Investing a Studio with Meaning: the Construction of Fictional Space In
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Investing a Studio with Meaning: The Construction of Fictional Space in British Television Drama and the Police Series of 1955-82 BEN LAMB A submission presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of South Wales/Prifysgol De Cymru for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy This research programme was carried out in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, The University of Reading and University of Leicester January 2014 Declaration This thesis contains all my own work. It has not been submitted for a degree at any other University. None of the work within this thesis has been published, or submitted for a previous degree. 2 Abstract British television drama shot in the studio using videotape technology has traditionally been considered to have its own distinctive aesthetic throughout academic studies. The purpose of this study is to test this hypothesis and to explore how representational aesthetics developed for the British television studio from 1955 to 1982. Throughout this era there were a number of different methods of producing television drama in the UK. Practitioners could shoot a drama predominantly in the studio with multiple video cameras, film the majority of their material on location with a single film camera, or use an Outside Broadcast (OB) video system on location. This thesis examines the aesthetic progression of studio- shot drama using video technology and reassesses the notion that it is somehow not authentically televisual on account of its close affinity to theatrical aesthetic practice. In order to achieve this aim this thesis uses the British police series as a genre case study. The thesis examines landmark police series with a methodology that takes into account how the material spaces of production in television studios conditioned the aesthetic forms of programmes. With this understanding of space in mind the close textual analyses of landmark police texts incorporate a semiotic discourse, as used in Theatre Studies, that pays close attention to proxemics, space and performance. This enables the thesis to chart the aesthetic development of studio fiction, explore the plurality of the studio technique and assess the role space itself has in the visual articulation of character and themes. As part of this case study the thesis discerns to what extent, and in what manner, studio-shot fiction engaged with sociological debates surrounding class and gender occurring within British society. 3 Contents Declaration p.2 Abstract p.3 List of Illustrations p.7 Acknowledgements p.15 Introduction p.16 Superiority of Filmed Drama and the Development Model p.16 Research Questions p.18 Context p.20 Police Series p.22 Methodology p.24 The Black Box p.25 Production Studies p.26 Archival Research p.28 Textual Analysis p.29 Structure of Thesis p.37 Literature Review p.41 Aesthetics p.41 Space p.51 Television Performance p.60 The British Police Series p.63 Conclusion p.68 4 Chapter One: The British Television Studio 1955-1962 p.70 Material Spaces of Production: BBC Series p.74 Material Spaces of Production: ABC Single Plays p.79 Fictional Mise en scène Produced p.88 Conclusion p.101 Chapter Two: Socio-Economic Context p.105 1960s p.109 1970s p.115 1980s p.123 Chapter Three: The Station Space p.133 Early Studio-Shot Police Series p.135 Hunters Walk and Mise en scène Interaction p.145 The Introduction of Film Technology p.153 Perfecting the Film Technique p.159 Back to the Studio p.164 Conclusion p.177 Chapter Four: Civilian Space p.179 Z Cars: The 1960s and Working Class Men p.180 The Women of Hunters Walk p.190 The Sweeney and a Distinct Lack of Vectorisation p.196 Juliet Bravo, Thatcherism, and Returning to the Studio p.204 The Gentle Touch and Thatcherism p.213 5 Conclusion p.217 Chapter Five: Police Officers’ Civilian Spaces p.221 Z Cars and the (Police)man of the House p.223 Hunters Walk and Companionate Marriage p.229 The Sweeney and Bachelorism p.237 Juliet Bravo and Marriage p.242 The Gentle Touch and Childcare p.250 Conclusion p.256 Conclusion p.257 Aesthetics p.258 An Alternative Development Model p.260 Gender p.265 The Role of the Set Designer p.267 Appendix: AHRC ‘Spaces of Television: Production, Site, and Style’ p.270 Bibliography p.273 6 List of Illustrations Figure 1. p.75 R1 production control room Figure 2. p.76 Dixon of Dock Green (9/9/1960): Floor plan BBC WAC T12/780/1. Figure 3. p.78 