In this week of Bafta success for the BBC and dismal failure for ITV consider this observation that occured to me last night whilst watching Doctor Who. When ever a (normally long running) TV show (the example I will use is Coronation Street but you can insert The Bill, Londons Burning, Eastenders, Robin of Sherwood - is that still on?) invests some series budget in a special effect - in Coronation Streets' case, the car crashing into the canal with Gail Tilsley* and family - the feels he has to show as many angles of the crash as possible. In the case of the car/canal shot, the 3 second sequence was repeated, from numerous camera angles, for around 15 minutes (or so it felt). Eastenders is equally guilty - whenever Grant&Phil crash a car through a gate/window/wife, the shot gets the same "We have 24 cameras and we're not afraid to use them" treatment. One theory I have is that the BBC, due to the fact they dont have commercial breaks, need to provide viewers with an opportunity to make trips to the toilet or cook diner. Doctor Who is the latest culprit, with the Doctor jumping through a mirror on a horse towards the end of last week's episode. I'll forgive the Who makers though, because the rest is so good. *Q: What do you call a dog with no chin? A: Gail Tilsley. |
