor script. I've seen this so consistently that I'm surprised somethg isn't done about it. I suspect that the culprit is too many bosses interfering to try to make it more sellable America etc.

Another problem is excessive 'musical wallpaper' drowning the dialogue, and 'mumblegate' . I believe there have been many complaints about this but nothing is done for the same reason as above.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Costume drama requires costumes. The BBC sold its extensive costume archive in 2008. Presumably, it now has to hire clothes at the going rate, although I would be happy to be corrected on this matter.

Its rare for costumes (or period appropriate vehicles) to be anything other than pristine. No doubt the hire owners require they are returned in that condition. Yet in the period in question they had no dry cleaners or washing machines, and roads and paths were muddy (often in the extreme).

Another problem is excessive 'musical wallpaper' drowning the dialogue, and 'mumblegate' . I believe there have been many complaints about this but nothing is done for the same reason as above.

I only watch TV in the living room, and the set has my best quality audio/speakers either side of it. I set the speaker sound level high such that I can discern the mumbled, poorly delivered speech, and the TV sound so that I can hear at a lower level. As so often happens, loud music /sounds re-inforce the drama when dialogue dries up - at that point, remote in hand, I mute the speakers and hear the music at a lower (and civilised) level until its over....

On my visits to the cinema, which is not very often, I use earplugs for the adverts and trailers, and if the sound gets too much in the feature itself, which is infrequently, I resort to fingers in my ears.