I mean this whole scene... I had a meeting here in the BBC's new offices on Tuesday with a TV comedy executive (see lampshade). Exciting. It's called Grafton House, maybe so writers will think it's a pub. It's where the magic happens. The first thing I noticed was all the empty picture frames on the far wall that you can just make out above. "Mm, it's to suggest potential," proposed Gareth Edwards whose mere attention to this project has been one of the best compliments it's received. He was along to provide some simple and attractive answers to questions such as "So, Time Spanner; let me be blunt; what's it about?" while I ran through a list of nouns and hums. I had no real answer, but here was the conclusion - the reality's in place but the fantasy is fudged. I wanted my hero to be given superpowers but hadn't really hit upon why.
However I think - I hope - I've hit upon the missing ingredient last night while milling around the sphinxes in Crystal Palace: Danger. The tradition is that the comedy schnook is only promoted because he's going to be sacrificed (Margaret Dumont's numerous elevations of Groucho I suppose are the exception rather than the rule) and what I like about this tradition is it's a two-sided fantasy: there's the child's fantasy of power, but also the uglier and funnier failed adult fantasy of victimhood, a fantasy that the world wants you dead because secretly that's actually what you want and now your death will have some meaning. This also makes more sense of the choice of that great burnt offering Laika as a narrator. Anyhoo, I really came here just to post this photo of the Beeb's new premises, because everyone seems to be finding new premises these days, and also this page from a Star Trek colouring book signifying the creative process:
more here
Oh, in addition to writing children's books and producing comedies about space, comas, string theory, swans and Napoleonic gay horses, Gareth also does a blog, and it's very funny.
No comments:
Post a Comment