Drama Note

Our new series of Drama Script Editing courses for 2016 are under way. Expert trainer Philip Shelley will be travelling the UK meeting people interested in the skills and techniques required to work as a Script Editor on high end TV drama series.

With the explosion of production across the drama genre, there is an increased need for script editors. Philip’s course is a great introduction because he lays down the rules, explains how to write good script notes and reports, and he brings in a professional writer who will listen to the notes prepped by the group.

The course, which is part-funded by The HETV Levy Fund through Creative Skillset, runs for two days and we are keen to involve Drama Indies as mentors for our students.

All our courses can be booked through Eventbrite and more dates for Philips tour will be announced soon.

Philip’s website: http://script-consultant.co.uk/

BRING BACK TOP OF THE POPS

There’s an assumption that ‘watercooler’ conversations about TV are a thing of the past;  a natural result of our solitary, multi-platform viewing habits. Even a show like Game of Thrones can’t be discussed openly anywhere for fear someone nearby has yet to catch up with the last episode.

Typical conversations about Stranger Things (Netflix) involved cautious praise: “I really liked it, it’s kind of, well there’s a lot of movie references from the 80s, you should try it, maybe, if you like that kind of thing. I shouldn’t say any more…”

Apparently, people no longer watch TV together, so what does that say about the families on Gogglebox? Are they no more than a nostalgia-based, narrative construct devised by the producers?

Of course not. People do still watch TV together. It’s what they watch together that is important.

Television still has a unique ability to unify. We love to watch shows together and to argue about them. Such shows are essential in providing British people with something to talk about other that the weather.

That’s why we believe that, rather than surrendering to multi-platform, mainstream terrestrial television channels should play to their traditional strengths. That is, they should deliberately produce more programmes that bond the family and provide a communal viewing experience.

And that’s why the BBC should bring back Top of The Pops. Not because the viewers necessarily demand it, nor do we particularly need more music on TV, but TOTP was a TV show that lots of people watched at the same time. It provided us with something in common to talk about. Top of the Pops generated opinion. The fact that it kept a broad audience informed as to what was actually happening in the world of pop music was a bonus.

Top of the Pops was different every week (unless Bryan Adams was at number one for six months) and it got people talking: “Look at the state of that!” “Does that pass for singing these days?” “Is that a man or a woman…or both?”

Formatted, stripped entertainment programmes like Antiques Road Trip or Eggheads do not do the same job. They are decent schedule fillers but are never going to generate genuine  family debate or encourage group viewing. They are just there, in a vaguely charming, cheap, provincial library kind of way.

Come Dine With Me is a little different because we can at least bitch about the state of other peoples’ kitchens. It taps into British curiosity. We don’t necessarily go into our neighbours homes any more, so we feed that need by watching shows that take us into houses across the nation. There’s an element of that in Gogglebox, of course.

So, we very much believe there should be more shows like Top Of the Pops on the box. More shows that are fresh and different every week  and which provide a shared viewing experience that we can talk about as a community.

Bring back Top of The Pops. Pop pickers everywhere demand it.