ITV started first several weeks ago with Isolation Stories. Now the BBC have came up with Unprecedented. The first episode contained three stories that are each 10 minutes long.
In a sense dramatists can view the Covid 19 pandemic as an opportunity to find new way to tell stories. As the lockdown continues the tales that can be told evolve all the time.
Imagine a story of a parent whose child died alone of the virus at hospital. Denied to be by their side in their dying hours or even attend the funeral. Only to find out a few weeks later the British Prime Minister's special adviser openly flouted the lockdown rules and was not even sorry about it or sacked. His conduct defended as something any responsible parent would do. Can you imagine the anger of that parent?
Then there is the President of the USA stoking racial tensions or kicking out the clergy from a church in order to have a photo opportunity while holding a bible. A book that he has probably never even opened in his life. All this while riots are happening and many hundreds a day have died in his country of the Coronavirus that he has ineptly handled. That one just writes itself.
The first story in Unprecedented are college teenagers trying to make something that would go viral. An economical story that range from being worried about not doing their A Levels, to not be able to party to making a stand for young people and run to be Mayor of London. They end up singing for the of their grandmother.
Lennie James stars in the second story and it was the best. He plays a man in a hotel room talking to his companion on a video link.
As he talks it becomes clear that he was a homeless man who has been temporarily rehoused. He worries about getting used to the comfort, whether the people he knows will still be there when he returns to the streets. His anger about being told to maintain social distancing, when his life involved people keeping their distance. It also had a link with the first story in its choice of song.
The third story I thought was the weakest even though it had the largest cast. It dealt with the theme of online bullying and harassment at work.
A group of employees working from home connect with each other for a virtual group meeting. Their manager refuses to take no for an answer while an executive from the company quietly listens in.
In a sense dramatists can view the Covid 19 pandemic as an opportunity to find new way to tell stories. As the lockdown continues the tales that can be told evolve all the time.
Imagine a story of a parent whose child died alone of the virus at hospital. Denied to be by their side in their dying hours or even attend the funeral. Only to find out a few weeks later the British Prime Minister's special adviser openly flouted the lockdown rules and was not even sorry about it or sacked. His conduct defended as something any responsible parent would do. Can you imagine the anger of that parent?
Then there is the President of the USA stoking racial tensions or kicking out the clergy from a church in order to have a photo opportunity while holding a bible. A book that he has probably never even opened in his life. All this while riots are happening and many hundreds a day have died in his country of the Coronavirus that he has ineptly handled. That one just writes itself.
The first story in Unprecedented are college teenagers trying to make something that would go viral. An economical story that range from being worried about not doing their A Levels, to not be able to party to making a stand for young people and run to be Mayor of London. They end up singing for the of their grandmother.
Lennie James stars in the second story and it was the best. He plays a man in a hotel room talking to his companion on a video link.
As he talks it becomes clear that he was a homeless man who has been temporarily rehoused. He worries about getting used to the comfort, whether the people he knows will still be there when he returns to the streets. His anger about being told to maintain social distancing, when his life involved people keeping their distance. It also had a link with the first story in its choice of song.
The third story I thought was the weakest even though it had the largest cast. It dealt with the theme of online bullying and harassment at work.
A group of employees working from home connect with each other for a virtual group meeting. Their manager refuses to take no for an answer while an executive from the company quietly listens in.