British drama serieses

[Lord Nibbler]

Why is there such an abundance of funny, intelligent comedy shows but such a dearth of good dramas? Where's our LOST or 24 or Buffy?

[stokeriño]

I'm sure if British writers were told "here's a massive budget, now just make up whatever shit seems like a good idea at the time", they could do something like LOST too. ¬_¬

Edited November 25, 2006 by stokeriño

[Liam]

Not that its on the same level, but they do have things like Spooks and Hustle which seem to get more than one series, so they must be pulling in the viewers somewhat.

[stokeriño]

I used to like Spooks. The more series its gone on for the more it seems that they're just throwing in alarmist shit for no real reason other than it provides excuses for more explosions and shouting.

[ADG]

I will not have a bad word said against Hustle. It rocks.

[Lord Nibbler]

Hustle slipped my mind. But still, it doesn't have the same feel as any of the big American shows.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

Doctor Who and Life on Mars say hello.

[Liam]

Hustle slipped my mind. But still, it doesn't have the same feel as any of the big American shows.

Putting it simply, the budgets are incomparable.

[stokeriño]

Doctor Who is so downright silly that you can't really compare it to 'serious' dramas. Torchwood is, of course, just as bad.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

My liking of Stokerino just dropped several notches. No hilariously worded sentance will earn your forgiveness.

Doctor Who is a fucking awesome show. With the odd bit of downright silliness, but that's not the point >_>

[stokeriño]

I'm not judging Doctor Who's entertainment value. I'm merely pointing out that, unlike 24, or (on a good day) LOST, it's utterly impossible to take it seriously.

[YI]

We do Crime Drama's, nothing more, nothing less. Waking The Dead > *.

Oh and Hustle rocks.

And as previously said, it's all to do with money and budgets. The TV industry here isn't anywhere near as huge as in America. Hence why there's lots of these comedy shows, as they're pretty cheap to make and typically British.

Edited November 25, 2006 by Steve Mandela

[Lord Nibbler]

Surely the BBC has a bit of cash to splash around? Can't cost much to do "Ready Steady Cook" and "In It To Win It with Dale Winton".

How much did Robin Hood cost to make? Because that's awful. I seem to remember it being touted as a "big budget" series.

Edited November 25, 2006 by Jimmy the Exploder

[-A-]

Wikipaedia on BBC finances

Seems like total BBC TV expenditure is roughly £1.5bn, with BBC 1 taking just over £1bn of that. Since a season of Lost costs something like $70m, seems like the BBC has the resources to splash the cash every now and then, if they so choose.

EDIT: Robin Hood cost £8m apparently.

Edited November 25, 2006 by The Judge

[Farmer Reil]

How much did Robin Hood cost to make? Because that's awful.

Edited November 25, 2006 by Farmer Reil

[Lord Nibbler]

There hasn't been an English drama for ages that's been so awesome I've HAD to see it every week (except Robin Hood, but I wouldn't worry too much even if I missed that).

[YI]

Waking The Dead > *...don't make me say it again. It needs to come back on pronto.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I'm sorry, but Robin Hood is a total pile of shit.

For older series, who can forget Jonathan Creek!?

And Crime Traveller, though I've only ever met two other people who liked that, and we all accept the acting was mostly dire.

[ONO]

BBC had a great show on called Sorted not too long ago. It was simple, but I loved it. They received great ratings for it and then killed it off. Morons.

[GA!]

I think a lot of the problem is that us British like gritty realism. A whole lot of the American shows need some kind of suspension of disbelief due to fantastical elements they put in - and these elements are only put in when its something like Doctor Who and its more family friendly. Another example that springs to mind is Hex. Anything but family friendly, it was the only show I could remember where there was a witch who never used magic, but the way a lot of British people are, seeing characters do a Sabrina The Teenage Witch once every two minutes would be a turnoff.

Another problem is simply does a budget of £35 million like Lost justify ratings of anything less than several million (and the only things to get that is to be in primetime shows on BBC 1 or ITV, and most of the shows in place already are permanent like the soaps). It's a bloody shame but its the reality of it.

Edited November 26, 2006 by God-Awful