Eurovision - A plan for the future

Yet again the British song has bombed. Quelle suprise! I think the problem Britain has is that it puts up fairly mainstream pop songs that are the currency of mainstream charts around the world. This to me is a fundamental mistake. What Britain needs to do is one year simply put a song in that plays to British tradition. I would have thought that a fairly modern Morris Dancerish tune would be a good idea. It may not work but it couldn’t do any worse than last place!

Doctor Who!

Well today I am having a lazy day with UKTV Gold who are currently showing David Tennant’s first Who episode, The Christmas Invasion! It is a wonderfully silly story as are all the best Who stories and it makes for a nice relaxing Sunday!!

Post delayed from Monday

Yet again posting has been impacted by my rubbish internet connection, thank you Mr Branson! On Monday night I was watching the new drama The Palace on ITV1, it looked like an interesting concept and a means of exploring issues in a refreshing fashion. It was billed in some quarters as a British version of The West Wing. I was sceptical of that hype, and I was right to be. The concept of the new ITV drama was a good one and the potential for an absorbing drama was enormous. To explore the nature of fame and the balance of public and private personas in a drama like this would have made for a gripping and engaging series. Unfortunately this is not what was presented on Monday night, now of course there are seven more episodes to go and so there is room for improvement but first impressions count especially in television.

What was wrong with the exposition fo the drama then in my opinion. Well firstly it didn’t set up the major plot line of the season correctly in my view. This is an eight part series whose prime motivator is to look at how a young person handles stepping up to the responsibility of being King. This is an interesting way of handling the drama, with lots of potential for interesting episodes. Episode one however was not the ideal way to start the drama, it introduced the characters in a complete rush without giving the audience a chance to get to know them properly or to sympathise with them. By killing the old king in the first half hour the writers didn’t have time to explain the relational dynamic in the fictional Royal Family, or to paint the characters in anything other than a poor light. I would certainly have had the old king survive for a couple of episodes, to develop the relationship and give the viewer time to feel for the characters before upending them completely. The second big failing was to flit from character to character and attempt to introduce all the dramatis personae in the first episode, this was a mistake as it limited the scope for meaningful development. As half the cast are below stairs staff, they could be introduced gradually in a much more subtle way.

As mentioned previously the hype suggested that this new drama would be a British ‘The West Wing’ and if that is the aspiration then from the evidence of the first episode it will fail abysmally. The key to the success of The West Wing was to create a drama that whilst purely fictional had the ring of authenticity around it. In any episode of that great drama you would never be left thinking that it couldn’t possibly be like that in real life, it had the ring of truth about it, it felt genuine. The same cannot be said of The Palace; at various points in the first episode I was left thinking that it was too far-fetched. The characters feel like caricatures rather than sympathetic human beings in a unique situation. We have a widowed Queen who from the evidence of the first episode is cold and aloof, an elder sister who is scheming and manipulative and undermining, a younger brother who is a totally caricatured idiot toff, the staff are no better we have one who speaks in a too familiar manner to his better, one who is scheming an expose and a coterie of others who are the most salacious gossips. The new king is the worst characterized as you do not get a feel for him at all, but that is a failing of plot arc more than anything else.

The worst part of the drama is the lack of authenticity though, at various moments I wanted to jump up and down and scream. This is supposed to be a drama, not a thinly veiled satire. The fact of the matter is that on several fronts the writers have failed to get it right, and it wouldn’t have taken a great deal of thought and imagination to correct it. Firstly the characters are poor and should have been thought about more, secondly the means of executing the major plot device limited the scope for good development of character. Finally the advisers to the new king failed to be true to life, I have no knowledge of the inner workings of the Royal Family but I can guarantee that if a sovereign expressed the wish to do a live interview with the press then those advisers would prevent it by any means necessary. It was the most abundant error in the script, Monarchs are set apart even in this day and age and no adviser would let a monarch especially one of such youth and inexperience as portrayed do a live interview like that. It was not authentic, I hope that it improves over coming weeks, if it does not then I doubt there will be a second series. It is a shame because the potential was so good and yet it appears that the writers have royally screwed it up, to coin a phrase!

Bettany Hughes on Democracy

Just watching Bettany Hughes new documentary about Athenian Democracy, it goes to show that the concept of democracy we have is not the same as that the founders had. It also shows that nothing has really changed much that power corrupted the Athenians just as readily as it corrupts modern politicians. I also like Bettany’s style, it makes history very accessible which is even more necessary when we are talking about events 2500 years in the past.

I enjoy my history, it not only informs us of our past, but also about ourselves. It shows us what humanity can do, both good and bad. I am definately enjoying tonights documentary. I was aware that the Athenian model was not the same as we enjoy/suffer today. However I was unaware that Greeks regarded women almost as a social disease and that they were heavily into slaves. It has certainly proved enlightening.