You may already know that (at least in the show's early days), the "contestants" were actually stage school children, and this was a shameful deception of the young audience watching at home who probably thought the participants were their peers.
The contestants on Blind Date were often drama school people too. Is it a harmful deception?
And what of Raven himself - did he know about the CIN deception? If he did he's as guilty as the production team.
I dare say if you ask James MacKenzie (the actor who plays Raven) he'd know nothing about it. But having said that, the deception occurred on Children In Need, not the actual Raven programme, therefore I would argue that it has nothing whatsoever to do with a) Mr MacKenzie and b) the production of Raven.
tvarksouthwest posted:
I think the time has come to ditch Raven, since this is the second scandal the show has been embroiled in. You may already know that (at least in the show's early days), the "contestants" were actually stage school children, and this was a shameful deception of the young audience watching at home who probably thought the participants were their peers. If someone wrote in wanting to be a contestant on Raven, what were they told?
Most first series of programmes find contestants either by appeal or going round schools, stage or otherwise. I don't quite see what your problem is in this case. Raven is, okay, its a basic outdoor premise of what Knightmare was, but its a half-decent show with some challenges that wouldn't look out of place on Fort Boyard.
You may already know that (at least in the show's early days), the "contestants" were actually stage school children, and this was a shameful deception of the young audience watching at home who probably thought the participants were their peers.
The contestants on Blind Date were often drama school people too. Is it a harmful deception?
TV has always traded on deception. You could argue the chromakey backdrops of town centres etc in 'down the line' interview studios are deception.
Quite honestly there are far more important and interesting stories that should be lead items in today's newspapers and news broadcasts. I think the broadcasting industry and wider media are getting self obsessed over, (not for the first time) this.
I think the time has come to ditch Raven, since this is the second scandal the show has been embroiled in. You may already know that (at least in the show's early days), the "contestants" were actually stage school children, and this was a shameful deception of the young audience watching at home who probably thought the participants were their peers. If someone wrote in wanting to be a contestant on Raven, what were they told?
I'm sorry Simon but there is no scandal in using stage school children in a programme like Raven, they are still the viewers peers and as long as they play to the rules I don't see where the problem is?
I'm sorry Simon but there is no scandal in using stage school children in a programme like Raven, they are still the viewers peers and as long as they play to the rules I don't see where the problem is?
I think there is, if it prevents fans of the show being given the chance to take part by virtue of what schools they attend. Besides, stage school children by definition aren't representative of their peers; they are after all trained in how to act around the cameras.
...it prevents fans of the show being given the chance to take part by virtue of what schools they attend. Besides, stage school children by definition aren't representative of their peers; they are after all trained in how to act around the cameras.
No it doesn't, it encourages fans of the show to take part. There would be no fans on episode 1 of series 1, so who is going to apply? Given that the whole series is likely to have been recorded before it went out on air, who exactly was going to apply for the show and who were these fans that wanted to apply?
[What phone number does 6music use again... oh yes an 08700 number. Funny that.
Aren't 08700 local rate...?
0870 numbers are charged at a "National Rate" - I think it's around 9p a minute. 0845 numbers are charged at a "Local Rate" - they're around 4p a minute.
They can still make a profit on these though, only a few pence a call - but it all adds up.
I'm pretty sure they don't as it's the BBC and they can't make profit that way.
Well, they do!
A few weeks ago in the height of this it was highlighted how the Government Debt helpline (an 0870 number) was making hundreds of thousands in profit.
Difference with the BBC (to other broadcasters) is at least the money has to go back in to the company and isn't just profit for the shareholders.
No it doesn't, it encourages fans of the show to take part. There would be no fans on episode 1 of series 1, so who is going to apply? Given that the whole series is likely to have been recorded before it went out on air, who exactly was going to apply for the show and who were these fans that wanted to apply?
I still don't think it would have been that difficult finding more "mainstream" contestants for Series 1.
No it doesn't, it encourages fans of the show to take part. There would be no fans on episode 1 of series 1, so who is going to apply? Given that the whole series is likely to have been recorded before it went out on air, who exactly was going to apply for the show and who were these fans that wanted to apply?
I still don't think it would have been that difficult finding more "mainstream" contestants for Series 1.
As I said previously, most contestants for first series of most shows are found by tours of schools, stage or otherwise. Otherwise there would be no show.
Anyway Raven seems to require a certain level of fitness, self-confidence and general intelligence level in order for the programme to work. It would just look incredibly silly otherwise to have thick, shy and fat kids doing the tasks on this show. Its not something like Get Your Own Back which is, at the end of the day, just a bit of fun and even the bigger kids on that can win out at the end of the day. Raven takes itself seriously and I wouldn't be surprised if they veto the contestants based on fitness levels alone.
That I can understand, yes the games are physically demanding but it's just that first audition process which I feel should be a level playing field, even if the demands of the show aren't!
Interesting point there about Raven and drama school contestants. Generally, I've found CBBC productions based in London do advertise for new contestants for programmes - it used to be hard to find but on the website go to CBBC --> Be on a Show. It used to be quietly hidden away but has been there for at least the last 2.5 years. New programmes have asked for contestants there - Serious Andes/Jungle etc, Level Up, Clutter Nutters.
The interesting point raised here is that this is a CBBC Scotland production. I have to confess I've never noticed a Glasgow production looking for people on the bbc site (though I'll happily stand corrected if it's the case). I have seen Rule the School requesting teachers in the T.E.S. but I've never seen 50/50 look for schools (or announce details of how to apply)
So Scotand does seem to look for people outside the acting sphere - but I'm not convinced London and Glasgow use the same methods to acquire contestants.
It was always viewed with some suspicion that Jim'll Fix It never broadcast that all-important address to write to if you wanted Jim to fix it for you. Apart from one week I remember, where a viewer's letter queried the fact so an address was given out.
