I see from the news and from social media that Channel 4 have not commissioned a third series of middle-ranking (1.2 million viewers) Raised by Wolves. The writer and creator has decried the decision, describing RBW as the “only TV in Britain by and about working class women” – (Empire Online) and has set up a Facebook campaign to have the show made by other means. The last media news I heard about RBW was that it was being developed for American TV by the writer of Juno, so it *does* seem a bit soon for the show’s star to wane.
I wonder if The Massive has any thoughts on number of issues raised (hah!) by this series of events. I see that one correspondent recently mentioned that he didn’t find Ab Fab remotely amusing because he didn’t identify with the characters (I’m paraphrasing). Is that the thinking behind the cancellation?
Are TV commissioners really the hopeless dolts that The Talent often portray them to be – at least when shows are being dumped, not commissioned – based on what they put on our screens?
Are there really no shows for and about working class folk (Channel 5’s output with *insert random series of adjectives followed by the phrase ‘on benefits’ aside) on the tellybox these days?
How working class can you describe yourself as being after spending twenty years as a broadsheet columnist – perhaps in the same way as on that Word Podcast where a script writer for Eastenders, a former presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test and the man who presented worldwide Live Aid coverage described themselves as “normal blokes working in an office”?
Personally, I like the show. But then I’ve liked a lot of shows that never made it past their sophomore* series.
*I know.
Caitlin Moran co-wrote Raised By Wolves, and I love her writing for The Times. But the script was like every RBW character reading out a Caitlin column – lots of words, cleverly put-together, often funny but never convincing as dialogue or drama or comedy. That’s why it didn’t work for me. And I’m virtually coal-in-the bath working class, so in a sample of one, that’s not the issue.
I love Caitlin Moran, and I loved Raised By Wolves, but the campaign to get her show recommissioned I find a bit cringey, like someone who’s failed a job interview pestering the employer to “think again, ‘cos my friends all think I’m GREAT, man”.
There’s no “issue” here as far as I can tell – “moderately-watched sitcom not renewed” is pretty first-world stuff, I’d put any kerfuffle down to the well-connected Moran being able to scrape up a decent amount of online dudgeon as a way of getting a meeting or two with a few commissioning editors…
I’d imagine Channel 4 (or any channel) have fairly well-established metrics for deciding whether or not to renew programmes, balancing viewing numbers and demographics against show costs, prestige/awards, foreign & DVD sales etc. (“Peep Show” famously had middling ratings, but sold buckets on DVD.)
And speaking as somone who’s enjoyed Moran’s writing in the past, I found the actual programme borderline unwatchable (minibreakfast’s “cringey” comment above is dead on), so no great loss for me…
I rather enjoyed it, to the extent of recording and sometimes even watching it. It wasn’t laugh out loud funny, and I did wonder how they could extend the single gag of a girl who considered herself frumpy discovering her power over the opposite sex, especially when the elder girls were getting beyond that awkward mid-teen stage.
In other news, I recommend heading to iPlayer for BB3 (or BBC!!! as it seems to be branded now) to watch Fleabag. It’s sort of like Miranda, if Miranda was (a) quite rude, and (b) funny.
May I second the honourable gentleman’s recommendation regarding Fleabag – our current must-not-miss TV (or download)? If you get past the first scene, you’re hooked.
Thirded. Post-binging on Stranger Things, Fleabag’s just the ticket. Having said that, it can’t be denied that it’s very much in that ‘sexually maladaptive middle class’ area. It does it very well, mind.
Agreed. Fleabag – big tick. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s other recent series on Channel 4, Crashing, was also very funny I thought and worth digging out on catch up presuming it’s out there.
Personally I’ll miss RBW if it isn’t saved. I thought the adult leads were great as well as the kids
Another recommendation for Fleabag. Immediately much funnier and poignant than Raised by Wolves ever was, even though l identify myself as working class. I do like a lot of Caitlin Moran’s writing, just not the TV series.
And another vote for Fleabag here – what a disgusting person. But I love her.
I liken it to Pulling, Sharon Horgan’s great work (cancelled after two series)….which featured RBW’s Rebekah Staton.
There’s a second series? Hurrah? Only just caught up with the first series down here. I think it’s brilliant, and has made me laugh more than any comedy I’ve seen for years (although oddly enough the station that’s showing it here classifies it as drama).
I don’t find it ‘convincing’ either, in that it doesn’t remind me of anyone I know, or any section of society I’m familiar with. But so what? It’s a comedy, with characters. It makes me laugh (as did AbFab first time round, incidentally). I don’t feel the need to go into it any more deeply than that.
Caitlin Moran’s special pleading makes me cringe too (‘about working class women? Oh please…). And it doesn’t strike me as the sort of thing that needs a third series. Not even sure at this point that it needed a second, but we’ll see.
This is the same BBC that decommissioned Ripper Street, one of the finest drama series in recent years, only to see a huge viewer/fan led campaign to have it continue taken up by Amazon Prime, which now sells it back to…the BBC.
It’s Channel 4.
No, it’s the Beeb. Last season was on BBC One, this time (starting on August 22nd), it’s on Two.
Sorry…I’m with you. As you were, move along etc.
And which has now been cancelled by Amazon.
I assume that Channel 4 operates on some sort of commercial basis and would have recommissioned the show if enough people watched it.
Yeah, the ‘Save The Wolves’ thing is a bit…cheesy.
I loved the series though. It was consistently laugh out loud to me & my kids. That bit where Grampy said something about serving the dinners to a gritty workforce: please, can someone recall that superb one-liner??
I can’t comment on RBW, as I haven’t seen it. But this thread does raise some interesting questions about how and why a series gets re-commissioned.
Let’s not forget the international market. I would imagine that many of the drama and comedy shows made in the UK are offered to networks in other countries. SVT shows all kinds of stuff, some rather unexpected. I remember seeing The Young Ones on Finnish TV and felt sorry for the poor soul who had to do Finnish subtitles for that.
So it’s not just the UK viewing figures that count here.
Loved the show, both series, with Grampy really rising to the role in the 2nd, along with the burgeoning sapphism of the elder sister. But the idea of the author rallying against the decision not to make another series? Isn’t that all a bit Alan Partridge?
‘It could be made very cheaply in Wolverhampton by MoranTree Productions…..’
I know what you mean, Retro. But my impression is that the world of TV and cinema is extremely cut-throat and you have to fight your corner tooth and nail to get something made. So I’ve a certain sympathy for someone who believes in their project, even if the arguments they use are a bit loopy.
Far worse in the States of course where they’ll axe a show mid-season if it doesn’t get the ratings.
I will never forgive the people who cancelled the second season of Josh Whedon’s Firefly.