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Showing posts from November, 2017

Taboo

Taboo is a “historical drama” (Hughes, 2017) that follows a man who “comes home to bury his father, revive an incestuous bond with sister Zilpha and claim his inheritance” (Duguid, 2017). Originally broadcast “at 9:15pm on BBC One” (Littlejohn, 2017) in January and repeated in March on BBC 2. This programme is suitable for this timeslot because it contains strong language, “harrowing moments” (Hughes, 2017) and subject matter such as “incest and exorcisms” (Hughes, 2017) that are not be suitable for younger viewers if broadcast at an earlier time due to Ofcom’s rules to “protect viewers from offensive and harmful content” (Ofcom, 2013). This drama is typical for BBC Two because it is required to give “an edgy, angled perspective on the world” (BBC, n.d.) with “complex and demanding tales” (BBC, n.d.) which Taboo does by providing the audience “grime and torment” (Hughes, 2017) through the storylines of each episode where the characters need to overcome obstacles to accomplish

Quake

Quake, a “new audio drama” (Reynolds, 2017) from Radio 4 is about how “the search for survivors begins after a deadly earthquake” (Graham, 2017). This new form of audio drama is “made up of 12 short form audio pieces” (Graham, 2017) and uses the innovative virtual reality technology to tell a gripping story and “illustrates how digital communication methods can help save lives” (BDH, n.d.). The series is “not on radio but online” (Reynolds, 2017), using VR and animations bringing the story to life which is new for Radio 4 as it is its “first virtual reality radio” (BDH, n.d.), winning the “PRIX EUROPA Award for innovation” (BDH, n.d.). This shows how the BBC has taken the first step “into the digital revolution” (Reynolds, 2017) leading the way for others to follow and making this unique for the BBC. BBC Radio 4 should provide a “mixed speech service, offering in-depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech output” (BBC, n.d.) and Quake does this by “highlightin

My Week as a Muslim - Channel 4

My Week as a Muslim, a Channel 4 documentary “that aims to give a frank insight into the everyday lives of British Muslims, including the anti-Islamic sentiments they often encounter” (Jones, 2017). The documentary follows Katie Freeman who “is frightened of Muslims” (Nicholson, 2017), as she “puts on makeup and changes her clothes in order to pass as a Muslim” (Khan, 2017) to open her eyes on how life is like for a Muslim woman. This programme was broadcast on 23 October 2017 on Channel 4. Due to some language and sensitive subjects covered in the documentary it was shown at 9pm.  Channel 4 “wanted to do something bold and experimental” (Khan, 2017) when creating this documentary that fits their commissioning guide for a documentary that, “says something about society now” (4 Commissioning, n.d.). In true Channel 4 fashion, this documentary was highly controversial and was “widely criticised for ‘brownface’” (Jones, 2017), however, it was still broadcast   as they are "t

S-Town Podcast

S-Town is a “true-crime” (Salusinszky, 2017) podcast produced by “Serial and This American Life, hosted by Brian Reed” (S.Town, n.d.) and it is a “rapidly expanding set of mini stories” (Romano, 2017) all about murder, mental health and the collapse of a society in Alabama. At the start, Brian “starts by talking about antique clock repair” (McGrane, 2017) and then hooks the audience by saying he “asked me to help him solve a murder” (Serial Productions, n.d.). This appeals to the audience of “loyal, affluent and educated” (Podcast insights, 2017) podcast listeners; making them continue to listen because they want to find out what has happened and if they solve the murder. Listeners were intrigued by the mystery because it focuses on subjects that are “difficult, brutal, and inevitably controversial” (Romano, 2017) and that is why it “scored over 45 million downloads in its first month, making it one of the most downloaded podcasts of all time” (McGrane, 2017). The producers used “c