In my arrogant yank opinion of course. And, to be fair, the BBC needn't necessarily bring them back, I suppose ..no shut up self, these are far too British to be manhandled by the U.S. networks. To be fair I haven't seen the remake of Being Human but in general...just say no to U.S. remakes. Besides these need to be brought back with the cast intact (oh impossible dreams of impossibility).
Here's why this might be a practical idea, British television isn't devoted to the 22 episode format. It's not unheard of to have a show that lasts for say one two hour movie a 'season', or has a season of two movies and fucks off for a couple years only to return with a miniseries format. They do this shit all the time.
Now, look at some of the beloved shows (by fans and critics) of cable lately, Mad Men - 13 episode seasons, The Walking Dead - 6 episode first season slated for a 13 episode second season, Breaking Bad, 7 episode first season 13 episode seasons thereafter. The magic number seems to be 13 episodes. Why? Well honestly it's probably a lot less grueling on the cast and crew to do half the number of episodes as the standard run. Therefore the writing can be a lot more coherent and consistent and plot arcs can develop at a sane pace. In my ever so humble opinion of course.
So on to the two shows in mind.
The first is Afterlife starring Lesley Sharp (some may recognize her from the episode of Nu-Who 'Midnight' where she was Sky, the woman that sat next to the Doctor) and Andrew Lincoln (AKA Rick from The Walking Dead).
Sharp plays a woman named Allison Mundy and Lincoln plays Robert Bridge a shrink. Here's a youtube link to ten minutes of the first episode:
Allison and Robert sort of team up. Robert's life work has been the exploration of humankind's need to believe and the folly thereof. So he takes on Allison as a case study and asks permission to observe her and write a book. She reluctantly agrees partly, I think, to fuck with a skeptic. The show was on for two seasons and was consistently excellent. Also yes Allison was just cyberstalked and guilt tripped by two well meaning old people. Ahh life.
Why I love this show:
1. It's one of the few horror/sf/fantasy shows out there that doesn't present weird shit and assume the audience will just take it.
2. The skeptic is kind of a shit head. Robert argues a decent case but there comes a point when he's clearly just shouting in the dark and Allison makes no bones about calling him out on it.
3. Back story, there's a whole back story for Allison that the writers drop hints about but was never developed properly because the show was killed off, what hints there are, however, are excellent and after seeing what back story is provided (and it's significant) it's amazing Allison isn't locked up somewhere with liquid lunches and IV anti-psychotics.
4. Chemistry, for once the chemistry between two opposite sex heterosexual characters screams quite strongly of friendship rather than lust. How utterly refreshing. (Don't get me wrong a healthy dose of lust is fine it's just that actual friendship is so much rarer in media)
You can find afterlife online if you don't mind doing some digging. It was recommended to me by one of my bestest friends Charlotte. *waves* (Faithful reader, you may be fortunate enough to hear directly from Charlotte herself at some point)
The second show is Wire in the Blood recommended to me by my twin brother. It's a gritty, sour, dark, and violent British crime drama based on a series of books by Val Mcdermid. Now, if you can watch this clip and guess which character is the shrink and which the patient before the reveal you get brownie points. Go ahead, I'll wait. *waits*
Did you get it? No worries if you didn't I was thrown too. S'part of why I love this show. Robson Green is great at making the extremely weird and should-be-creepy Dr. Hill somehow sympathetic and admirable. He works with DCI Carol Jordan for at least the first two seasons by semi-profiling super creepy and realistically non-standard serial killers (unlike some that show up in say, Criminal Minds etc, that are more Hollywood shock than logical). He does so in order to assist DCI Jordan's team, in the face of outright hostility from her superiors at first, though after some time they STFU and use Tony at will. Tony Hill doesn't worry about politics, vengeance, saving face and all the rest of the crap we all tend to mire ourselves in, rather, he genuinely only cares about catching the killers and if possible understanding them as well as he can.
Meanwhile, he struggles to continue his pursuits in academia and fulfill his duties to his few patients. DCI Jordan is a tough nut as well, more married to her work than anything, or one, else. There are hints of something possibly developing between them but Hill is so fucking weird and screwed up that nothing really materializes, though Jordan has plenty of issues and baggage as well. Not that she's some kind of neurotic basket case, far from it, she's an efficient and dedicated officer but she's reasonably flawed. There seems to be a trope to make female cops ineffective bumblers, men with boobs, or neurotic battle maidens that fuck for sport and kill for fun. Or maybe that's just in my head. Whatever the case Jordan is none of the above which, again, is pretty nice to see.
