31 - Reviving

All sorts of things find themselves floating around in my mind; I often think, for example, of how I'd bring back long dead TV shows if I were in charge of them (which I never am, 'cos I don't work in television). So, for a bit of pure self indulgence, here's how I'd bring back a handful of TV shows;

Press Gang

There're really two ways to do this that are completely unrelated to each other. 

The first is to do a kind of soft reboot of the show, on CBBC perhaps, with a set of kids in a modern day school working on a paper - possibly initially as a school project with the paper set to run just a few issues. You'd have the clash between the new (mobile phones, apps, social media) with the old (print media) at the core of things. But here's the kicker... the Matt Kerr figure in the new run would be Lynda Day. And the clash between the old and new tech would be mirrored in the old (Lynda) and the new (whoever the editor of the school paper is). As per the original run it could tackle the issues facing kids today. And where the stories fit you could have other original cast members in it. I mean, an investigation in to dodgy business practices of a local company... who else but CME? 

The other is to go full on 9PM BBC1 flagship drama, and focus on one of the original characters as they are as they approach 50 (oh, how time flies). I mentioned Lynda before, but she's who I'd focus on here as you can imagine Lynda rising to the heights of editing a daily national newspaper; and knowing how Lynda would pursue a story you can imagine the kind of things that she might get up to... but would she sanction phone hacking, etc? And again, bring in the other characters as they are needed. 

Ahh...but could Dexter Fletcher be persuaded to step back in front of the camera?

Quantum Leap

Continuation or reboot is the key question here, and the only acceptable answer is "continuation". Get Scott Bakula back as Sam, and just carry on as before with the leaps. The more contentious questions is; what do we do about the observer?

'Cos whatever happens the one thing that's certain is that Dean Stockwell can't return as Al. Stockwell is now very old indeed, not in good health, and has retired from acting. Whether he could come back for a very brief cameo in a first episode of a revival would even very much be in doubt. 

So, what to do?

My gut feeling is that whoever it is the dynamic between Sam and the new observer has to be different to Sam and Al. I'd probably go with one of two options. First would be one of Al's daughters (remember that caption in Mirror Image...), second would be Sam's daughter. I know... there's never a mention of Sam having had a daughter. But think... what if Sam and Donna got jiggy in The Leap Back... there you go. 

Just keep anything relating to real people to a minimum, used sparingly it's effective, all the time it gets boring. And importantly, remember what the end of the Lee Harvey Oswald episode implies...

The Bill

I'd love to see The Bill come back. It should never have been axed in the first place. You could just drop back in on Sun Hill at any time and carry on with things. You'd want a couple of familiar characters there, and load of new people, and just get on with the issues that are facing the Police today, and the crimes happening. Like the original run it could range from low level ASB up to murder, it could look at county line drugs problems, child sexual exploitation, pretty much any offences, really. 

You'd have some stories that are concluded in one episode, and others arching over weeks, months, and even years, with some villains continually cropping up. You'd also have plenty of occasions where the wrong 'uns get away with it (like in real life). Sun Hill always had a clear up rate that any real police force would kill for. It was also the most dangerous police station in the country, though...!

So, familiar characters... I'd like the Superintendent to either be Yvonne Hemmingway or Gina Gold. Get Alex Walkinshaw out of Holby and back as Smithy, now a Chief Inspector. That's probably all you'd need. 

Well, maybe Burnside for just one episode, perhaps as a victim of crime?

There's a whole host of other shows I could waffle on about, but i might save them for another time...