Since it's been a while since I reviewed something I enjoy watching I thought I'd choose a series that I find to be unique amongst British TV drama and provides some fast paced action, a believable sense of danger and characters who the audience can care for: London's Burning.
I am a fan of television shows about the fire brigade and portraying the dangerous job that they have to do, cope with and survive on a daily basis. Yet despite the potential for complex characters, showing how they cope with such a hard and dangerous job and action scenes that leave you guessing who will survive there haven't been many TV shows about the fire brigade, possibly because of the expense involved in creating fire scenes which are believable and TV networks seem to be wary of trying new ideas for fear they might fail.
London's Burning started life as a TV movie written by veteran British television and film writer Jack Rosenthal and airing in 1986. Set in the East end of London the movie focused on blue watch at the fictional Blackwall fire station and their exploits on and off duty. The movie was a hybrid of drama and black comedy, showing the real world issues that people faced at work during the 1980s, including racism between co-workers who in this case regularly need to trust one another with their lives, women being introduced into a previously male dominated environment (yes this was an issue at the time) and tensions on a council estate between gang members and men in uniforms. Through the film there are several emergencies, not just fires but other complicated and sometimes more bizarre circumstances, showing what the fire brigade have to deal with outside of leaping through fire making it seem like it could happen at any fire station in Britain, this along with some witty and funny (if not slightly racist) banter from the firemen further strengthen the realistic feel.
The movie makes no attempt to soften the drama and lighten things up from reality; police are seen searching innocent people continuously, the racist banter between the token black fireman and the ladies man has no boundaries and the firemen don't always save everyone they set out to rescue. All this makes the film gritty and makes you think about all the people who do this daily, we take them for granted without realising all that they do. At the end of the film all the tension that has been building up on the council estate through the film rises to breaking point triggering a riot that puts blue watch in danger and
*SPOILER ALERT* Claims one of their men, letting the film end on a sombre note yet showing that life continues whether people die or not.
However with all the pros come some cons. While the movie is still a good watch today it hasn't aged well at all and still feels VERY 1980s, with the racist comments made by some of the firemen, the now cliche plot line about a woman gaining respect amongst a world of burly men, the clothes worn and the fire engines are all outdated in this day and age, however it is hard for films to stand the test of time if they are trying to be realistic as the conventions and tropes associated with realism change with the times. The film also suffers from pacing problems, when the riot kicks off at the end of the film there is very little foreshadowing of what eventually happens outside of a few conflicts between residents and the police, making it almost come out of left field.
Despite the previously mentioned flaws the movie was successful enough for ITV to commission a spin off television series. This expanded on the characters introduced in the movie and inserted a few new ones, showing that some time had gone past between the the series and the movie (the first series aired two years after the movie in 1988). The emergencies were also back, looking just as realistic and dangerous as they did in the movie, the realism was still present as the firemen still don't save everyone they try to and the witty banter between the crew on station wasn't compromised.
As the series went on firefighters departed to be replaced with new ones, the show changed from VERY 80s to VERY 90s (still hasn't aged well when viewed today), the fires got bigger and more exciting and the characters became more developed. The only aspect of the show that I find a bit hard to believe (aside from the odd Backdraft style stunt) is the number of firefighters who end up dying on duty, over 14 years SEVEN firefighters from this ONE station died, this coupled with the amount of events that happen at Blackwall such as; bombs being found under the road outside, being given a helicopter, being considered for closure TWICE and a suspected NUCLEAR LEAK stretches ones suspension of disbelief to a degree.
The major cracks began to show during the later series from Series 10 onwards, budget cuts meant fewer fires and more personalised stories, while Series 12 was more of a throwback to the older series and introduced some enjoyable characters Series 14 was the one that killed it. Fewer emergencies than ever, the once very well done pyrotechnics were replaced with hideous CGI fire, predictable soap style storylines, unlikable characters and a disregard for realism which had been a core element of the series from the beginning meant this series was the last. Since 2002 there have been no new episodes.
This is a shame because handled with care and thought this series or one like it could once again find an audience and sucess. We can only hope.
