Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  The semi final on ITV had a peak viewing of 26.5million and an 83% tv audience share. That's without those who watched in parks, pubs and clubs.
No wonder rights to sporting events go for so much money as tv companies bid for them. |
I guess it's because it's something which has to be watched live for best effect; TV dramas and comedies are not quite the same.
As a prime example, I finished watching
The Woman in White last night, the (relatively) recent BBC adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel starring Dougray Scott, Jessie Buckley, Olivia Vinall, Ben Hardy, Art Malik, Charles Dance and many others including Joanne Scanlon. It's something which occasionally tried my patience but is beautifully filmed and extremely well acted.
I don't think it's as good as the classic literature adaptations by Andrew Davies (
Bleak House,
War & Peace,
Pride and Prejudice,
Sense and Sensibility) but it's a case where your patience is rewarded because the slow burning nature of the drama, told in five separate hour-long episodes, means you are (or would hopefully be) emotionally invested in the characters. There was a time towards the end where the events reminded me of
The Dark Angel, possibly because there are similarities between the source material for that series and Wilkie Collins novel.
I'm glad I've seen
The Woman in White, but I don't think it's something I, unlike the Dickens adaptations, feel a great need to revisit.