It’s now several weeks since Series 3 of the UK TV drama Peaky Blinders finished broadcasting but I have often found myself thinking about this drama Loosely based on actual historical events, it is set in post-World War 1 Birmingham (the British midlands) and follows the rise to power of a criminal gang dominated by … Continue reading
Filed under Television …
Reflecting on the ‘Hear Me Roar’ Feminist Arts Festival Lancaster March 2016
I am writing this post on ‘Hear Me Roar: Ages, Stages, Phases’ from a double perspective. Through one lens I see it as someone who was part of the team involved in organising this feminist arts festival (with most of the hard work being undertaken by unflagging, (very) creative producer, Leo Burtin.) Through the other … Continue reading
From Doctor Foster to Medea (Almeida)
It was my daughter, Maggie, who urged me to watch the BBC’s five-part series, Doctor Foster, scripted by playwright Mike Bartlett and starring Suranne Jones. Besieged by an overly busy start to another academic year, I was reluctant to find the time, but all it took was one episode and I was completely hooked, watching … Continue reading
The Fall – Television Crime Drama, Serial Killers, Feminism and Acting.
While I like crime fiction in general, a while back I started avoiding narratives centred around serial killers whether in the medium of novels or film or TV. While working within genre conventions can be highly creative, this seems to me to have become a particularly limited sub-genre in which, in most cases novelty is … Continue reading
Orphan Black vs Broadwalk Empire and Game of Thrones.
Currently airing on BBC 3, Canadian Sci-Fi series Orphan Black has nothing like the budget or so far the ‘must see/cult/ TV’ status of Broadwalk Empire (of which I’ve only seen series one) let alone Game of Thrones (of which I’ve seen series one to three) but in comparison is a breath of fresh air. … Continue reading
Scott and Bailey PS (Series 3, Final Episodes)
Ok so my embarassing gushing in my previous post about ‘friendship’ amongst the main, female characters in Scott and Bailey was put to the test, or rather in the episodes that followed it, Scott and Bailey’s friendship was put to the test by Rachel’s (Bailey) drunken self destructive behaviour. In the last two episodes they … Continue reading
Eurovision & Performing the ‘New’ Europe
As far as the UK’s participation in Eurovision is concerned, it seems to me as though we have become as sceptical about the song competition as we have about staying in the EU (at least as far as the Tories are concerned). Bonnie Tyler’s ‘sterling’ effort this year was applauded by Graham Norton as the … Continue reading
Scott and Bailey
Originally one of the reasons for starting this blog was that Elaine and I wanted an outlet to express our enthusiasm for the TV police drama Scott and Bailey. Based on an idea by performers Suranne Jones who plays Rachel Bailey and Sally Lindsay and written by Sally Wainwright who also wrote Last Tango in … Continue reading
Borgen
This week I was on BBC iPlayer watching the first three episodes of Borgen, series 2, currently aired on BBC4, this having missed the first series, despite an urgent recommendation from a friend to watch it. Now I see why. The personal points of identification are so strong. Well, no, I never got to be … Continue reading
Gerry’s Xmas Costume Drama round up (just the highlights)
Gerry’s Xmas TV costume drama round up: the terse version Call the Midwife. Love this because my Mum was a district midwife. This means I grew up answering the phone to desperate men yelling at me because their wives were in labour and Mum wasn’t at home. A deeply formative experience- it taught me that … Continue reading
Drama Queens Review 