From Issue 2:

Subverting the Formula: Part II

In Part I (Issue 1, November 2001) Matthew Friday began to explore what parallels there were in the pilot episodes of six crime series: City Central, Harbour Lights, Mersey Beat, The Cops, The Knock, Halifax f.p. and The X Files. Now he examines further similarities and differences.

The five act structure

Television series are said to have developed five episodes because of the commercial need for revenue from increased advertising time. With an opening hook to snare the audience’s attention and a catch on which to end, the audience are encouraged to return for the next episode. The additions of the hook and catch are largely commercial, but given the tremendous competition for declining drama audiences nowadays, these additions are set to stay. The classic three-act structure still applies but as all modern dramas have a hook and catch, for the sake of this analysis we shall think of it as five. 

Hooking the audience

Pilot episodes in particular need to entice and build an audience very fast. The pilot episode usually tries to represent the entire series in both style and content. Everything the series is about is in the pilot but to an exaggerated extent in order to hit the audience hard. Hence a crime committed, for example, will be something that both tests the officers and stretches them in their hardest case to date.

City Central hooks its audience by having a flippant policeman struggling with a mad man as the body of a young girl floats up out of the water. Mersey Beat opens with a mysterious man pursuing a child, Troy; Susan leaving her newborn; and Simon and Dee, two police officers, having sex in a car. The Cops makes an equal though totally different impact by having its episode’s central character clubbing and taking drugs immediately before starting work.  In The Knock, David Ankram is shot from the boat he has just bugged.

In the longer, more cerebral Halifax, f.p. the audience is hooked by a young Halifax being taught to fire a gun by her father and then, as an older woman, admitting she has just shot someone. The X Files makes its mark by opening  with an alien abduction in a non-science fiction format. Harbour Lights begins with Nick Berry as Mike unable to save his best friend Pete from drowning in a storm.

The water-cooler effect

The drama may be new to the audience, but most of the characters will have been policemen or detectives for some years. So when we meet the characters they are going about work as usual, though the case may be the toughest they have ever faced. To woo an audience to a new series, the broadcaster spends a great deal of money on promotion, but unless the pilot creates the water-cooler effect – standing round the water cooler the next day at work talking about the show – competition from other channels will result in a poor audience rating. This will leave the broadcaster unable to renew the series or even worse, obliged to cancel it. Pilots need that word of mouth buzz that has those who missed it feeling compelled to see the next episode.

So what can be learnt from comparing and contrasting the act structures of the six shows?

To sum up the subversion of the formula:

The pilot: The most important episode of the entire series. Everything is new to the audience except a sense of familiarity. You have to capture the feel of the whole series without being compelled to tell every character’s story.

The bright idea: Don't waste your time creating something no one's going to buy. Remember, careers will be staked on your work. Have respect for that fact.

The premise: Three different styles: ensemble police stations, specialist teams within the police, the detective double act. Do your research. See what's being commissioned.

Big stars: Strong, complex characters with major decisions to make in the heart of the drama. Don't write about an 18 year old child prodigy if you want John Thaw to star.

Locality/setting: Think like a salesman. Can you really sell Milton Keynes to an American?

Demographic: Know your audience and the channels since this dictates content and style, hence The Cops and The X Files were broadcast on BBC 2.

Characters: Your main character should preferably be new to the environment. Create strong supporting characters with opposing viewpoints. Exploit the office environment. Have arguments with senior staff up against the drinks machine, not on Dartmoor in a storm at night. Remember how expensive drama is, especially on location and at night.

The five act structure: Essentially artificial but useful to remember because it will help you create a drama structured for commercial television.

Hooking the audience: The remote control surfers are fickle. Catch them and hold them long enough for them to become emotionally involved.

Act 1: Bring your new character into a world that is going about business as usual but this case is the Big One with resources stretched to the limits and careers on the line. Do whatever you have to do to give this pilot major  impact.

Act 2: Plenty of subplots and minor characters. Remember the social setting. Follow through with the mystery set up in Act 1. Audiences love a challenge.

Act 3: Have the new character in danger that they seem unlikely to overcome and then rescue them at the last minute.

CONT. in Issue 2.

© Matthew J. Friday 2002