"Neil Faulkner" wrote:
From: Jenny Kaye:
These can be due to constraints of time and budget, the contributions of directors, actors, and FX designers,
Public climate on violence as well.
Also the composition of the audience.
That's true.
I believe (albeit only on the basis
of a few anecdotal snippets) that it was established by the end of the first season that B7 had a sizeable following amongst young children,
My info ties in with that as well.
the
programme going out early enough in the evening for them to watch it. Earlier even than Survivors, in which Nation first ran his rape/murder scenario with a suitably unsympathetic character ultimately revealed to be responsible.
Yes. There is obviously a connection there.
Gan, on the other hand, was recognised as a member of the crew, one of
the
Good Guys. Since recent discussion on this Lyst has shown how the foreshadowing of the revelation of his true nature has largely eluded the majority of fans over a span of more than two decades, it would be unreasonable to expect the general viewing audience at the time to have picked up much in the way of hints.
Absolutely right!
It's one thing to shock an adult audience, indeed doing so can be a laudable exercise.
That's true.
But confusing the hell out of young children is something else
altogether.
That's true. But it's the BBC who messed up.
If Blake had indeed been forced to kill Gan, as would seem to
have been Nation's original intention, he - Nation, not Blake - would
have
sent a legion of bewildered kids crying all the way to bed.
I think children are more resilient. I used to watch Survivors when I was seven and it didn't worry me. I also remember the tramp plot, but it was done in such a way that you didn't actually see the murder and the rape was implied (so much so that it went over my head at the time; it wasn't until years later, when I saw it on video, that I worked it out). Anyway, I'd already seen mass killings in Genesis of the Daleks. Which was branded at the time as "Tea Time Terror for Tots."
But yes, the Powers that Be at the BBC seem to have taken the attitude that the kids would be irrevocably damaged by seeing these things on television. To its ultimate detriment.
Not exactly
something to be proud of. He'd have done less damage mugging them for their Smarties.
Examining the scripts for B7, it is quite clear that the show had really been written for a much later time slot. The BBC high-ups however had different ideas. To them Sci-Fi wasn't serious drama (it's interesting that they made an exception for Survivors-- did its near-future setting decieve them?) and B7 looked like something that they could sell to a family audience. So although the scripts for series 1 stayed the same, the production of them was toned down for an earlier timeslot. Bugger eh?
Jenny
"But Dad, he's got a metal thing in his head."
"Yes son, that's because he is a psychopathic murderer of women."
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From: Jenny Kaye jennycat55@hotmail.com
Examining the scripts for B7, it is quite clear that the show had really been written for a much later time slot.
As I understand, it was envisaged from the start (by the BBC,at least, perhaps not Nation) as a replacement for Softly Softly, a show which from the (very) little I recall of it made Juliet Bravo look like cutting edge police drama.
The BBC high-ups however had
different ideas. To them Sci-Fi wasn't serious drama (it's interesting
that
they made an exception for Survivors-- did its near-future setting decieve them?)
Ah well, as they say, "SF's no good, they bellow till we're deaf..."
and B7 looked like
something that they could sell to a family audience. So although the
scripts
for series 1 stayed the same, the production of them was toned down for an earlier timeslot. Bugger eh?
Utterly bastard.
Neil
-
Jenny Kaye -
Neil Faulkner