It's been a few days since the last post, but that's due to the fact that I decided to tackle some television DVDs in my collection, and they take rather a bit longer to watch than films.
The first of the TV shows was 'Blackpool', a critically acclaimed drama serial from the BBC, which found success both here and across the pond by the name of 'Viva Blackpool'.
This Golden Globe nominated serial starred David Morrissey as Ripley Holden, Sarah Parish as Natalie Holden, and David Tennant as DI Peter Carlisle. This is irrelevant. You can find this information on the internet, reviews, plot synopsis, in fact, I suggest you buy the DVD, because the show really is amazing. I have only two things to talk about: the music and Blythe.
The music really is an integral part of the show. 'Blackpool' could have been some run-of-the-mill romantic crime mystery, likely to be found on ITV. However, with no corporate sponsors to please, the BBC were able to take a gamble, and the characters burst into song seemingly randomly. But it's not randomly at all, the music serves as a break in high points of tension, and are used as plot devices. It stops 'Blackpool' from being bleak and boring without taking away from the narrative. Take for example the arrest of Danny. That wouldn't be quite so memorable without the characters singing and dancing to The Smiths as they do it (and David Tennant doing the dance routine wrong is always a giggle). Plus, any show that can have two grown men doing the tango in the middle of an argument at a crime scene deserves our praise.
That's all very well, but who on earth is Blythe? Well, Blythe is the other detective working with Carlisle in solving the murder case. And he is played by Bryan Dick. That is the extent of most people's knowledge. I, on the other hand, know better. Blythe is one of the great, underexplored characters that television forgot. You see them so often, and I don't care to let this guy be forgotten. There is the joke amongst some 'Blackpool' fans that Danny wasn't the only gay character, that Blythe had a secret crush on Carlisle. And there is evidence to support the theory, but that can be saved for readers of my livejournal who are in on the whole joke. Even without that, there was a lot of wasted potential with Blythe. The moment Carlisle betrays him later in the series, the look in his eyes reveals that there's some unexplored back story there. Maybe the producers wanted it that way, maybe they thought it would get even more confusing, what with all the songs and all. The most annoying part is, other than singing as part of a group, or the backing vocals to David Tennant in 'The Gambler', Bryan Dick only gets one solo line in a song, in 'Don't Leave Me This Way'. That's just an injustice!
I really would recommend this show, it's an absolute tour de force. And now for your pleasure, here's a clip from episode four, featuring Blythe singing, but not on his own.
Now, as for 'Life On Mars'. I watched the entire first series in a day, which was kinda like an 8 hour long film, but unlike an 8 hour film, didn't get boring at all. However, I'm going to leave talking about 'Life On Mars' until I've watched the second series, so I can get it all down in one post.
No comments:
Post a Comment