I haven't read the books the series is based on though I'm assuming that after the first season or two the show and the books go about their business on separate planes of fictional existence, rather like Dexter (not to mention I'm fairly sure that at least one of the books was published after the show's run). I'd like to read them but haven't bothered to track down the paperbacks yet and the kindle copies are $8 a piece so yeah. But, for those interested they are:
*NOT to be confused with a book of the same title by Lisa Carey,a very different book indeed
So, reasons I like this show:
1. Chemistry, I know I know, I just said how nice it was to have a sexually compatible pair with something aside from lust on the mind. Well, here's the thing, due to Tony's weirdness and unexamined issues (in the show at least, I'm pretty sure there's more expansion/explanation in the novels and suspect there's more than Tony being shy standing in the way) a physical relationship between them is pretty much a non-starter. Which, IMO tends to make it more interesting if not entirely more realistic. Not that I would really know obviously.
2. Wacky wacky Tony Hill / Robson Green. Seriously, this guy should be disturbing as hell, and probably would be if we were in the room with him when he's doing his role play mind meld thing but since there's a TV/Computer screen between us and him we're safe to kick back and enjoy the show. Not to mention the inevitable appeal of a person who, at the end of the day, genuinely cares most about stopping dangerous people and saving lives than his personal anything. Hell, in one episode a person he trusts accuses him of something abominable and even has him arrested before he's proven innocent and it never really occurs to him to go after the offender on a personal level. Who does that? Doctor Tony fucking Hill, that's who. And Robson Green brings Tony beautifully to life. Also, again, BACK STORY that isn't spoon fed to the audience. After the clip above it's pretty clear that 'ol Tony is damaged goods but the writers don't sit down and spend five minutes of some character monologuing about Tony's history.They let Tony tell us in his own way and in his own time and even then not everything is revealed, as it should be! Seriously, who among us has ever had the iconic reveal moment of a fucked up friend's reasons for being fucked up?
3. There's loads of eps compared to some other canceled series. Seriously I think there are six seasons plus one film (set in Texas, Tony is brought in to consult on a potential death row case involving an Iraq war Vet and the murder of the man's family. Interesting to see such a very British show's take on Texas and the U.S.).
4. It's genuinely compelling. Seriously, the twists and turns are so tight and well done that often even pausing the show to use the restroom etc is annoying and to be held off on.
5. The soundtrack / audio editing. As far as I know no soundtrack has ever been released which is a pity. The soundtrack is one of my favorites and extremely distinct. The sound editing is also quite well done especially during Tony's montages.
The series is excellent though Jordan is replaced in later seasons and the quality sags a bit. The movie set in Texas (Wire in the Blood: Prayer in the Bone) is not as good as the series but is interesting and worth watching regardless. And, unlike Afterlife or loads of other shows WitB had a healthy run nonetheless it would be a great one to resurrect.
Wire in the Blood is available on netflix instant, Afterlife is harder to find but if you know your way around the 'net I have faith you'll be able to track it down. As always, thanks for reading!
Here's why this might be a practical idea, British television isn't devoted to the 22 episode format. It's not unheard of to have a show that lasts for say one two hour movie a 'season', or has a season of two movies and fucks off for a couple years only to return with a miniseries format. They do this shit all the time.
Now, look at some of the beloved shows (by fans and critics) of cable lately, Mad Men - 13 episode seasons, The Walking Dead - 6 episode first season slated for a 13 episode second season, Breaking Bad, 7 episode first season 13 episode seasons thereafter. The magic number seems to be 13 episodes. Why? Well honestly it's probably a lot less grueling on the cast and crew to do half the number of episodes as the standard run. Therefore the writing can be a lot more coherent and consistent and plot arcs can develop at a sane pace. In my ever so humble opinion of course.
So on to the two shows in mind.
 |
| Allison and Robert |
Sharp plays a woman named Allison Mundy and Lincoln plays Robert Bridge a shrink. Here's a youtube link to ten minutes of the first episode:
Allison and Robert sort of team up. Robert's life work has been the exploration of humankind's need to believe and the folly thereof. So he takes on Allison as a case study and asks permission to observe her and write a book. She reluctantly agrees partly, I think, to fuck with a skeptic. The show was on for two seasons and was consistently excellent. Also yes Allison was just cyberstalked and guilt tripped by two well meaning old people. Ahh life.
Why I love this show:
1. It's one of the few horror/sf/fantasy shows out there that doesn't present weird shit and assume the audience will just take it.
2. The skeptic is kind of a shit head. Robert argues a decent case but there comes a point when he's clearly just shouting in the dark and Allison makes no bones about calling him out on it.
3. Back story, there's a whole back story for Allison that the writers drop hints about but was never developed properly because the show was killed off, what hints there are, however, are excellent and after seeing what back story is provided (and it's significant) it's amazing Allison isn't locked up somewhere with liquid lunches and IV anti-psychotics.
