Television - Sept 1982

When RTE moved into the field of large-scale historical drama productions they could hardly have picked a better subject than Strumpet City. A good move. The drama of the 1913 Lockout, the character of Larkin, the care with which the characters of the original novel had been used to bring out the historical story - and the fact that the novel's own success meant a ready-made audience - made Strumpet City an ideal foundation.

RTE was, in effect, getting into the movie business, albeit using the TV mini-series format, moving on from small scale drama.

Following the success of Strumpet City, both artistic and commercial, they moved on to The Year Of The French. Again, this had a lot going for it. The subject of their latest producction is German spies in Ireland during World War II.

Since the second and third of these large-scale productions have yet to see the light of the tube it would be preemature to discuss them as productions in their own right. However, before RTE embarks on a mini-series based on the fir bolg , it is perhaps relevant to question their drift.

If the game is to be worth the candle, or the programme worth the elecctrons, a national TV station should have three aims when setting out on such a course. (Three, at least. Others, according to their view of life, not to mention television, may work the list up to sixty-nine.)

1) the station has to clock up exxperience at the format and nurture the required talents, otherwise the result will be unwatchable despite the best of intentions.

2) the chosen projects must in themmselves be worthy of the application of such talents, of the station's resources and of the viewers' attention.

3) the result should show us someething of ourselves and our society.

(Let it not be forgotten that part of the price we paid for embarking on this course was a sharp contraction in other areas of TV drama - easily the most significant and regrettable connsequence of this being the chopping of The Riordans. In terms of nurturring talent, The Riordans had probably done its job and outlived its usefullness, but it was still meeting the second and third criteria. The projects resulting from the changed course should, to justify themselves, meet all three - with knobs on.)

It can be argued that the first three large-scale productions are geared mostly towards the first and second criteria, with any reflection of our present society being an indirect one. Fair enough, but it would be intolerrable should RTE continue to steer down what is essentially a safe road, relying on ever-increasing expertise and the drama of the subject to atttract viewers and justify pulling the plug on Benjy and Maggie.

If RTE continues down this road they will find that Parnell would make a good drama. So would the Famine. Cromwell would be nice to look at, warts and all. So would Dev and The Emergency. There's no shortage of reesearch material, there are lots of strong characters, such subjects are fairly dripping with drama, they are all worthy of RTE's attention and of ours, some at least would be saleable abroad, they would stretch the talents of the station, they would attract a large home audience.

But.

Criteria 3 will continue to linger in the Pending file as long as the subjects remain safe, protected by time and consensus. If we are to recognise directly ourselves and our society we need also dramas of our own time and that means taking some risks. Arrtistic, commercial, and political.

The Heavy Gang should be viewed through the tube. Lots of drama, politics, a period in Irish life when reins were being tightened, cracks sealed and others opening. If necessary names could be changed to protect the guilty and avoid libel suits.

Ferenka contains much material for exploring the clash between rural life and urban demands and the relationship between Ireland and interrnational capital. It has bishops, poliiticians, industrialists, union leaders, the rank and file, heros and villains.

The Arms Crisis - or, if that's still too touchy, just the Arms Trial.

The political wrangling between Faulkner and Heath and their contemmporaries which resulted in internment - and all that led from that.

The fall of Terence O'Neill and what that meant for Unionism.

The rise and fall of Pat Gallagher. The life and death of Bobby Sands. The Mother and Child Scheme and the machinations of the politicians, bishops and doctors.

If the issues have to be at least forty years old, why not the civil war? The Blueshirts? Collins (though the last experiment in that area - by Kenneth Griffiths - was banned from British television).

There is so much material, so many strong characters, so much to explore or explain, so much of ourselves to see, that a prolonged expedition into safe and uncontroversial territory must become suspect.

The extent to which fictional overrlays, dramatic devices and selected emphasis are employed is a matter for the producers and writers, but if large scale historical drama is the name of the game we will be kidding ourselves if we ignore the dramas which have arisen from and in turn helped shape contemporary Ireland.

Maybe all this and more - and better - is part of the grand plan, once RTE has found its feet in this area. Which would mean that the station is brimming over with imagiination, guts and people with a clear vision of what they are about - and what television is about.

Prove it.