I think I may have lamented the passing of quality Sunday evening drama on the BBC in a previous thread but never really elaborated on what the genre meant to me.
I say genre because I think it is a genre in the sense that it's largely comedy drama that is free of the gritty realism and tokenism found in the bulk of drama pumped out through our screens these days. The exception to this would be the crime based dramas which could hardly be described as comedy drama but all seem to possess a certain charm whether it's the surreal rural idyll in which Inspector Barnaby conducts his business or the proptastic Morse with his vintage Daimler.
I've been enjoying Sunday evening drama for many years, harking back to
the era of Owen MD and All Creatures Great And Small. My all time favourite has to be Lovejoy. Loved the character, loved the subject matter, thought the plots were great and enjoyed the wonderful settings in which the shows were filmed. I also love the Midsomer Murders and, as regular readers of my posts will know, am currently discovering a wonderful series by the name of Monarch Of The Glen thanks to ITV3.
What the future holds for the genre, I don't really know. ITV still produce some good output. The Murders is still running, though it's a shame John Nettles is leaving and Lewis is making a good fist of carrying the mantel for Morse. The BBC, on the other hand, is too obsessed with appealing to the lowest common denominator and tokenism so COME ON BBC, DITCH YOUR DIVERSITY COMMISSARS and let's have another Ballykissangel. IT'S NO LESS THAN THE LICENCE PAYING PUBLIC DESERVE.
I say genre because I think it is a genre in the sense that it's largely comedy drama that is free of the gritty realism and tokenism found in the bulk of drama pumped out through our screens these days. The exception to this would be the crime based dramas which could hardly be described as comedy drama but all seem to possess a certain charm whether it's the surreal rural idyll in which Inspector Barnaby conducts his business or the proptastic Morse with his vintage Daimler.
I've been enjoying Sunday evening drama for many years, harking back to
the era of Owen MD and All Creatures Great And Small. My all time favourite has to be Lovejoy. Loved the character, loved the subject matter, thought the plots were great and enjoyed the wonderful settings in which the shows were filmed. I also love the Midsomer Murders and, as regular readers of my posts will know, am currently discovering a wonderful series by the name of Monarch Of The Glen thanks to ITV3.
What the future holds for the genre, I don't really know. ITV still produce some good output. The Murders is still running, though it's a shame John Nettles is leaving and Lewis is making a good fist of carrying the mantel for Morse. The BBC, on the other hand, is too obsessed with appealing to the lowest common denominator and tokenism so COME ON BBC, DITCH YOUR DIVERSITY COMMISSARS and let's have another Ballykissangel. IT'S NO LESS THAN THE LICENCE PAYING PUBLIC DESERVE.
I would comment on the rest of your post but it was a bit long...
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