4. Chemistry, for once the chemistry between two opposite sex heterosexual characters screams quite strongly of friendship rather than lust. How utterly refreshing. (Don't get me wrong a healthy dose of lust is fine it's just that actual friendship is so much rarer in media)
You can find afterlife online if you don't mind doing some digging. It was recommended to me by one of my bestest friends Charlotte. *waves* (Faithful reader, you may be fortunate enough to hear directly from Charlotte herself at some point)
The second show is Wire in the Blood recommended to me by my twin brother. It's a gritty, sour, dark, and violent British crime drama based on a series of books by Val Mcdermid. Now, if you can watch this clip and guess which character is the shrink and which the patient before the reveal you get brownie points. Go ahead, I'll wait. *waits*
Did you get it? No worries if you didn't I was thrown too. S'part of why I love this show. Robson Green is great at making the extremely weird and should-be-creepy Dr. Hill somehow sympathetic and admirable. He works with DCI Carol Jordan for at least the first two seasons by semi-profiling super creepy and realistically non-standard serial killers (unlike some that show up in say, Criminal Minds etc, that are more Hollywood shock than logical). He does so in order to assist DCI Jordan's team, in the face of outright hostility from her superiors at first, though after some time they STFU and use Tony at will. Tony Hill doesn't worry about politics, vengeance, saving face and all the rest of the crap we all tend to mire ourselves in, rather, he genuinely only cares about catching the killers and if possible understanding them as well as he can.
Meanwhile, he struggles to continue his pursuits in academia and fulfill his duties to his few patients. DCI Jordan is a tough nut as well, more married to her work than anything, or one, else. There are hints of something possibly developing between them but Hill is so fucking weird and screwed up that nothing really materializes, though Jordan has plenty of issues and baggage as well. Not that she's some kind of neurotic basket case, far from it, she's an efficient and dedicated officer but she's reasonably flawed. There seems to be a trope to make female cops ineffective bumblers, men with boobs, or neurotic battle maidens that fuck for sport and kill for fun. Or maybe that's just in my head. Whatever the case Jordan is none of the above which, again, is pretty nice to see.
I haven't read the books the series is based on though I'm assuming that after the first season or two the show and the books go about their business on separate planes of fictional existence, rather like Dexter (not to mention I'm fairly sure that at least one of the books was published after the show's run). I'd like to read them but haven't bothered to track down the paperbacks yet and the kindle copies are $8 a piece so yeah. But, for those interested they are:
*NOT to be confused with a book of the same title by Lisa Carey,a very different book indeed
So, reasons I like this show:
1. Chemistry, I know I know, I just said how nice it was to have a sexually compatible pair with something aside from lust on the mind. Well, here's the thing, due to Tony's weirdness and unexamined issues (in the show at least, I'm pretty sure there's more expansion/explanation in the novels and suspect there's more than Tony being shy standing in the way) a physical relationship between them is pretty much a non-starter. Which, IMO tends to make it more interesting if not entirely more realistic. Not that I would really know obviously.
2. Wacky wacky Tony Hill / Robson Green. Seriously, this guy should be disturbing as hell, and probably would be if we were in the room with him when he's doing his role play mind meld thing but since there's a TV/Computer screen between us and him we're safe to kick back and enjoy the show. Not to mention the inevitable appeal of a person who, at the end of the day, genuinely cares most about stopping dangerous people and saving lives than his personal anything. Hell, in one episode a person he trusts accuses him of something abominable and even has him arrested before he's proven innocent and it never really occurs to him to go after the offender on a personal level. Who does that? Doctor Tony fucking Hill, that's who. And Robson Green brings Tony beautifully to life. Also, again, BACK STORY that isn't spoon fed to the audience. After the clip above it's pretty clear that 'ol Tony is damaged goods but the writers don't sit down and spend five minutes of some character monologuing about Tony's history.They let Tony tell us in his own way and in his own time and even then not everything is revealed, as it should be! Seriously, who among us has ever had the iconic reveal moment of a fucked up friend's reasons for being fucked up?
3. There's loads of eps compared to some other canceled series. Seriously I think there are six seasons plus one film (set in Texas, Tony is brought in to consult on a potential death row case involving an Iraq war Vet and the murder of the man's family. Interesting to see such a very British show's take on Texas and the U.S.).
4. It's genuinely compelling. Seriously, the twists and turns are so tight and well done that often even pausing the show to use the restroom etc is annoying and to be held off on.
5. The soundtrack / audio editing. As far as I know no soundtrack has ever been released which is a pity. The soundtrack is one of my favorites and extremely distinct. The sound editing is also quite well done especially during Tony's montages.
The series is excellent though Jordan is replaced in later seasons and the quality sags a bit. The movie set in Texas (Wire in the Blood: Prayer in the Bone) is not as good as the series but is interesting and worth watching regardless. And, unlike Afterlife or loads of other shows WitB had a healthy run nonetheless it would be a great one to resurrect.
Wire in the Blood is available on netflix instant, Afterlife is harder to find but if you know your way around the 'net I have faith you'll be able to track it down. As always, thanks for reading!
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