January 2012 Archives

Last night, the BBC held its first ever audio drama awards ceremony, which — as the name suggests — has been set up to honour the talents of writers, producers and directors working in audio drama, whether that be for a radio production or something produced online.

And the event, held at the BBC’s Broadcasting House in central London, had a lovely vibe to it — one that reminded me somewhat of the BAFTA Craft Awards, which are held every year to recognise the talents of those working behind the scenes on television dramas.

What I mean by this is that, unlike other awards, there didn’t seem to be any egos around. It wasn’t about stars and celebrities. It was — aside from the three acting awards — more about those people who actually make the shows. A true celebration of the genre.

It was a shame then that David Tennant, who hosted the awards and who won the prize for best actor, couldn’t bring himself to say a few words to The Stage about the importance of this event and its significance to the sector.

In my job, I hear regularly from people who feel radio drama often goes unnoticed - its writers, directors and actors all too often unsung.

So you would imagine that David, as presenter and winner, could at least have spared just a few moments at the party afterwards to share his thoughts and sing the praises of this new ceremony, which many people in radio have long called for.

You would think, perhaps, the BBC might have even asked him to do so as part of his duty as presenter. After all, it’s in the BBC’s interest to have its talent praising such initiatives in an effort to raise its profile.

To be fair to him, I didn’t hear what his excuse for not wanting to talk to The Stage was. A PR from the BBC approached him on my behalf and came back, apologetically, to say he would really rather not talk.

But I have to say I found this rather disappointing, and went against the spirit of the evening.

I said earlier there didn’t seem to be any egos around. Maybe I should take that back. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was the one.

If you give a documentary an all-encompassing title like The Story of Musicals, but then only devote three hours’ worth of airtime, it’s inevitable that some areas will be glossed over.

BBC4’s documentary series, which finished last night (but is currently still available on iPlayer), started two weeks ago by relating how the West End moved from its post-war tradition of receiving Broadway transfers, with vibrant new practitioners — Joan Littlewood, Lionel Bart, Sandy Wilson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc. — taking the Great White Way on at its own game. The second show concentrated on the 1980s blockbuster musical, as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Les Miserables, Starlight Express and the like eschewed jazz hands in favour of crazy costumes, customised theatres and/or barrel loads of existential revolutionary angst.

Last night’s episode raced through the last two decades, charting the rise of the jukebox musical, notably We Will Rock You and the rather more critically acclaimed Mamma Mia!.

And while it’s always great to see such a fundamental part of the West End — nay, British — cultural life getting recognition from the box in the corner, there did seem to be some glaring omissions. So many that one has to wonder what the selection criteria were when deciding what to cover.

2012 will mark the 30th anniversary of Channel 4, which started broadcasting on November 2, 1982. To mark the start of a year of celebrations, last night saw The Channel 4 Mash Up, in which various programmes crossed over with each other.

Real estate expert Phil Spencer turned into the host of The Million Pound Drop, presiding over the show’s regular presenter, Davina McCall, and her father as they attempted to keep hold of as much money as possible. Spencer’s Location Location Location place was taken by comedian and chat show host Alan Carr, who sparked with both the show’s househunter and co-host Kirstie Allsopp.

That was a highlight of the evening, followed by the regulars of 8 out of 10 Cats partaking in an abbreviated game of Countdown — a fun edition marred only by the objectification of the female regulars, as noted by Caitlin Moran:

Great how the 8 Out Of 10 Cats boys have come on Countdown and immediately sexually objectified the clever women #c4mashup

— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) January 2, 2012

A Susie Dent pen that shows her naked, and Jimmy Carr staring at Rachel Riley through binoculars. Great.

— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) January 2, 2012

Those shows were light years in quality above the execrable Come Dine With Me with four of the cast members of Made in Chelsea. With all four diners already knowing each other well, even Dave Lamb’s even-more-sneering-than-usual commentary couldn’t save the whole thing from turning into a ridiculous farrago.

Annoyingly, though, CDWM kept popping up throughout the show, dominating an evening which only touched on a small segment of Channel 4’s output. Where was the scripted comedy and drama? No Hollyoaks. No Shameless. No Fresh Meat. No Peep Show. No IT Crowd. No Skins (although see below).