In View - The Month in Television

AUGUST 1996

INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS

by Adrian E.C. Petford

Disturbing times are upon us. Have you started to wonder why your favourite series seem to have suddenly lost their sense of reassuring, cosy familiarity? Or indeed why well-liked and long-established characters don't appear to be themselves any more? There's no need to panic or worry about your sanity; that bane of every producer's life, the need to re-cast existing roles, seems to be a trend affecting many television programmes at the moment and, as far as I am concerned, one that can only end in a loss of credibility, viewers, and ultimately respect for the shows concerned. Such decisions are rarely successful and tend to alienate both the programme's ardent fans as well as those who tune in casually every now and then.

Back in the 1950s, viewers were more forgiving. It was quite acceptable then to have the same actor popping up for several weeks in different roles, or for a regular role to be played by someone else. The ITC stable elevated this trick to a relative artform in their "swashbuckler" series, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood. In those days, television was made much more cheaply on a production-line type schedule where many episodes were rapidly turned out each year. Scripts were kept relatively simple, with characterisation taking a definite back seat in favour of adventure and excitement. Re-casting was rarely an issue, as the incidental roles were not identified with a particular actor or dependent on a particular style of performance. But today's audiences are much more sophisticated and used to a vastly more realistic approach from their television; the re-casting pill often becomes increasingly difficult to swallow when a role, or even an entire series, owes it success largely to the presence of a particularly liked or talented performer.

When faced with the possibility of a cast member leaving, a producer has a variety of options; if he decides to re-cast, the fact can either be ignored or integrated in some way into the script. Sometimes they can still pull off the former approach successfully with secondary characters (the roles of Bill's daughter Jenny and sister Tina in 2point4 Children for example) without much complaint and the replacements eventually become acceptable to the viewers. But for every rare success there is an equivalent disaster, and especially so when a regular line-up is tampered with: consider how awful the 1990 revival series of Brass was without the presence of only two crucial members of the original cast? The latter plot device tends to be used in American television quite a lot, but thankfully, the "plastic surgery" cliche and its ilk are still considered too silly to gain much of a foothold on British TV.

If he doesn't decide to resort to the re-casting cop-out, our producer can try to dream up something more original to explain away the absence of a regular cast member. A contrasting new character can be introduced and the changes to the balance and format of a programme that result can be established from there on in. Men Behaving Badly quickly recovered from the loss of Harry Enfield and, if anything, is hugely more popular and successful now with Neil Morrissey than it ever was with Enfield, for all his "big name" status. Obviously, having a new character join a series is going to provoke initial hostility from the audience, who miss the departed cast member, but generally, unless the casting is particularly bad, they will warm to someone new far more quickly and easily than if an established role is re-cast. In fact, a new character can often provide a much-needed boost to a flagging series by throwing new situations into the overall mix. Other instances where this approach has paid off are the replacement of David Caruso by Jimmy Smits in NYPD Blue or Ingrid Lacey for Haydn Gwynne in Drop The Dead Donkey. NYPD Blue gained a much more complex character by Smits' arrival and Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin sensibly opted to make Lacey's character in Drop The Dead Donkey a complete contrast to Haydn Gwynne's Alex, thus maintaining an equal level of affection for both performers in the eyes of the programme's viewers.

The last option is probably the most sensible artistically (if not financially); basically to end a series once the cast, writers or crew decide they do not wish to continue. Often such rumblings indicate that a programme has probably run its course anyway, and the time is then right to call it a day. A Very Peculiar Practice is a good example of a series that was designed to run for a natural life-span and come to a definite end, and as a result its shining reputation remains undiminished today. Contrast if you will the laughing stock that is today's Red Dwarf series, twisted out of all recognisable shape years ago and long-bereft of any of the characteristics that made it a success in the first place! And it's going to get far, far worse. Chris Barrie has decided not to continue as Rimmer, thus removing a critical character from the equation that makes it all work (or as well as it can work these days, anyway). To cover this vast gulf, they've hit upon the idea of resurrecting Lister's love interest Kochanski. This could prove to be a wonderful success, but for the fact she isn't going to be played in the next series by C.P. Grogan, the actress who has been solely responsible for the character's popularity thus far. Utter lunacy. That series, like many others before it that outstayed their welcome, should have been put out of its misery years ago while it still had something of a reputation for quality to maintain.