Dixon of Dock Green (15/12/1960): Floor plan BBC WAC T12/780/1. Figure 4. p.80 ABC Teddington Studio 1 production control room design. Figure 5. p.81 The Trouble with Benny (12/4/1959): Floor plan Didsbury Studio 1. Figure 6. p.83 Afternoon of a Nymph (30/9/1962): Act One floor plan. Figure 7. p.84 Afternoon of a Nymph (30/9/1962): Act Two floor plan. Figure 8. p.90 The Rose Affair (8/10/1961): Shooting Script Page 1. Figure 9. p.96 Doctor Kabil (6/12/1959): The camera tracks along the desk to find Kabil’s family photo, initially hidden from view. 7 Figure 10. p.96 Doctor Kabil (6/12/1959): The wall separating Kabil from the outside is filled with books. Figure 11. p.98 Doctor Kabil (6/12/1959): Kabil dabs his books with his fist in an exaggerated manner. Figure 12. p.99 Dixon of Dock Green (1/9/1956): Dixon’s living room serves as a backdrop. Figure 13. p.103 Dr Finlay’s Casebook (19/9/1963): Floor Plan BBC WAC T5/637/1 Figure 14. p.110 Table: Proportion of young people within the British Workforce 1950-68 (MacInnes 1998, p. 22). Figure 15. p.117 Table: UK Employees in employment 1971-96 (MacInnes 1996, p. 51). Figure 16. p.139 Z Cars (2/4/1962): Any conversation that occurs at the police desk is overshadowed by the door of the CID office. Figure 17 . p.141 Z Cars (2/4/1962): Smith begins to share a conversation with Annie but Dunn guides the camera to the other side of the police desk to exclude her from view. Figure 18. p.143 Z Cars (2/1/1962): Mrs Jones grips Steele’s hand to explain her predicament 8 Figure 19. p.144 Z Cars (26/6/1962): Mr Stansfield embraces police officers. Figure 20. p.148 Hunters Walk (4/6/1973): There is a strict divide between police work and the public. Figure 21. p.149 Hunters Walk (4/6/1973): Ridgeway commands Kenwright in and out of the station. Figure 22. p.151 Hunters Walk (4/6/1973) and (18/6/1973): Ridgeway begins and ends scenes by reading magazines and tabloid newspapers. Figure 23. p.153 Hunters Walk (9/7/1973): Yeldon and Ridgeway are given equal time and space to voice their opinions. Figure 24. p.154 Special Branch (17/9/1969): Key characters’ characteristics are articulated visually through the sustained establishing shot. Figure 25. p.158 Special Branch (4/4/1973): The camera pans from left to right following Craven. Figure 26. p.158 Special Branch (4/4/1973): Craven’s POV of Workman. Figure 27. p.161 The Sweeney (9/1/1975): Regan watches himself on screen sharing his gaze with the viewer. 9 Figure 28. p.161 The Sweeney (20/3/1975): The camera tracks backwards from a retirement party to reveal that the viewer has been sharing Regan’s POV. Figure 29. p.162 The Sweeney (27/2/1975): Regan is trapped to his desk by Bradshaw Figure 30. p.167 The Gentle Touch (11/4/1980): Scenes between Forbes and her superior, Russell, mainly occur in close-up. Figure 31. p.168 Juliet Bravo (15/11/1980): Hartley Police Station’s large corridor accentuates the divide between Darblay and her male colleagues. Figure 32. p.169 Juliet Bravo (18/10/1980) and (25/9/1982): Male officers are crammed into the small police desk space. Figure 33. p.170 Juliet Bravo (27/9/1980) and (23/10/1982): The station space allows members of the public to act out and perform their various conflicts, problems and predicaments. Figure 34. p.173 The Gentle Touch (16/5/1980) and (1/1/1982): Forbes proves to be more effective when she gets closer to suspects and disregards her paperwork. Figure 35. p.174 Juliet Bravo (18/10/1980): Darblay rests on, and grips, her law books. 10 Figure 36. p.175 Juliet Bravo (11/9/1982): Darblay rests on paperwork Figure 37. p.181 Z Cars (4/12/1963): Mrs. Pawson dismissively moves her husband’s hat. Figure 38. p.185 Z Cars (16/1/1962): Ramsden flattens toy cars on the kitchen worktop. Figure 39. p.186 Z Cars (16/1/1962): Ramsden’s movements within his home are constricted in relation to his independent wife. Figure 40. p.187 Z Cars (16/1/1962): Ramsden’s sons are more respectful of their mother’s personal space. Figure 41. p.189 Z Cars (22/5/1962): Steele feels threatened by Lorna’s sexual availability. Figure 42. p.191 Hunters Walk (4/6/1973): the camera zooms out from Dennis Kenwright to draw attention to Janet Kenwright’s suffering. Figure 43. p.192 Hunters Walk (4/6/1973): Janet Kenwright’s movements are constricted by the surrounding furniture. Figure 44. p.195 Hunters Walk (11/6/1973) The Lewis’ front room welcomes the neighbours’ intrusive stare. 11 Figure 45. p.197 The Sweeney (9/1/1975): Regan dictates the view of Biggleswade’s character.