Do3 - Wuthering Heights

[Guest]

I think some of us probably yawned mightily at the prospect of next Sunday's offering, but according to the Guardian, "BBC Radio 3's Wuthering Heights to turn the airwaves blue".

Hmmm....

Russ

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

They just can't help themselves, can they? Lots of expletives, gratuitous violence and graphic sex makes the producer look cool and modern. Or so many producers (and Channel 4) think.

But Wuthering Heights has to be one of the greatest novels of all time.

[Anna]

I saw that the online Daily Mail was fuming about this this morning and the introduction of swearing on R3 before the 9pm watershed, they then concluded that young people don't listen to R3 and would therefore not be corrupted!

I agree with EineA, one of the greatest novels ever and I think I'll be listening to it but it's dramatic enough without having to introduce expletives and if they think by doing this they'll get a younger audience then sadly they are wrong.

[french frank]

D**n! I suppose one has to listen to it in order to be able to comment (I was going to give it a miss - don't like the novel, not keen on adaptations of novels presented as drama).

On the other hand, where does this Vicky Frost inhabit?

"Cathy and Heathcliff will disrupt Radio 3's usually genteel air on Sunday evening with what the station warns are "strong expletives..." Erm, well wasn't there equally strong language last week? And don't most R3 plays start off with a warning about 'strong language'?

I suppose they sent out a press release to a load of journos who know nothing about R3 . Just R3 jumping up and down again and squeaking 'Look at me!'

Edit: Yep, the whole press horde has fallen for the story. Even the Daily Spoof. (Oh, no, they say at the bottom, 'The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious.' Yes, there probably are some journalists who wouldn't have realised )

[Mobson7]

e heck as like, I've always thought f...k sounds much better in yorkshire dialect...had a yorkshire nanny once and then a yorkshire terrier that she had to toilet train along with the children...I loved to hear her swear (not in front of little ones of course!)

[Russ]

You're right ff: this is a bit of a cheap trick on R3's part, since Do3 regularly features strong language, as do the R4 afternoon plays occasionally, but don't tell the Daily Mail!

We'll all be forced to listen to it now, and wonder whether there's no such thing as bad publicity?

Russ

[Anna]

You're right ff: this is a bit of a cheap trick on R3's part, since Do3 regularly features strong language, as do the R4 afternoon plays occasionally, but don't tell the Daily Mail!

We'll all be forced to listen to it now, and wonder whether there's no such thing as bad publicity

But, yes it's all publicity but how many Dail Mail readers will think "By 'eck, there's some reet saucy stuff on t'Toffs wireless t'neet. Best tune in ower Gladys" (apologies to all DM readers and those from Yorkshire)

I agree with ff, I dislike dramatisations of favourite works either on radio or tv, I hope the leading man Carl Prekopp can do a more convincing accent than I can! However, I would have listened, publicity or not I think.

[french frank]

I tried posting a link to Blithering Hacks on the Radio Times exclusive source for the story, but got the reply:

"Thank you for your comments. All comments will be looked at by a moderator, however, due to the numbers of comments we receive, we can't promise that all will be posted on the site.

Post another comment."

Erm, no, I don't think I'll bother

[aeolium]

Cards on the table - my contribution to the R4 messageboard was to see if I could work out from the answers whether Radio 3's mission to appeal to 'a wider audience' (so evident in their classical music output) would stretch to the drama output too. I'm not sure that this play supports the theory (sex, drugs, right-wing extremism and 'strong language')

(quoted from ff on thread re Do3: The Secret Grief)

No, that play doesn't but this one does. What's important is to draw in the audience by what is not in the book rather than what is in it. What's the point of broadcasting plays or adaptations if you don't think what the author has written is convincing enough on its own but has to be tarted up?

[Russ]

(courtesy of Punch)

Russ

P.S. Thanks for the measured and calm blog, ff. I’ve been practising my tweeting on R3’s revamp: “Three effs and not even a sign of a wedding”.

[Anna]

I tried posting a link to Blithering Hacks on the Radio Times exclusive source for the story, but got the reply:
"Thank you for your comments. All comments will be looked at by a moderator, however, due to the numbers of comments we receive, we can't promise that all will be posted on the site.
Post another comment."

Your comment is there ff plus one from Russ. Probably it takes a while to moderate them?

[rubbernecker]

...but it's dramatic enough without having to introduce expletives...

Exactly. The entire dramatic power of the novel derives from the fact that it is written from the censorious standpoint of narrators like Nelly Dean who can't bring themselves to repeat the language, or to describe the passion, they have witnessed.

[johncorrigan]

Here's John Crace's take on it in today's Guardian Shortcuts - caution, may contain some rude words and images of a sexual nature:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/22/radio-3-classic-literature-swearing?INTCMP=SRCH

[Gordon]

... I hope the leading man Carl Prekopp can do a more convincing accent than I can!

IIRC Heathcliffe was brought from Liverpool at an early age so let's hope he sounds more like a Scouser and less like a Tyke then!

[Gordon]

If you go here:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/753567/Full_chart_pack_CMR_2010_Fi1.pdf

you will get a file of 374 [!!] slides from OfCom's annual market review. It is a .pdf file about 2.2 MBytes. Fascinating stats about TV, Radio, Internet and mobile phone usage. Slide No 180 shows a breakdown of why people are unhappy with TV programmes - repeats being the biggest grouse - 60% of people complain on this ground with about 30% complaints about lack of variety. Strange that last one given there is supposely so much more choice around!!!

For this thread the survey response for bad language is interesting - objections rise significantly with age whereas the other objections are fairly steady with age. These stats may equally well appply to radio. The 50 slides about radio are 183 -233 and make interesting reading, if you like that sort of thing!!