I have a new joke. It’s to do with how books are made into films and TV, and along the way can be changed anywhere from a little to unrecognisable. And the joke goes like this: if you want to see a perfect version of your favourite book on screen, buy the ebook.<\/p>\n
It is no more possible to perfectly move a book onto film or TV than it is to make a flat map out of a globe. Projection distorts the map, and it must. The different media distorts the story, and it cannot fail to.<\/p>\n
But I suppose you have some choice over just how much it fails. The subject heading above about pulling on a new Jersey is a reference to the revival of “Bergerac”, which is set on that island and from the little I’ve seen of it so far, does follow the spirit of the original show. Except sometimes shows have two spirits, and this time it’s that the new show has followed Jim Bergerac’s backstory of alcoholism rather than the somewhat lighter fare the original series was better known for. <\/p>\n
Fine. Battlestar Galactica was turned from a fun but really rather shallow series into quite startlingly searing drama. Doctor Who came back with a life and verve it hadn’t had before. And the new Day of the Jackal came back with nothing but the title of the original versions.<\/p>\n
I just seem to be surrounded by remakes at the moment. Even though I’m currently hooked on an original show, “Astrid et Rapha\u00eblle”, I’ve come to it after seeing its English-language remake, “Patience”. Yesterday I read the screenplay to “Conclave” and that, of course, is based on a novel.<\/p>\n
Then there’s the new run of “Reacher”, based on a novel I read long enough ago that I can’t remember any details but can see that it feels like it’s honouring the book.<\/p>\n
That’s all I need, I think. The production of Battlestar Galactica began with a proposal that said it was aiming for “nothing less than a total reinvention of the space opera genre”, which sounds like it wanted to wreck the original show. But as different as it was, I think the remade, rebooted, reimagined Battlestar was simply done better than the original.<\/p>\n
If a remake or a revivals solely takes the title of a previous show and nothing else, it’s doing it for IP. It’s doing it because 600-odd new series are launched every year and having a known title helps get attention. <\/p>\n
But then as is so often the case, I think there aren’t any rules and there isn’t a sanity clause. The revival of “Frasier” had more than the old show’s title, it had every single thing about it except that it just wasn’t done as well.<\/p>\n
Nothing is guaranteed. Everything is revivable. But good writers doing more than accepting an old show’s title as a vehicle for getting their own series made, that’s at least worth watching.<\/p>\n
Now, excuse me while I go see what they’ve done to the Bergerac theme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have a new joke. It’s to do with how books are made into films and TV, and along the … Continue reading