It’s hard to think of drama series these days that manage to cut through the colossal mass of programmes that don’t take a risk or provoke… Baby Reindeer? Sex Education? Euphoria?
It’s an absolute necessity to offer the viewer something new and unseen. Compelling drama relies on redrawing the map of the audiences’ expectations. To take them on a journey they have not previously travelled. To do this requires courage and to flirt bravely with the reality of failure. Without this threat there is no jeopardy, and if the venture is not a risky gambit for the filmmaker why should the audience bother tuning in? – After all, the promised thrill in watching a tight-rope walk only increases when the safety net is removed…
Gub says: “I have always relied on taking risks in my career, as a producer, as head of studio and as a commissioner. We live in a highly risk-averse culture today. That is reflected in our media and makes things more difficult. The growth of global platforms and the increased investment and expected returns have made stakeholders uneasy about provoking the audience – and yet to succeed it is essential to speak out, shout even, or what you have to say will not get heard.
The craft in this business has always been about having something meaningful to say and then finding a way of saying it that is novel, outspoken, and different. The medium is currently drowning in passive, platitudinous formats.”
Gub will be looking at how drama series can and should enhance the audience’s relationship with reality, with each other and even with the medium itself – but also entertain, challenge, and expand expectations. To do this, he is going to use two examples: Queer as Folk a series he commissioned at Channel Four in the late 1990s and The Fall which he produced as a series for the BBC between 2013 and 2016.
Both these dramas were risky prospects and provoked some considerable controversy – Gub wants to talk about how they overcame the challenges at the time, and why today it’s important as ever to fight back against the innate conservatism that might well have prevented both these series getting made.
Speaker: Gub Neal