Discovering British Television

The Hat-tip: When you feel like reviving a blog but have absolutely no material in mind, what do you do but borrow ideas from others' posts. Just as Swaroop's article on Rahman albums inspired a follow up on this blog, Soumithri's post on television has given me the incentive to write about my viewing experiences with British Television Shows.

The entry point for me dates back to 2007, while I was over at Ghanashyam Anna's place during my internship in Hyderabad. With not much else to do, I watched his DVDs of The Thin Blue Line and Only Fools and Horses, acquisitions from his days in the UK. TTBL, starring Rowan Atkinson, is a sitcom about the goings-on in a Police Station with some particularly hilarious banter between the officers and the CID detectives, while 'Only Fools..' takes us through the misadventures of two con-men, the Trotter brothers. I'm not really sure what drew me in, but it was refreshing to see Atkinson play someone other than Mr.Bean (he is ten times the actor when he actually opens his mouth), and the simple but well-executed plots in 'Only Fools..' had me hooked.

My curiosity aroused, I went back to other old shows I had paid little attention to when they had earlier been broadcast on STAR - Yes, Minister and Blackadder - and then started searching for something more contemporary. High-speed internet in the US turned out to be a godsend. Why British TV, you may ask? It belongs, as Soumithri says, in its own separate slot of awesomeness. It makes for viewing that is fundamentally different, if that's what one is looking for. I'm not going to suggest that it is better or worse than American Television; but since most couch potatoes around me agree that American shows (since they dominate the airwaves here) form the accepted 'template' for English-language programming, I shall use American TV as a basis for comparison.

To explain further, I give you one of my analogies: British TV is to its American counterpart what Tamil Cinema is to Bollywood. Many people who watch films in both Hindi and Tamil feel that, while Tamil Cinema lacks the glitz and polish of Bollywood and has a more low-budget feel, there is a grit factor and down-to-earthness about it which makes it more compelling at times. Its characters tend to be more everyman (or everywoman) than glossed-up. The experience of watching the US remake of The Office soon after seeing the original was a bit like watching Saathiya after Alaipayuthey. The US adaptation is a fine show in its own right but, when compared to the poignant, farcical world of the UK version with its quietly desperate inhabitants, seems a little watered-down; I know which one hits me harder.

There's also an 'out of the box' element to these shows which keeps me interested. They don't enjoy the sort of financial backing from networks which their American counterparts have, resulting in much smaller teams of producers and writers (and about 6 shows on average per series); but a relative lack of resources is often made up for with innovation. The Crystal Maze, which many of us who grew up in the 90s fondly remember, ran on a shoestring yet was a wholly enjoyable game show, especially with Richard O'Brien at the helm. In Q.I, which Soumithri also wrote about, Stephen Fry and the contestants elevate the world of quizzing and trivia to something, well, quite interesting. And there's the irreverent sitcom Coupling, which took the FRIENDS formula and turned it on its head.

The humour in Brit-coms can be fairly unsanitised. Sometimes this means they go to lengths which American shows won't, and sometimes it simply means the characters get to say "fuck" a lot. The Inbetweeners is an American Pie-esque adolescent comedy with a mean streak and rougher edges, and is quite watchable although it covers no new ground. British drama, on the other hand, can be refreshingly understated. Judge John Deed, whose reruns are being shown on the BBC Entertainment Channel here, is an intense courtroom show without the unnecessary trappings of Boston Legal, for example.

Of late, I've been a sucker for shows which try to incorporate realism through the single camera setup and by focusing on the mundane. The Office is the most obvious example. There's also the downbeat Outnumbered, which portrays the chaos in the lives of a couple having to deal with their three pesky, oversmart kids; it's funny in a low-key sort of way. My personal favourite is Peep Show, which I wrote about earlier. David Mitchell and Robert Webb make a brilliant comedic duo, and this is the show for those of us who tend to find ourselves thinking a bit too much. When I first saw it, I wanted to go to the nearest rooftop and shout about it to everyone I knew. These days, I look at it as a highly potent recreational drug, to be taken on occasion. Try it and let me know what you think.

It's not all solid gold though, and I've discovered a fair number of duds along the way. I'm often disappointed by the geek sitcom The IT Crowd; great concept, but poorly executed. Not Going Out, of which I caught a few episodes on BBC Entertainment, is heavy on bad puns and little else.

Of course, there are many sides to British Television I haven't explored - those panel shows which Soumithri mentioned, a number of interesting sounding sci-fi programmes, and sketch shows. And there are serials which tap into the country's deep reservoir of myths, legends and culture such as Merlin, Robin Hood, Jeeves and Wooster. The one I'm really looking forward to watching is the recent mini-series Sherlock, though I hope the positive reviews haven't set my expectations too high.

I've said enough. What have you been watching?