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Andrew Davies on the fate of period dramas

Romola Garai as Emma
  • Posted at 12:02pm
  • 29 September 2009
  • by PaulJones-RT
  • 8 comments

On Sunday 4 October (9:00pm), BBC1 broadcasts the first in a a new four-part adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, yet in the future there's a move to cut back on the number of "bonnet" dramas the BBC produces.

In the latest issue of Radio Times, Ben Stephenson, the new controller of BBC drama commissioning, explains what's behind the move, while Andrew Davies, the king of period drama adaptations, gives his response.

Stephenson said, "Period drama[…]is probably about 15 per cent of the overall body of work that we make, but because of its scale and impact, it punches above its weight. And I think that has led to us being well known for period drama and perhaps less know for contemporary drama. I want us to do both.

"I also feel there has been a relatively limited rota of periods that we have dramatised on the BBC and what we are looking to do is mix it up a bit."

The current BBC drama mix sees Emma up alongside Small Island, a dramatisation of Andrea Levy's novel about the Windrush generation, set in the 1950s, while a production of Henry James's late-Victorian ghost story The Turn of the Screw is being updated to the 1920s.

Meanwhile, Andrew Davies, the scriptwriter who brought Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch and Little Dorrit to the small screen, gave his predictions on the future of period drama:

"I don't think we've seen the last of the big 19th-century adaptations. I'm rather counting on the fact that there is still the BBC charter. The BBC has to justify its licence fee and the cultural value of transmitting the classics is one of the things that makes the BBC unique and valuable.

"That said, they're certainly putting the stress on the 20th century. It's the revenge of the controllers. The new breed don't have anything like the power [they used to have]. So there's an element of slate-wiping and territory marking.

"I think, in terms of doing the classics, their position is somewhere near what ITV's was ten years ago. Which is, 'yes, we'll do them, but only if they're big, popular warhorses'. So it's going downmarket, I guess.

"I remain, however, fairly optimistic for the future of period drama because it's just such a popular thing. People like bonnets. I don't think you can underestimate that."

**

Do you like bonnets? Or would you like to see more 20th-century classics on our screens? Post a comment below and let us know.

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Comments

  • Posted on 16 October 2009
  • at 11:27pm
  • by Nayshiftin

There is surely room for all, I liked Larkrise to candleford and do so love Austen and other classical writers like the Brontes and there are so many other Catherine Cookson and other historical fictional tales whatever. I also like modern dramas like criminal justice and can only say keep trying to please the more variety and new but old the better.

  • Posted on 12 October 2009
  • at 5:13am
  • by Pearl

Love the costume dramas! I have thoroughly enjoyed the language, the manners and the fashion of that time. What I like most is the dramas has peaked my interest in reading these old classics! But I must agree that it's time to bring out the other notable authors' works as Austen, Bronte, etc. can feel a little overworked after a while.

  • Posted on 03 October 2009
  • at 10:49am
  • by MW

What I like about period dramas is the language, the manners and all the tiny details that one learns about the period, if the text is followed. That is what makes American versions so awful, they alter the style and behaviour of the characters and it becomes ghastly. Andrew Davies is the man, he gets it right and understands.

  • Posted on 30 September 2009
  • at 2:48pm
  • by David

Absolutely! Period drama is something that the BBC does better than anybody else on the planet. Please do not allow that to become diluted. I watched ITV's attempts to to Jane Austen and The Old Curiosity Shop and, despite the star names, they weren't in the same league as Jane Eyre or Little Dorrit.

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 10:48pm
  • by Julie

I do like 'bonnet dramas,' when something new is added with either the writing or staging. I enjoyed Davies adaption of Persuasion for ITV, but hated his adaption of Pride & Prejudice for the screen (too much into two hours! missed my favorite lines).

Still, the bigger problem is just that TV/movies continue to re-hash classics that have already had adaptations. Why don't they get some guts and attempted to adapt a classic that hasn't had an adaption yet, or hasn't for more than 20 years! (no more Gaskel, no more Austen or Bronte - any of them! Perhaps Wilkie Collins?

I also agree with Simon about BBC3 putting the best dramas out there right now. Glad someone is taking the chance.

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 8:58pm
  • by Rachel

I love 'bonnet', and all my female friends love bonnet, from ages 25 - 50. Long live bonnet! Quality bonnet though (Little Dorrit), not Eastenders Bonnet like Lark Rise to Candleford is…

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 5:28pm
  • by Simon

I dont watch any of these 'bonnet dramas' as I think they are boring and out of date. Its like being at school where I was forced to read ancient 'classics' that meant nothing to me and had no personal connection whatsoever.

There is very little innovative exciting new drama on BBC1 or BBC2. The superb Party Animals was relegated to terrible time slots and is unlikely to ever return now Matt Smith has become Doctor Who. BBC3 has, as it should be, become the home of the best new drama on the BBC but it is few and far between. Both Being Human and Massive are superb and deserve more support. I do wonder if all the best stuff is on BBC3 where does this leave BBC2?

  • Posted on 29 September 2009
  • at 3:54pm
  • by Anna

I am a 22 year old period drama freak, there is nothing more exciting on TV than the prospect of men in britches and tall boots, women in dresses and bonnets and issues never rising above the trivialities of life. Keep the costumes BBC!

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