Dangerous Visions is the BBC's near future dystopian fiction series, and tends to tell tales of things that might go wrong based on current political problems and events, and runs with them to a possibly logical, but occasionally extreme, position. This week, it's the turn of Brexit, with a rather meatier entry into the series than usual, with a five episode series about one family's attempt to survive the problems brought about by Britain deciding to "take back control".
As you might expect, given it's a dystopian series, things get out of control almost immediately. The increasing divide between Westminster/London politics and those of the rest of the country results in something like a military coup, with the formation of Greater England and all out civil war resulting in a certain amount of shelling and car bombing. Also, Scotland finally decides it's had enough and is closing the borders.
At the same time, the Fletcher family are attempting to plan what appears to be the world's most unnecessarily extravagant wedding, between an annoying daughter and someone who happens to be the son of a high up government minister. In a country which is currently trying to murder its ministers. I'm sure that'll go well.
That is my main objection to this, really. Someone decided that since dystopias are popular, and soaps are popular, if you put them together you get something that must be amazing. Instead it's just weird. In a world in which you are being kicked out of the country because you happen to be the wrong nationality, people should not be having painfully domestic arguments about relationships. There's this weird switch from a really clever examination of disaster (a lovely explanation about the dangers of chlorine gas) to an overly dramatic look at who did the worst thing in the family this week. It might just be my cynical nature, but the occasional dropping in of the Archers' theme felt like a little nod to the absurdity on display.
Can't fault the presentation though. It's put together very nicely, with an impressive soundscape, good acting and a reasonable clip on the story and plotting. Bit silly in places, but that's mostly the fault of today's politics. I've enjoyed it enough to listen to all of it, but could have done with a bit more of a focus on the disaster. The title of the play does suggest somewhat a cheeky wink to this, with the idea that the problems these people face in their personal lives don't really matter, but if that's the case, they perhaps should have been given a bit less time.
Tagged: Radio Drama Cast Fiction News/Political