Thinky Thoughts

[thornyrose42]

 So Torchwood and Torchwood reactions inspired more thoughts.

 

Torchwood Fandom has exploded. As far as I can tell for my little safe bomb proof corner over here the fandom seems to be split mainly between the people who were in it for Jack and Ianto, canonical gay, stopwatches and al,l and those who well, weren't. Actually it seems that the less emotionally invested in Torchwood and the fandom you were the more you enjoyed the series. I was lucky as I hadn't even watched most of the previous two seasons and had been living vicariously through people's reaction posts thus I was quite happy to watch five hours of gripping TV drama and not worry about the fact that this does seem to be Torchwood's swan-song.

 

I've seen some comments to the effect that they don't understand a) the character death and b) why RTD is basically killing of Torchwood just when it is doing so well and after only three seasons. I saw one comment that basically said that she would understand CoE being placed four seasons down the line but couldn't work out why RTD would use this story now.

 

Well for me a lot of this can be explained by the difference between American and British telly. 

 

Fawlty Towers, officially the best British TV program ever according to the British Film Institute who created a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programs in 2000, ran for a total of two seasons each containing six episodes. Fawlty Towers is often held up as the example which all other series should follow, it is cited when a series does pull to a close while still on top form and when the quality of a series begins to peter out critics start making snide remarks about how they should have "got out while the going was good". We also have a tendency to be snippy about long running American TV shows possibly due to jealousy :) the Radio Times’s reviews of season five of House have mentioned the words “tired formula” about ten times so far. Series as a whole just don't have as many episodes or last for as long in Britain as they do in America. (Even the American series that get canceled before their time often have more episodes than a successful British TV series.) This is obviously due to different levels of funding, management etc etc and it doesn't mean that we aren't disappointed when a favourite TV series stops (witness my mum upon hearing that both Robin Hood and Primeval had been canceled after their third seasons) but it does mean that we are a lot more used to it and perhaps more willing to accept it.

 

The same goes for character death. Our shows just have more of it. British actors have shorter contracts and the shows are written and shot in their entirety before the show airs. Thus you just don’t get the comfort of knowing that the only place a main character can die is in the finale and with a suitably dramatic death scene. Spooks is a prime and extreme example of this. The show has run for an unusually long time for a British production partly because the cast changes all the time. In fact there is only one original cast member left the rest having left or been killed in a variety of unpleasant ways. Although as astrogirl2  pointed out to me the American shows are getting more ruthless Lost and SCC being the obvious examples.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods of producing TV series (both being preferable to the reality TV that we get all too much of now) but they are ultimately different methods of production with a different set of values behind them. I guess that RTD and the Torchwood  gang would just prefer in ten years time to look back on five hours of quality television rather than five seasons of ok television.  

 

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Its money, UK tv has no money at the moment. BBC are under pressure to give some of the licence fee to ITV because ITV are on the verge of going bust. So expensive drama on the BBC is under pressure. I suspect Torchwood is going so that Who can continue.

Though personally I think the BBC should hack eastenders back to 1 or 2 episodes a week, because thats a vast money sink.

But yes, you're right. The fans who were in Torchwood for the boyslash are desperately upset and hating RTD at the moment, while everybody else loved CoE.

In my defense,

[softly-me.livejournal.com]

Oooh, good discussion. Television is absolutely my favorite topic ever.

I'm not objecting to CoE or the fact that Torchwood has ended. The show has always been mediocre at best. But the fandom is one of the most lively I've ever been in (and that's saying something). There has always been a lot of potential with TW characters, potential that the TW writers painfully ignore. I am unconcerned because silly things like canon deaths will never get in the way of an energetic fandom. But, I digress.

Most American television is crap, but one must realize just how much American television there is what with having "the most highly developed mass media in the world", according to BBC World News. And a lot of our shows, do go on far longer than necessary with no sign of stopping. (You mentioned House, but also Desperate Housewives, who just got signed for four more seasons, and Grey's Anatomy, where not one character is even remotely likable anymore).

(I must defend House quickly: Of course the House standard formula has gotten old. It's a procedural show, not unlike CSI and Law & Order. We are all generally unfair to House because we treat it like a fandom when it really shouldn't be. Having interesting characters and a totally slashable pairing has made House skyrocket into the world of fandom and we forget that procedurals aren't supposed to change the formula and have season-wide arcs. They are supposed to be interesting on an episode-by-episode basis. You are supposed to understand what is happening in any episode even if you haven't seen any others before. Procedurals are an important genre, especially for those who don't have time to make television their life (like we do!))

That being said, one can hardly generalize that all American television shows go on forever with no sign of stopping (especially not when Doctor Who is a British show - talk about going on forever). Ever since it's second season, LOST had a planned end of the show, deciding to stop after season six. Battlestar Galactica, similarly, planned out the story and decided how many seasons they needed to tell it. Critically acclaimed as currently the best show on tv, Mad Men has a set ending. I could add other shows to the list, but the point remains that not all US shows wait for their ratings to drop abysmally low before stopping. We just generally prefer to know that the end is coming. I think a lot of us americans are upset about TW because we are used to knowing far ahead of time that our show is ending - that gives us time to emotionally prepare.

I adored CoE. The fandom needs to calm down because death cannot stop true love (especially where Jack is concerned.) But, it's a little unfair for you to say that Torchwood is ending for idealic cause of 'quality television'. They stopped because they didn't have the funds to continue and they, thankfully, went out on a high note.

I'm sure if British television had endless funds like Hollywood there would be many more mediocre shows that run forever. (After all, I adore in telling everyone that it is Britain's fault American Idol exists. We stole the idea from them and then made it bigger and more irritating.) I am, however, very glad that you don't have that much money. Save for the few exceptions, nothing kills quality tv faster than endless funds (just look at the Harry Potter movies).

(Dear lord, I went on for a while. Sorry about that. Thanks for all the good food for thought.)