The golden age of TV drama is... now? Discuss...
Grim, gritty realism was all the rage in TV drama in the 90s - think Cracker, Prime Suspect, Between The Lines, Cardiac Arrest, NYPD Blue, ER. But the noughties (terrible phrase - does anyone have anything better?) is more about high concept, glossy escapism, fantasy, adventure , fancy camerawork and effects, flashbacks and other non-linear narrative techniques - last night's final episode of BBC1's Life on Mars being a prime example.
But also think Hustle, Spooks, Blackpool, Lost, Desperate Housewives, 24, CSI, Alias, Footballers' Wives, the Doctor Who revival.
Shameless is an interesting case in point: creator Paul Abbott has admitted that when he first tried to dramatise his childhood experiences in the 90s, it came out as a grim bit of social realism - and he wasn't happy with it. Now the Shameless Abbott has fathered turns the potentially po-faced, gritty reality of life on a northern council estate into a satirical romp - which still has interesting things to say about morality and the importance of family ties.
You could also compare and contrast CSI's take on the police procedural formula with the approach taken by Prime Suspect. Or how 24 and Spooks came at the shady world of spies and counter intelligence work in a radically different way to Between The Lines.
There are still dramatists doing things in a more traditional way - arguably one reason why Stephen Poliakoff's work stands apart from most contemporary TV drama is that he eschews fancy effects and narrative tricks and employs more timeless techniques. Allowing the camera to linger on characters' faces and scenes to play out at a length that is not seen in most other modern drama.
Of course, things change - trends come and go. Maybe it's just that drama is different now - not better than it was a decade ago.
So which do you prefer - gritty realism or high concept escapism?
