It's increasingly apparent to me that decent homegrown television drama is becoming very scarce. I'll admit that I primarily want TV to entertain me, excite me, and just make me forget reality for an hour. Call me unpatriotic if you like but the likes of The Street, Heartbeat, The Royal, The Bill, Hotel Babylon, Holby City, Vital Signs, Casualty and all the rest just leave me cold. I'm sure I'm not alone either.
UK drama seems to cater for fortysomething middle-class women most of the time! A huge chunk of primetime dramas are essentially one-episode soaps. I enjoy EastEnders and Coronation Street like most people in the country -- they're undemanding soaps that occassionally hit upon fantastic plots that make everyone sit up and take notice. What's frustrating is that our dramas resemble the soaps in every way except format. This is perhaps what the distinction between "drama" and "soap" has always been (to a degree) but don't British audiences deserve something more than just hour-long soaps?
You only have to look to America to see the huge gulf in quality between the UK and the US: Lost, 24, Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, Invasion, House, Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy, ER and dozens more. Most of these are so far removed from typical "soap drama" fare it's unreal. Each of those shows has an ambition, imagination and originality light years ahead of the UK.
It's not like the UK couldn't possibly make those shows, either. Lost set in the Shetlands would have been feasible (if not as exotic), 24 has already influenced Spooks really, a British Sopranos would have been possible, Six Feet Under in a Scottish undertakers, Invasion via the West Country, The West Wing in Downing Street, House (hey Hugh Laurie's one of us anyway!), Prison Break out of Strangeways... yes, we could have done these shows if the execs weren't blinkered into thinking all we want is the latest Ross Kemp/Tamzin Outhwaite piece of soap dreck on a Sunday night.
Sigh...
And don't start the age-old argument about budgets either. Yes, I quite agree that the UK couldn't afford the budgets shows like Lost demand -- despite the fact the BBC is a global behemoth. But given the amazing success of the Beeb's own Doctor Who, why aren't other UK channels realizing that it is possible to produce something not embarassing when compared to America's output?
I'm not saying all UK drama should now involve more explosions, special-effects and major celebrities to pull in audiences. It's just that UK drama is so woefully formulaic, derivative and unoriginal that it beggars belief! Just look at the sheer number of regional detective series: Morse, Wycliffe, A Touch Of Frost, Jonathan Creek, Mayo, Taggart, Rosemary & Thyme, Dalziel & Pascoe, etc. It's as if everyone's scared to think outside of the box!
A shake-up is needed. I thought Doctor Who was to be the catalyst in a pioneering new-wave of influence over the schedules. Instead we got Patrick Stewart in The Eleventh Hour and a Doctor Who spin-off called Torchwood.
Still, it's a start, I suppose. But in the meantime, rest assured that everytime ITV wow the schedules with Wild At Heart and Ultimate Force, I'll have a DVD on...