Blogs

Anna Richardson

Anna Richardson is The Bookseller's media editor. Anna's media blog will provide a weekly insight into the big books featuring in the media.

Three cheers for new TV book format

18.01.08

Hallelujah--a new books programme is coming to TV. Something that is notoriously difficult--turning books and publishing into a televisual and ratings-winning treat--is being tackled by one of the most successful producers in the field of entertainment, Fever Media's Richard Hopkins, who has brought us such gems as "Strictly Come Dancing" and "The Apprentice".

On hearing the news, I could already picture the groaning and sniffy comments from our industry: "Dumbing down", "Why celebrities?!", would come the cries. And true to form, they're starting to trickle in.

But hang on a minute. Whoever decreed that books programming needs to be author-interview-book-review-talking-head-only? Can't we share our passion for books with readers at all levels? For every Melvyn Bragg, high-brow brainchild, such as "12 Books that Changed the World" (I still haven't read pesky Principia), there surely has to be a slice of family fun and watercooler fodder.

Talking to Hopkins, I was actually quite excited about "Murder Most Famous". To be honest, I couldn't care less about the celebrities--Angela Who? (although Kelvin Mackenzie apparently has true writing ambitions, so seeing what springs from the former tabloid editor's imagination might prove pretty hilarious).

But by all accounts, it will offer a great insight and some practical tips on how to go about writing a novel, with a few reality checks along the way--putting the various "I could write a better book than X"s firmly into their place. Plus a healthy dose of entertainment and contributions to Children in Need and the BBC's literacy campaign, I see nothing wrong with the formula.

And if some previously book-shy viewers pick up Walters' latest, or the winning celeb's Quick Read in 2009, along with the other Quick Reads lined up this year and next, surely that can only be a good thing?

I doubt it will be the "Richard & Judy" bestseller-bearing mother of all book formats, but I will be tuning in--expect my pathetic attempts at crime thriller manuscript in your inbox soon.

Add comment

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller Comments Policy. Comments go direct to live, please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable" comments by clicking the links.

Name

Comment

Email

Comments on this article

By Louise Wilson

My particular "sniffy comments" are not concerned with dumbing down or celebrities per se, but simply the hypocrisy involved here. Publishers and agents are constantly stressing how difficult it is to get published. As a result, there is a widely held suspicion that this difficulty arises from a conspiracy that ensures book deals only go to insiders: journalists, celebrities, etc. I know that simply isn't correct. The brutal truth is that the vast majority of submitted work is simply nowhere near good enough to be published. And yet here comes a programme with only six contestants, one of which is GUARANTEED to have their work published. This is what will reinforce the above-mentioned view, because the chances that one of the six will be good enough is very remote. As I said before, after the farce of the programme (what can dog tracking and rapid pursuit of a suspect teach you about mastery of character and plot?) the dog's breakfast of a manuscript will be quietly shuffled along to a ghost writer - or perhaps even Minette herself? - to transform into something more palatable.

19 Jan 08 12:55

Unsuitable?

By Kevin Mahoney, SYP Web Content Editor

As long as they dispense with the talking heads format, as that doesn't make great TV. I remember watching one utterly forgettable books programme a couple of years ago where the producers were so obviously bored that they stuck in wacky camera angles, and seemed more interested in showing off the studio lights than the actual interview being filmed. Books programmes will never be great unless money is thrown at them, and the producers go behind the scenes of each book, showing say, the art, the music, the history that has inspired it, to show what made the author so excited to write about it in the first place. It would also be great if the participants weren't celebs or rent-a-critics like Bonnie Greer, as that's been done to death too.

13 Feb 08 10:09

Unsuitable?

By Greg

It's just another reality 'lottery' show which will only accomplish a surge in 'slushpile' submissions. I've No doubt that the 'winner' will have already been picked and primed and all that remains is the subterfuge that is the 'competition' itself. I'm thinking Andrew Lloyd-Webber/HollyOaks and the miraculous twist that saw Bonnie Langford's niece 'pulled from obscurity'. Nepotism is alive and thriving in the arts.

19 Feb 08 11:21

Unsuitable?

See Also