Elementary, my dear BBC
Reflection — By Mat Davies on August 21, 2010 7:00 am
In the Golden Age of Television in the 1970s, few BBC Wales productions made a real impact on the cultural conciousness of the nation. Today we are spoilt for choice
THERE was a scene in the recent BBC Wales modern adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock stories where our eponymous hero, flushed with success after foiling another bomb plot set by his arch enemy Moriarty, exclaims “I’m on fire!”
If ever there was a phrase that neatly summed up the present fortunes of the BBC Wales drama department, then “on fire!” is surely it.
There is a creative and artistic renaissance in Wales and the BBC Wales drama department is perhaps the most high profile manifestation of it. It is a renaissance that is set to continue to flourish: physically, with the building work commencing on the drama village in Roath Basin; commercially, with the move to Wales from Bristol of Casualty, the icon of the BBC Saturday night schedule and, artistically, with the recent confirmation that BBC Wales will be “doing” more Sherlock.
The success of Sherlock is but the latest in a growing portfolio of exceptional programming that has cemented BBC Wales’ reputation both home and abroad. In Sherlock, adapted by Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis, (both of whom have had previous BBC Wales experience, via Doctor Who) we have in three films, scheduled when most people are off in the Mediterranean, a show that has been – well – pretty much universally praised. I haven’t seen a drama garner so many good reviews and such internet chatter in a long, long time. The casting and acting throughout are pitch perfect, the writing exemplary, the dialogue is smart, witty and effervescent. It was classic television.
Sherlock now joins a growing stable of network drama produced in Wales that is starting to read like a who’s who of quality television. Sherlock, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Merlin, Pobol y Cwm, Ashes to Ashes, Casualty and, perhaps towering above them all, the television juggernaut that is Doctor Who (and before you ask, yes I do prefer Matt Smith to David Tennant).
It wasn’t always such a rosy picture. For viewers of a certain age, the words “a BBC Wales production” rekindles not always pleasant memories of a bicycling Nerys Hughes, dispensing homely advice and prescription medicines across the South Wales valleys. The District Nurse, the BBC Wales long-running drama of the 1980s was the bedrock of the output of the BBC Wales drama production unit. Worthy? Perhaps. Inspiring? Not really.
However, times haven’t just a-changed. They have been absolutely transformed. Under the leadership of Menna Richards, the BBC Wales drama department has become the key non-London production unit of the BBC and, arguably, from a creative side at least, has been responsible for the creation of the UK’s biggest water cooler TV moments of recent years.
The shift of production to Cardiff is just not about the BBC optimising its resources at a challenging time for the corporation but a fantastic opportunity for businesses in Wales supplying into the BBC as well as the obvious opportunities that the move will facilitate for the creative media sector. The sense of pleasure and opportunity was evident in both the council leader and First Minister who were both equally effusive in their praise of BBC Wales generally and the Drama Village more specifically in recent news conferences.
The move of ratings favourite hospital drama/soap Casualty, however, has not been without its traumas. The Bristol Evening Post was amongst the siren voices calling for Casualty to remain in Bristol where the West Country locations have been a continuous fixture for over 20 years. Viewers will now need to get used to Queen Street and The Hayes replacing Whiteladies Road and Queens Road as filming on the next series of Casualty begins in earnest in 2011.
The strategic decision to move so much network drama to Wales is testimony to the quality of workforce and the abundance of creative talent that Wales has been producing. BBC Wales is now the major contributor not just to television drama in Wales but right across the UK. The development of the production facilities only seek to underscore and capitalise on that talent.
The debate about the licence fee and value for money hasn’t gone away and is unlikely to go away any time soon but BBC Wales has put a substantial stake in the ground around just what quality public sector broadcasting can be and should be.
There is a cliché about the supposed Golden Age of television and an oft repeated criticism that “They don’t make them like they used to”. I’m really pleased they don’t make them like they used to. They are so much better these days.
Do you know what- let’s stick the proverbial neck out. The Golden Age of Welsh-produced television is now.
Tags: BBC, Dr Who, Sherlock Holmes, television
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12 Comments
Ok, I was wrong not to bother watching Sherlock. If I admit it publicly, will people stop giving me odd looks in private when I confess to that?
“The Golden Age of Welsh-produced television is now.”
Fair comment as regards BBC Cymru Wales producing programmes for the UK network, so long as the term ‘Welsh’ is understood in this context to be so elastic as to make it practically meaningless.
But very debatable when applied to the programmes being produced specifically for the viewers of Wales, in both languages.
As Mat lives in London, this is understandable.
Sherlock was fun. I’m looking forward to see what BBC Wales do with Being Human (they’ve moved from Bristol to Cardiff) and I’m intrigued by the news that Torchwood is being shot in California. Still not a fan of Doctor Who, though. It’s naff; always has been, always will be,
Are Being Human and Casualty going to be set in Cardiff or are the BBC going to pretend that they are set in generic UK cities.
If the former at least half the characters ( not neccessarily lead ones) are going to have to be Welsh in order for the shows to be realistic.
If the latter the producers are going to have to dodge filming every bilingual sign etc that identifies Cardiff as not being some generic UK city.
