Monday, 8 September 2008

Sapphire and Steel


Like many of my generation, YouTube has given me the ability to analyse some of the key media experiences of my childhood - experiences like Sapphire and Steel.

That program used to give me the willies! Whether it was the music, the weird storylines, the sense of muted discomfort - it was just such a well-done show.

Sometimes when you look up a show from your childhood, you find that your imagination was doing all the work, and it was actually poorly done (a lot of Doctor Who's special effects come to mind here!).

But with Sapphire and Steel (as well as The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) it was just as good as the memory. And even better, consumed as a grownup.

I wonder if JJ Abrams ever watched Sapphire and Steel? They put into practice the idea of a Mystery Box like no-one else I've seen. We viewers didn't have a clue who Sapphire and Steel actually were, or why they were doing what they did, but we sure wanted to find out what happened next!

After staying up way too late last night watching Sapphire and Steel on YouTube, I'm going to take some of that mystery and incorporate that into today's writing projects. Will it help me? You'll just have to find out ...

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