Scene (UK TV series)
Encyclopedia
Scene is a British television anthology drama series made by the BBC
for teenagers. Featuring plays on topical issues, sometimes of a controversial nature, and by leading contemporary playwrights, programs were originally broadcast to a school audience as part of the BBC Schools
strand. Dramas from the series were also regularly broadcast for a wider adult audience. The series ran episodically from 1968 to 2002 and some of the dramas went on to receive critical acclaim, nominations and awards including five in 1996-7 and a Prix Jeunesse in 1998 under series producer Andy Rowley
(see below).
Scene was originally conceived as a series of 30 minute dramas and documentaries suitable for showing to teenage schoolchildren as part of the English and Humanities curriculum. It was envisaged that the dramas shown would stimulate discussion in the classroom about various contemporary issues relevant to teenagers (such as race, drugs, sex, disability etc.). Critical reaction was positive with praise for the high production standards.
Some of the actors featured in Scene went onto achieve varying degrees of mainstream success. e.g.: Jemima Rooper
(Junk
, 1999), Sarah Jane Potts, Jack Deam
, Lucy Davis
(Alison, 1996), Adrian Lester
(Teaching Matthew, 1993), Sean Maguire
(A Man of Letters, 1994), Peter Howitt
(Stone Cold)
.
Alison (1996): BAFTA-nominated Comedy-drama. Terry Kennett decides to return to his home town after a ten year absence. He bumps into old mates and his former girlfriend Alison who shows him around their old haunts. They reminisce about their teenage romance, first sexual experience and the reasons for their eventual breakup. Terry is shocked to find that Alison is now a young single mother, but decides to rekindle their relationship in the hope that former mistakes are behind them. Written and directed by Al Hunter Ashton
and produced by Andy Rowley
. Starring Sarah Jane Potts and Jack Deam
.
Loved Up (1994). BAFTA-winning drama. A young woman leaves home to live with her boyfriend and discovers the "Rave
" scene and drugs. Series producer Andy Rowley
.
Terraces (1993). The residents of a street of terraced houses decide to paint them all in the colours of their local football team - all except one man who refuses to conform to mob rule. Written by Willy Russell.
Stone Cold (1997) Starring Peter Howitt
. Threat to runaway boy Link who becomes homeless after abuse at home and is prey to a street killer. Directed by Stephen Whittaker
and produced by Andy Rowley
. BAFTA nominated
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
for teenagers. Featuring plays on topical issues, sometimes of a controversial nature, and by leading contemporary playwrights, programs were originally broadcast to a school audience as part of the BBC Schools
BBC Schools
BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC One during the daytime, before programming was...
strand. Dramas from the series were also regularly broadcast for a wider adult audience. The series ran episodically from 1968 to 2002 and some of the dramas went on to receive critical acclaim, nominations and awards including five in 1996-7 and a Prix Jeunesse in 1998 under series producer Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
(see below).
Scene was originally conceived as a series of 30 minute dramas and documentaries suitable for showing to teenage schoolchildren as part of the English and Humanities curriculum. It was envisaged that the dramas shown would stimulate discussion in the classroom about various contemporary issues relevant to teenagers (such as race, drugs, sex, disability etc.). Critical reaction was positive with praise for the high production standards.
Some of the actors featured in Scene went onto achieve varying degrees of mainstream success. e.g.: Jemima Rooper
Jemima Rooper
Jemima Rooper is an English actress.- Background :Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journalist Alison Rooper. She attended Redcliffe Primary School in Chelsea, London and Godolphin and Latymer girls' school. While working on The Famous Five, she passed eight GCSEs with A*...
(Junk
Junk (novel)
Junk is a 1996 Carnegie Medal and Guardian Award-winning novel by Melvin Burgess. The book is about the experiences of a group of teenagers who fall into heroin addiction and who embrace anarchism on the streets of Bristol, England...
, 1999), Sarah Jane Potts, Jack Deam
Jack Deam
Jack Deam is an English actor. He used his Grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performance is of the pyromaniac Marty Fisher, who has Tourette syndrome, in Channel 4's Shameless....
, Lucy Davis
Lucy Davis
Lucy Clare Davis is an English actress. She is best known for playing the character Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy The Office and as Dianne in the horror-comedy movie Shaun of the Dead.-Career:...
(Alison, 1996), Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
(Teaching Matthew, 1993), Sean Maguire
Sean Maguire
Sean Maguire is an English actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama Grange Hill, in which he remained until 1992...