Or are the BBC going to set them in a de-Welshified Cardiff inhabited by very few Welsh people with no nods to Wales apart from the odd Casualty plot about a rugby injury or an entire male voice choir going down with Legionaires disease.
When BBC Wales produces a few series that are shown UK wide that are of Wales to the same extent that Taggart is of Scotland I’ll celebrate a BBC Wales golden age.
PS if Casualty is set in Cardiff I wonder how much the fact that health is a devolved matter in Wales will come across in the show’s plots.
Being Human will be set in Cardiff.
“Fair comment as regards BBC Cymru Wales producing programmes for the UK network, so long as the term ‘Welsh’ is understood in this context to be so elastic as to make it practically meaningless.”
Not this again. These programmes are a big part of Welsh culture because many Welsh people watch them talk about them etc. Perhaps you can give us a list of programme topics that meet your standard of Welshness?
Great article though, producing such programmes in Wales is of vital importance, if young people are to have job opportunities here in Wales. I have often wondered what the career path would be for someone who wants to get into this industry. I am a bit past it but I am sure many are interested.
Isn’t there a somewhat parallel situation in Canada, for Anglophone audiences at least? Canadian TV drama production are often geared to a USA audience and also USA TV productions use Canadian locations and studios for series supposedly set in the USA.
On the other hand French language TV in Canada doesn’t set out to court a USA audience and as a result provides drama that’s identifiably Canadian or at least indentifiable as coming from the Francophone part of the country.
The only show I have any memory of that featured Wales was District Nurse that ran in the 1980s it starred Nerys Hughes set in mining town in the valleys. I think it lasted three years.
I did not like Torchwood filled with characters who spoke like Fenella the witch in that old kids series.
People I talk to over here about Dr Who and Torchwood have no idea about Cardiff!
“Are Being Human and Casualty going to be set in Cardiff or are the BBC going to pretend that they are set in generic UK cities. If the former at least half the characters ( not neccessarily lead ones) are going to have to be Welsh in order for the shows to be realistic. If the latter the producers are going to have to dodge filming every bilingual sign etc that identifies Cardiff as not being some generic UK city.”
They manage to do that for Dr Who, Sherlock, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the last series of Torchwood, so they will no doubt do it again – BBC Wales obviously finds it preferable to admitting that its a Welsh TV programme, and certainly preferable to including Welsh characters.
I recently discussed much the same thing on my blog:
http://welshagenda.blogspot.com/2010/08/rural-wales-and-strum-of-banjos.html
The problem is not so much that BBC Wales produces programmes that are set elswhere, but that they seem reluctant to produce any programmes with Welsh characters set in Wales.
“Not this again. These programmes are a big part of Welsh culture because many Welsh people watch them talk about them etc. Perhaps you can give us a list of programme topics that meet your standard of Welshness?”
Dear michaelt, allow me to elaborate.
My comments were about Mat’s use of ‘Welsh’ in ‘Welsh-produced TV series’.
Definitely not as an attempt to define ‘Welsh culture’ or ‘Welshness’ in tv programmes – oh no..
In the context of ‘Welsh-produced’, I have no problem with anything that the estimable Russel T Davies has originated, Dr Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane – most of which has been filmed & crewed by people in Wales.
Contrast this this with Ashes to Ashes, and its predecessor Life on Mars, which wasn’t filmed & crewed in Wales. Yes it was commissioned by BBC Wales by Russel T Davies’s equally estimable colleague Julie Gardner, and I believe its post-production (editing, dubbing etc..) took place in Wales, but I believe that is when the ‘Welsh-produced’ elastic is getting a tad s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d…
I hope that makes things a little clearer.
reply to Welsh Agenda.
I’d agree that BBC Wales appear very timid when it comes to actually portraying something Welsh though in the case of Dr Who or Sherlock they don’t warrant any particular Welsh flavour to them.. However I think BBC Wales face what is basically opposition from within the BBC itself. Belonging the valleys soap was never given a proper UK broadcast. The current hospital drama series Crash although not perfect is easily good enough compared to what’s shown on TV now and has high enough production values to be shown UK wide.
Welsh language TV does reflect and serve a Welsh audience three series I enjoyed were Y Pris – trouble making west Wales gangsters, Con Passionate – trouble making west Wales choristers and Cowbois ac Injans – trouble making west Wales second hand car salesmen. S4C perhaps not reflecting and serving the entire Welsh audience but all three of those were of a UK broadcast standard. Com Pass even won gold at the international Rose D’Or awards (it didn’t get anything at the UK Baftas).
On the whole ‘what about Welsh shows” theme, I’m not really all that bothered. Some things like a Welsh detective series or historical drama might interest me, but otherwise the very fact that I’m Welsh and live in modern Wales makes me less interested in watching a drama about Welsh people living in modern Wales. I want escapism, which is why most of the shows I watch are from the US, that and the fact that US shows have bigger budgets and more resources and subsequently produce better quality. On that score I’d like to see TV companies from across the EU cooperating and pooling their resources to create bigger budget, better quality supranational entertainment.