Wednesday 9 December 2020

Do you think TV shows could do more to represent the current pandemic?

I can't watch ITV in the mornings. Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Philip and Holly and Loose Women. I can't stand the shouting, the over talking and the scientific facts presented with little or no research.

However ITV are doing very well with their programs in the evenings.

Whether you're a fan of soaps or not, in my opinion the writers of Coronation Street are doing an excellent job of reflecting the current crisis during the Covid pandemic. I know some of their stuff is out of date, which will be due to how far ahead they are filming, but their mask wearing, hand sanitising, social distancing and references to missing cast members whose characters are shielding, is excellent even if some of their plot lines are a bit far fetched.

I don't watch Emmerdale, but i did watch a couple of episodes when they resumed filming and at the time they were representing the current pandemic also, dealing with isolation.

Eastenders seems to be lacking quite a bit in reflecting the pandemic, there are references to Covid, but often in a manner that indicates the writers and characters are inconvenienced by the whole thing, which may represent how a lot of the population are feeling, but there's not a mask in sight and I read an interview with Danny Dyer where he said the camera crew were using clever filming techniques and perspex screens to make it appear the characters are closer than they really are, therefore not even indicating any social distancing is going on.

If you watch Neighbours you wouldn't even know the pandemic included Australia, no mention of covid, no social distancing indoors or out and bringing in the actors partners for any kissing scenes.

Whilst covid safety measures are being put in place for filming, I feel it could be represented more a bit on TV. I know camera angles can be deceiving, and I appreciate wearing a mask when acting doesn't make for good TV viewing but it does help when cast members of Coronation Street walk into a scene wearing a mask, I feel it's more representative of the Pandemic, although I  realise that soaps often aren't representative of a lot of society, people watch and people imitate.

4 comments:

  1. The UK soaps are doing really well with showing the Coivd pandemic, Corrie especially.
    I read that Neighbours were doing a lot of camera trickery but they haven't mentioned it at all. x

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    Replies
    1. I've been very impressed with how Corrie have included it in their story lines

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  2. I have to been so careful about boundaries with media.

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    Replies
    1. I can't watch the magazine style programs it just winds me up

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