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Waterloo Road

(November 2007)

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AM
amosc100
tvarksouthwest posted:
More to the point, why does every BBC drama have to be set "up North"? Hardly about regional quotas if you think about it.


EVERY drama????

London = South of the Watford Gap - the humanised point that so-called separates north from south

Dr Who - cardiff and London
Torchwood - Cardiff and London
Holby City - London filmed
Holby Blue - London filmed
Spooks - London
New Tricks - London
Waking The Dead - London
Silent Witness - London
Robin Hood - set in Nottingham, Filmed in Eastern Europe
Casualty - West Country
Waterloo Road - BBC Scotland but filmed in Greater Manchester (predominantly Rochdale)
The Street - Manchester (ITV Production for BBC)
Eastenders - London
Doctors - Birmingham


So how many BBC Drama's come from oop north???

uch less than what you think.

Funny how the best actors/actresses in the country come from the North, though!!!! Why is that - better acting schools???? Even Gandalf in Lord of the Rings - the world acclaimed Ian McKellen comes from Bolton/Wigan oop north!!!!!!
JO
Joe
Deary me Simon. I just try to enjoy the programme, not give myself a nervous breakdown because it's not set anywhere near Portsmouth. Do you really have nothing better to do?
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
Jugalug posted:
Do you really have nothing better to do?

I think so, but I'd definitely be down the jolly old week off tubes if I were to tell you what!
JO
Joe
Nick Harvey posted:
Jugalug posted:
Do you really have nothing better to do?


I think so, but I'd definitely be down the jolly old week off tubes if I were to tell you what!


I think I can guess!
AM
amosc100
tvarksouthwest posted:
Jugalug posted:
Simon, do you sit and watch Waterloo Road, all the time thinking, 'this would be so much better if it was set down south'?

That's just the impression I get.

I certainly look at the show, and other BBC drama offerings and wonder "why COULDN'T this be set in the South?" It's as if anywhere further south of Birmingham is considered inferior for the BBC's non-continuing drama output. And then there's the possibility of box-ticking. Are these shows set in the North to stave off accusations of London-centricism by the BBC?

The decision to place Waterloo Road in the North West seems especially strange with the production company being based in London. Of the other drama output - Sorted, a drama about postmen. Again, why not the South? We have snail mail down here after all! Others, such as The Street, rely on the Northern setting as part of their feel, not to mention Jimmy McGovern wrote it.


Nick Harvey posted:
I've just been checking on the regional roots of the actors in the original Grange Hill series.

Boy oh boy, it makes for some very interesting reading!

Really - what did you find?


The makers of Sorted are Manchester based and are proud to come from the city so why not film it and base it there. (Red Rooster or something like that!!)

Jimmy McGovern lives in the north, writes about the north and so why not set it in the north as the dialect would be completely out of place if it was based in another part of the country and the programme is made by ITVGranada!!!
TV
tvarksouthwest
I must laugh at the suggestion I have nothing better to do, given some people have tried to make this thread "deeper" than what it needs to be. The suggestion that I would consider Spotlight "northern biased" if the crew had relatives in Dundee for example. By that thinking then Westward/TSW shouldn't have employed Ian Stirling because he was from Scotland...
BR
Brekkie
amosc100 posted:
Funny how the best actors/actresses in the country come from the North, though!!!! Why is that - better acting schools???? Even Gandalf in Lord of the Rings - the world acclaimed Ian McKellen comes from Bolton/Wigan oop north!!!!!!



Interesting point.

Completely unscientific and perhaps mis-informed point of view, but my opinion would be that those up north are likely to come via drama groups which take people from a wider range of backgrounds, while those down south are more likely to be via the stage school route - which isn't as in touch with the sort of TV drama produced in the UK as perhaps people with more "working class" upbringings would be.
TV
tvarksouthwest
Brekkie Boy posted:
amosc100 posted:
Funny how the best actors/actresses in the country come from the North, though!!!! Why is that - better acting schools???? Even Gandalf in Lord of the Rings - the world acclaimed Ian McKellen comes from Bolton/Wigan oop north!!!!!!



Interesting point.

Completely unscientific and perhaps mis-informed point of view, but my opinion would be that those up north are likely to come via drama groups which take people from a wider range of backgrounds, while those down south are more likely to be via the stage school route - which isn't as in touch with the sort of TV drama produced in the UK as perhaps people with more "working class" upbringings would be.

Not misinformed - that's exactly how it is!

Most of the acclaimed stage schools are London based - Italia Conti, Sylvia Young etc - not to mention RADA! There are fewer actual stage schools in the north, there are some of note such as Laine-Johnson in Manchester and Stage 84 in Bradford, but the balance is redressed by the many very successful drama groups such as Carole Godby (Linton Management) and this does seem to be the way most come into TV drama. People like Matt Littler, Ralf Little, Tina O'Brien, Helen Flanagan...loads of familiar TV faces!
LT
LoveTV!!
SOL posted:
Watch out for the mistake tonight for those that watch it.

What was the mistake?

LoveTV
NH
Nick Harvey Founding member
LoveTV!! posted:
What was the mistake?

Hehe!

The mistake was you watching a whole week too late for the mistake.
SO
SOL
LoveTV!! posted:
SOL posted:
Watch out for the mistake tonight for those that watch it.

What was the mistake?

LoveTV


lol It was the Head Teacher's office door being closed during a meeting with Grantley Budgeon and then mysteriously being open halfway through and then closed again at the end. Laughing

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