In the realms of the sitcom, some performers are sacrosanct; we could scarcely imagine a situation where, say, Only Fools and Horses.... would continue without either or both David Jason or Nicholas Lyndhurst. One Foot in the Grave is too identified with Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie's performances to be conceivable without them. Could you imagine Steptoe and Son without Brambell and Corbett, or Alf Garnett not played by Warren Mitchell? Obviously such notions are utterly ludicrous and would never be contemplated by anyone of sound mind, but these cultural icons we hold dear have only been set in their inviolable tablets of stone by popularity, ratings and public support. Exactly the same factors, incidentally, that also ensure the continuance of series such as Goodnight Sweetheart or Game-On. And yet both these series have been faced with the prospect of re-casting crucial roles and the television bosses still think they will maintain their acclaim and ratings share against the odds, without realising the fact that this success has, up to now, been largely due to the inspired original casting of the regular roles. They can delude themselves for as long as they like about whether it's going to work, but I'm already on the lookout for that porker flying past my window...

Consider Game-On as an example. This is not a long-established sitcom given that there has only been one series of six episodes so far. The phenomenal popularity of the initial run made a second series inevitable, and as I write this, the first instalment of series two is due to air in a few days' time. And yet one of the characters has already been re-cast, due to Ben Chaplin's Hollywood film career taking off since the previous series. It begs the obvious question: why bother to bring it back at all? Given that Game-On is co-written by Andrew Davies, the writer of the above-mentioned A Very Peculiar Practice, one would think that the sensible approach would be to call it a day at one single, critically-acclaimed series rather than take the risk of alienating the entire audience before the first line of the second has even been uttered? With a series such as, say, May to December, a lead role can be re-cast successfully because characterisation is less important, but Game-On is much more complex; its whole success was based entirely around the strong characterisation and the chemistry between the original three actors. Much of the humour came out of the way in which each character was played as well as from the scripts. Bringing in a new actor (second choice originally for the role or not) could easily throw this delicate balance off track. Or at least they should have introduced a new character to replace Ben Chaplin's Matt, which still creates some pitfalls but would ultimately prove more acceptable, as well as creating new situations to salve the transition. Just resorting to an obvious re-casting seems, to me at least, a mistake bordering on madness. I really hope I'm proved wrong, otherwise that's another brilliant gem of British comedy destined to have its fine reputation thrown away.

