In a message dated 2/28/01 4:27:24 PM Eastern Standard Time,
julia.jones(a)jajones.demon.co.uk writes:
(LEAH) << Until a few years ago, it was almost unheard of for an
>American series or feature to end on a tragic note, without the inevitable
>happily-ever-after. This was an almost exclusively British or Japanese
>cultural phenomenon in entertainment media. This is one reason why the
ending
>at Gauda Prime was actually more devastating for American viewers than it
was
>for Brits.
(JULIA) > And you were asking me what was obviously British about B7? :-)<
The original question was whether or not the BLAKES 7 universe was a British
universe and society, inhabited by descendants of the citizens of Britain.
The format used for filming, and the style of storytelling might have some
traits that are 'British', but they do not touch on or answer the original
question in any way. They are *external*, part of the production values and
techniques of the production crew who were British.
(JULIA)>This is actually one of the things I had in mind. Much (not all)
British
sf has at the least a downbeat tone, the most obvious example other than
B7 springing to my mind being 1984. The Doctor doesn't always win,
either. It's something I can find off-putting about older American media
sf, that there's always a neat resolution within 45 minutes, the good
guys always win, you can tell who the good guys are.<
(LEAH) This is what I meant in a recent post about the British scriptwriters
having their own set of cliches (and I don't mean that in a negative way),
which are simply very different from the set of cliches that Americans have
grown up with...which is one of the reasons why everything British that we
get to see often seems fresh and original.