I spent quite some hours last night working on Fox On The Run - the teleplay idea that drifted into my head about 6 months back. Screenplay makes it sound like it should be a movie, but it's not. It's out and out 9pm Monday night, BBC material. For anybody who writes TV for a living, I salute you. The hardest part of writing/constructing an hour long drama is trimming the fat when the fat acts as an insulating layer for the important parts, but then I guess the trick is to disguise the fat as muscle. I know what I mean… and if you've ever written anything in your life, you'll know what I mean too. I don't think I'll ever write a screenplay that's intended for the big screen. What would I want to go and do that for? It's good to know that you're not alone in the universe at times like this - I find myself in good company from Mr Moffat who recently sent this through space and time on his twitter feed:
"Been stuck on a scene ALL DAY. Solution: a monster attacks. After seven years writing this show, you'd think I'd crack that a bit quicker."
When was the last time you went to the cinema and came out having the feeling you truly watched something groundbreaking? If you're thinking about it, you're blown already. Most films at the moment just seem to scrape by, but they sure as hell don't spit thunder and lightning whatever they're about. I'd probably have to go back to Fellowship of the Ring to find a class act worth tolkien about - and before that? Man, I'd probably have to go back another ten years to find something. TV on the other hand, is wiping the floor with cinema - and you can say what you like about the BBC, when it's hot, it's on fire. Yeah, yeah, the TV licence is a pain in the ass, but certainly not more so than road tax. I get far more out of the BBC than I do the freaking Highways Agency. ITV also pumps out some pristine commissions when it's not tossing about with sport - Marchlands dug a hole to my heart very fast!
Not at all sure how I jumped onto that track, but it's written now. Post and be damned.