Which brings me nicely onto a subject that has caused me considerable consternation over the month of August, namely Goodnight Sweetheart. Regular followers of this column will know of my great affection for the series and my highly praiseworthy comments about the recent third season in particular, which pushed the programme well and truly out of the realms of sitcom and into quality comedy-drama territory. Sadly, it looks now as if all that fine work will be undone as the production team face the nightmarish difficulty of having to re-cast two of the lead roles. I was horrified to hear of Dervla Kirwan's rumoured departure early in August, a fact that has been confirmed this week along with the news that Michelle Holmes has also decided to jump ship. Apparently the exodus is allegedly because of backstage differences, which is all very well whether or not there's any truth in it, but surely to goodness it would be more sensible to end the series at this stage rather than attempting to continue with two of the roles in the central love triangle re-cast? Somehow I think they're being naively optimistic if they think fifteen million viewers will continue to tune in after such a shallow, financially-motivated con trick? And once again, the powers that be are missing the point: Goodnight Sweetheart has only been successful thus far because of the strength of the original casting. It boasts outstanding writing as well of course, but that very fact necessitates exceptional players to pull it off convincingly. Gary Sparrow's present-day wife Yvonne, played by Michelle Holmes, is a fairly basic, ordinary character who could probably be conceivably played by someone else at a push, but that certainly is not the case with Dervla Kirwan's character Phoebe, Gary's wartime girlfriend. After Ballykissangel, Ms Kirwan is now firmly on the top rank of young television actresses (and rightfully so), but her rumoured reason for leaving (frustration at the lack of character development, according to press reports) seems a little dubious given that Phoebe is probably the most sophisticated character seen in a sitcom for a very long time and, for me at least, often carries the whole programme. Comparing performances between Goodnight Sweetheart and Ballykissangel, it is the former series that showcases her talents more than the latter, good though it is. If she felt the need to move on, then good luck to her (and the same goes for Ms Holmes), but that should have told the programme's bosses that the end was nigh and they should call it a day. Instead, they're shooting another series next year without either Kirwan or Holmes and I await their attempts to cover this fact with considerable amusement. Perhaps if one or other of the departing actresses had stayed on, their counterpart could have been plausibly written out, but with both now gone, the only realistic option open to them is to re-cast. They might find someone who can play Yvonne tolerably well, but if their replacement Phoebe shows half the talent of Dervla Kirwan then I'll hereby promise to spend my whole column for that particular month apologising for ever doubting them. I get the feeling it's a promise that somehow won't need to be honoured. Ironically, so impressed was I by this year's run of Goodnight Sweetheart that I was going to try to get tickets for the next series. I'm glad I didn't waste the money on a postage stamp now!

Fortunately, in some cases good sense does prevail amongst our television lords and masters. I'm sure that Helen Baxendale's decision not to do any more episodes of Cardiac Arrest at least partially influenced their decision not to renew it and the reasoning behind this was good; Baxendale's presence was so critical to the success of the programme that it would be inconceivable without her (I would have previously made an analogy to Dervla Kirwan's involvement in Goodnight Sweetheart, but perhaps that's unwise now!), and as far as I am concerned, it has ended at the right time with its good reputation still largely intact. Certainly, judging by Truth or Dare (31st August), Helen Baxendale has nothing to fear from the typecasting shadow and has a great career ahead of her as one of our foremost young talents. She also appeared earlier that same week, as Queen Elizabeth I in Edward Woodward's In Suspicious Circumstances series, and already has an impressive list of forthcoming projects in the pipeline, including a comedy pilot and a new detective series, both of which should make interesting viewing.

In these days of wall-to-wall formula television such as Dangerfield (so dull and predictable it could have been written by a computer and also, I notice, suffering from the re-casting problem), it was a breath of fresh air to see something so original and radical as Truth or Dare, one of BBC1's new season of Screen One offerings. The basic premise was simple: a lawyer in her late twenties (Baxendale) yearns for more excitement in her life, and is surprised when three friends she hasn't seen since university days pay her a visit. The trio, led by John Hannah and also including Susan Lynch (of Cracker's "To Say I Love You" fame) teach her a few lessons about living dangerously, but then events take an entirely different turn. I was hugely impressed by this film on all levels, but mostly because it ultimately became something entirely different from what you might have anticipated. Helen Baxendale was even more exceptional here than in her acclaimed Cardiac Arrest role, and John Hannah was also superb as her volatile love interest. The sight of Susan Lynch always unsettles me after the above-mentioned Cracker story, and she was equally impressive. Well done to all concerned for making Truth or Dare into (for me at least) the best one-off drama of the year so far.

