When I was growing up, we didn't have Netflix. We didn't have the option to choose what we watched and when we watched it (unless it came from one of our fifteen-or-so VHS tapes), and for kids without access to cable TV, there was only a short window of broadcast entertainment per day that usually appeared for an hour or so after school on BBC Two. There was, however, one window of hope: Saturday nights. Around the mid two-thousands, the revival of Doctor Who gave way to a wave of escapist drama from pretty much every channel that - for the first time in my life - introduced TV drama that was accessible to both sides of the generation barrier. ITV's Primeval took us on adventures through fantastical portals to times long gone where we'd encounter ancient beasts; BBC One's Merlin and Robin Hood introduced us to heroes and adventures we all knew but in a bold new way; and Demons... well, I can't really remember much about Demons, but I remember enjoying it with my whole family around me, and that was all that mattered.
Fast-forward to present day, and the tea-time drama is on the verge of extinction. The majority of the BBC's drama output is gritty and mature, and even Doctor Who's time slot is being pushed back later and later into the night. Of course, we're in the Teenies now: the age of on-demand, where the day and time we watch a programme are almost meaningless. It is perhaps unfortunate, though, that this shift away from ritualistic broadcasting has cost the TV industry one of my most loved sub-genres of fantasy escapism. While most of the television industry has adapted to meet the challenges of this new world, is there any hope for the tea-time drama? In this short rambling, I hope to mobilise a movement in order to fight to keep this ancient tradition alive.
Netflix as a platform is arguably very divisive. It offers an 'adult' mode (not like that) and a 'kids' mode, each with a filter that allows you to see different levels of programming. That's smart, of course - you don't want your six-year-old to find themselves faced with Pennywise the Clown instead of Peppa Pig - but as a result, there is seemingly a vacuum of programming on offer that bridges the gap like the tea-time dramas of old. Before we look for an adequate replacement for the families of today, we must pinpoint the fundamentals of what made the genre so engaging to so many kids and big kids alike ten years ago.
Cultural context. This is perhaps ironic for escapist drama, but from my experience, understanding fantasy is at least partially dependant on being able to draw parallels with reality. While Merlin is set in a very different world to our own, audiences in 2008 may have been able to see the similarities between Camelot's persecution of sorcerers who supposedly committed a terrible crime with a similar witch-hunt taking place across the pond. We're looking for something that replicates the same effect subliminary, laying the groundwork for reality right beneath the audience's nose. The moment the connection becomes immediately apparent, the illusion is over and the fantasy is shattered.
The generation gap. The programme needs to be accessible to all ages; an art that is very difficult to perfect. Of course it is impossible to please everybody, but a balance of action and subtext can create a story that offers different levels for different members of the family. Cultural context plays a large role in this, as younger audiences will relate to different parallels to the real world as adults. Different generations' understandings of the text don't necessarily have to be the same, so long as the text offers different levels of accessibility.
Genre. Usually the tea-time drama falls into a science fiction or fantasy setting, but this doesn't always have to be the case. Escapist drama must offer the audience a world beyond their own, and that depends on being able to identify where their world ends and the other begins. Seeing a pattern? All of these factors integrate, but it's the scenario that ties them all together. More than anything, however, the show must break new ground for the new generation. A lot of the most popular tea-time dramas are based on stories that are well-known by the parents but brand new for the kids, giving the producers a strong foundation to build on to create a story that has value to both sides of the generational divide.
But is there a programme that exists within the great streaming libraries that could fill this void and unite the families of the 2010's in front of the television once more? Well, friends, I think our saviour has arrived. I watched this programme recently and foresaw a new age of escapist drama, where classic storytelling and modern production prowess meet in perfect harmony to create something that the parents can reflect on fondly while the kids stare in awe at the wonders before them. That programme, ladies and gentlemen, is Netflix's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the revival of Jim Henson's classic franchise. The world of Thra, once the setting of a relatively successful 1982 feature-length film, has now adopted a long-form serial format for streaming audiences, and although this format sees all episodes dropping at once for 'binge-watchers' to enjoy at their leisure, I believe it is the ideal show to revive the Saturday tea-time ritual.
Having stemmed from a much-loved nostalgic franchise, the series is instantly accessible to both the kids at the age range that the original franchise was aimed at and the grown-ups who enjoyed it, employing the same appeal as the Doctor Who revival did in 2005. The set-up is textbook, taking place in a fantasy world beyond our own where the inhabitants of the land are beginning to dawn upon the realisation that those that govern their lives do not have their best interests at heart, so they rise up and fight for their freedom. Though the story structure is basic, it allows for much more exploration into the depth of the characters and their lives than a plot-centric narrative might.
The other obvious draw, of course, is the puppetry. This adds a whole extra dimension to the balance between action and subtext, as the kids will likely be entranced by the (ruddy marvelous) spectacle unfolding before them while the adults - equally as intoxicated by the vast world unfolding before them - will undoubtedly also find an engaging story within the politics behind the struggle between the Gelfling and the Skeksis. On a personal level - as somebody who has studied TV for three years - The Dark Crystal is the first programme in a very long time to totally bewilder me, unable to comprehend the transition from script to screen. I haven't felt an effect like that since the days of the Saturday night tea-time drama, which is why I believe this format could be groundbreaking for the industry.
Of course, there is one obvious obstacle, and that's the industry's recent move away from ritualistic programming, and the lifestyle it has cultivated within the viewing population. Between our busy lives and the temptation to watch just one more episode, it may be difficult to persuade families of today to watch just one episode of a programme like The Dark Crystal per week. On reflection, however, this may not be the most important factor. The tea-time drama was so beloved in the noughties because it was very much a product of that time; television was evolving even then, and people enjoyed being swept along with the tidal wave that brought the family back together once a week. How a programme is watched may not be so important, so long as it has something for everyone.
In conclusion, I propose that the goal should not be to bring escapism back to Saturday night, but to bring Saturday night to escapism; to get families back around the TV to watch, discuss and experience these new worlds together. Streaming platforms, if not intentionally, are becoming more divisive, allowing the creation of a different profile page for each member of the family which uses its complicated algorithm to determine the specific tastes of the viewer - so now it is more important than ever to encourage active participation across the generations so people continue have more intelligent discourse over the media they consume than they can have with the machine. Sharing opinions and ideas is one of the fundamental building blocks of our society, so why should TV be any different? If nothing else, The Dark Crystal could serve as a template to producers and distributors everywhere to encourage unity and togetherness, and herald a new era for the tea-time drama.
Comments