Thoughts on Van Der Valk

[Mark]

I thought the first episode was the best of the three, but the final episodes climax was very well done, and explains a lot about the character, also setting up questions about the newcomer to the team, but I don't think it has been well received critically has it?...so will there be anymore anyway?

[yellowtriumph]

Happened to catch one of these on TPTV on the telly last night, I did not see any of this series originally as I was a student at the time with other things to do than watch telly!

I really enjoyed everything about it, the quality of the acting from all the main characters, the mixture of VT and 16mm film typical of the time, but most of all I was delighted at how much written material and storyline they got into an ITV 60 minute drama. I thought it was going to be a somewhat simplified storyline to fit in with a simple clock hour, but I was delighted at the amount of plot detail they packed in.

Can’t remember what it was called now, something along the lines of ‘A death at Sea’ with Patrick Allen, easy to forget just how good an actor he really was.

I’ll make a prediction, with the seeming explosion of TV channels and the incremental reduction in revenue for each company I think Drama will return to studios in a large way sometime in the future, it simply has to be cheaper in the long term.

[fatcat]

Happened to catch one of these on TPTV on the telly last night, I did not see any of this series originally as I was a student at the time with other things to do than watch telly!

I really enjoyed everything about it, the quality of the acting from all the main characters, the mixture of VT and 16mm film typical of the time, but most of all I was delighted at how much written material and storyline they got into an ITV 60 minute drama. I thought it was going to be a somewhat simplified storyline to fit in with a simple clock hour, but I was delighted at the amount of plot detail they packed in.

Can’t remember what it was called now, something along the lines of ‘A death at Sea’ with Patrick Allen, easy to forget just how good an actor he really was.

I’ll make a prediction, with the seeming explosion of TV channels and the incremental reduction in revenue for each company I think Drama will return to studios in a large way sometime in the future, it simply has to be cheaper in the long term.

I think you're right, but whether we have the calibre of actors now that can plough through vast pages of script without having a cut is perhaps another matter.
Another gem TPTV have unearthed is a 70s afternoon soap called ROOMS you can see they only had a small budget for the afternoon and so I suppose it all had to be made rather quickly and stopping the tape was probably frowned on, but the actors carry it off and make a charming series with simple but engaging dramas about the mundane aspects of living in a 70s bedsit.

[Cole]

I think you're right, but whether we have the calibre of actors now that can plough through vast pages of script without having a cut is perhaps another matter...

I seem to recall that an actor who was in Holby City (Peter Wingfield) went to work in America and the US actors couldn't believe that the actors in the UK would learn so much script in a given time.

I suspect that the more theatrical (ie. RSC, West End etc) thespians would still have that ability to learn long scripts.

[Mark]

I agree about Studio Drama coming round again, and would love to see it happen, but are there any writers left, who can manage that style of TV?

You can't really tell from the soaps, which is the only example there is at the moment!

[jeffcv]

Strange that on Talking Pictures the ad breaks are in completely different places- wonder why? (Also noted that in episode 1 of series 2 the second of the 3 actresses to play Mrs VdV turns up in a different role.)

[yellowtriumph]

Strange that on Talking Pictures the ad breaks are in completely different places- wonder why? (Also noted that in episode 1 of series 2 the second of the 3 actresses to play Mrs VdV turns up in a different role.)

Because at the time of the original transmission this prog was only permitted by the broadcasting regulations of the time to have two breaks within it. These regulations have long since changed and TPTV, along with all the other broadcasters, can now show more advert breaks within a programme of this length - so they do.

[jeffcv]

..thanks, but that's not it - it still only has 2 breaks! Where the breaks used to be you get an almost subliminal caption and/or tiny snatch of the theme, but no ads!

[fatcat]

..thanks, but that's not it - it still only has 2 breaks! Where the breaks used to be you get an almost subliminal caption and/or tiny snatch of the theme, but no ads!

Yes a quirk that (though I am not complaining) because if they don't use the original break then sometimes where the original break was there is a time jump between characters in the same scene which can look puzzling to those unfamiliar to the vagueries of old TV.
Another channel showed Callan which was quite neat, with the advert break in the right place and a break bumper made from a little of the title sequence...a swing of the light bulb.however they spoiled themselves by missing out the end titles completely and some cuts here and there I think.

[Mark]

It feels a bit odd, showing it on Friday nights though, and "Budgie" will be on Tuesday nights!

[jeffcv]

Yes a quirk that (though I am not complaining) because if they don't use the original break then sometimes where the original break was there is a time jump between characters in the same scene which can look puzzling to those unfamiliar to the vagueries of old TV.
Another channel showed Callan which was quite neat, with the advert break in the right place and a break bumper made from a little of the title sequence...a swing of the light bulb.however they spoiled themselves by missing out the end titles completely and some cuts here and there I think.

Yes, saw that on London Live yesterday - I wondered how they could make up time due to having the extra ad break, and they did so by omitting the end titles - a shame as i always like being reminded of the cast, especially when they became more famous later.

[Simon Coward]

..thanks, but that's not it - it still only has 2 breaks! Where the breaks used to be you get an almost subliminal caption and/or tiny snatch of the theme, but no ads!

I have no idea whether this is the reason, but here's a suggestion: Talking Pictures in particular show many of their programmes at quite odd times, not always with the bog-standard on-the-hour / half-hour starts that we grew used to on the more traditional channels. Even then, not all their television programmes are shown at a perfectly regular timeslot from episode to episode, though this aspect is getting more consistent than it once was. I believe that the regulations on advertising limit the length of the commercial breaks within a clock-hour rather than simply within any rolling 60-minute period, so I wonder if some of the commercial breaks have to be moved in order to fit the 'unusual' timeslots (and combinations thereof) that some of the programmes find themselves in.

[Mark]

I think that's spot on, I have noticed on occasion, with some Sit-Coms they show, an early ad break and then both natural Adcaps, one after the other (End of Part One/Part Two) as on the DVD's.

[Richardr1]

I've tended to find that Talking Pictures tend to show the original programme, but some others, such as Forces TV, will edit to fit. This means that a programme originally in a commercial hour in the Seventies will have 4-5 minutes cut on some channels, but if a channel is to play it all out it will either have reduced advertising minutage, or a programme that lasts more than an hour.

[Mark]

One of the ITV channels shows "Heartbeat" and that runs over the hour usually.