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best of british
carnival time
Indie production head Brian Eastman talks to Quentin Falk about niche networking and tradition with a twist
“Nowadays there are very, very few ideas that belong to more than one channel”
Photo above: Brian Eastman and right Pam Ferris with Felicity Kendal
Down on the set in the heart of rural Berkshire, they’ve already nicknamed Rosemary & Thyme, starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as a dauntless pair of sleuthing gar- deners, ‘Murder Most Floral’.
You could almost imagine that catchy line as the perfect ‘pitch’ for the latest television production from Carnival Films which, if histo- ry has anything to do with it, will eventually slot nicely in Sunday primetime on ITV1.
A quick glance at Carnival’s track record suggests Sunday evenings have been a kind of commercial TV tradition for the company: Forever Green, Jeeves & Wooster, the Anna Lee myster- ies and, of course, Poirot, that stylishly period series whose 76 hours have been shown around the world almost constantly for the last 15 years.
Rosemary & Thyme – that’s Rosemary Boxer (Kendal), a plant biology lecturer whose career’s on the line, and ex-policewoman Laura Thyme (Ferris) recently deserted by her spouse for a younger woman – will comprise six one-hour “stand alone” episodes.
The idea started with Carnival. “We were trying,” explained Brian Eastman, Carnival’s founder and chairman, “to think of a show that blended the old traditional mystery elements with something very English – in this case, beauti- ful gardens and gardening – which would give the audience an opportunity to enjoy the show on two levels, to give it an extra dimension we hope.
“The idea had been with us for quite a while, three or four years perhaps. That’s not unusu- al. There are very few things that from the moment you have the idea to the moment you see it on the screen would be much less than that. In this case, it may actually be nearer five years.
“With a lot of these TV ideas, it’s a question of continual refinement during the development process then finding the right moment when the broadcaster will want it.
“What is the secret of Sunday night on ITV? It must be some- thing to do with my own personal taste being compatible with how people feel at that time,” he smiled. “Obviously I hope they’ll broadcast this in the same slot, but they’ve yet to say.”
If it’s a question of taste, then it’s fair to say that down the years
Eastman’s has proved impecca- ble judging by the range, scale and variety of Carnival’s output in television, film and theatre.
Titles like Shadowlands, Traffik, Porterhouse Blue, Firelight, Blott On The Landscape, Poirot, Bugs, The Tenth Kingdom and, most recently, As If, the popular youth drama series now in its third series, resound with ratings and interna- tional awards. Proving there is much profitable life beyond just Sunday nights, Carnival’s output represents televisually an awe-
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