(A Man of Letters, 1994), Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt is an English actor and film director. He grew up in Eltham, London and Bromley, Kent, Peter used to be a part of the Priory Players in the Priory behind Christ Church, Eltham. He studied at the Drama Studio London. He has two children, Luke and Amy...
(Stone Cold)
Award winners and nominees
- Terry (1969) - BAFTA Flame of Knowledge Award.
- A Collier's Friday Night (1976) - BAFTA Flame of Knowledge Award.
- Loved UpLoved UpLoved Up was a BBC drama for the Love Bites season of films, broadcast on 23 September 1995. The film was directed by Peter Cattaneo who would go on to direct the feature films The Full Monty and Lucky Break...
(1996) - BAFTA for best schools drama. Series Ass.Producer Andy RowleyAndy RowleyAndy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999.... - Alison (1996) - BAFTA nomination for best schools drama. Series Producer Andy RowleyAndy RowleyAndy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
- United (1998) - BAFTA for best schools drama.
- JunkJunk (novel)Junk is a 1996 Carnegie Medal and Guardian Award-winning novel by Melvin Burgess. The book is about the experiences of a group of teenagers who fall into heroin addiction and who embrace anarchism on the streets of Bristol, England...
(1999) - BAFTA for best schools drama. - Offside (2002) - BAFTA for best schools drama.
- Split game (2005) - BAFTA nomination for best schools drama.
- Stone Cold' BAFTA nomination 1998 Producer Andy RowleyAndy RowleyAndy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
Director Stephen WhittakerStephen WhittakerStephen Whittaker was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television.In 2001 he filmed his final project The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island...
'
Selected episodes
Junk (1999): Bafta-winning drama. Following difficulties with her parents, teenager Gemma Brogan leaves home. She falls under the spell of a young woman who introduce her to the world of alternative youth culture and drugs. Initially her new life seems glamorous and exciting but she soon discovers its dark side as she slides uncontrollably into heroin addiction.. Starring Jemima RooperJemima Rooper
Jemima Rooper is an English actress.- Background :Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journalist Alison Rooper. She attended Redcliffe Primary School in Chelsea, London and Godolphin and Latymer girls' school. While working on The Famous Five, she passed eight GCSEs with A*...
.
Alison (1996): BAFTA-nominated Comedy-drama. Terry Kennett decides to return to his home town after a ten year absence. He bumps into old mates and his former girlfriend Alison who shows him around their old haunts. They reminisce about their teenage romance, first sexual experience and the reasons for their eventual breakup. Terry is shocked to find that Alison is now a young single mother, but decides to rekindle their relationship in the hope that former mistakes are behind them. Written and directed by Al Hunter Ashton
Al Hunter Ashton
Al Hunter Ashton , born Alan Hunter, was an English actor and script writer.-Life:Al came from a working class background. Born Alan Hunter , he wrote scripts for his own amusement from the age of 15...
and produced by Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
. Starring Sarah Jane Potts and Jack Deam
Jack Deam
Jack Deam is an English actor. He used his Grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performance is of the pyromaniac Marty Fisher, who has Tourette syndrome, in Channel 4's Shameless....
.
Loved Up (1994). BAFTA-winning drama. A young woman leaves home to live with her boyfriend and discovers the "Rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
" scene and drugs. Series producer Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
.
Terraces (1993). The residents of a street of terraced houses decide to paint them all in the colours of their local football team - all except one man who refuses to conform to mob rule. Written by Willy Russell.
Stone Cold (1997) Starring Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt is an English actor and film director. He grew up in Eltham, London and Bromley, Kent, Peter used to be a part of the Priory Players in the Priory behind Christ Church, Eltham. He studied at the Drama Studio London. He has two children, Luke and Amy...
. Threat to runaway boy Link who becomes homeless after abuse at home and is prey to a street killer. Directed by Stephen Whittaker
Stephen Whittaker
Stephen Whittaker was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television.In 2001 he filmed his final project The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island...
and produced by Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley
Andy Rowley is a British television producer known for his children's dramas, including Jeopardy, which won a BAFTA Award for best children's drama in 2002, and Microsoap, Prix Jeunesse winner and BAFTA best children's drama award winner in 1999....
. BAFTA nominated
Further reading
- Wheatley, Helen. Re-viewing television history: critical issues in television historiography (I. B. Tauris & Co., 2007), p186 ff.
External links
- Scene at BroadcastForschools.co.uk
- Scene at the BFIBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
Film and Television Database