Quatermass wrote:
They do in some cases. Doctor Who showcases some of the best and the worst in telefantasy writing, but I'm not convinced about The Survivors, Max Headroom, Space:1999 or The Stranger being for children. Did you ever watch the second 'Stranger' video?
The one with Sophie Aldred? Yes, and the the third, which I consider to be the true sci-fi three. The ones after that totally re-wrote the storyline, added a lot more adult themes, and were generally pretty naff IMHO.
The second story had material that could be construed either platonically or as risque, depending on where you were coming from, but it was predominantly an environmental story and contained a level of violence rather less than, say, the G.A.I.A. environmental cartoons, and had a fair amount of comic relief.
I remember watching Space:1999 either at lunch or very early afternoon. It was heavy writing at times, but no more so than any other Gerry/Sylvia Anderson series, and being shown in a children/teen timeslot made it clear enough who they intended it to be watched by.
The Survivors was incredibly dark, but consider the level of graphic content. Virtually none. In comparison, "Flame Trees of Thika" contained full-frontal nudity, "Little House on the Prarie" includes kids chain-smoking and babies getting burned to death, "Lassie" not only included prostitutes but had one episode focussed on a way too young kid buying services from them. The darkness of The Survivors was not some gratuitous device to get ratings, the way the other examples were, and never hovered on depravity.
Max Headroom is perhaps a different matter. It was shown later than any of the others I mentioned. On the other hand, it was not considered that disturbing, as news programs (including John Craven's Newsround) featured clips from it.
06 Jun 2008, 3:03 am