Back in situation comedy territory, August saw the entirely unexpected re-run of Jack Rosenthal's The Lovers begin on Channel Four. Here at Kaleidoscope, we'd been tipped off the series would feature in the launch schedule of the new Granada satellite repeats channel so this appearance was a surprise to us all, but what a fantastic one! It was especially gratifying for me, as I had written to Channel Four in 1994 asking for them to consider showing the series, only to be told that they couldn't acquire the rights at that time. The Lovers is the series that made Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox into household names, not to mention showcasing the directing talents of one Michael Apted and the writing skills of Jack Rosenthal, now indisputably regarded as one of our finest living screenwriters. Obviously, with this sort of pedigree, it was always going to be a cut above the average sitcom, and I'm happy to say that my own previously-high regard for the programme has, if anything, only been enhanced by this golden opportunity to see more of the episodes. Now we know that the sole episode screened ten years ago by Channel Four (which, along with the highly-acclaimed feature film version was all I'd seen of The Lovers before this year) was actually one of the more average ones. The quality of both the writing and the acting of Wilcox and Beckinsale is easily proven by the fact that the early episodes are virtually all two-handers between the pair, taking place in only one or two sets. Like Steptoe and Son and others before it, this approach pre-supposes that the performances would have to be truly brilliant to hold the attention of the audience for such a long time. I've always considered Wilcox to be a fine and much-underrated actress, and seeing Beckinsale here only further underlines what a tragic loss to television his premature death was. The characterisation is perfect (with subtle, minor touches such as mannerisms or gestures carrying over many episodes), always consistent and the imaginative direction (concentrating on catching reaction shots and really pushing the young leads to the fore) overcomes the production limitations very well. So often these days, the chance to see a fondly-remembered series ends in disappointment, but that certainly hasn't been the case with The Lovers. Thanks, Channel Four, for making my year.

Another viewing treat I really enjoyed in August was the six-hour mini-series of Stephen King's classic tale of the apocalypse, The Stand. The sheer size and scale of this sweeping epic (the book runs to over a thousand pages) makes you respect the producers (including King himself) all the more for having the confidence to even try to do it justice. Several attempts to film the story have been made over the years, and all have floundered, so it was with great interest and not a little doubt that I sat down to watch the finished product this month. Now it's probably well over ten years since I last read the book, but the quality of this adaptation, from King's own hand, really shone out. Scene after scene was lifted directly from the pages and realised exactly as it appeared in the novel, with no obvious liberties taken with the events depicted; a lot of the lengthy establishing material about the characters was obviously cut in favour of advancing the main plot, but this information was still conveyed in parallel with the storyline, making the protagonists here as well-rounded as in the text. Many other minor touches from the book were also added (such as Nadine's hair going progressively grey as time passed and her liaison with Randall Flagg drew ever-closer) and this set The Stand apart from the average television mini-series. The tone was appropriately adult and uncompromising, direction was striking and tight, and the action remained gripping throughout, save for a needless descent into silliness with Flagg's ludicrous morphing into a prosthetic devil in episode four. Casting was obviously well-considered and appropriate, not to mention forming an impressive line-up in its own right, including Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Matt Frewer, Ray Walston and Corin Nemec among the players. Overall, Stephen King's The Stand did a pretty good job in finally bringing the previously-unfilmable to the small screen.

To close, it was nice to have Derek Jacobi back on our screens, albeit briefly, in two new Cadfael mysteries this month, even if the finely-crafted mediaeval atmosphere was rather let down by the programme's featuring of sponsorship inserts. I wonder how many visitors to The Main Event, presented by Kaleidoscope on Saturday 3rd August, tuned in to watch "A Morbid Taste for Bones" (25th August) again after our exclusive preview of the tale a few weeks before? And it was even more wonderful to be able to relive my childhood in an unashamedly-nostalgic documentary looking back at two decades of Saturday morning children's television, titled Multi-Coloured Saturdays (26th August). Although not nearly enough time was devoted to the grandfather of them all, The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (which could have easily sustained an entire programme in its own right), this was still a very satisfying sentimental trip into the golden memories of yesteryear. Can it really be twenty years since I avidly tuned in to watch Noel, Keith, Maggie, John, Posh Paws and Eric every Saturday morning, or tried to unload that unwanted Action Man accessory for the umpteenth time? Does anyone want to swap a Sea Wolf miniature submarine, slightly battered and with a few bits missing here and there? I could find a very good home for a Pentium Pro machine, leased line to the Internet and personal Web server in exchange...

Copyright © Adrian E.C. Petford 1996. All Rights Reserved.

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