Drama aimed at young audiences became a feature
of the BBC's postwar television service in 1950. Dramas were shown live, to all
intents and purposes as studio-bound theatre productions. Most of these early
productions were adaptations of turn of the century literary standards such as
Little Women (BBC, 1950) and The Railway Children (BBC, 1951,
1957, 1968). The BBC at this time viewed American westerns and even the books of
Enid Blyton as less worthy and as a result children turned over to ITV to enjoy
swashbuckling productions such as The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1955-60).
Internal politics led to the closure of the BBC children's department in 1962 - drama for children
would be overseen by the 'grown-up' drama department for the next few years. ITV
invested in adventure serials, most featuring plucky gangs of children
outwitting diamond smugglers in stories heavily influenced by Enid Blyton's
Famous Five and Secret Seven. Increasing amounts of location filming were vital to the success of these adventure runarounds.
When the BBC returned to the arena in the early 1970s, budgets were still small but there were notable successes with serials
based on the novels of Nina Bawden (such as Carrie's War, BBC, 1974), and
these added increasing levels of emotional depth to the children's drama.
New approaches to realism saw working-class characters and inner-city settings introduced to children's drama by the
mid-70s. The Siege of Golden Hill (ITV, 1975) was about teenage gangs and council corruption while A Bunch of Fives (ITV, 1977-78) was a recognisable snapshot of school life. Similar but far more long-running was the
phenomenally successful Grange Hill (BBC, 1978-present) which examined all kinds of adolescent issues from drugs to pregnancy, eliciting outraged responses from parents and teachers.
A golden age that lasted well into the 1980s saw both channels provide a huge number of dramas with a variety rivalling that
of the adult service. Adventure stories, issue-led contemporary tales, science-fiction, fantasy, period classics and one-off plays (most notably the Dramarama strand (ITV, 1983-89) were all produced for children.
The mid-80s saw the BBC make concerted efforts into making product for international sale. The Box of Delights (BBC
1984), a lavish period fantasy serial, was a landmark in the genre and several tales of The Chronicles of Narnia followed (BBC, 1988-90), both produced with American finance. Expensive remakes of earlier BBC adaptations followed,
including Tom's Midnight Garden (BBC, 1989) and The Phoenix and the Carpet (BBC, 1997), while The Borrowers (BBC, 1992-3) was particularly successful in America.
Byker Grove (BBC, 1989-present), about a Tyneside youth club, began as a serial but became more like a soap opera when production moved to twenty episodes a year. ITV, meanwhile, offered the brilliant Press Gang (1989-93), about a school newspaper, and long-running hospital drama Children's Ward (1989-2000). Such contemporary soap - including the perennial Grange Hill - began to dominate children's schedules and, as a result, short serials and one-off plays
were squeezed out. On the whole this only reflected the state of play in the adult arena.
Alistair McGown
|
