British TV shows deserve more support than we are giving them
Ian Berriman writes: readers, it’s my sad duty today to question your patriotic fervour. don’t worry – this isn’t going to develop into a veinbulging rant about “taking back control”. i’m more interested in what you do with your remote control.
Why don’t Brits want homegrown sF and fantasy TV? Because that’s what the ratings suggest. a frustrating recent example was china Miéville adaptation The City & The City, which struggled to scrape together 800,000 viewers on its BBc Two debut – scant reward for a production company taking a risk on challenging material.
Okay, sticking it out on a Friday night didn’t help. But it does seem to be part of a pattern.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell didn’t prove to be ratings magic. The viewing public didn’t go doolally for Crazyhead. Class was soon dismissed. alt-history thriller SS-GB wasn’t hailed. Hard Sun was quickly eclipsed.
Okay, Black Mirror doesn’t reflect that trend. and Humans was an exception, gleaning channel 4’s best ratings for 20 years back in 2015. now, though, it’s lucky to draw a million – half what The Handmaid’s Tale is getting. i fear for the Beeb’s upcoming take on The War
Of The Worlds, and sky One’s near-future road-race show Curfew.
The TV landscape’s never been so competitive, and British series struggle to compete with the production values of shows like Game Of Thrones and Westworld. But there’s good work being aired beyond sky atlantic and netflix, which i think we’re too quick to criticise. and i personally still get a buzz from watching fantasy shows that speak a British demotic, and reference our cultural touchstones. am i alone?
Thankfully, sF&F series are still being commissioned here – the dark days of 2003, when the best we could hope for was six episodes of Strange, are long gone. But we shouldn’t take that state of affairs for granted. so i urge you: try British!